Financial Friday (on Tuesday): February Splurges

Image from Ironic Sans

One of my favorite books is A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. It's a classic coming of age story about a young girl named Francie. I easily fell in love with her and her mother, Katie. And every character mentioned in the book. Ever her drunk father.

My favorite part of the book is when Francie, Katie, and Aunt Evy have just finished a meager dinner. Aunt Evy is appalled when Katie lets young Francie pour left over coffee down the drain. Katie defends herself by saying, "Francie is entitled to one cup each meal like the rest. If it makes her feel better to throw it way rather than to drink it, all right. I think it's good that people like us can waste something once in a while and get the feeling of how it would be have lots of money and not have to worry about scrounging."

Katie is one of the most practical, hard working, and likable mothers in any of the fiction books I've read. She knows how much money a cup of coffee costs and how much is wasted when poured down the drain. It's almost nothing, even for her bleak family finances.

So today, using Katie as my example, I'm showing ways that even though I'm cutting back, I'm still found ways to make me feel luxurious and slightly wasteful last February!

Toothpaste. Last month I splurged on Marvis Toothpaste in Jasmine Mint. A regular bottle of toothpaste from the store costs around $3.50. So I'm spending $6.50 more on my teeth and I'm loving ever minute of it. Honestly, I have found myself brushing more just because I love the mild minty floral flavor. It's like nothing out there. Perhaps if this continues it will help with dental bills? Who knows!



Cleaning Products: I'm tempted to make my own cleaning products and save a little. But I went ahead and splurged in this area too. I bought Method laundry detergent and all purpose cleaner. Love the idea of not putting on ton of weird chemicals on my body, and I like their reduction of plastic in some of the packaging. Beyond all of that eco nonsense, I think their products smell really good. It's as simple as that.

And lastly, my February wasteful splurges included a beautiful bouquet of flowers. I still can't stop thinking about them. I didn't tell you this, but I emailed both Rob's personal email accounts AND work account telling him specifically which store to buy them from. The pressure was on. Every time I see the vase I think of the moment Rob came home with them. It took my breath away.

So if I continue to buy these things over the course of the year, it would cost me a little less then $20 a month. $240 a year. Kind of makes me wonder if it's worth it.