Living the American Dream

Mac and I spent the first 10 years of our marriage living the American Dream i.e. spending way more than we made.  We weren't doing it to impress anyone or to "keep up with the Joneses".  We were instead doing it because it is fun.  It is fun to buy new things.  It is fun to go out to eat whenever we want.  It is fun to buy gifts for our friends without thinking about the cost.  It is fun to buy unnecessary things for the girls.
Well in the last year and a half we have matured.  We have gotten serious about being responsible adults.  We don't want to live paycheck to paycheck especially in this economy when jobs aren't as safe as they once were.  Mac and I have both made cut backs.  We have both given up things that we really don't need.  I no longer get pedicures, especially since I am not pregnant and can bend over and paint my own toenails.  Mac has cut back on his trips to Starbucks.  He makes his own coffee at home and at work.  We set a budget on the amount of money we can spend each month on presents for birthdays and weddings.  Sorry if you are born in a popular month... We have cut back on babysitters.  We allow for money for one night of a paid sitter. On the other nights if we can't get a family member to do it, we don't go.
The hardest time for me not to spend money is in the summer.  I am not working so I am home creating projects in my mind.  Things that will improve our house, make parenting easier, or be fun to do with the girls.  Most of these projects get purchased but never finished.  Most of them don't even get started after being bought.  When I am not wasting money on projects I am throwing money away at restaurants. My teacher friends like to get together to eat since it is hard to stay caught up during the school year.  While I love visiting with my friends these 2 hour chats can cost up to $40, especially when I have to bring the girls and they get the over priced Mac'n Cheese.
This summer I decided to babysit one day a week and have a garage sale to help cover the costs of some of my summer spending. This week I brought in an extra $500.  I put it on the hutch and I had a list in my head of what I was spending it on, however Mac had other, more responsible plans.  He wanted to pay bills, how Dave Ramsey of him.  I know he is right but still...
I decided that since I am really trying hard not to throw away money I can just make a list of the expensive things I would like to spend the money on.

1. New flooring in the toy room.
The current carpet we have came with the house.  Between the girls and the cat the carpet is GROSS! No matter how many times we vacuum or clean the carpet it just doesn't cut it. The once beige carpet is a rainbow of colors from marker, juice, nail polish, and illegal snakes. I refuse to go barefoot in my house because my dainty feet just can't handle the crunchy spiky texture of the carpet.  As for the smell, well no comment. I know $500 isn't enough to pay for a new floor but it is on my dream list.

2. New laptop for ME
This is totally 100% a selfish purchase. Now that I have discovered my new love for writing I get frustrated when I have to wait my turn for the computer.  I also get frustrated when someone reads something I have written before I am ready to share. I am ALSO frustrated when I start to write something, put the computer down, come back to it a few days later only to discover I can no longer find what I had previously written.  The document has faded away into the great unknown.  That is frustrating.

3. A day-cation to Six Flags.
We have no vacation plans this summer but I think it would be fun to go to Six Flags for the day this summer.  This would be a great family adventure plus A1 has a free ticket from school that she got as a reading reward.  It would be horrible not to let A1 go since she spent all that time reading, not that she even knows what the ticket it for...

4. New running shoes
I have had my current shoes for a year and I would like new ones. I read somewhere that you should replace running shoes at least once a year so it must be true even if I haven't exactly been running in them very much.

5. Refinish the kitchen cabinets
This is my pintrest project of the summer.  I would really like to replace the cabinets but that would cost too much.  With this project I would only have to to pay for stain... This would be one of those projects I would buy materials for but never start or beg my sister or Mac to finish. 

I absolutely need want all of these things but I will instead save it to pay the chiropractor.  Thanks to the chiropractor I have only had 2 headaches in the last two months.  Going from daily to only 2 in two months is amazing and totally worth spending my extra spending money. Hurray for being an adult.