Friday, June 10, 2011

Struggling with the “More Monster”

Remember my friend that visited me last week, Robin? And remember she’s moving to Iowa? Well, they’re moving there and temporarily staying with her best friend Katy. I obviously don’t know Katy that well other than what I know from Robin and the few times we’ve spent time together, but she wrote a very interesting post the other day about the More Monster.
Her goal is to be content with what she has. I think it’s a great and noble outlook. And I may be a little jealous because there are still a lot of things I want, especially before the baby comes. Many of the things that I want or need are for the house and baby. For instance, we have a glass coffee table we are eventually going to have to replace once Ethan starts to pull up. I know that we’re going to have to buy a dresser and nightstand for the nursery. Granted, I did pick out pretty cheap furniture, but that’s still $200+. Plus there are other stores that I didn’t register at, like IKEA, that I want stuff from that will come out of my pocket.  I really want a recliner for the living room to rock Ethan. We have a glider on our registry for the nursery, but I know there will be many times when I’m going to want to be in the living room watching TV when trying to get him to sleep. We have an old recliner for free I got from my friend, Tara (see the one comment on the Swiffer post and that’s her!), when we graduated from college. There is no telling what is growing in that recliner. I remember one time when Emmitt was a puppy, I was eating cereal in the chair and he came running and jumped in my lap spilling milk everywhere! And technically, it’s Emmitt’s chair. It’s where he goes to look out the window and growl at the neighbors. (Can you tell I’m really trying to justify a new recliner?!) I know I’ll need to invest in nursing bras and tanks pretty soon. This weekend we’re buying Jay a suit. Actually, 3. K&G has a sale, buy one get two free! Also, I’m currently working on a stockpile of things for us (make up, toilet paper, etc) and the baby (diapers, wipes, etc) and organizational tools to help with the stockpiles.
I’m sure there are other things that I’m forgetting that are on my “things to get before the baby” list, but the point of the story is that I only have 2 months to get all of these things. We both know our main priority should be saving, not racking up a large credit card bill to pay off slowly in the future. If I’m able to stay home with Ethan, then I know for a fact we won’t be able to get these things. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all about free things or items on sale. For instance, I found a great coffee table that’s on sale at Kirkland’s this weekend for $75! It’s perfect, just what I’ve been wanting. But I have less money in my bank account right now that what that table costs. So now I’m in a pickle. Do I buy everything I want and need now and then worry about paying off credit cards later? Or do I just pay for what I can when I can and if I don’t get everything, just suck it up? ….Ugh! Yes, I know that’s the right answer!

2 comments:

Linz said...

Even though you already posted again after this, I'm still going to comment on this post. I think it's very noble and selfless of you to actually be concerned about not wanting too much. And like you say, some of it you want for Ethan, but some of it you want for yourself.

Because you are already thinking of how this will affect your credit, you are already ahead of the game. You're not just buying it because you want it, so that's good! And maybe some of the things you like but can't afford will be given to you as gifts or bought with gift cards and then they'd be FREE, YAY!! :)

Melinda Hathaway said...

Hey Em. It's Mom. I sitting here at the hospital on Aunt Mel's computer. I just wanted to say how proud I am of you. You have done a great job prioritizing things. You will make good decisions about what you need and what you want and I have trust and faith in you that you will follow your instincts. I'm so proud of my baby girl!