Skip to main content

Overspent

I had the oddest nightmare last month, one that seemed to last forever. I dreamt that I went shopping, and while at a local market there was an offer to sign up my favorite person for a beauty contest. Since I think she's beautiful I did just that.

Some disclaimers before I describe the rest of the nightmare:

1. I don't like beauty pageants.

2. I would never sign up someone else for something without consulting them.

3. I have a budget for everything, and I look at the prices of everything before I buy it. I also calculate my spending while I'm shopping and check the receipt immediately after I've checked out. I never break my budget. Never.

Okay. I didn't look at the receipt, which was weird thing #1. I paid for it with my only credit card, which was weird thing #2 (the limit on that credit card would never have allowed me to check out successfully.) I got home, put away the groceries, and then took the receipt to put it in my family box (I save all receipts, even if I don't need them for taxes.) Then and only then did I see the total: $386,999.99, most of which was for services involved with the beauty pageant.

I became paralyzed by this huge total. I knew the credit card company wouldn't pay it, and I certainly didn't have that kind of money in my checking account. I'd have to tell my guy, who is just as frugal as I am. How could I have been so foolish? I tortured myself over it for what seemed like hours and hours.

Just before I woke up I resolved to return to the market and ask for a refund. Even if it meant my favorite person couldn't go to the pageant, which totally distressed me, I couldn't afford to do this for her.

On some level throughout the dream I knew it wasn't real. I would never behave like that. Also, I am not intimidated by money or make such bad financial decisions, so I'd never end up in that situation. It should have seemed silly, but I was very anxious and upset, as if I had to work out something via this ridiculous situation. I think the whole thing was triggered by the health insurance nonsense now. I have to sign up for coverage without knowing exactly what I'll be paying, which seems like the kind of thing my thrifty, budgety brain considers a nightmare.

Image by Steve Buissinne from Pixabay

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Goodwill Gamble #2 Arrives

My second Goodwill gamble arrived; this is one I paid ten bucks for last month. Just inside the lid was a big roll of plastic mesh that I think is for latchhook work. In the auction listing it looked like fabric to me, so that was unexpected. Someone at the seller's end was nice enough to put a note on this pinned fabric. I'll put on my gloves before I take it out to inspect it. The embroidered green fabric turned out to be 1-1/2 yards of sequinned and three-dimensional designer fabric. I'll guess this cost somewhere between $20.00 to $30.00 a yard, and it's in pristine condition. But here's a shot of everything in the lot, which is mostly crafty odds and ends with a small amount of cotton fabrics, a large amount of synethetic fabrics, and some other surprises. The original owner of these was probably a Catholic school teacher; these beads, crosses and medallions are the kind of rosary kits for kids to make at Sunday school or Bible camp (and s...
Post a Comment
Read more

Love Means This

Invested in a couple of hand-dyed bundles from one of my favorite fabric artists. This one said "Make me into something for Valentine's Day." So I went for a quilted and embellished tote. I kept thinking about what love means to me as I worked on it. Here's the finished tote. Although I was tempted to embellish with beads and pins, I got sick and only felt well enough to do a little stitching every night. As I worked I thought about how often love seems disappointing to us, especially when it fails to live up to our expectations. But now that I've experienced love in many forms, I can say that it's made me a better person than I might have been without it. Love is a precious thing, and should be appreciated in all its forms. I am very grateful for the love of my guy, my child and my friends who have stuck with me all these years. That's you two, in case you're wondering. :) Also finally found something to do with a ve...
1 comment
Read more

Fabscrap for 2023

In December I made two orders from Fabscrap. The first arrived with this giant spool of variegated taupe yarn; it's more than enough to make a nice big wrap or a lap blanket. I also added two pounds of mendable sample garment tops in this particular order. I made a mistake and clicked on large for the size, and then later read that they were out of stock. I expected they would backorder my order, but instead they made some delightful substitutions. This pretty pink top doesn't need any mending or alteration. This is a dress, I believe, and it looks to be in perfect condition, too. A white eyelet blouse, also in new condition. Keep in mind that all these garments are $8.00 a pound, which works out to $4.00 each for this order. That's cheaper than Goodwill. I even got a coat. That neon green faux fur on the cuffs definitely has to go, but I love the coat. This is a yard pack of neutral naturals. The linen alone (on the right) is worth about $25....
Post a Comment
Read more