A Fool and Her Husband's Money

In September, Target came out with a Fall line of home decor.  Included was an off white, cable knit throw blanket.  It was beautiful.  And, reasonably priced for such an item.  Only twenty dollars.  "Only," I say, as if I have money to squander.  Don't misunderstand.  I am not claiming poverty here.   We are blessed that Hubband has a good income.  But, we only have the one.  I am expected to stick to a tight budget.  And, we are saving everything else so we can relocate soon.  In light of that, I could not bring myself to spend twenty dollars on a beautiful blanket.

Then, in early October, Sam's class at pre-school was requesting donations to go into a raffle basket for the Fall Festival.  One of the items requested was a throw blanket.  Well, I may not be willing to spend twenty dollars on a beautiful blanket for myself, but there is no reason I should be uncharitable.  So, I went and bought the blanket, and donated it to the school to put in one of the raffle baskets.

The Fall Festival was in late October.  The kids had great fun.  And, the raffle baskets looked fabulous.  Many with awesome (and expensive) prizes.  I could not help myself.  I really wanted to win the basket with that blanket.  Or the basket full of twenty dollar gift cards.  Or the week's free tuition.  The more tickets I had, the better my odds of winning.  This is just a statement of fact.  So, I bought twenty dollars worth of tickets to win a twenty dollar blanket.  And I did not win anything. 

You think I would just cut my losses.  But, no.  I was so disappointed that I had already spent forty dollars and had no blanket to show for it, that the next time I was in Target, I bought that blanket.  Yes.  Yes, I did.  I spent sixty dollars for a twenty dollar blanket.  I love that blanket.  I cuddle up with that blanket every night before bed, in my little corner of the couch, where I sit and drink a cup of chamomile tea and read my Bible, searching for proverbs on wisdom and frugality, warm in my shame and my blanket, which I love.