Mom’s Birthday Boots
Hey ya’ll! I recently celebrated my mom’s birthday and got caught up. What do I mean by, “caught up?” I mean I spent money I hadn’t planned on spending. Of course I know that never happens to you. You always plan how to spend your money and never make impulse buys, right? Sure…I know, I know, I sometimes do and after some prodding from my husband, I decided to come clean. He encouraged me to share my story because even the Di$count Diva has challenges! So here is how it began…I visited my mom for her birthday two weeks ago. I had already purchased us a cruise, but I wanted to do more. Now don’t get it twisted, I’m the Di$count Diva, so I got the cruise for $118 on for the two of us on Carribean Cruise Lines. They were giving away free cruises, and all you had to do was pay the Port Taxes. It’s not the costs of the gift, it’s the thought and quality that count, so we will be cruising to the Bahamas, somewhere she has never been, soon.I also knew she liked a pair of boots I have. They’re some flat, black suede boots that come above the knee and flip down. I must admit, they are my favs, and every time I wear them, she says, “I like them,” or “You should have gotten me a pair of those.” The only unfortunate thing was, I got them last fall from TJ Maxx, so they are well gone after over a year. However, I kept in the back of my mind, she loves those boots, and wouldn’t you know it…fate stepped in.
On my way home, I stopped at my favorite shoe store, Bargain Shoes, better known as the Jesus Store in Gaffney, SC. Wouldn’t you know it, they had a similar black suede boot for $28 with 50% off. So I got her those dream boots for $14!
This is where and how I got caught up. I thought to myself, even though I got her great gifts, a cruise and a pair of boots, I only spend $132, so I’m gonna get her something else.
Of course when I got home, we went out to lunch for her birthday and I paid for everyone at the table, which was an expected, but unplanned expense and the person I planned to go in half to get a flat screen for my mom flaked, I decided I would just foot the entire cost. Again, I’m Di$count Diva, so I didn’t spend a whole lot. Just $268, which I put on my credit card for a major electronics store, which at the time only had only a $98 balance. My good friend Tameka told me later, “you should have gone to the pawn shop, and I could have, but I usually don’t like to get gifts from there. Not for a birthday, but for an everyday gift, yeah. The truth is, I shouldn’t have purchased it, but I thought to myself, “you can just pay off this $366 next Friday when you get paid.”
How many of ya’ll know it never happens like that. So, one of my contracts started acting a little crazy, like they weren’t gonna pay me because I submitted my Invoice late. I take responsibility. We had a recent change and just started invoicing the company 1 pay period prior. I was supposed to submit the invoice by 9:00 am on Friday morning, but I forgot after I didn’t receive a reminder email. I sent it over about 5:00 pm, but never got a response. It was looking like I might not get paid until a month later.
Remember, I was planning to pay off this account, which I only opened to establish an additional credit line, on Friday. This same account offered 18 months with 0% interest on initial purchases; however, new purchases are at 29%. If that’s not Usury or Predatory Lending, I don’t know what is, so you know I wasn’t even letting that go 30 days. It was gonna be paid off ASAP because I didn’t want to give them a nickel in interest payments.
Of course, while I was at home, I also got an NSF for an Automatic Draft that I have requested to be stopped SEVERAL times. I don’t keep a lot of excess in my personal checking account. For me, it’s too tempting to spend. I keep it in vehicles that make me jump through some hoops to get it, but I usually don’t write down past $100, but…I paid for everyone’s dinner on mom’s birthday, and when that unexpected Automatic Draft came post, I was all messed up. Now the company has refunded my money, wrote me an apology letter, etc. but that’s not the point. Had I not spent unplanned money, it wouldn’t have been an issue.
So now, my contract is tripping about my pay and I got an NSF. Oh, ok, I see you YAHWEH. I didn’t even get mad. I thought to myself, what lessons do you need to learn, Lynesha? Besides, nothing can happen unless the Heavenly Father allows it and he was definitely reminding me of some things.
These are the lessons I learned.
Lesson 1: Stop spending money before you have it in anticipation of more coming. Don’t buy something saying, “I can pay this off Friday” or “I’ll pay this when I get my taxes.” Something ALWAYS comes to eat up that money.
Lesson 2: You don’t have anything to prove. You don’t have to go out of your way and put yourself in a bind to get anyone gifts.
Lesson 3: If you don’t have it in your personal account, then you don’t have it. There is no going into savings or putting it on a credit card. If you can’t write the check, leave it alone.
Lesson 4: Don’t put a price tag on love. You don’t have to buy “more” or “additional” gifts/things just because you feel like you got such great deals.
Lesson 5: YAHWEH is my source. There will be ups and downs in life, but at the end of the day, HE will still provide.
At the end of the day, everything worked out. My contract paid me, I paid off my credit card in full, and I got the NSF reversed, but I learned and re-learned some valuable lessons in the process and next time. Next time, I hope to overcome this temptation and make better financial choices, if not, it will come back again and again, until I pass this test. I will pass it next time!
(The picture attached is the boots I got my mom)
