a penny spent is a penny invested

...or something like that.

I'm convinced that in every married couple, there is a spender and a saver. One likes to be thrifty, the other wants to be nifty. Ideally, the children will see both sides of the coin (pun completely intended) so they learn how to spend wisely while still enjoying some of the finer things in life. I think I've come pretty close to mastering this lost art of affordable indulgence.

For example, today I had $23 in my wallet. I didn't need any groceries, and I had a little gas in my car, so I decided to run errands and replenish some necessities. Here's what you can do with a twenty.
    ~sandwich, chips, and water from local bakery: $4.40
    ~stamp: $0.48 (walked to the post office and bakery, so saved gas)
    ~toothpaste with coupon: $4 $3
    ~deodorant with package coupon: $3 $2
    ~4-blade razors with coupon: $5 $3
    ~strawberry plants on sale (probably won't even grow, but oh well): $3 $2
(I could spend another post on the sales at Food City this week, but I'll spare you. Just think of 2/$5 V8 Fusion and Buy 1/Get 1 breakfast bars!)

Wait, it gets better. I also had a coupon for a $5.99 dry haircut at Great Clips, which I sorely needed. I didn't bother to wash my hair this morning, and you all know what a mess my hair always is... My mane was so tangled the stylist offered to wash it for FREE just so she could get her comb through it! "Girl, you been ridin with the windows down or somethin? Let me just wash this; I won't charge you."

The moral of this story is that coupons can only do so much, but there is no substitute for unruly hair.
Total Friday Spending: $20.87. Price Without Coupons: $32+

...all this on a day that started with speaking to the mysterious crippled man who walks around town.
Me: "Good morning!" Man: "It's hillbilly time."

Then I almost stepped on a dead bird in the road, but obviously it wasn't an omen.
I consider this a day well-spent.