Monday, March 03, 2008

$42 of goodness

This past year Dashing Boy and I have kicked ourselves into financial shape. When we first graduated from college we went out and "bought" a fabulous new couch and a lovely chair and a half-- on credit of course with 0% interest for the first year.. blah blah blah. I guess the milestone of graduation somehow justified getting rid of some DI stuff and making a major furniture purchase.

Luckily, our credit spending stopped there and it only took us a couple of months to realize we didn't really want to play that game! So for the past year we've taken on more active financial roles- relating with money, paying off debt, establishing an emergency fund, saving saving saving, and yes, doing the dreaded budget. It has actually been a lot of fun and a huge relief to take control of our money- together- and to define for ourselves a golden standard of living that doesn't include keeping up with the Jones'! It's like the new, cool, young thing to do to be financially responsible! Ok, so probably-hopefully not new, but for us yes.

So now, Dashing Boy and I have a fun time pointing things out to each other that illustrate the terrible messages that we are being bombarded with about money and spending. We point out the occasional positive messages too, but usually whatever it is gives us a good laugh and sometimes, if it is good enough, we take a picture of it. This sign, outside a favorite eating establishment in Salt Lake was just too good to pass up. Please note the asterisk in the bottom right corner and look at the words carefully.

And now, after saying all of this I have a confession to make. I don't know how it happened. Actually, that is wrong to say- I do know how it happened, but I never thought it would come this far. Ok, here I go.. I spent $42.00 this month on girl scout cookies. Ah! I couldn't help it! I've been dreaming about them since last October and you can only get them once a year you know. So, I was a total sucker and we now have 6 boxes of Samoas, 4 Tagalongs, and 2 Thin Mints. In my defense, it is for a good cause and we actually put it in the budget and we're still saving our same target figure. So, instead of doing a variety of other things that we usually do with the misc. budgeted money, we will eat girl scout cookies- all 12 boxes.

6 comments:

brooke said...

I too have been dreaming of them... and let's be honest, it's so hard to resist the look in their girl scout faces (I think it's a part of their tactics).

Natalie | Make Today Great said...

girl scout cookies...delish!

candace said...

I admit it--I spent $28 on them...and not regretting it at all! yum!

Heidi said...

I understand a restaurant not wanting to take checks, but why wouldn't they accept cash?? Is counterfeiting pretty big in Utah? Super jealous about the girl scout cookies, Thin Mints are the BEST!

Jen said...

My friends got me blogging. . .I'm still trying to decide how I feel about it. But I do love your blog!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jenny,
I didn't know you had a blog! Awesome! Thank you so much for taking a peek at my blog-I'm new at it and need all the support I can get.

On the subject of girl scout cookies, I am guilty of the same. I'm trying to be financially responsible and do all this saving and investing as I get ready for marriage, but then stuff comes up. Like, my fiance needs to get his air conditioning fixed on his car. Or a girlfriend tells me the good news that she's expecting so I just have to take her out for lunch. Or I have a craving for girl scout cookies and there goes $42!

It's hard work trying to be a responsible grown-up. Stay in touch!

love,
Adrienne