Thankful Thirty #10 (1st-World Problems)

Source: laurawinslowphotography.com via Michelle on Pinterest

For my birthday a few months ago, my husband told me he was going to be buying me a new tablet. We did the research and decided to get on the waiting list for the new NookHD, which should be coming out in the next few days.  It's a very spendy gift, and he knew back then that I'd try to talk him out of it a dozen times before I actually have it in my hands (even though I bought him an equally spendy ski pass for the birthday he just celebrated).  I haven't disappointed him in that.  

The problem now is that I've come up with a different item that I can see being MUCH more useful.  I need a new good quality camera.  There is no way on this planet we can afford one that would be much different than the one I have now, but it is on it's last leg (if I use the zoom my pictures turn into a weird retro film-look with yellow stripes through all the faces).  And I don't want to tell my husband because I have a terrible habit of ruining every sweet idea he has for me.  I know that I/we would end up loving to have an e-reader/tablet, but the practical side of me sees that a camera would be a much wiser choice.  My stomach is in knots as I see the Nook release date looming closer and closer and knowing that the money is going to be spent and gone on an entertainment piece solely for me.

Terrible problem to have, right?  Deciding between too equally frivolous items because my husband loves me enough to give me whatever I want.  And yet, I'm not feeling apologetic.  I am slowly learning that sometimes I have to let things be about me.  If only that would make my decision easier....

I am grateful that for a brief moment in our family finances, 

we can afford to have such a 1st-world problem.

In My Heart On Thursday

                                          It's 10 minutes, but worth it. 
 I started crying at 4:29 and the tears kept falling
Thank you, One Mom's Moxie, for posting it for me to see

Uniquely December: National Pawnbroker's Day

My husband has a friend who bought his wife's engagement ring at a pawn shop.  If I have the story right, she was on board with the idea and went along to help him pick it out.  Since then, when recounting the event, they've heard a wide range of opinions on if that is okay.  

The yeah-sayers tout it as a GREAT money-saving move.  They got a much larger ring at a much smaller price than they would otherwise have been to get.  

The nay-sayers walk away shaking their heads, jaws wide-open.  Building your future on another person's failure.  Where's the upside in that?

I'm definitely of the camp that says, "Go for it!"  My engagement ring cost about $15 from a kiosk in the mall. When I lost that one we replaced it with the same thing and when I lost that one it had been discontinued and I was out of luck.  My wedding ring is a plain gold band and it's perfectly fine.  But, one day I'm going to get myself a big flashy ring and if it can be bigger and flashier because I got it at a pawn shop, all the better for me!

Which side of the pawn shop aisle are you sitting on?

Obnoxious Sales People

I spent the last 5 days working with my sister at a Holiday Mart sponsored by the Junior League of Denver.  In addition to her Etsy store and wholesale accounts, she often sets up a booth at arts/music festivals and craft shows and invites me along to help her out.  Normally a show weekend is fully of obnoxious laughter and hordes of unhealthy food and we love it!  This weekend we definitely had a lot of that, but nothing about this show was like anything I've ever experienced before. 

Brooke and I have a very personable and somewhat laid back sales style.  She believes strongly after 6 years in business that her jewelry sells itself.  Her pieces are unique and her work is beautiful.  We're very good at reading our customer and knowing if they're interested in hearing more or not.  Sometimes it's helpful to explain that everything is made out of recycled flatware, and sometimes it's better to leave that unmentioned.  Whether they see that part of the jewelry or not, she attracts a wide range of shoppers.  In the end, for Brooke it's not about making a ridiculous amount of money.  Instead it's about making sure that the people who make a purchase LOVE the piece they buy, will wear it, and will  tell their friends they love it.  

Contrast that with the aloe vera lotion booth that was located directly across the aisle from us this weekend.  They were seriously obnoxious!  4 salespeople peddling a 9 oz. jar of handcream.  The four of them stood in a line at the front edge of their booth hollering at every person passing by...

"Try it!"

"Free hand massage"

"Mine's better"

"No grease. No fragrance!"

(This was our favorite as one of the salesman was heavily accented and sounded like he was yelling, "No greasy, no pregnant!")

They were loud and they were persistent.  Once they had a shopper's hand they engaged in a literal tug-of-war until they had the customer moved from the center of the aisle to the rear of their store.  Each passer-by suckered into their space was subjected to the exact same sales pitch while having their hand or arm accosted by the saleperson's hand clenched around them.  

It was terrible for our business.  Traffic that normally would have wandered through our space were either reluctantly pulled over to the other side or running past as fast as possible with eyes pointed towards the floor and not risking the chance of making eye-contact with anyone at our end of the row.  The people who did decide to venture into our store were primarily escaping while their friend had gotten hi-jacked across the way or wanted to bad-mouth the obnoxious-ness to us.  No matter how we looked at it, it was bad for business.

At one point on our slowest day the most well-intentioned of the lotion salesman wandered over to offer us a little "sales advice."  My eyes darted to my sister in the back of the booth and I'm still not sure how she maintained her composure as he tried to tell her that he knew better how to run the business she's created and is as important to her as almost anything else in her life.  

For a lot of reasons, we were more than happy to pack up our booth and get out of the building as quick as possible after closing time.  It was the worst-managed show Brooke or I have ever worked.  But mostly we were eager to get away from our over-achieving neighbors and enjoy some much needed peace and quiet.  I will give the aloe vera lotion team credit for being professional.  They travel 52 weeks a year and do what they need to get a paycheck.  I researched their product today and it seems to have a legitimate following.  If I hadn't watched them making sales by pressuring people all weekend I probably would have been interested in trying it out.  Unfortunately, as it stands, throwing my support behind that company is not likely to ever happen...

I'm curious, what type of sales style do you best respond to?

A-N

Making Money

Back in high school I wrote out a plan whereby the world could stop using money.  If I remember right, we would all go on a honest bartering system and we would all be happy.  Sounds nice, doesn't it?  Never feeling like you're lacking or deprived as long as someone else will trade you.  I'm thinking that idea won't soon be winning the Nobel Prize for Economics.

My life seems to be constantly tied up with the stress of money.  My brain is taxed to the hilt on payday as I divide a decent amount among an overwhelming number of bills and responsibilities.  My inner self struggles daily against the temptation of shopping.  The weight of unwise credit card debt keeps us aware of our bad choices.  My husband endures a lackluster job that allows us to leave adequately well.  And we wonder how our parents raised families on considerably less.

So what are we doing?  For awhile we've been half-doing Dave Ramsey's financial program.  It worked really well in the beginning and now we've just drawn it out too long.  We do have an emergency savings but need a shot in the arm to continue getting where we need to be.  I know he always says, "Beans and rice, rice and beans" but it seems like it would take eating our food storage every night for awhile before that would get us too far ahead.

We talked recently about moving into a small cheap apartment as a way to build up extra money each month. Truthfully, that's what we've done for our whole marriage.  The place we're living now is the first place we've really loved and for the perks that come with it, we'd be sacrificing more than just shelter to move out now.  

And we've talked about getting part-time jobs.  Indeed, I started applying for seasonal jobs this afternoon.  I'm not 100% sold on the idea, but it seems like a better solution than asking my already hard-working husband to be gone from his kids even longer every day.  If I think about it long, I do start getting excited about contributing again, especially imagining my check's chunk of money disappearing our debt directly.

We will keep on keeping on, but I'm curious...

when in similar situations, what do you do?

Want more A-Z?