This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure for more information.
I have something to admit. We blew it big time this month. Above our typical expenses we spent another $1,000 on discretionary items. What’s gotten into us? Have Mr. and Mrs. Groovy donned their spendy pants? Have they fallen victim to the siren call of “THINGS” that beckon “Buy me! Buy me!”? Hardly. But in the past thirty days or so we’ve done something unheard of in the Groovy household—we’ve forced ourselves to spend money. That’s right. We overspent and we liked it.
Before you become disappointed in us let me tell you how we spent the money.
- Dinner: $170
- iPad: $300
- Washing Machine: $500
Why on earth would two people spend $170 on dinner? Was it a special occasion? Well, yes, it was our anniversary. But it’s not like we usually do anything spectacular for our anniversary. And we didn’t hit a particular milestone year in our marriage. But what happened is this.
We promised ourselves when we reached the MustachianThreshold we’d treat ourselves to a very special dinner. And—we didn’t. Then, when we received our federal tax refund, which was $2,000 more than we expected (due to some year end tax loss harvesting), we promised we’d treat ourselves to a very special dinner. And—we didn’t. Then, we promised we’d treat ourselves to a very special dinner after reaching five hundred followers on Twitter. And—we didn’t.
So when Mr. Groovy researched Doc Porter’s—the distillery he wrote about in his Craft Economy post, we learned about a farm to table restaurant in Charlotte called Dogwood Southern Table (DST). DST, which good ole Doc Porter partners with from time time, has an eclectic southern menu. It serves local beer and spirits, and it’s in a fashionable neighborhood we haven’t been back to in a long time. Finally, we made a decision—not just a promise—to dine at DST for our anniversary. And it was well worth the wait.
To say we felt pampered would be an understatement. First of all, we had dinner over the course of two and a half hours. That’s a far cry from the 10 minutes it takes to eat at Sonic, or the scant hour we might have spent at The Olive Garden when celebrating other occasions. Everyone from the manager, to the cook, and to the waitress whose namesake drink I ordered, stopped by our table briefly to chat.
The food was outstanding. The drinks were good. And the atmosphere was awesome. Afterwards, we took a short stroll to check out the neighborhood before returning home. But the best part of all was the conversation—we didn’t discuss work, the list of errands we needed to complete that weekend, chores for the blog, or the need to visit my aunt in the nursing home. We just chatted—about nothing and everything.
It was money well spent!
Now on to the iPad. For months I’ve been researching tablets. I’ve been following sales since before Thanksgiving to purchase either the iPad mini or a Samsung tablet. I finally took the plunge and purchased an iPad directly from Apple.
I don’t need a tablet. But it’s something I’ve been coveting for more than six months. My fat fingers have been annoyed with me for overusing them while surfing the net on my cell phone. And my eyes have been scolding me for the constant strain I put them under while squinting at my cell phone. I wear my glasses but they don’t help much. While using my recipe app for dinner I still need to march over to Mr. Groovy to ask him to read me the directions.
“Enough already” Mr. Groovy said. “By the freakin’ iPad.”
So I did.
And it was money well spent!
And then there was the washing machine. Oh yes, my nemesis. That hulking piece of metal with a mind of its own. That wretched beast had me playing guessing games and nearly drove me crazy. Will it stop in the middle of a cycle today? Will it move on to rinse? Click, click click—then a pause. Oh c’mon, you bast*rd! Lemme hear you switch gears and start agitating…I think it will, I think it will—and then, nothing!
I’ve heard of babying a person, but babying a washing machine? Sheesh! Mr. Groovy even nick-named me, “The Laundry Whisperer”. Good grief I had enough.
Have you tried to research a washer these days? Good luck. The product reviews are no help because they’re all over the place. You can’t trust any of them. And apparently, finding an appliance that will simply clean your clothing is too much to ask for. There’s no such thing in the washing machine business anymore. Everything is HE (high efficiency) this and HE that. The machines have gotten so complex some of them even have sinks attached to them. I wouldn’t be surprised if next year’s models can cook your breakfast too.
So we had a big decision to make. Do we buy a low-end machine and leave it to the folks who buy our home when we relocate? Or do we go high-end and take the machine with us? Well, we ended up going middle of the road. We spent $500 on a Whirlpool HE washing machine. Fingers crossed but so far, so good. Mr. Groovy can finally relax on the sofa downstairs without hearing me cursing the washing machine upstairs. He even promised me he will start doing the laundry himself!
Oh yes, indeed—it was money well spent!
Leave a Reply