posts tagged with 'money'
no money, just a few problems
I wanted to go to the grocery store this morning. That was the plan, and it was a good plan, except for one thing: a little before we left I realized that I have no money to buy groceries, and no gas in the car, and no money to buy gas. So maybe a bad plan after all. The reason I don't have any money is that my wallet was stolen back on December 27, by a five-year-old. Of course, I didn't realize right away that it had been taken; I assumed I just misplaced it somewhere around the house. After a day or two I started to get nervous when I couldn't find it, then just when my nervousness started to reach a point where I was maybe thinking of doing something about it, I got a text with the following message:
Hey, I just got a call from my mom that she found your wallet at her house where [the child in question] was playing. I can almost guarantee she took it and put it in her pocket. I will be talking to her and letting her know she’s in big trouble.
Well, that answers that! So then I wasn't worried at all. But it turns out that I do need access to money from time to time—maybe less than some other people, but still at least once a week. And then I keep being surprised by the lack. Like, I could have gotten some cash from Leah this morning if I had thought about it. Now we're all set for shopping tomorrow. And I should have my wallet back by Friday at the latest. All in all, I think the story is easily worth a week without a debit card!
spending season
We got new couches today. I was a little sad to see the old ones go—I like things that I'm used to!—but the old ones were pretty broken, and the old ones are very nice, so it's really all for the best. And they fit great, and even give us a little more seating. The only problem with them really is that they still have that new furniture smell, which is not at all pleasant. I was looking forward to showing the couches off to our friends who came over this evening, and planning to mask the smell with the delicious aromas of pizza and yet more rocky road bars... but then our oven wouldn't turn on.
I'm not particularly extravagant, but doing Christmas right takes some money even at the best of times—so it's tough to think of adding another couple thousand dollars to our December bills. Leah is interested in fixing problems, so she's already scoping out the pre-Christmas sales at Lowes. I'm inclined to wait—"maybe it'll start working again!" I say. And in fact, in this instance it did. Once everyone had gone home we were talking about next steps; I turned it on to check one more time and it started right up. Leah cooked some tofu, and the pizza is in there now (a lot of good it'll do anyone at this point, but I didn't want to just throw away all that dough!). But it doesn't inspire confidence, having an oven that only works when it feels like it. I just wonder how much we're able to spend on confidence?