The $300 Temptation

I never realized how addicted to shopping I was until this pay period. My husband gets paid every two weeks, and every month we write up a budget for the two pay periods. At then end of a pay period, right before we get the new paycheck, we sit down and talk about how we did and any changes that might have to occur during the next pay period. It is a much shorter meeting than actually creating the budget for the month.

Well, at the last mini-meeting, we decided that we would pay off our Visa bill completely with this next pay period. When we budgeted, we would have to take out about $300 from our savings to do it. It hurt, but we knew that we would have to do it.

But God is faithful to those who are faithful to Him. We received some extra money that we were not expecting (VISA rewards check, reimbursement for company bills, etc.). So not only did we NOT have to pull out, we had an abundance of almost $300! WOW!

And what was my first thought? Put it into savings? Put it towards the second mortgage? Nope, my first thought was "I can be happy and spend some money and not be as tight with finances." UGH! ICK!!!! It is the being tight with finances (and God's wonderful provision) that gave us that extra money. And my being careless with finances and overspending and buying things we did not need that was a major part of getting us into this mess. I guess that is why it is important to pay yourself first (i.e. put money into savings off the top of the check so you don't really see it as extra money you have.) I could not believe I thought that it would make me happy. Have I really been trying to find some happiness in things? I need to find my joy in the Lord.

So, I did take out a small amount ($10) to "blow" as Dave Ramsey would say. I went to the local Salvation Army. The entire store was be 50% off on Saturday, and boy did I make a killing! I got two HUGE bags of yarn for the girls to knit/crochet with. I got myself a luxurious robe that was made in Turkey. I got a Gap Kids robe for my oldest, and a Tommy Hillfigure dress for her too. I got a some books I had really been wanting - how to convert knitting to crochet and the You Can Do It book (which I had almost paid full price for when it first came out because I wanted it so bad). A few extras and all totaling up to over $45 dollars. I has also gotten yellow tags that were only 99 cents (not an additional 50% off, but hey, something that was normally $10 on sale for 99 cents, I could handle the no extra 50% off). :) All that for $5 and change! :)

I have also really been wanting some makeup. Mineral make up to be exact. Mineral make up is not only better for your skin, but it does not go bad after 6 months to a year like most all other make up does. Right now you can get JANE mineral make up for free or nearly free. AND because all the Valentine stuff is 75% off right now, the extra money I would have gotten paid (but they don't really pay you) was put towards some candy bracelets for the girls! The bracelets were like 12 cents each! :) So if I had not grabbed myself a heart box of chocolates (less than two dollars) and some scented candles for the bath (3 for $1.49), I would have gotten out of there without paying a thing. :)

The rest of the money? My beloved is finally able to buy the tax software he needs to be able to do our taxes. He is good too. He went to Best Buy because you could get a free movie (up to $20) with purchase. He brought an add which showed that a local store had it for $5 less. Best Buy does price matching. So he got it for $5 less AND a free movie. :) You go babe! All left over will debt snowflake into our second mortgage payment. :)

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Three things I am thankful for:
*we paid off our VISA and did not have to pull out of savings to do it
*being able to honor God with our finances (take it from Crystal to pray about everything you spend money on - even the groceries and toiletries! :)
*Costco opened in my city this week!!