June 30 1999 |
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Today
I felt as if I had a lot to be happy about. I woke up feeling good, I got the house clean,
my friend Kathy came over with her two children, Jeff and I opened our very first savings
account, and we spent the evening as a family. After a wonderful meal out, we headed to
the pet shop for entertainment and to find out about their obedience classes. I guess we
are going to keep the dog after all. While we were there we saw a beautiful cat in the
adopt pet area. She was a gray tabby, resembling our Barney, and was a year old. Jeff was
a little smitten with her. Her name was Miss Mullet and under animal history it said
"caught fish to feed her four babies". I asked a clerk about her and was told
that she had lived near a tackle and bait shop on the island and was stealing bait but
that she had been going into the water, catching fish and feeding them to her four babies.
What an amazing story, we thought. The donation to get her was $50. I could tell Jeff
wanted her, but I was hesitant. We are getting another cat come September and we have a
dog, I told him. So we left the pet store without her. As we drove away, he said that if
she was still there in a few days he wanted to get her, and I agreed. So I guess we will
see. I wish I could say
Jeff felt as happy as I do about life. He is quite miserable and is constantly worrying
about his classes and teaching summer school. He acted like he was having a good time but
then after awhile he began to complain about never having enough time to study, enough
time to do this and that, and how he was not getting enough sleep. To most people he
appears laid back. If they only knew what a tense person he is and anal ta boot. He has
Monday off, so I told him not to sweat it and he could catch up this weekend. I literally
had to force him to go to bed tonight before he passed out from exhaustion.
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The other day a friend was
visiting the house and after coming out of the bathroom asked me what toilet paper we
used. Well I know some people would think this is strange, but I have been asked much
worse, so I told her I either by Charmin or Kleenex Cottonele. She gasped "you sure
do spend ALOT on toilet paper". In away she is right, I do. I scrimp on lots of
things but TP isn't one of them. I wanted something that is going to feel good on my
bottom if you know what I mean. I don't want something hard and rough that doesn't work, I
want something soft and nice on my rear end that does the job without rubbing me raw.
If you don't know this about me
already, I'm always looking for a deal, using a coupon, getting something for free, heck,
I'm CHEAP. I am not ashamed to say it. I am not cheap about some things. I don't buy cheap
shoes -- but I wear them till they are literally falling apart. I buy good luncheon meat
from the deli -- I hate the way the others taste like. I do not buy cheap bras or clothes
for my family. I do however buy on sale, often with additional discounts. I even buy the
expensive clothes in resale shops or on eBay. I also do
not buy cheap furniture. I want real wood, and I want name brand -- half the furniture I
have bought has been second or third hand, but its the good stuff and I usually buy at a
great price. Some things I'm not willing to budge on.
I will probably be a bargain
hunter and cheap ass for the rest of my life, even though now it isn't necessary. I hope
to never have debt again, except for cars and mortgage, and I hope I never have to worry
about where the next meal is coming from. That is why I will remain the frugal person that
I am, no matter how much money we have.
In case you haven't figured this
out by now, I came into money when my mom died. I used a large portion of it to pay off
debt and buy Jeff his truck. The debt was killing us for the most part and usually by the
end of the month we were getting help from my parents to feed us. I had driven this
clunker of a car, one I inherited from my great aunt, that needed thousands of dollars of
repair. Thankfully my parents had it fixed up right after I had Wild Child but right after
she turned a year old my car died in a bad part of town, late at night, coming home with a
breathing machine for hubby.(he has asthma) So some how, some way we managed to get
approved for a loan and we bought my Protege.(Hubby worked weekends to pay the note and
insurance)
Money at one time totally
consumed us. We argued about it, we thought about it, we lusted after it. Jeff hates
money, I on the other hand respect it. I've learned to respect it more and more, and I
have learned not to let it control me and who I am. So I gave a good bit of the money
away, and the rest we have tied up in this or that. Having the money freed us from many
burdens (the debt was double what Jeff makes in a year) but we still get a little
paranoid. That is why I will keep my penny pinching ways.
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Journey and Destination
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