Frugal | A Frugal Flop

A Frugal Flop

Posted by Lynnae on July 21, 2007

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One thing I don’t want to be on this blog is a fake. I don’t want to pretend I know everything, or that I never make a mistake. This blog is a tool for me to keep myself accountable as I work to pay off debt. And I can’t be accountable if I’m not honest.

With that in mind, I have a confession. Today was a complete frugal flop. It’s fair week in town, and we weren’t planning on going, because the fair is expensive. However, yesterday my husband was offered two free admissions tickets. Our daughter is at a slumber party today, so that just left me, my husband, and my son to go to the fair. My son is young enough to get in free, so we figured it wouldn’t hurt to go check it out. Wrong.

We spent $15 on rides (at $1 a ticket and 3-4 tickets per ride, that’s OUTRAGEOUS), $10 on two Nascar baseball caps that we HAD to have, $5 on two sodas, and $4 on parking. That’s $34 at the fair. I wish I could say the spending spree ended there, but it didn’t.

Next door to the fair is a little fun center with go-cart racing. My husband and son really wanted to ride the go-carts, and they wanted me to race, too. Ok, I wanted to race. So we spent $14.50 there. (I won the race). After such a full day and a bad sunburn (yes, adding to my stupidity today, I didn’t wear sunscreen), I was too sick and tired to cook dinner. So add another $10 for dinner, and we spent a grand total of $58.50. Ugh. $58.50 that could have gone toward our debt. We had a great time, but I don’t think it was $60 worth of fun.

Any advice for avoiding stupid decisions like this?

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Comments

5 Responses to “A Frugal Flop”

  1. Boomeyers on July 23rd, 2007 10:08 am

    Hi there! I just found your blog from your Rocks in My Dryer link! :) I will come back and follow your journey (after I get done entering all the Free Giveaways!)
    I make lovely stupid decisions like this all the time! It is sooo easy to do with kids (and those big kids the DH’s!) The only thing you can do is try to forgive yourself and try better the next day!
    I don’t know if you are familiar with the website Saving Advice. Come on over and read my journey! I am Boomeyers!

  2. debtfretter on July 25th, 2007 5:00 am

    Though I know where you are coming from, it probably just means you were a little to tight with your budget lately and needed to let loose. It’s fine, $60 isn’t too bad. Just get back on that horse and chip away at that debt!

  3. Tonya on January 20th, 2008 12:59 pm

    I never leave a comment, but I’ve subscribed to your blog for a while, now, and I must say that I enjoy them immemsely - thank you!

    I also want to say that, through my own journey through the land of “Debt Free”, I’ve discovered that life moves very quickly and sometimes, its OK to spend money to enjoy your life. If you keep on your journey, you’ll eventually become debt free, but I see nothing wrong with laughter, along the way. I don’t want to be so “gazelle intense” that my son (5 years old) and I forget that life needs to be lived.

    Keep up the good work!
    You are Blessed to be a Blessing!

  4. Nancy on January 20th, 2008 6:39 pm

    I understand that you may feel a little disappointed in letting your spending get a bit out of hand, but there is another way to look at it. Your son had a wonderful day with his parents without his sister — children oftne don’t get much alone time with their parents.

    As much as I have been trying to watch my money and pay down my debts, I also need to enjoy my time with my daughter. My brother didn’t make it to 50. Thankfully, he spent a lot of time with his wife and kids (was also a good provider). He had no regrets when his time came and I want to feel the same.

    Please don’t beat yourself up — life is short and clearing your debt isn’t everything.

  5. Lynnae on January 21st, 2008 9:07 am
    Thanks, everyone. I have definitely lightened up on myself over the last few months. I agree that there needs to be balance between the intensity of paying off debt and the experiences we have with our families. In the end, we did go off budget when we went to the fair, but we recovered quickly, and it was a great day.

    So, 6 months later, I have no regrets. :)

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