I wear a watch. It isn’t a particularly nice watch, I’ve had it for years. I’ve replaced the band and the battery at least once. Just recently it became obvious that I’d have to do so again. In the spirit of thrift I decided that this could be a Christmas present to me from Gleek. So today I sent Howard and Gleek to the mall to get a new band and battery. The bill for this service came to $45. I had no idea that it would be so expensive. Had I gone to do this service myself I would have walked out of the store and gone to Walmart and bought myself a cheap $7 watch. Instead Howard was in a store with a three-year-old Buying a Present for Mommy. The battery and the band were already on the watch before he saw the bill. There really wasn’t any way for him to back out of the deal.
Now I’m just sick to my stomach. We just spent $45 on a watch that I don’t care that much about. That much money could have bought hours of fun for everyone in the form of a game. For $45 I could have bought a DDR rig for the xbox which I’d much rather have than a stupid watch.
Now I’m stuck. If I don’t wear the watch the money is a complete waste, but if I wear it I’ll be reiminded every day of how stupid I am for actually believing that repair would be cheaper than replacement. I just want to cry.
addendum: Things which seem awful after a night of too little sleep, seem much much better after a nap.
It could also remind you of the fact that your husband and child really wanted to make you happy and do this thing for you. On the cosmic scale, the expense is small, and the knowledge that they wanted to make you happy should be large.
I would focus on that part instead, wear the watch, and smile, allowing it to remind you of love and of family.
===|==============/ Level Head
I’ve decided that when I wear the watch I’ll remember Gleek coming up to me with a big grin on her face and telling me “Mom! We’re going to wrap up your watch as a surprise!”
Funny you should weigh in on this, LH. Sandra and I remembered that we have not yet deposited nor spent the cash you “reimbursed” us with for the books and food back in September. It’s been squirreled away in the “Emergency Cash” drawer.
I’m calling “Emergency.” Sandra will get a nice gift from me, thanks in no small part to you and Anne. We remain happily in your debt.
–Howard
Oho! And I certainly approve.
“We’re going to wrap up your watch as a surprise!”
*chuckle*
Be vewwy quiet…
And if the “emergency fund” can help make troubled into happy, then that would be the best of its unusual features. ];-)
===|==============/ Level Head
Now you have a watch that
displays the face of love, and tells you you have
Time –
Enough For Love.
Quit being so hard on yourself
WHY is it stupid to assume repair is cheaper than replacement? Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. You didn’t know at the time, so don’t feel bad. Repair must have been the cheaper option at an earlier time, because you mentioned you’d already done that service once before.
The frugal mind will always *consider* repair as an option. The fact that you did say “let’s repair this” – for an item you didn’t care that much for to begin with – is a testimony to your efforts at wisely managing money. You could have said “Let’s replace this watch with one that I really like”, but you didn’t.
And why is it your fault that this was done? You only filed the trouble request, you didn’t have any control over how it was implemented 🙂 And I’ll bet this won’t happen again.
Re: Quit being so hard on yourself
Mostly it was the fatigue talking. I don’t feel this way about the watch or situationg now. But I’m not going to delete the entry because it was true at the time.
Re: Quit being so hard on yourself
I’m very glad that you feel better about this now. I must admit that I do sympathize with that initial “ACK!” reaction. Take care of yourself. 🙂