I have a confession to make. The other day, I was being completely unfrugal and impulsive and I bought $30 worth of flowers. Yes, that’s right, flowers for my front garden. I bought some primulas, some tulips, and a planter full of flowers to brighten up the entrance in the backyard. I hope this isn’t a step towards trying to keep up with the Jones’ and having a decent looking front lawn. I was just getting tired of winter (and the rain) and it was the first nice, sunny day in a L-O-N-G time.
Was it shopping therapy disguised in aesthetically pleasing flowers? I don’t know.
What is your cure for the winter blues?
My fellow frugal friends, are you guilty of this from time-to-time too?
PF Blog Love
Thanks to Thirtysixmonths for including me in the carnival of financial camraderie (PS love the new site design)- The Dividend Guy Blog (aka Mike from TFB) asked for my #1 advice on RRSP’s (since the deadline is a few days away). Check out mine and other Canadian PF blogger’s input here.
- Control your Cash included me in his carnival and told me to go to Wreck Beach already
- Financial Uproar never ceases to stir up controversy and asks whether personal finance blogging (and the Yakezie) is in a bubble
- My Own Advisor reviews one of my favourite PF books, The Wealthy Barber
- Boomer and Echo reviews Findependence Day and gives it away (written by Jon Chavreau- this book is REALLY good- I can’t put it down- I’ll be giving it away too next month- stay tuned)
- Dividend Ninja discusses when issuing a dividend may be dangerous
- Retireby40 argues why pregnancy is not too early to start saving for your child’s college (I assume it’s not your pregnancy, Joe that you’re talking about
) - Invest it Wisely explains the importance of buffering your life with an emergency fund
- Million Dollar Journey discusses the joys and pitfalls of downsizing your home
We love gardening at our house, especially my wife. It’s hard to see buying plants as an unfrugal purchase. You did check to see if they will be happy where you live? If so, they should give you tons of happy returns.
@Dr Dean- Nice to see you hear, Dr. Dean! I made sure to ask the gardening experts at the garden shop if they would be happy, and they said as long as I pick off the old flowers, they should last all summer and perhaps even until next year. I’ll just have to make sure I pick off the old dying flowers- that might be a huge task given my time constraints
We went shopping downtown yesterday after work and it’s just amazing to see all of the cool, innovative stuff out there. No wonder we have an addiction to shopping/spending. I’m pretty frugal, but it was even hard for me to walk away without buying something.
@Echo- Are you a frooger, frugal?
Shopping downtown is like going to another world for me too. It’s hard not to jump into buying stuff when everyone else is too. I guess the markets are at the 2008 level so people are buying buying buying!
I agree with Dean that flowers for your garden is not an unfrugal purchase. It would be so if that were just a bouquet for your table that would die a week later. When it’s for your garden though, you’ll see those on a regular basis and it will help keep you in a good mood. It’s something you can be proud of.
@Modest Money- Awe thanks
Haha, I hope I don’t kill them while they’re in the garden. Maybe 2 weeks, tops? I must admit that my thumb isn’t very green, despite the green theme on my blog.
Y&T Thanx for the mention! I hope the snow this morning wasn’t too hard on your new flowers – LOL you never know what the weather in Vancouver will do from one day to the next.
@TDN- And that’s EXACTLY why I think my purchase was unjustified and frivolous. Because it was scheduled to snow hahah! Silly me
I wouldn’t worry about it YT. You can’t be frugal ALL the time – where’s the fun in that. As long as you’re living within your mean and on track to have enough retirement savings then spending a little extra on stuff that will add value to your life is A-ok (at least by me!).
Enjoy your flowers
@SavingMentor- Nice to see you- hope you had a good weekend. That’s true. I hope it adds value to my life! And doesn’t make me feel guilty for not keeping them up.
The weather HAS been pretty bleak lately. I even saw snow today (?_?) No harm in a little flower shopping. If they can brighten up your day then I’d say that money is well spent.
@LI- Haha, I saw snow today too. The weather has been really wacky this entire week. I guess the thing with the purchase was that they will only give me temporary happiness because I’ll probably eventually kill the flowers (since I’m not very good at taking care of flowers, really).
Thanks for the link love, Y&T!
Our orchids are blooming like mad in our condo here 
@Invest it Wisely- On my to do list- learn how to not kill orchids! So does that mean your condo is tropically warm?
Oh, occasional indulgences are not necessarily un-frugal. Don’t beat yourself up over flowers
@Roshawn- thanks for the validation! Well, I guess I was beating myself up because the forecast was set to snow and I still bought the flowers!
Can’t say I’m a fan of flowers at all but flowers for your garden is something very different from a bouquet that will wilt and die! (Although I’m not knocking those either – some people love blooms. I’d just rather have chocolate). Don’t beat yourself up too much!
@eemusings- lol some people have both! (chocolate and blooms). I have a friend who ALWAYS has fresh cut flowers in her condo. It always looks beautiful but I’m sure it eats at her savings
Hi, Nice post! I noticed a broken link on your site. Please email me back and I would be happy to point it out to you.
Thanks!
Harry
Thanks for the PF blog love Y&T! Sorry I’m late to the comment party, I had a busy weekend!
Take care, and I look forward to what you have in store this week.
BTW – Ottawa still has 1 foot of snow on the ground….just so you know
Mark
@MOA- busy weekends are good! That means we all have lives other than our blogs lol
And that’s a good thing.
[...] happy to report that the winter doldrums I complained about at the end of Febuary are gone! My seemingly frivolous purchase is still alive (and more importantly, well) and it [...]