by Tricia
On Saturday, we packed up our fishing poles and headed to a secluded lake for a few hours of fishing.
The sun was shining, temps were in the low 60s, you could hear herons, ducks and frogs singing, we caught some deer frolicking at the lake edge, the wind was blowing enough to keep the bugs at bay, and the fish were biting.
Sigh. It doesn’t get much better than that. Wait, we have to add in my son’s screams of joy when he caught his first fish of the season. It was a four-inch sunfish, but I think it delighted him as much as if he caught a 25-inch walleye.
I couldn’t have asked for a more beautiful day. Thank you mother nature. We needed that. It did cost some money because we needed two new reels for our fishing poles and we didn’t have any worms ready so we had to buy some. We also had to buy fishing licenses for the year. Of course, there’s the cost for the gas to drive out to the lake…
In all it probably cost about $50 to be set to fish for the year (except for future gas costs). It is our goal to go out fishing more this summer, and eating our catch since we normally catch and release.
Will we catch $50 worth of fish to eat this summer? It’s hard to tell. I sure hope we do because I love perch dinners! Even if we don’t, the family time together is priceless.
I wouldn’t even worry about the costs. These moments you get to spend together will disappear in the future, so grab onto them while you can and savor them!
Twiggers is absolutely correct! Tricia, the cost wasn’t $50 – it was priceless!
The kids grow up so fast. My daughter left this morning for a two day field trip to New York City that the 7th and 8th graders in her school go on every other year. I can remember when she was in kindergarten thinking how nice it would be for her to go on that trip when she was old enough. Well, now she is old enough and I don’t even know how that happened! Capture these special times and moments while you sitll can!
Tricia, it seems like you guys are enjoying so many more simple pleasures lately. Some of them cost a little money – $50 for fishing, and $25 for Chucky Cheese, but you’re okay with that because you’re finally at a good place where your debt is rapidly vanishing, and you can afford to spend a little money every now and then. Do you think you would have felt stressed and guilty about these things a couple years ago? Isn’t it a relief to be able to just spend $50 for quality family time and be able to know that it’s okay, because you’re doing so great. I’m so happy for you!
$50 for 2 reels & fishing licenses!? Wow – not here in California. 2 fishing licenses will set you back about $78 dollars ($38.85 a piece), and depending where you fish, or what you fish for, you have to buy additional stamp(s). Factor in the cost of a couple of decent reels, and that $50 is easily doubled, if not more, here in California…
$50 is cheap entertainment for a summer of fun. If you catch some fish to help defray cost, even better 🙂
Arduous – A couple of years ago, I would have put everything on credit. I wouldn’t have stressed at the time. Although, there was plenty of stressing later on when our cards were maxed out and we were in danger of not making our payments! It does feel like this huge weight is lifting off my shoulders. We can pay cash for these things and it feels great.
Maria – in Michigan, our basic license costs $15. If we want an all-species license, it increases to $28 (basically also includes trout). We do not go trout fishing so we didn’t get the bigger license. I was talking to my husband about how great a value it is. When you think about it, it’s cheap to fish in Michigan.
We did get cheaper reels ($8/each). For the hook and bobber fishing we do, they should last a little while. But we may end up needing new reels before the season is over. I hope not.
Sounds like an awesome day! I think that $50 was money well-spent. Most importantly, it was spent consciously which can sometimes be the hardest part!