I had a bit of a let down this week. My kids have been wanting a certain piece of furniture, one of those Love Sac things that is part chair and part trampoline. Their cousins have one, as do a number of their friends.
So, we dutifully went over to the mall to check them out and had some serious sticker shock. The sacs cost anywhere from $500 to $1,000 each. Okay, that item was off the list.
Every once in a while I check online to see if any used ones come up for sale. One did today, but at $400, it was still far out of our price range. I made an offer, anyway for less, which was unfortunately rejected.
When these things come up, it is easy to get an attitude of sacrificing, but I would rather not look at it that way. I know what our budget can afford, and that indulging in one thing means eliminating something else. While the sac would have been nice, it wasn’t worth giving up something in another area. I look at not purchasing this item as saving not sacrificing.
If another one of these sacs comes around with the price that we are willing to pay, great! If not, we will be happy with what we have and move on to the next thing. Saving our money and making wise financial choices means peace of mind, knowing that we won’t have the stress of credit card debt, the possible loss of our home or other more serious problem. It is saving our sanity and security, not sacrificing a piece of furniture that we have been fine living without for many years. (And if you aren’t sure why you should bother getting out of debt, read this.)
Everything in this world is transitory. We are given things for a little while, and then they are gone, or we are. Saving for the important things makes more sense to me.