Black (and White) Friday

Excuse me, I'm addicted to Mad Men, I can't be bothered to blog.

I'm also spending a lot of time researching purchases. Tis the season.

We researched cars, wagons, minivans and hatchbacks; old ones, new ones, and really really old ones. So many options, so bewildering. We checked out two cars and realized that we really don't want to spend any money on a car. We started to re-examine why we thought we needed a different car. That led to a tangent of researching carseats, skinny carseats that fit 3 across in a Matrix. So far, we have spent nothing and are totally burnt out on the topic.

Smartphones and iPod Touch... like the car, I'm not sure why I think I want this. Everyone who has one can't imagine living without it. Maybe if I had one I'd blog more often, but it seems an weak argument for a service and gadget that costs somewhere between $75/mo and $150/mo. No one can seem to clearly tell me what it will cost and that is always a sign that you are being sold something you would not agree to if the facts were clear. I don't make money on the blog or Facebook, so why again pay so much to have more access? Hmmm....

So I got myself a lovely new knife set for Christmas instead. And with the money I'm not spending each month on an iPhone, I'm spoiling my kids.

Or paying my parking tickets. I've gotten four in the last two months. That's me, boosting local revenues in two states and a federal district. Just doin' my part in these hard times. (Times aren't that hard, you know.)

Or saving for school next year. Or for a new roof. Or for my daydream of a gas insert fireplace. We could buy three and a half high-end gas fireplaces for what we did not spend on a new car. We can afford more than two years of WeeE's amazing Montessori for what we did not spend on the car.

Thinking of it that way makes me feel good, like we are making good decisions.

The best thing in life are free, so they say. The photos are from Black Friday - the great day of buying. I missed the sales. All we paid for was a carousel ride, lunch at the museum, and parking. By far the best spent money all month.

Comments

[Auntie M]

Your girls are so cute! I can't beleive you still have that incredibly ugly hat that I made. Wow. I need to make that child some nicer hats. Hmmm...do I still have that cathat pattern and some pink yarn?

[Bill]

Later that same afternoon, I went to the Brentwood Giant here in DC. At the checkout the woman who was ringing me up looked at me and said; "You look handsome...you look like a time traveler."
I was briefly wordless, but then asked, "Do you get a lot of time travelers here?"
Without missing a beat, she replied, "Nope. You're the first"