So, One Day I Wanted To Go Shopping
Original Post: 5.5.08
…and we’d only been married a few months.
and i emphasize “a few months”…
when we got married, we consolidated our bank accounts (or what was left of them after the wedding/honeymoon) and of course drew was the master budgeting mathematician.
[who, by the way, couldn't grasp the fact that i never ever ever balanced my checking, even though i carefully explained to him that the ATM always printed my account total when i made a withdrawal. duh.]
so, back to shopping:
“its almost winter and i’d like to go shopping for some winter clothes.”
drew – “yeah! sure! ok. what do you need?”
“well, a few pairs of jeans, maybe a sweater or two, some long-sleeve items, stuff like that.”
drew – “that sounds fine. where are you wanting to shop?”
“you know, like TJ Maxx and the Gap and Old Navy and maybe Payless. so, how much can i spend?”
drew – “oh… about thirty dollars.”
i’m sure you can imagine the negotiation that ensued.
::
so, what was YOUR first year of marriage like.
Um, I’m pretty sure Bryce and I had this exact conversation after we got married.
We had a lot of getting used to in that first year.
Nothing like this. Everything was perfect, you know the way it is in the movies! Money actually grew on trees for us in the backyard, and Lydia (my wife) went shopping every weekend for gratuitous wardrobe enlargement.
I cooked dinner every night and gave her a back massage before bed, religiously. And you know the intimate stuff? It happened just like the movies, too.
We prayed and had Bible study every night. Grew into spiritual giants and had revival meetings before breakfast in our home while we mentored orphans from refugee camps in Africa.
We didn’t need a budget either because of the money tree…and the ravens brought us bread.
It was amazing.
.
.
.
.
.
And then I woke up.
Well, since I married a sugar momma it was great… I got to buy everything I ever wanted!!!
Oh wait, I am not even close to getting married. I’ll let you know when that happens.
crazy hard and dirt poor, but i never once doubted my decision.
@Russ
I was reading and saying “thats a lie”..hahaha
Our first year had many good highs, and very extreme lows…I was a single mother before marrying..soooo there were kids to try to undermine things..and one crying..and one batting her blue eyes at him saying things like “you won’t believe what she did when you were at work?”..yup the good ole days..glad they are gone! LOL and the one batting her blue eyes..I wished the same for her..love her, but its coming around one fine day..
uuummmmm….how about we BOTH gained 25lbs each! We celebrate our 15th anniversary New Years Day…we both still have those 25 plus a few more. However, the marriage just keeps gettin’ better and better!
Mandy, I think this is one of my favorite posts… it’s so funny, and charming, and real…
THIRTY DOLLARS??? That covers my coffee budget.
Our first year of marriage was a wake-up call. As you may know, I’m pretty particular about things… and having another human all up in my space was… well… not conducive to… how do I put this… LIFE.
I got over myself. We’re going on 8 years now.
Totally still have the same conversations.
I am staying out of this conversation. LOL
Come talk to me after 17 years.
thirty dollars! *snort*
we lived on top ramen for a long, long time… and I still can’t figure out what I did with all those spare moments I had.
But 17 years later, I wouldn’t trade even one of those classic learning moments in… we ‘get’ each other now… and even HE would crack up at 30 dollars!
haha.
yah, I just checked. now he’s laughing and muttering, “thirty dollars! that’s funny! rookie!”
I hope I have stories to tell.
I hope someone falls in love with me and I with him and I have oodles of horribly embarrassing and mildly painful stories about my first year of marriage.
The 1st year?? hmmm. 1981. Pretty much the same except no ATMs, no TJ Maxx, no Gap and no Old Navy. By the middle of a pay period we did feel a little Payless though.
Hubs got depression. It was hell. Can’t remember how bad, though, because it’s so good now. At the time, we were both earning GB pounds and he was on London Underground money – heaps, basically.
Now we’re a one income family whilst hubs studies full time. Live in the poorest province in South Africa and it can be tricky, but we’re actually pressed-down-shaken-together-running-out-all-over blessed.
Fortunately for me, I’m the saver in the marriage. It takes me two weeks of thinking and three times looking at and trying something on before I’ll get it. Hubs is totally comfortable with me having the credit card. I have the conversations with him.