We got wii'd on Tuesday!! It's been one of the funnest things we have invested in in a very long time. And I'm not feeling guilty at all. For those who are wondering HOW OR WHY we would go and spend $450 on a gaming system when we are trying to get out of debt I'll share a little insight.
Getting out of DEBT is like going on a diet when you are obese. If you put yourself on a fad diet that restricts all the things you love and deprives you of some pleasures than you set yourself up for failure. The same thing applies to getting out of debt. I know you can surf the web and find tons of blogs from people doing radical debt reductions by living on the barest of essentials and they are having success and don't mind doing it but that is not for us. Yes we plan on applying as much as we can to paying off the debts we have incurred and are slashing our budget in every way possible to do that but we are also not leaving out some fun. Like a diet , if you deny the things you love eventually you will fall off the diet and have a benge--some can go on a benge and get right back on tract and others go on the benge and give up. Either way you never learn the real lesson and that is it's ok to enjoy yourself IN MODERATION. There is also this little thing called STRIFE that tends to rear its' little head when money is concerned. If you really want to have a good fight with your spouse just bring up money!!-lol!! It is vitally important when you begin to dig out from debt that you watch and guard yourself from strife. If you don't plan for some fun than you will have NO FUN and once fun and joy are out the window things go down hill fast.We know this road to debt freedom is not a short one but it doesn't have to be a weary one either---it is totally ok to have some fun while you walk that path to financial freedom!!
Since we have already cut out major things like satellite tv or cable and are cutting out the netflix we choose to use a little of the tax refund for a one time splurge on something we could use and enjoy EVERYDAY. The reason the wii was chosen as our splurge was two fold. One it can be used by everyone and promotes family unity as we are all together playing along and second it has the benefit of aiding us in our quest to be healthy!! Now there may be some out there laughing about that last statement but let me tell you 30 minutes of wii fit games and you will know in the morning you had a fabulous workout! In fact the one thing I wanted the most was for John and I to focus on our health together and in the 24 hours we have had the system he and I have spent more time exercising together than we have done in the past five years. I SAY TOGETHER as I have already been working out but NOW I CAN WITH MY HUSBAND and have a great time also. This alone was worth EVERY DIME SPENT!!!!
we won't be buying any new games for a while and will rent some from the gaming store first to see if it's worth our money so there is no wasteful spending on a game that no one likes or enjoys. The system comes with enough games that are fun and will keep us busy for a while anyway so no need to rush out and start spending any more.
Other things we are doing for entertainment for the rest of the year that we have no guilt in spending money for are the renewal of our zoo pass as that provided a wonderful and very rewarding playdates for the boys and I this past year. I will be keeping my eye out for when they do the membership drive as last year during three days in April they offered memberships for half off. Ours cost $65 and so getting it for $30 is may goal this year. We are also planning on getting a pool membership from our local community. We have fabulous pools here in our town with great kiddy pools and I plan on going with the boys as often as possible to help burn off there energy during the summer months. Since the pools do have some evening hours John will be able to join us for some family fun after a long day at work. The house we left in Wagoner had an in ground pool so we are use to being able to spend the summer in the water--the cost of the membership is LESS than what the chemicals used on the pool at the other house so this year will actually be a bigger blessing to us financially because we aren't spending so much on the chemicals and extra electric for the pool pump not to mention the water you have to keep adding because it evaporates!!
And our last "entertainment" money is for the boys T-BALL. We hope to know what team we are on and will be starting practice soon!
By allowing some recreation in our budget our hopes are to not become discouraged during our "DEBT DIET" so to speak. There are ways to have entertainment for totally free and I don't have a problem with doing any of those, RENTING DVD"S FROM THE LIBRARY IS FREE, GOING TO THE PARK IS FREE, MOST LAKES ARE FREE TO SWIM IN. We may include all of these in our life also but I wanted anyone who is following our venture into the land of more than enough to know you can spend some money on yourself and not feel guilty about it.
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