An urge to spend..

I remember a man in Les Miserables who married unsatisfactorily and proceeded to cheat on his wife whenever the opportunity arose. Peace with his neglected wife was therefore bought at the price of releasing the financial reigns to her hands, which lead to his subsequent penury. At least, that’s how I remember the story, although at the same time I kind of think that he was the proverbial “rich uncle” who left his money to the main youthful protaganist… so I’m not sure. But I distinctly remember the “if you leave me be, then you can have my money” theme.\par
\par
This story comes to mind every time the urge to shop comes upon me when Michael’s been scarce for a while. He is, of course, a faithful husband, but his job and community-mindedness leads to frequent busy periods throughout the year, and oddly enough I really do start to get the itch to go out and spend some “real money” (at least $30!) during these periods, and not on diapers and handsoap, either!\par
\par
Fortunately for Michael, my point of sale reluctance to buy anything not strictly necessary or at least economical is about on\’c3\’82\’c2\~the level of my initial reluctance to mop the floor, so I almost never make good on my mental threat. Last week I went out with the urge to spend and managed to make it home having only spent $3\’c3\’82\’c2\~at McDonalds so that the kids could eat their beloved French Fries and\’c3\’82\’c2\~play in the play structure.\’c3\’82\’c2\~Today we went out\’c3\’82\’c2\~to the mall and to Costco and\’c3\’82\’c2\~the only though I bought at the mall was a 3-piece outfit for Ezra with the last of his birthday money. I even refrained from buying the goldfish crackers on my list at Costco, since they are, after all, rather a luxury item. \’c3\’82\’c2\~