More successes with money

After my post on Sunday, I was trying to figure out what to do with the money we had gotten when the Hubby reminded me of an outstanding tax bill from Hawaii. We left Hawaii 3 years ago and the final year we ended up owing taxes. It was $700 and while I hated to pay it, it felt nice to have it taken care of and out of the way. Then last night I remembered we had a $500 bill from the dentist, so I paid that too. I hated the fact that I used almost all of our windfall on bills, but I was super excited that I hadn't blown the money and still had it to pay the bills.

I think back on the way I used to think and it just kind of boggles my mind. In the past, I would have gotten that money, $1300, and would have started planning what I could spend it on. I would have wanted to blow it on useless stuff (much of which I have laying around my house) and wasted it. This time was very different. I did want to purchase some agility equipment but rather than basing it on how quickly I could get it, I based it on what I actually wanted, what would work for our set up, and price. Not necessarily the cheapest but the best value for the price. So I did that and I am very proud of myself. I could have spent almost $200 on the few pieces that I wanted. Instead, I spent <$100 and will make some of it myself. I'm excited. And I'm proud of myself. Instead of going off and buying things on a whim, I really put some thought into it. Something that I didn't use to do.

On the note of buying things on a whim, I have a number of things around my house that I bought and do not use. Over the summer I'm either going to sell them or start using them. I'm thinking of the 2 little printers I have. One I got at a garage sale for $5 the other I paid almost $100 for and they both work pretty much the same. So maybe I'll sell one for $50. Or I'll come up with a good way to use them. I also have a photo negative scanner that I'm going to use this summer. One of my projects is to get those negatives scanned and decide what to do with the pictures. I'll probably have books made for the kids and us, but I'll see. The summer will be spent using the things I have and not buying new things. Between my new mindset and my new attitude toward money, I'm looking forward to the summer.