I think my credit cards are smoking right now. There has been a lot of spending over the past week. Planned spending, but still. Those credit card rewards are going to look awesome this month!
Seriously though, I did some re-thinking about my spending. And maybe I chose the "fun" route over the practical route. But I think it's worth it.
So what did I buy? Well, when I bought my house, I set aside some money to have a new fence put in around the backyard. I have a fence now, but it's pretty old (or at least old looking) and a number of the boards have cracked and warped. The gates don't close securely, and they absolutely wouldn't keep a dog secured. This isn't an issue now, as I don't have a dog. But the thinking was now that I have a house, I can get a new fence and then get a dog.
Then reality set in. Yes, dogs are expensive, but that wasn't the issue. The issue is time. With work alone, I leave the house before 7 am and am home sometime between 5:30 and 6. That's a long day for a dog to be alone. Sure, many people have dogs and they do just fine with a schedule like this. But I don't know that I want to introduce a dog to that situation. Plus I'm enjoying being able to just head out on the weekends and do whatever I want. The cats? Sure, they like it when I'm around, but even when I am home during the day, they're just off sleeping somewhere or watching the birds and the squirrels. They are less concerned about my schedule (plus they would hate me if I got a dog).
So I decided to wait on the fence. Even without a dog, it's something that will need to be done, but it's suddenly less urgent.
What did I buy instead? A treadmill. And a bike.
Both are things that I have wanted for some time. I run a lot, and I know that people say "Oh, that treadmill will become a coatrack in no time." But given that I have trained for spring half-marathons the past two years at the gym and run ten mile training runs on the treadmill both years, I think that the treadmill is probably an excellent purchase. The bike is something new, but it's an activity that I've wanted to take up for a while. I love being outside and I love being active, and I wanted some sort of cross-training to compliment my running (and I kind of want to do a triathlon, but that's another story). So the bike makes sense. It's going to take some work to get into biking shape, but I'm looking forward to it. And like the treadmill, I can use it inside - I just have to buy a trainer and get it set up for the winter. With these two purchases, I have already canceled my gym membership, which isn't a huge amount of savings, comparatively speaking, but it's something.
So I'm excited. I've already used the treadmill a few times thanks to the record heat (9 miles this past weekend) and I'm going on a long bike ride tonight with a friend. Should be fun.
But those poor credit cards. (And don't worry - they'll get paid in full like always.)