The spending freeze, or, How I learned to stop worrying and love my debit card

Today I broke the spending freeze that B and I agreed to. Fear not, he won't find out about the breach by reading this blog; I asked him for his opinion before I even added the dishes to my online shopping cart.

The spending freeze was my idea. It's a way to minimize non-essential expenditures before the wedding, and so far, B and I have been stuck to it. One tactic is to plan our expenses for ATW (after the wedding), including new everyday dishes. Our dishes are mismatched and they stack badly in the cabinet, and they just don't match the style of our living/dining room, so we thought buying new ones together would be a fun activity--in a few months.

But then trouble started after I received an email at work about a spring-cleaning drive. We can bring in household wares (apparently "ware" is a real word), including dishes, sheets, and towels, to donate to a homeless shelter. I immediately thought to myself, "I have some dishes I could donate, but I can't donate them unless I have others to replace them..." A frenzied text messaging session ensued between B and me. I expected B to be the voice of reason and to say that we ought to observe the spending freeze and wait. Luckily for all of us, my persuasive sales technique prevailed, and I purchased the (deeply discounted, of course) dishes.

I think the issue stems from one's (and certainly my) tendency to live within one's means. In college, I got by on a smaller income, and I dealt with it--you learn which ATM dispenses $10 bills, and you figure out how to make 3 batches of hamburger helper last for lunch and dinner for 3 weeks. (Yes, I accomplished both, but the latter feat of wizardry is never to be repeated again because the overexposure left me unable to even smell the stuff without wanting to make a run for the nearest farmer's market.)

After your income surpasses the poverty line, you find you have a few more options, and it's hard to "deprive" yourself (whether actual deprivation would take place is questionable) of stuff you want when you know you could figure out a way to make it work. I just have to take a step backwards and realize that every expense now might mean one fewer fun item on our honeymoon.

I'm hoping that attitude will prevent me from upgrading all of our silverware and glassware (both of which are also being collected for the drive).