Regrets

Some people say that regrets are a waste of time. I would tend to agree, but only about dwelling on them. I believe that regrets serve a valuable purpose with our learning experience. If we simply discard the feeling of regret (or in this case, buyer's remorse), we loose the opportunity to learn from what happened. We obviously feel badly about something. Our job is to discover the root of the regret and to find a way to not repeat whatever gave us that feeling in the first place.

In my case, I failed to communicate with Corey about the spending expectations of our Pumpkin Train Excursion. If I had talked to him, I would not have made a snack run to Natural Grocers. I also would have planned for packing my lunch last Tuesday, and not relied to Fun Dollars to buy my work day meal at Wildflower Bread Co.

My regrets are not for the entire purchase at these establishments, mind you. There were parts of these purchases that I just did not enjoy. On my snack run at Natural Grocers I bought yogurt covered pretzels, 2 Pecan Pie Cliff Bars, 2 Spiced Pumpkin Cliff Bars, and a one quart carton of Good Belly Probiotic Coconut Water.  Yes, go ahead and scrunch your nose up. That last one tasted as good as it sounds. It was more like liquid coconut yogurt....I had to spit out the mother. You know, that live, fungus thingy they put in drinks to make them "healthy". (Sorry, kambucha lovers, I have never hopped on that wagon.) It was actually that last part of the purchase that I regret. Spending $3.00 on fermented live culture coconut water was not something I plan on repeating.

Similarly, I felt desperately hungry at Wildflower Bread Co. and failed to check the price on their yogurt parfait. I ordered a grilled cheese, and probably would have been better off getting a cup of soup to go with it. However, I picked up the parfait thinking it would make a good "later" snack in my work day. I could keep it cold in the refrigerator and eat it before picking up the kids from school. I would have fallen out of my seat if I had been sitting down when the cashier said my total was $11.57 for my grilled cheese sandwich and yogurt. Seriously??? $12.00 for two pieces of bread with cheese toasted in the middle and some yogurt??? Like I said, I had some regrets this pay cycle. Next time, I'll just get the soup and microwave it later.

I did make one purchase that seemed like a regret at the time, but looking back, I'm glad I made it. Last week, after seeing our family therapist, Corey and I scheduled "talk time". She could not believe that we didn't have any time to talk to each other without the kids around. I told her that was easier said than done. But since talking time was our "homework" for these next two weeks, we have made it a priority. One way that we managed to sneak in some talking time was by waking up at 6:15 every morning and talking before the kids woke up. Well, on Saturday, we slept in, so we made up for it by driving to Cottonwood for breakfast. kids occupied in the back seat, adults talking in the front seat. I was actually craving a skillet (potatoes and veggies sauteed with eggs on top), so when Corey pulled in to Denny's I was thrilled. I love their veggie skillet with eggs over medium. I poke the yolks and use it like a sauce over the veggies....mmmmm.....skillet......anyway....what was I saying???Oh Yeah.

Initially, I did not want to pay for this meal with my Fun Dollars. (Lines were still fuzzy about what was covered at this point due to our relocation.) But in the end, I ended up not regretting this transaction. It was worth $16.00 Fun Dollars (I also helped to pay for the kid's meals as well as half the tip) to talk to Corey and discuss important things going on in life right now.

Regrets are most definitely there to remind us of how we felt when things are not quite right. They are feelings laid down for us to learn from. Don't ignore them, or else you might find yourself drinking fermented coconut water.

Snacks at Natural Grocers- $9.00
Lunch at Wildflower Bread Co.- $12.00
Breakfast at Denny's -$15.00
Balance this pay cycle- $$10.00
Happy Spending!