Moving On

Last night I went through a frustrating and aggravating experience that I am still recovering from. While trying to stay good with my money and not making any personal indulgence purchases, about a week ago I was delighted to remember that I still had (or so I thought) in my possession a 50 dollar gift card to Zappos left over from my graduation gifts. So, after perusing their sight for several days and finally landing on the perfect pair of glamorous platform pumps for an upcoming Christmas party, I decided to order them and pay the 21 dollar difference. So, last night, with wallet and laptop in hand, I was about to complete my order when I opened my wallet and to my dismay and utter perplexity, the gift card was MIA! I immediately scoured every nook and cranny that it could possibly be hiding but to no avail. I probably went through my wallet a total of 6 times and even went through my old empty wallet thinking I might have left it there. I called Zappos and they told me that the only way I had any hope of getting the gift card would be to contact the gift card givers and have them contact Zappos to be reimbursed and then reissue a card. There was no way I was going to make them go through that so after what felt like hours of hating on myself and near tears of frustration, I finally decided to wave the white flag and give up. So, my friends, all this to say is that there comes a time when you have to let go of a frustration situation that you want to beat yourself up for. Because I let my heart get so set on those beautiful shoes, I have come up with an alternate plan. I have decided to make up the 50 dollars I lost by doing odds and ends jobs, listing things on Ebay, and collecting some money I have at a couple local resale stores. Already I have done one household job I was told I'd get paid for, listed 3 Juicy Couture hoodies on Ebay, and made the plan to call the resale stores on Monday to see exactly how much money I have. That way, if all goes to plan I can finally purchase the shoes without any extra expense on my part and with the accomplishing feeling of knowing that I earned it and, in a sense was sufficiently punished for losing the gift card.

I think in this economy, working hard to earn every indulgent purchase you make instead of compulsively buying something with a credit card really helps add appreciation to the item and improves your relationship with money. Already, I feel like I am growing a lot in my spending habits and know that anyone can if they set their mind to it. Lost a big gift card? Slap yourself and move on. Come up with a plan to make up for it if you can. And most importantly, remember that there will always that "if I could just have" item and learn to make the most of what you have.