Spending…

My husband and I agreed that a small percentage of our side work money would be allocated for the beach camping trip. The cost of food was covered by our grocery fund but anything outside that budget had to be paid for with our extra cash.

I didn’t want to spend any money outside the budget at all, side work money or not, but the nitpicky nerd in me occasionally lightens up.

As my husband and I browsed Target with $40 in cash (part of what he earned from a difficult roofing job), all I could see were cheap plastic games I wasn’t particularly drawn to ‘waste’ money on. Based on the happy look on his face, he wasn’t seeing the visions of plastic hell I was. He saw hours spent hanging out with friends, campfires, handholding, and chorus’ of Kumbaya.

After an hour, he finally picked a game of lawn darts for $14.99 – on sale – and decided to spend the rest on… uh… not sure if I should admit this but, he spent the rest on ‘adult beverages’ to share with his buddies.

We had a really wonderful time camping on the sand, playing lawn darts, taking a sailing trip on a friend’s boat (my first ever), and… I think I caught my husband humming a few bars of Kumbaya as we walked hand in hand down the shoreline.

Posted by Beks on July 30, 2010 at 5:00 AM in Living Frugal | 8 Comments »
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Dream Mom responded:
Posted: July 30th, 2010 at 9:17 am
Good for you. I know that feeling of not wanting to waste money on cr*p at the store so I hear you. On the flip side, no one can work like crazy and not have any fun. I am glad you were able to find the balance and have a great time. I’ve found that when you stop and have a little fun, it makes going back to work and working hard, a little easier.

It’s so easy to not want to spend money and get out of the house; I have a severely disabled son that requires a lot of care 24/7 (Meds every six hours, feeding tube, unable to roll over at night, not toilet trained, etc.) and work only one day a week so I can care for him at home. As a result, I am very careful about how I spend my money (translated it means I’d see the beach toys as plastic cr*p too). I hate to spend money on going out to eat when I can make something at home that’s better and more nutritious. I have to force myself to get out of the house, once in a while and have some fun. That means spending a little money. I’ve found that when I do that, I am more enthusiastic about doing all of the chores when I get home. I’ve also learned that those times are good for my mental health and spending times with friends is also part of having a good life.
Nichole@40daysof responded:
Posted: July 30th, 2010 at 12:03 pm
You just gotta spend sometimes. Have a great weekend!

http://40daysof.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/gardening-and-food/
Nicole responded:
Posted: July 31st, 2010 at 12:14 pm
Awww, very sweet of you to let your hard working man have a little lawn dart fun : ) Glad you got away and had fun!
Moneyedup responded:
Posted: July 31st, 2010 at 10:18 pm
I’m glad to hear that you had such a great camping trip! It sounds like you two work incredibly hard for your money and go above and beyond your money saving goals by doing odd jobs. With that said, the extra items you bought for camping shouldn’t bother you so much. It sounds like lawn darts was a lot of fun.
Money Man responded:
Posted: August 2nd, 2010 at 7:19 am
hey seems like you had a great time. Frugal living does not mean living miserably; it can be fun too.
Dee responded:
Posted: August 2nd, 2010 at 11:17 am
That is exciting that you decided to go on a beach camping trip. It sounds like you have worked really hard on getting yourself out of debt. What a nice reward to go camping at the beach and play darts. Great post! What beach is this?
Chrissy responded:
Posted: August 2nd, 2010 at 2:01 pm
Next time, you can sing the Lawn Dart song here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc1G8pMe5dk

instead of Kumbaya. (The guy in the baseball hat who co-wrote this song, is a friend of mine).
Joseph responded:
Posted: August 2nd, 2010 at 10:37 pm
It’s good to be thrifty. Really good. However, money is meant to make our lives better or more enjoyable by helping us procure things. Don’t be too hard on yourself.