Crisis Averted Temporarily

Crisis Averted!  Temporarily...
By Pappy

Christmas was a couple of months ago and my kids received gift cards to Target for 15.00 each.  I took them to Target without their gift cards so they can look around and know that they couldn't get anything that day because hey, no money.  Instead, they could price toys out, and if they were particularly interested in a toy, they could have me take a picture of it so they'll remember it whenever we come back.

We went back to Target the next day, with the gift cards and my daughter found the toy she had wanted the day prior, but it was five dollars more than she had on her gift card.  Another financial present was coming to them from a different relative, so I tried to explain to my five-year-old that she should wait until she gets the rest of her money and then she'll be able to buy what she really wants.

You could see the gears in her head turning.

My son, who is three, found the two things he wanted right away.  He could have one or the other with the money he had, and I asked which he preferred, a small Lego set of the Batmobile that didn't come with any people and cost 5.00, or the Lego set of Catwoman's motorcycle that came with Catwoman and Batman (wearing some sort of special batwing cape) that cost 12.00.

He chose the Batmobile.

That's a three-year-old for you.  He knows what he wants and isn't enticed by bonuses or the fact that one is obviously better because it's more expensive.

We need to be more like my son.

When my son ran into my daughter, she was very sad because her brother is getting something and she doesn't have enough money to get what she wants.  So she did what I think any five-year-old would do:

She went nuts looking at prices and finding just about everything in the entire toy department that even LOOKED like it was under 15.00.

I tried explaining to her that she's not going to like these things, given time.  She'll get bored of them and she'll STILL want the Lego set.  

"Right now," I said in my infinite fatherly wisdom, "you don't want to buy something you WANT, you just want to BUY SOMETHING."

She thought about it and moved on a bit, putting down the handfuls of random crap that she had somehow managed to obtain, and compromised with herself, and looked to her brother for inspiration.  She picked a small bag of Legos that were 5.00.

I know a losing battle when I'm in one, so I let it go.  If she all-of-a-sudden wants a bag of Legos she didn't want the day prior just to satisfy the consumerist itch, then so be it.  

We then went to get some odds and ends, and somewhere in the aisles of Target my daughter pulled me down and said that she didn't want the bag of Legos.  She wanted the set she had me take a picture of and she thinks it's smart to save her money, combine it, and come back and get what she wants.

She may have been just trying to please her parents, but I'll take what I can get (besides, how much longer can I look forward to her doing that?  Far too soon there will be rebellion, and boys, and curfews,  and arguments about freedom, and requests for gas money, and promises that Patrick is a really NICE boy and I have nothing to worry about.  *shudder*).  She put the bag back, and walked out of Target happy.  She waited, received the promised financial present from a relative, went back to Target and bought what she wanted.  She said she feels great about it.

I've written posts in the past about how saving money is hard.  It's easy at first because the potential sacrifices are small.  You have ten bucks saved!  You could blow it right now on a new set of strings, or you can save.  So you save.  You have a hundred bucks saved!  You can buy a few pretty cool things or you could save.  You have a THOUSAND bucks saved.  You can buy so much cool stuff it would blow your mind, or you could save.

You... could... oh god, why is it so HARD to save?!

That's the GAS problem.  The other day I was thinking about the money I have saved for my Taylor, how the finish line looks so far away, and how right now I could buy a couple of other things that I really want.  An Orange TH30?  A vintage Guild hollowbody perhaps?  

Or I could save for what I really want and be happy with my purchase.

I'll keep saving.  Not only because I know it's what I really want, not only because if I cave, all this work would be for naught, not only because of the fact that if I do reach the end of the line and decide the Taylor isn't for me (just talking crazy right now) I could buy a ton of cool stuff for the money I saved, but also because I want to be a good dad and practice what I preach.

So for the moment, my will is strong.  Sometimes it weakens a bit and I might email friends that have Guild collections to see if they have any for sale and, if so, what are they asking for which models.  But I always add that I'm just curious.  I'm just wasting their time, really.  If they're really friends, they'll understand. ;-)

XXX---XXX

This post is brought to you by Shanghai Music And Sound!  They're a small guitar shop in Ponca City, OK, but they’re able to order you anything from the companies they stock with popular names like Ibanez, Orange, Vox and others. They’re more known for their great Gretsch prices and offering the customer modified budget Gretsch guitars that are upgraded to reflect specs closer to the ones that cost close to $2,000.00 and up. They are also the sole manufacturer of the Shanghai 64/1, a modified Princeton Reverb clone that is built completely in-house, with point to point wiring and a truly awesome tone. You can see my review of the Shanghai 64/1 here and some videos of the amp being demonstrated here.