Life is Great

I have to say that life is pretty good these days.  It is wonderful not having to question every purchase.  I no longer have to stand in the aisle of the grocery store and compare the prices of name brand salad dressings to the store brand and wonder if the 20 or 30 cents savings will be worth it.  Will it taste as good?  Is a 35 to 50 cent savings worth the risk?  Does it matter if I buy the cheapest beer or do I want to pay the higher price for the brand I really like?  When I was unemployed, I became quite conscious of how much I was paying for my groceries.  I became a shopper at Food Depot.  Now depending on where you live in the Atlanta area - there are some good Food Depots and there are some Food Depots where most of the shoppers don't have most of their teeth or English is not their native language.  When I first started shopping at Food Depot I felt like a second class citizen.  I was poor and unemployed and I was shopping with other people who were struggling financially just to make it and buy the necessities.  No one shops at Food Depot because they want to.  I believe people shop there because you can save some money and for the most part many items are less expensive than what you find at Kroger or Publix.  I learned to swallow my pride and I learned not to pass judgement on others.  It was a valuable lesson and one I am glad I learned.  I truly used to be one of those people who thought that if people really tried hard, they could get a job and make a decent living.  I learned during my long stint of unemployment, that there are plenty of people who can't find a job and are struggling financially just to survive and it's not necessarily for lack of trying or for lack of taking any initiative.  

I was finally blessed to find a job.  I have gotten several paychecks and even though there is debt to pay on credit cards, I no longer have to stand in the grocery store aisle and compare the cost of good coffee like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts against Eight O'clock coffee and Food Lion brand coffee.  But I have learned that Eight O'Clock and Food Lion are really not bad brands of coffee.  But it's nice to know that I can stop at a Starbucks and get a coffee and not have to sweat over the 4 dollars I spend.  I'm not really a Starbuck junkie - so that might not be the best example.  But my point is, I don't have to think so much about every dollar I spend.  If I want to buy lunch out instead of packing my lunch, I don't have to think about how am I going to pay for that.  I don't have to wonder if the 4 dollar bottle of wine will be total swill.  Though I have to say I did discover some pretty good inexpensive wines -- try Mathew Fox that you can get at Food Lion sometimes on special - 2 bottles for 8 dollars. 

It's nice to be able to go out to dinner with friends and not search frantically for the cheapest dinner item on the menu.  I can order what I want to eat or know I will enjoy.  It's nice to be able to go shopping again for fun and not out of necessity.  I can buy a new shirt or two that I know I will be wearing for work.  When you are unemployed, you don't just buy a top because you want to or it would be nice to have a new top.  When you are unemployed you have to only buy new clothes that you desperately need.  You don't have the luxury of just buying something because it's on sale or a good deal.  But the other day I was in Kohl's and saw a little black dress on sale.  I did need a dress to wear to a fundraiser.  I did have an outfit I could have worn, but the little black dress caught my eye.  I tried it on and thought I looked pretty good in it.  I did actually sit and wonder if I should spend the money on it.  But I did have Kohl's cash to spend that was going to expire and I did have a 30% off coupon-- so I went ahead and bought it.  I know I will get a lot of use out of it.  

I guess my long time of being unemployed did teach me to be more frugal.  I am still all about the bargain.  But it is so nice not to have to sweat every cent.  I like to be able to live my life again and not have to think so much about money.  I am enjoying knowing that I am getting a steady paycheck and that I won't have to be wondering anymore about how much longer I can pay for the house or what I will do if I have an unexpected car repair.  It is great to have some financial freedom again.  I am not going crazy with my spending, but it is nice to be able to do some of the things I haven't been able to do for more than a year.  

Life is really good because I really can appreciate the small things.  I can be happy that I will go ahead and splurge on something and not have to worry so much about a bill coming later in the month.  I can appreciate the little blessings in life.  I wake up and just appreciate the fact that I have a job.  Whenever I am feeling tired or wish I could sleep in a little longer, I stop and tell myself that there are thousands at the unemployment office today and I am not one of them.  When I am sitting in morning traffic or evening traffic, I just tell myself that this is part of having a job-- and I am very thankful to have it.  It is allowing me to live my life and not just sit at home and play with the cats.  The cats on the other hand are not so happy.  But I will write more about that another time.