The Last 10 Things This 42 Year Old Mom Spent Money On

In addition to writing for the Financial Finesse blog, I also write for Forbes. One of the Forbes staff members, Samantha Sharf, laid her wallet bare and shared her last ten purchases. She then challenged other writers and readers to do the same. One of our financial planners, Scott Spann, took the challenge and shared his last ten purchases. Realizing first with horror that I am older than he is and second the need for people to see that we are not perfect, I took up the challenge to share my last ten purchases over the weekend:

Pizza: $10.00

I had great intentions – a healthy well-cooked meal that will enlighten my family to the joys and tastiness of healthy eating. Well, my family came home complaining, I did not feel like cooking, and I found a coupon so pepperoni pizza won. It did at least have tomatoes. Can I count that as a veggie?

Once Upon A Child: $10

As we sat down for pizza, I planned a quiet easy weekend. My daughter brought up a Frozen party hosted by Young Chef. The girls were to dress in princess dresses as they baked cupcakes. I was calm, thinking that she had plenty of princess outfits and I didn’t have to buy anything.

As she attempted to squeeze into her outfits, I realized that darn, she grew. Her dress looked ridiculously small. I am ashamed to say that I weighed the therapy she would need for the ridicule she would receive for wearing her current princess dress against fighting traffic in the rain to get her a new outfit.

I figured her mental well-being was probably more important and I took a chance and went to a local consignment shop called Once Upon A Child, hoping to find a princess outfit. I got the last Frozen dress in my daughter’s size. Prayers work.

Once Upon a Child: $15

I have developed “parent amnesia” and forgot that Monday was picture day. My youngest daughter, desiring to test my patience, waited until I got halfway home to remind me that Monday is picture day and her dresses no longer fit. Granted, I should have made the connection between her princess dress and an outfit for picture day, but I was going over how I was going to survive hearing “Let It Go” one more time without screaming. So I took a deep breath, turned around and luckily found an inexpensive outfit at the consignment shop for cheap.

Starbucks: $5

As I left the store, my kid started singing “Let It Go.” Since my choices were gin or Starbucks, I thought Starbucks was the more responsible choice.

Walgreens: $25

I completely forgot to get the birthday girl a present.

Starbucks: $5

Look, I know Starbucks can be obsessive, but I survived a Frozen birthday party. It was either a mocha light frappuccino or screaming.

CVS: $2

My daughter had one too many cupcakes and needed ginger ale to calm her sore tummy.

CVS (1 am on Sunday): $5

My daughter had an almost 103 fever and I ran out of fever reducer.

Gas: $20

I am in Georgia and I almost cried when I saw gas drop below $2. Scared that it would go up, I filled my tank.

Walgreens: $5

I went to Walgreens to return a movie at Redbox and bought my daughter Shopkin, a small expensive useless toy because she was sick and I wanted to see her smile.

Favorite Purchase: The princess outfit. I killed two birds with one stone – an outfit for her party and a Halloween costume.

Biggest Regret: Walgreens. Had I planned better, I probably could have gotten a better gift for less money.

Take a look at your last ten purchases. What was your favorite? What was your biggest regret? Feel free to share in the comments section below.

More like this:

The No-Tracking Budget

The No-Tracking Budget

Putting together a budget is one thing, sticking to it is another ...
Read More
Woman calling for savings account

Why You Should Start Saving NOW

Pretty much every personal finance resource will tell you that the earlier you start saving, the better off you'll be ...
Read More
3 Clever Ways to Trick Yourself Into Saving Money

3 Clever Ways to Trick Yourself Into Saving Money

Here are a few tricks I use to keep me on the straight and narrow when I’m tempted to raid ...
Read More

Subscribe

Be the first to know when new resources are published.