Bag Of Torments

Conundrum:  A difficult choice or decision that must be made.

More money reflections . . . 

I sent my sister a picture this morning of my food pantry where I have about 97 cases of generic flavored carbonated water stacked up.  See, I got a coupon from my grocery store offering me a $5 discount if I purchased $50 worth of food.  The conundrum for me was that I didn't need $50 of food.  The conundrum was complicated by the fact that I didn't want to buy things I wouldn't ordinarily buy, for this would mean that the grocery store had won a round, enticing me into spending money on things I didn't need just to get the discount - which IS $5, by the way.  I defeated the system by purchasing this staple that won't be affected by sitting in my pantry for several eons.  Unfortunately, I snapped my ankle hauling in what seemed to be around 212 pounds of carbonated water. 

But I had a coupon!

Even better is the fact that the cash register generated this $5 coupon after I had successfully redeemed a $6 coupon on a $30 order.  Obviously, the 6 on 30 - or 20% - is better than the 5 on 50 - or 10% - but $5 is $5 right?

Loaded up on my phone is a picture of a small notebook that I liberated from one of my mother's stockpiles of odd things.   I'm using the notebook as a journal.   Anyway, the notebook is from the aforementioned variety chain store that went out of business in 1994, so it's not holding up too well - paper begins to weaken and break down as the decades stack up.  I've had to resort to holding the front cover on with a rubber band which I think was originally used to hold together a bunch of radishes that I bought from the grocery store that gave me the coupon, come to think of it!  Maybe I even bought the radishes with the coupon, the net result being some free radishes to me!  Suck on that, grocery chain - I have your free radishes AND a free rubber band!

Anyway, I've been thinking about my mother and father and their relationship with money.  I have to remember that these are people who grew up in the Great Recession and during WWII when things were scarce, the future uncertain, protections and care from anyone but one's self not guaranteed.  I think that money, to a certain extent, was a comfort rather than a luxury.  I think that mom/dad enjoyed the security blanket of having a money cushion more than they would have enjoyed a BMW.  When I bagged up the clothes dad had in the nursing home so that we could donate them to his church I was not surprised to see that they were . . . ahem . . . nicely aged.  Now, dad didn't care about clothes and he viewed clothes shopping as something Satan has in his bag of torments but still, a new sweat shirt or two?  My sister would have gladly picked those up for him.

Because money is one of those things that is fraught with peril for me I talked to my sponsor about it.  He listened, he chuckled, he said: " I think your folks would want you to enjoy the money.  I'm sure you'll make good decisions."

Had to cancel that order for a $1,800 Fendi wallet when I got off the phone.