Saturday, January 29, 2011

Today's fortune: January 29, 2011

Today's fortune: You shouldn't overspend at the moment. Frugality is important.
It's funny. When you decide to live frugally, the first thing you do is go out and spend money to prove how frugal you are. Jamie and I did just that today, and although we spent some dough, I'm positive we saved in the long run.

We shopped at Aldi, a grocery chain adored by the frugal among us. When I went to put my quarter in the shopping cart, I noticed there was already one in there. Voila! A 25-cent profit. Matt 1, World 0.

May I make an aside here? Of course I can, it's my blog. I have difficulty typing the word "cart" in reference to the metal thing on wheels you push around the store. When I was growing up, my mother called it a buggy. Therefore, by nature I also call it a buggy. My brother tells a funny story of going to a grocery store with some work colleagues. He said, "You guys wait here, I'll go get a buggy." "A buggy?" one of them replied. "What is this, the Old West? Are we fixin' to circle the wagons?" Still, to me, it's a buggy. But I digress...

Inside the store, Jamie and I filled our bu... cart to the brim with groceries. As we wheeled toward the checkout, my mind was reeling with the cost of it all. My internal calculator added up the bill to somewhere in the $50 to $75 range, if not more.

The total came up to just thirty-eight bucks.

Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. And now we have a supply of foodstuffs to last for a week, at least.

It's ironic (like raaaaaaaaiiiin on your wedding day!), because just last night, before I ever saw this fortune, Jamie and I dropped a Benjamin on dinner and drinks.

(Mom and Dad - "Benjamin" means one hundred dollars.)

But that's okay, and I don't think it's completely contradictory to a frugal lifestyle. See, we were celebrating, because Jamie just got a new job!

My wife is studying to be a teacher, and to gain experience toward that goal she has been applying to be a teacher's aid at several schools in the area. On Thursday she interviewed for one, and yesterday they called her back to make an offer. She'll be a full-time aid at, let's say, Acme High School.

We celebrated by dining at Garozzo's, our favorite Italian restaurant, then meeting our friends Garrett and Kristen at Harry's in the River Market neighborhood. We had a great time and Jamie got absolutely plastered.

Some may say a hundred bucks is too much to spend on one night out. But I say it was worth every penny. Frugality in everyday life allows for splurges from time to time. And what better excuse to splurge than a new job?

2 comments:

  1. Amen!
    Some wise person pointed out, "We don't live to work, we work to live!" You can't take it with you, so what is the point of being frugal and saving, if you don't use it for something worthwhile? Oh, and celebration is not only worthwhile ... it's necessary to our sanity and mental well being!

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  2. Just remember, that's $100 that [i]could[/i] have gone to your new dog's college fund. *sigh*
    You kids and your eating and drinking and mm...What was I saying?

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