Treating Yourself...........?
 

Does anyone else "treat" yourself to something you do not "need". I do shopping once a month, there are two of us and we raise our own meat. I budget $100 for other things per month. I buy EITHER cashew nuts or dried aprocots, each @ $7.00....love them.

We groom dogs and take the tips to buy them so it does not come out of the budget. Hubby treats himself to several great cups of coffee a month. I also save the tips for some extras that I might see during the month, we decided that the tips are not to be put in the budget but are for "fun" things. Usually saved from month to month. Tip saving now to buy paint to paint all the inside of the house. We heat with wood so all needs a refreshing.

My mom, in her day, called it "pin money". Anyone...............?

Dried apricots are available at the dollar store for $1 or Aldis for not much more. Cashews, when I had a thing for them, were always cheapest at Walgreens with a BOGO (around $3/can).

A few bucks of pin money a month is a sanity saver.

Guess my pin money spending would be on books, usually downloads for my tablet. Travel a lot for work and really enjoy my reading when I'm missing home.

We've pretty much always bought what we wanted the last few years.. .From guns and ammo, to Starbucks an chef's tasting dinners.. Now that we plan to move now, we're down to pretty much only buying what we need.. Yes, we'll still go out for dinner once a month or so, but it's only a fraction of what we used to pay for a nice dinner... Now we do Chevy's or similar at most... Used to be we'd do the finest places DC had to offer..

Gun and ammo buying got put on the back burner too, but now that ammo is getting cheaper, I'm pushing for more... We tend to shoot up a lot. My wife thinks it's more for sport... but I do it because you never can be prepared enough.

I have in the past had 'pin money'. Not now, we just watch what we buy. And, by the way, cashews and apricots are health foods. I shop at a Mennonite coop and get that type of thing much cheaper than from a grocer.

I will look at Aldi the next time I am there, thanks. We play this game......."what if" here. What if money was no object, what would we do different? I would get aprocots AND cashews each month, and a new truck (new to us).......our life style is so ingrained in us, nothing major woulds change. Giving to food pantries, local fire deptment more etc. Just because you have money does not mean you have to spend it.

I do NOT judge, whatever works for each family. I also keep an OLD leather change purse in my car. Granddaughter will sometimes ask IF I have any extra money to stop and get a treat. Sometimes I say yes, sometimes no. She had learned that you can not always have what you want...she is 4 years old.

Love the "pin money" it is a real treat to decide what to do with it, silly maybe, but we enjoy the little bits of "special things" throughout the month and know we received the money by making someone happy!

I agree with Harry Chickpea that having a little pin money is a sanity saver. It's ours to spend or save, to lavish on something that catches our fancy, or to buy a little treat for someone else. We can blow it on something senseless or fun, and never blink an eye because it makes no difference in the big picture.

I used to have shopping trips or catalog browses that were full of hopes for the future, because there wasn't much I could afford at the time. It was a chance to plan and to dream. That was good stuff.

Now I can pretty much afford whatever I want, but my frugal ways haven't left me. If I see some shiny doodad that I want, I have to ask myself if it has a place available in my house. I have to ask myself if I take it home, what can leave? Am I buying something, like a shirt or pair of shoes, that's very much like what I already have? Do I like it better than the ones I have? Or, if the ones I have were there in the store, would I likely choose that which I already own? That causes a lot of stuff to stay in the stores, and keeps me from longing for new stuff. I can admire and feel at peace, because I don't need to take it home.

I believe we should elevate certain things to the status of gifts to ourselves. A perfect cup of tea in a china cup by a sunny window, where we can admire the afternoon. A moment to pause and reflect on the beauty of the sunrise, and the gift of this day. Flawlessly prepared toast glittering homemade jam. Watching, really watching, the play of a dearly loved child.

I have a collection of bird's nests. They're incredibly small; some no bigger inside than a nickel. Some are big enough to hold a silver dollar. The magic is these nests are kept hidden all season, until a big fall wind tosses them out of the bushes and in the path of my mower. I always stop and pick them up, because inside, like a little secret, are the black, gray, and tawny gold mane and tail hairs the tiny birds collected from the fields where my beloved horses live. In each nest I see Zanetta, McEachan, Forrest Gump, and Henry Ryder. These are gifts that have no price, but are still precious to me.

Other than that, I'm an absolute nut for organic dark chocolate with coffee bits and sea salt. :teehee:

I used to until I could no longer remember my PIN number.

When I have a few dollars in my pocket, I sometimes add it to a land payment extra principal. The taste stays a little longer. I buy what I need and think about things I want. It satisfies me. I am more inclined to buy a treat for others.

I'm not much of a spender, so my pin money goes to my biweekly trip to goodwill outlet. $5-$10 gets me books and fabric and an occasional pair of jeans. Doesn't take a lot to make me happy. :)

I love having a wee bit of pin money. You are right - it is a sanity saver. I have a thing for buttons and will sometimes spend a wee bit on an extra fancy set when something more plain would do. I also like to buy embellishments of the sort that people use who do scrap booking. I tuck them here or there for my mom to find during the day. One time I found some little penguins that were on ice skates and they had little hats on. They were so, so small and had a sticky back to them. I would periodically stick one someplace where she would eventually find it, but not right away. The corner of a mirror. On the cup she uses when she has soup. On the edge of a window sill. She got the biggest kick out of finding these little penguins here and there.

For myself, other than buttons, I simply love having either a new Christian music CD (yes I am old fashioned and haven't some other means of playing music) or a fresh clean notebook and a nice new pen to write with.

Beer.

I also love finding small things at Goodwill or a thrift store that my sister would like. It's fun to give her a little basket of odds and ends. She loves china tea cups. Or a bit of lace that she'll use making something. Or I will sneak over to her place and put a potted plant on her doorstep.

Sometimes it's more fun to spend a bit of pin money on someone else. It doesn't have to be fancy. Maybe some berries from the grocery that my sister wouldn't be able to afford in Winter. She simply loves berries. Or I will get my mom some yarn or some cards that she can send to others along with some stamps.

I'm happy when I can pay the phone, water and electric and have a little for food:) my mom sends me macadamia nuts and little treats once in a while- I don't think about getting this stuff for myself even if i have a little left over. cause if I have a little left over what makes me happiest is to buy my dogs and cats a treat (like steak that has been reduced or chicken leg quarters - tomorrow at Piggly Wiggly for .69/lb) Right now all of my seeds have been bought and I'm saving for fencing and duck eggs and goats. That makes me pretty happy too :)

I do this once in a while too, I think we have to. Depending on your budget, and what you call it. Yesterday neighbor & I went to the Sr. center & ate lunch-$2.50 each. Then played Bingo, $1/card.
We didn't win. :(

Massage. I carry so much tension in my shoulders and upper back that it is closer to a necessity than a luxury. I hope to find a masseuse one day that is willing to barter for organic veggies, honey, homemade bread or sewing.

My treat is occasionally buying Cafe du Monde chicory coffee. Maybe this will be the year I get a bed of chicory going and start making my own.

I budget for a few extras every month ... books (mostly Kindle downloads now and almost always only books that I'm certain I will want to keep to re-read) ... "good" chocolates on occasion ... pizza ... the occasional meal out at the Chinese restaurant.

I also have my treats in my budget, if time get rough that's a great place to cut, but for now it is sanity! We're currently lucky in that my income is good and I have to be careful about not treating too much. But that income could go away at any time so I try to balance everything.

My treats are kindle downloads with the occasional new book from a favorite author. Mango coated almonds and coconut rolled dates at the co-op when I get to town and a pizza from the local pizza parlor.

When I get the urge to spend money I try to do it on preps with good deals on Amazon, that way it's something that will always get used.

This has been fun, now to go a step more...............how much do you consider "pin money" per month? Not all my grooming customers tip so I am super happy to have tips = $25-$30 a month. Hubby grooms the big dogs, I do the small...we total the tips and divide by two. Ohhhhhhh good, it is the end of the month!!!!!!!!!!! I sooooooo agree, a little something for others makes me happy too!

I should take the 5th on this one...lol. Probably about $200 per month all together.

Painting dvds, instructional. They're like little chocolates to me, each different, each so wonderful.

And a rosebush. Oh yes, rosebushes......

I treated myself this morning. I gave myself an extra hour laying in the nice warm bed.

Probably an average of around $40 to $50 a month.

Some months I spend very little on books, for instance and other months several of my 'established' favorite authors will come out with a new book that is a 'must buy'. With even Kindle downloads at $10 to $12 for some authors, the heavy 'new publication' months can definitely go over budget. Same thing if we go to town more often than once a month and I'm feeling stressed ... the chocolate budget tends to escalate!

I buy guns, and not just regular practical things, NFA items, it's a nasty habit it starts with a small suppressor and the next thing you know you are a form 1 junkie making your own sawed of shot guns and AOW's. I like'em either really quiet or obnoxiously loud :)

I just got a couple used ones. what kind do you like?

music cd's or downloads are another treat for me. those come from our family acct.

I use money when I sell a painting. I find it great fun to treat the family to supper, usually just pizza or some fancy ice cream or other thing we don't usually have.

if i spend it for myself, it depends on how long its been since i've had a just-for-me thing, how much it is and how long i've wanted it. the longer i've wanted it and the more i'd use it, the more i'll spend on it. recently i spent $300 on a couple horse things that i've wanted for several years, will use very often and I had the money due to artwork sales. so why not. and I am very happy i did, love them, adn they will be used for years to come.

Pin money for me is under 20.00. Usually under 5.00. Anything more than that seems like an investment.

Tango, my mom used to send me little care packages years ago. She would put things in there that she knew I wouldn't buy for myself. Dove chocolate. Cashews. Now I like to find little treats for her that she wouldn't get for herself. Dove chocolate. Cashews. LOL!

Ohh....We Love Dove Chocolate. We keep a bag of the Dove Dark Chocolates in the fridge all the time. We like the Hershey's Bliss chocolates too, but not as much.
Believe it or not, that is what we have for our regular "Dessert" after supper most evenings, just a couple of squares of Dove chocolates, makes wonderful Dessert....

E-T-A...I forgot to add......We really don't use pin money. Our Chocolates are a "Necessary part of Life", for us.

If there is something I want during the year I buy it, if we have the money. It's not often that I "want" something that I don't need.

I don't really have to be quite so careful, but I just am. Often have some around, but I can easily eat too much of sweets or chocolates, so mixed nuts, trail mix or dried fruit are more of a staple for me. Substitute well for other items. I really miss a little cream or half-and-half for my coffee, so I'd put that on the "pin money" list. Aldi, bulk-foods stores and dollar stores can be good sources for dried fruit and nuts. Check the per-ounce price for best buys, of course. I stay away from foods labeled "China".

Sugar. 10 pounds of sugar(less than 6 bucks) will make a 5 gallon bucket of wine. Which is worth a great bit more than the $6 it costs. Makes great gifts, and an easy cheap way to entertain your friends. Legally, you can make 200 gallons of wine a year, so I strive to keep the required(for 200 gallons) 400 pounds of sugar. But then, what if the SHTF for real? Maybe I'd need 2, or 5, even 10 years of sugar. 20 even!! 20 years worth would be 8,000 pounds. See how easy it is to get to the point where people think you're crazy? "What the heck is in that room?" " Uhhh, 8,000 pounds of sugar"