Moving = Spending $$$$$

What happens when you move 1,000 miles south to a new state into a big house? You spend money! I've always taken pride in finding the best deal or a good bargain but moving has totally messed up my bargain hunting skills.

What did we spend money on?

Well, our packers/movers did an excellent job and only damaged one thing...our TV stand. It was a Better Home & Garden TV stand, made from cheap particle board purchased at Wal-Mart a year and a half ago. The top part where the TV goes was broken off. The mover assured us that we can, "just put some of that umm wood glue and it'll fix it right up". Seriously, you want us to put our flat screen on something being held together by wood glue. No thanks. Unfortunately since it was made out of particle board, they're not liable for it (yeah I had to sign a waiver).

Nathan and I plan on moving again (it's what we do, thank you Army) and instead of having broken TV stands all the time, we thought we would purchase a real stand from a real furniture store (yeah, if the movers break this one, they're liable for it). These can get pricey! So we just blew $500 on a beautiful TV credenza (we didn't purchase the fancy hutch that goes on top). So now I feel all this guilt because it was a lot of money.

Another big purchase was Emma's bed. Before we moved we sold her 4-in-1 crib. We went back and forth on buying her a twin, bunk beds, or a queen (for guests to sleep on when they visit). Finally my sad attempt at being a thrifty shopper settled on a twin with just the mattress, box springs, and frame. No need for a headboard/footboard. We jazzed it up with a canopy, that she loves! Although we saved a few hundred on not buying a headboard/footboard, we still spent a lot of money on the bed and sheets and comforter, etc. So now I feel guilty about that.

Another unnecessary purchase we just had to have was all the little pretty stuff for our fireplace. Okay it's not little it's massive candle holders, and a big globe and other worldly looking things. We spent a little over $100 (and yes I even had a coupon) at Hobby Lobby just on fireplace things. Unnecessary, yes...ties the room together heck yes! Do I feel guilty...yes! We could have spent $100 on all the new food we had to buy.

So what am I suppose to do? How am I suppose to recover from a week of excessive spending? I guess I could stop feeling guilty and start being happy that the house is now becoming a home. Nathan and I need to sit down and go over all the money we've spent in the past few weeks (we drove a lot of miles and visited many places to eat). We need to get back on track with our budget and I need to get into a routine.

I think routines are important when it comes to saving money. One example is cooking dinner at a certain time, it insures that you'll eat at home and not spend money going out to eat. We've been working on the house and loosing track of time and before we know it, it's already 7:30pm. Should I cook or should we go out? Going out usually wins. I need to get back into my money saving routine, I miss it!

I would like to hear from you, you're feelings when you spend a large amount of money on certain items. Does it make you feel good, sick to your stomach, guilty, etc? Did you save money for it or was it an impulse buy? How do you get back on track after you spend, spend, spend?