Enjoying some last minute spending

I've been enjoying some last minute spending before 2012 begins and my wallet is closed.  I went to Target and got whatever I thought we "needed" before the year begun. I've also had a few excessive drinks at Starbucks.

You may think, "well, that kind of not spending isn't going to save us money," but it might.
Today for example, I went down to the National Mall with my kids. I stopped at Starbucks and spent $7. Later on, I brought the kids over to the carousel, which I thought they would enjoy looking at.  No, my son just wanted to play in the dirt. He glanced over at it a few times, but wasn't that intrigued. 

 I thought about my children then, and how wonderful and easy they were to entertain. Also, how cheap they were. I was gloating over my cheapness as a mother.  I was thinking how great it was that I hadn't bought them any presents for Christmas - and the beautiful thing was, they didn't even know they were supposed to get presents!  I am, and always have been a supreme cheap-o.

Well, 30 minutes into the dirt playing, little boy looks up and asks to go on the Carousel.  I could have told him, "no, sorry, we can't go on it." or "oh, that carousel is just for looking" and that would have been the end of it.  But in a moment of spending frivolity, I looked at the ticket booth which both took Credit, and allowed children under 1 in for free, I forked over my plastic and spent another $7 for the day.

So we had our delightful 3 minute carousel ride. 

And 20 minutes later they were both playing in the dirt again.

Most young children are really easy to entertain and don't need fancy toys, snacks, or entertainment devices.  I was reading the newspaper this morning and Suri Holmes asked for $130,000 worth of presents, including a pony, diamond earrings and a fairy princess dress, all of which her parents were going to buy for her.   Does a 5 year old really need that stuff, probably not. No, definitely not.

What else could $130,000 buy? In Waslala, Nicaragua, a college student project has turned into a Social Justice project that is transforming lives. Water for Waslala  is seeking to provide clean drinking water to the entire state of Waslala.  So far, they have provided water to 3000 people in 12 rural villages.  It takes $100 to provide one man, woman, or child clean drinking water for life. Suri's Christmas list could supply clean water to 1,300 people for the rest of their lives.

So what about my $14 adventure today? Does that really make a difference in spending? Well, yeah. Since I go out almost every day with my kids, it does.  I try to limit my spending to once a week. $14 once a week is $728.  That's 7 Waslalans with access to clean drinking water, that's almost 4 months of student loan payments, that's enough for....

A cow - $500

A flock of chicks - $20
 

A pig - $120

A flock of geese - $20

 

 

 

 

 

 ...from Heifer International with $8 left over for a modest Starbucks trip for you and a friend - or two rides on the Carousel, plus $1 for a homeless dude.  That $728 is money that can transform lives and make the world a better place.  To me, that's what this year is about.  I want to spend less frivolously so that others may have more. Even when it means paying extra on student loans or building up savings, it means that we pay less interest in the long run - and are able to have more money later to give away, or if we have savings - we build a safety net which we can rely on instead of needing to go into debt.  

A trio of rabbits - $60