A Decision to DYE For
A few weeks ago, before I was laid off, I made an appointment at my hair salon for a partial foil. My gray was poking out worse than ever, and I had already saved the money out of my personal spending money (I've always paid for haircuts out of the family budget, but never felt I could justify spending $70 of family money for a color job). I considered not getting my hair colored, but decided in the end to do it. After all, I had saved the required money, and nothing makes me feel better about myself than a little pampering. Keeping one's self-esteem up is critical in a job-loss situation.
Plus, I knew that business at the salon had slowed considerably, and that my very talented stylist would appreciate the business. I probably will be letting my hair grow out for an extra week or two between cuts, so I figured getting the partial foil was the least I could do.
Brown Bagging?
This morning, my middle-schooler informed me that he was out of lunch money at school. Again, here's a little spending decision. And, again, I might have chosen the option that another unemployed person might not have chosen. But, I wrote him a check (which he promptly forgot and left on the kitchen table) to replenish his account. My kids are not sandwich-eaters. Packing lunches for them has always been an exercise in futility (and not an exercise in proper nutrition). Once they reached middle school, I quit trying altogether. Our school district's secondary school lunch program is absolutely phenomenal, with a wide range of very nutritious options that my boys actually like. I consider it to be $2.75 per day well spent; they get a far more nutritious meal than I could ever hope to cobble together.
In both of these decisions, the overall value was something I considered as much as the price. It is worth $70 to me to look in the mirror and not feel old and gray. It is worth $2.75 a day (per kid) to have my children properly nourished in school. Value is very much something to be considered.
A few weeks ago, before I was laid off, I made an appointment at my hair salon for a partial foil. My gray was poking out worse than ever, and I had already saved the money out of my personal spending money (I've always paid for haircuts out of the family budget, but never felt I could justify spending $70 of family money for a color job). I considered not getting my hair colored, but decided in the end to do it. After all, I had saved the required money, and nothing makes me feel better about myself than a little pampering. Keeping one's self-esteem up is critical in a job-loss situation.
Plus, I knew that business at the salon had slowed considerably, and that my very talented stylist would appreciate the business. I probably will be letting my hair grow out for an extra week or two between cuts, so I figured getting the partial foil was the least I could do.
Brown Bagging?
This morning, my middle-schooler informed me that he was out of lunch money at school. Again, here's a little spending decision. And, again, I might have chosen the option that another unemployed person might not have chosen. But, I wrote him a check (which he promptly forgot and left on the kitchen table) to replenish his account. My kids are not sandwich-eaters. Packing lunches for them has always been an exercise in futility (and not an exercise in proper nutrition). Once they reached middle school, I quit trying altogether. Our school district's secondary school lunch program is absolutely phenomenal, with a wide range of very nutritious options that my boys actually like. I consider it to be $2.75 per day well spent; they get a far more nutritious meal than I could ever hope to cobble together.
In both of these decisions, the overall value was something I considered as much as the price. It is worth $70 to me to look in the mirror and not feel old and gray. It is worth $2.75 a day (per kid) to have my children properly nourished in school. Value is very much something to be considered.
