Evolution

No, I'm not about to go on a rant about Charles Darwin. I'm talking about personal evolution. Today Billy and I ran to Costco around lunch to see if they had this month's book club book: The Girls from Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow. They didn't. On our way to get a hotdog, I just happened to look at the price of that Canon EOS Rebel Xsi DSLR camera I've been salivating over for a while. It was $150 MORE than the last time I saw it.

Insert Homer Simpson's drooly sound here...

Not gonna lie, I kinda pouted for a minute. Just days ago Billy and I were talking about maybe treating ourselves to a few things if we did, in fact, get a bonus at work. This was on the short list. Until now.

As I was drowning my sorrows in my hotdog, I had an epiphany. A little voice inside my head said "Well, maybe I don't really need it right now." Holy crap. What was that? I just grew up.

That took me to what I learned in the most recent Dave Ramsey lesson from this weekend: Buyer Beware, more specifically the segment called Power Over Purchases. When making major purchases--which these days is anything over $100 for us--Dave Ramsey recommends you go through these 5 little steps:

1. Wait over night. Get over the high of a significant purchase. If you go back and it's not there anymore or not on sale anymore, that might be God's way of saying NO! You don't need that camera/puppy/Coach purse...
2. Carefully consider your buying motives. No amount of stuff will make you happy. Don’t let your stuff get you! Is it a need or a want? WANT. Next...
3. Never buy anything you don’t understand. I will admit that I know way more about photography than I did 6 months ago. I guess I was justifying it by saying Well, I can't REALLY learn if I don't have anything to learn on, right? WRONG. I still have a perfectly awesome point-and-shoot that I still haven't mastered.
4. Consider the opportunity cost on your money. What opportunity are you giving up by spending that money or saving that money? We would be giving up the opportunity to become $600+ closer to being debt-free. In my book, that's a lot more valuable.
5. Seek the counsel of your spouse. What does Billy think? "You don't need it right now anyway, really." Sigh.

I'm not really sure what to do next. Obviously, I won't be buying a camera. I've tossed around the idea of putting $50 away every month until I have enough to buy it but the idea of paying COLD HARD CASH for it is a lot sweeter. I may even get a better deal.

Time to go work off that hotdog.