Buying Memories, Not Things

I've always had so much fun buying STUFF. Whiling away an afternoon at the thrift store, loading my cart with goodies. Then, at the end of the year, when I'm cleaning out my closet and drawers and finding all of that stuff that went unworn and unused........ugh. The fun quickly fades.

It may be because I'm turning 50 this year. Or, I had a awfully long time to reflect as I recovered from 3 surgeries. Or, it just may be the clean out last year really got to me. At any rate, this year, my focus is spending on experiences, not things.

Many of you are fortunate to be able to finance both, while hardly breaking a sweat. You can go to the mall, enjoy a dinner at the food court, then buy your kiddo goodies from their favorite stores.....all while planning and financing a trip to Disney World.

I can't do that, and I'm glad I can't.

There was a time when I had that much money. I didn't like what went along with it. I would rather live my simple life, with my happy family and restful home, and live on the little God has provided for me. It could be a lot less.

However, in order to enjoy experiences, and the resulting memories with my family, I must plan ahead. I have to cut things out, in order to put that saved money aside, so we can have fun later down the road.

What would I cut out? Well, for starters, I can bring my lunch from home again. After I went back to work, since I was conserving my energy as much as possible, I was picking up a fresh spinach, fruit and nut salad for lunch, plus greek yogurt with oatmeal as a snack. Sounds harmless and cheap, right? I thought so too, until I added it up and found out my 'harmless' ready made meals were costing me $22 a week. At that rate, if I put aside the same amount of $$$ and brought my lunch and snack from home, that money could finance a trip to Canton to see Brendan, and take he and his roommate out to lunch. Isn't that incredible?

See, I hadn't been doing the math. I do it for clothing and things I can buy resale. I wasn't doing it so much for other areas. Will I go into bankruptcy by buying salad and yogurt at the store daily? No. Will I end up in a cardboard box under a bridge if I have a daily coffee from Starbucks? Highly unlikely.

Would I rather enjoy visiting with my 21 yr old kid who lives 2 hours away? Most definitely.

Taking my food from home means I must get it ready the night before. Oh my goodness, I might have to forgo that 1/2 hour rerun of 'Big Bang Theory' to do it, but isn't it worth it? YES!

For those of you who save easily, thank you for putting up with my epiphany. Stifling that huge DUH didn't hurt at all, did it :P