Today I was procrastinating. Fortunately, it was one of my positive procrastination days.
Rather than surfing the internet looking for totally rad Christmas presents, I decided to clean.
There’s one room in the house that is basically a big junk drawer. Instead of paperclips, matchbooks and errant pieces of paper, however, the junk room collects boxes, small children (who can’t escape), holiday decor and glitter. Lots and lots of glitter. By the end of the day I looked like I had been mauled by a fairy.
Picture the room in your mind. It’s important that you do this so you can understand just how miraculous it was that I found what I found…
I f o u n d m y d i a m o n d e a r r i n g !
Side-note: Now do you get the title?
Before you start judging:
A. They were a gift from my awesome sister.
B. They aren’t even 1/4 carat.
C. Oh, like you never lost a diamond before. Sure, sure. Kettle much?
Perhaps most remarkable is the fact that I lost it over 4 years ago and that I somehow managed to hold on to its pair all this time.
I mean, what do you do with an unmatched, small diamond earring? And don’t say, “Get a nose ring,” Hubs would kill me.
Chalk another one up to saving – with a purpose.
I talk a lot about how we need to let go of things. This is partially because I’m a little OCD and can’t stand clutter, and partially because I want people save what they do for the right reasons – sometimes any reason at all would suffice.
I saved a single diamond earring for a couple of reasons:
1. This should be obvious: IT WAS A DIAMOND and no matter how small, it’s probably a teency tiny bit valuable.
2. My sister gave it to me, on a college student’s income, and that’s special.
Saving in general, be it money or things, should have a purpose.
Lindy at Minting Nickels had an excellent post this week about, what I refer to as, “extreme saving.” You know, the people who cancel cable and live off $2/week?
My question about this type of saving is always, “what’s the point?” Sure, there are some valid reasons to undertake extreme cost-cutting measures, but when does it end? Tell me. When does it end?!
Never save just because something is a waste of money (or it would be a waste of money to throw away). Much of life could technically be considered a “waste of money,” depending on who you are. Waste would be denying yourself simple joys for the sole reason of putting more money in the bank.
Save with purpose. And never ever throw away diamonds. It simply isn’t done.
Comments
6 responses to “Saving Rocks (Double Entendre Intended)”
Glad you found the diamond earring! Maybe set it in a pendant?
But what if people want to cut back to $2/week or whatever crazy amount that might be, because they feel better/happier in doing so?
Don’t you think it’s the same way for them, looking up at people who spend $1000/week or whatever it is, and saying: Wow that is way too much money? 🙂
Absolutely! If $2/week makes someone happy, more power to ’em.
My main concern with extreme saving is when people do it for the wrong reasons (like extreme dieting). Let’s face it, not many of us have that kind of endurance when it comes to self-deprivation.
I just don’t want anyone adopting the $2/week method because they think it’s the only way to be “responsible” with their money. I’d rather people focus on making more and more small, positive changes to their spending habits than attempting something that might be either unrealistic or discourage their saving efforts altogether.
Slow and steady wins the race. Unless it’s a sprint :).
Small children? Hahaha! I nearly spit my coffee out when I read that. Way to go.
Great post, by the way. You’re so right about only saving if you have a purpose to do so. What you might saving, because it’s “worth a buck or to” could be someone else’s equivalent to a lost treasure if you donated it.
Your wealth should help you live; you should not be living for your wealth.
Excellent way of putting it. That is now my new montra.
I almost didn’t publish that post at the last minute. I’m glad you liked it! This finance world is all one crazy balancing game. But, doing something just because someone else did/does it is not a way to evaluate our own lives. It may not make sense for us or make us happy.
I’m glad you found the earring too. That doesn’t happen often!
You’re new mantra? Well, that’s rather flattering. 😉