I am a spendthrift. I buy jeans used on eBay, only shop sales and clearance, and get my hair cut and colored by students at a cosmetology school. These practices are pragmatic. I live in an expensive place and don’t make a lot of money but there is a hidden cost in frugality. It’s easy to forget to splurge, to declare your own value and enjoy some luxury.
My apartment could be described as falling apart shabby chic. The kitchen slopes dramatically to the south. One of the fluorescent lights doesn’t work after it rains (which it does every day at 3pm for 4 months out of the year here). The once well-manicured lawn lost it’s luster after the landscaper/property manager left a few months back. The owner has now been storing unwanted furniture and letting the garden rot. I could go on but you get the point. On Monday, Mate’s parents flew in for a brief layover and I caught myself adamantly objecting to him bringing them back to my place. I was embarrassed about the condition in which I was living and it took their arrival to make me realize it. It was a wake up call.
Luckily, I am no longer in a lease so I set to about an apartment hunt. I found a lovely little villa in a local “gayberville” that is stocked with stainless appliances, marble floors and a small private yard for the furkids. This move will drain my checking account as it hits at the same time as mandatory furlough days at work and Christmas. It will impact what little discretionary cash I have available. Nevertheless in a few weeks I am moving out of the ghetto because my happiness is priceless.
Your happiness IS priceless. Good for you for recognizing that. Hope your move is peaceful.
Jill
November 21st, 2009
Good for you!
Michelle O'Neil
November 24th, 2009