Dollars and Sense

I am cheap. I have accepted this. I can’t even say that I am just frugal. I am just all out cheap. I question every nickel and dime that I spend and wonder if I should have spent it. I don’t know why I do this. But, I can live with this. I am even alright doing a Spin this week because it is free.

What really amazes me is that I have no hesitation on spending money when it comes to the kids. Now, I will wait for a sale for anything but if they need it, we buy it. I guess that is the real key word. If they need it. Not just they want it. Of course that may lead into why I don’t spend money on myself. I don’t really need anything and I am very happy with life as it is currently. I have plenty of wants and what girl wouldn’t? But actually spending the money is a real problem. I will wait for sales, coupons, and deals just to buy anything. Even when it comes to something I need. For example, my favorite shoes broke. The leather upper separated from the sole. Nothing I can do about it but I sure did look to see if I can fix my four year old shoes that I wear to work at least twice a week. Unfortunately, I did not find that there was anything I could do so I waited for a sale. How pathetic is that? I only bought those shoes four years ago and the moment they break, I wait to buy new shoes that I am sure I will get another four years out of them. But where am I leading with this?

A new road opened on our side of town yesterday. Now, I have been waiting for this new road for years to make my trips to and from day care that much easier. Normally, I have to take an extremely roundabout way to get to day care. Day care is 17 miles away from our house but I hit 9 lights, 4 stop signs and traffic from the high school depending on what time I leave. That trip takes me at a minimum, 30 minutes. That 30 minutes is if there is no traffic, I hit most of the lights correctly and there is no back up on the two lane road leading into day care. But, there are no alternatives. Well, there were no alternatives. The new road cuts into the highway that is easily accessible from where we live. That means I can jump right onto the highway, go one exit and then go to day care the back way. This new way means that I hit 1 light and 3 stop signs and the trip took me 19 minutes this morning. The new way I go never has any traffic except for the two lane road right in front of day care. However, because the new road is open, a lot of people who normally travel this road are taking it the opposite direction that I travel and traffic this morning on that road was non-existent. So where is the rub? Well, there is a toll on this highway (So I guess that makes it an expressway? Toll road? Whatever. I would worry about it but time is money! Boy, can I spin the spin of the spin or what.) The toll each way is $1.25. That is a pretty steep toll per way. If I take that every morning, that is $6.25 a week in just tolls for one way. If we use it round trip, then that is $12.50 a week or about $500 a year (we take the girls out of day care for the summer). In just tolls.

I used to work on the other side of Orlando and had to spend tolls every day. There was just no way around it to get from my house to work and back without tolls (Well, technically there is but my 40 minute drive would turn into about 3 hours. Literally) I was spending up to $6.50 a day in tolls depending on if I took some of the streets to avoid a toll or did day care pickup or drop off. Yes, each day! But, like I said, there was very little choice so I just went with it. When I changed job locations, I didn’t have to take any tolls at all. I saw this as a pay increase in itself. However, now I am back to the possibility of tolls. So do I pay and go the easier way? Suck it up and don’t think about it? Take my old way and just go with it?

I am just that cheap that I am spending brain power worrying about it. Why? Because it is free!