Well, if you read my celebratory post earlier this week, you’ll know that things seem to be working out for me and getting a little better. I called two medical bills that were being debited from my bank account and found out they were both paid in full. (Yahoo!) Of course I do still have three new bills from the recent surgeries and tests that total around $1700.00. I’m working on getting one lowered but they’re still pretty big bills.
Even still, I was considering buying myself something for Christmas. I figured I worked pretty hard and did a good job paying my bills and not wasting money so maybe I should splurge on something for myself. The problem with this thought is that you shouldn’t really get rewarded for doing what you’re supposed to do. You’re supposed to pay your bills. You’re not supposed to waste money. Treating myself for those things is kind of dumb.
Not only that, it would be somewhat counter productive I think. It’s the habit of frivolous spending that needs to be changed (at least in my situation) and giving myself a break even at Christmas is a recipe for disaster.
Maybe a small bottle of nail polish or something is fine. A fancy coffee from Starbucks. I was actually thinking about going big though, like UGG boots or a new digital camera. Granted, I don’t need either of these things and the 100-200 that they would cost could be much better spent on paying down the new $1700 medical bills.
I’m guessing a lot of people have this problem at this time of the year. Fighting the urge to be frivolous or spend too much money because, hey, it’s Christmas. Why not? Wait until after Christmas and once you’ve read everyone’s “I went into debt for the holidays” stories and you’ll realize why not. We work too hard to throw it all away just because it’s the holiday season. I don’t want to sound like Queen of the Pollyannas, but Christmas is not supposed to be about spending a truck load of money anyway. Don’t go bananas and stick to your budgets all the way through. You’ll feel better after Christmas if you do.