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May 7, 2012

An expensive weekend, i.e. impulse control fail

This happened Saturday:

The phone still works. It's just dangerous to use the touch screen, as it feels like my finger will be shredded at any moment.

I have no job. I have exceedingly finite resources at the moment. It still took me a good 15 minutes to wrestle myself out of the "I'll just go buy a new phone" mindset. Even knowing the phone was insured, that Superman had a decent one I could borrow until the insurance claim was processed, and the price of a new phone would be about $300 more than the insurance replacement, I found myself stuck because I wanted to just fix it right then. The only way to do that was to replace it right then.

I finally got unstuck from that mindset. I could deal with the working but shattered phone until Superman brought me his spare that evening. He would handle the insurance claim, and I would have a new phone within a day or two. That is exactly what happened, and I'm expecting the new (red!) phone by UPS today. I still owe Superman the $$ for the replacement.

On the way home after sorting that mess, I started thinking about the heartrate monitor I've been wanting for several weeks. I hadn't done any research because I can't afford one now. I just knew I wanted one. I wanted to track my heartrate over the course of a day, to tell me how many calories I burn just being me. I wanted to know what exertion level my runs are at, and maybe tweak them to improve performance and weight loss.

I almost went to the sporting goods store that moment, but didn't. Instead I went home, did a little job hunting and prepared to go out that evening. Superman was treating me to a night of karaoke. I like to go singing at least once a month, but refused to even consider going because I have no money. Superman insisted and offered to pay for the whole night. Somehow that didn't happen. I don't know why I'm so obstinate. I brought cash and paid for the majority of the evening myself. Not a huge expenditure, but still. Not in the budget, and not in the plan.

Sunday afternoon I got it in my head to start researching heart rate monitors. The next thing I know, I'm at the sporting goods store comparing features and prices. I wanted something with memory, so I could wear it for 24 hours and track the results. It was important that I be able to change the battery. I figured I could get what I wanted for $50, which turned into $70 at the store.
I am not a scale person. The number on the scale has dictated my mood for the day too many times, so I got rid of mine and refused to step on one for a long time. I'm not sure what possessed me Sunday, but right under the heartrate monitors I saw the scales that tell you water weight and fat percentage. I grabbed one of them on my way up to the register. Ok, $100 instead of the $50 originally planned. Not good, but not horrible.

$40 for what I thought was a $30 scale. $120 for what I thought was a $70 heartrate monitor. I was in the zone though. I didn't even balk at the total, just said "well THEY weren't hung in the right place...."

I thought about returning both, on the way home. I really wanted to do my little 24 hour test, though. I thought about returning the heartrate monitor afterwards. I noticed the warning about returning only unopened packages, as I cut it open. So much for that idea.

I could probably take the scale back, except it showed me what I've been trying to ignore. I've gained more weight than I thought in all my recent binging and lack of exercise. I currently have the thing tucked away in a closet. I'm thinking I can use it when I want, but won't be compelled to use it every time I see it because I won't see it. We will see how well that works for me. I threw the box out in a bag of nasty cat poop and table scraps, thereby destroying my chance to return the scale, too.

Today I woke up and my ice trays were full of water. The freezer felt like a refrigerator, and not a really cold one at that. I've known since Friday the freezer wasn't acting right. I'd gotten it to freeze again once, and yesterday cleaned off the coils in hopes that would fix the problem. That did not fix the problem. Luckily, the repair was only $200 for a new relay, instead of $1K for a new refrigerator.

That's almost $500 over the last 3 days, that I couldn't afford to spend. Half of it was avoidable, except I have exceptionally poor impulse control.

Coming soon: How do I address my weight issue, without creating a ton of rules I'm bound to break. Also, updates on the heartrate monitor experience. Stay tuned!
   

1 comment:

Rose @ Eat, Drink, and Be Meiri said...

If the HR monitor and the scale help you get your weight under control, you can consider them a good investment, even though money is tight. The key is to crack down and MAKE them worth the money.