An EGGcellent PerspEGGtive

When you have been justifying every purchase for 2+ years it feels really good to just buy something(s) without thinking twice. I'm not talking about a new car or a dream vacation of course, but a new cooler is nice, along with a few goodies for Jack's Easter basket. It always baffles me at how quickly the dollar $igns add up when you randomly throw little odds and ends into the shopping cart, and then realize you still need to buy toilet paper or another big ticket necessity. Next thing you know you are in the check-out lane doing the math in your head and wondering how the heck am I going to pay for all of this, and what can I put back? Is the $2.78 toddler silverware set really going to make that much of a difference? Maybe if I put the plastic cup, bowl and plate back too we will cut our bill by about $12...

I do not know anyone who enjoys having to live like that, and I only personally know a handful of people who don't have to. Most everyone I know has to watch their pocketbooks pretty closely these days, carefully sorting their priorities, putting financial obligations at the top and entertainment at very the bottom or sometimes not even on the list at all. Even the people I know who are not what I consider to be struggling still have to be smart about their money! We all have to decide what matters to us and use what money we have wisely. Period.

But this past weekend, in addition to our new awesome cooler, we loaded up the cart with a Coleman lunch box for Brett, a few mini freezer packs to go in it, some fancy mozzarella cheese for a pasta salad I wanted to make, a bunch of cute Easter things for Jack and topped it off with a well-priced 30-pack of Bud. When it was time to pay I could not believe we managed to hit over $125, but for once, I did not even think of putting anything back.

Old habits are hard to break, and some habits are good to have anyway, like being price-conscious or always seeking out sales, but this time I didn't really flinch too much at our Wal-Mart bill. I just took it for what it was worth, all $125+, and chalked it up to a great family outing. We deserved it.

But how quickly I turned back into my old McFrugal self the next day when having to buy 1 ticket at Stone Mountain for Brett. Since I am a member, my guests get in at a discounted rate, but the catch is that you have to wait in line instead of using the automated kiosks. Now I realize that some people HATE waiting in lines, and the price difference in this case between waiting and not was only $4, but for whatever reason, my instincts told me to choose the line over paying the extra money, even when the sun was hot and the line was S-L-O-W.  Looking back, I can only explain it as my habitual mentality, believing that every penny counts and that $4 bucks could buy my kid breakfast for a week. Maybe if Jack had been upset or disruptive I would have justified it differently, but the fact is we all have our priorities, and for me, saving $4 is worth a bit of a wait...but you know what isn't? Store brand ketchup. Yeah, that's right. I only like Heinz, and I will pay the premium for the good stuff. Just call me a snob.

Jack's 1st Easter: April 4, 2010, 8 months old

And you know what else really matters to me? Jack's Easter basket. Last year, for his first Easter, at a time when money was really super duper tight, I bought an adorable bright green football field-shaped bucket with a yellow goal post handle and filled it with Little People toys, Gymboree bubbles, Tonka trucks, a Nerf football and more! It was a gloriously colorful overflowing display of joyful Easter delight, and it was worth every second of my then 8-month old angel's excitement as he dove in to what seemed like a bottomless pit of surprises. I want to experience that again and again, year after year, and I will find a way, regardless of our financial woes, to always make it happen.

This coming Easter, the task is a little easier, with Brett having a steady job of course, and thus I did not put back the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse mealtime set or worry about the price of the basketball themed Easter basket. I have a collection of little gifts that have been piling up over the last few weeks, and now that I think about it, I am not even sure they will all fit in what I just bought, so I may have to pick out something slightly bigger. Also, this year Jack can have some candy, so I will definitely have to get him his first chocolate bunny! I can't wait to see him run around and find all the sports themed eggs we'll have filled with treats and "fruities" and listen to him squeal with each new discovery! He is going to have at least 3 official Easter Egg Hunts with all of our family celebrations!

So maybe we are spoiling him, encouraging overindulgence and spending way more than we should on silly plastic eggs and such, but I love it. I love the commercialization of holidays. I love the joy and hype that comes with it. I love the magic of the Easter Bunny and all the creative springtime themes. Where's the harm in that? You can't put a price tag on a celebratory spirit! Besides, I said "plastic" eggs, not "golden" eggs! And anyway, our money spent is good for the egg-conomy! It all balances out somewhere else, right?

Right. So we'll stand in the longer line for the cheaper tickets and shop at Wal-Mart for lower prices, but we will always eat our burgers with Heinz ketchup and fill our Easter baskets with (plastic) Egg-stravagance!