Dipping into My Savings

Over the past few months I've gotten really good at socking money away. Next week, it's time to pay Fiance back for my half of our airfare to the east coast this summer and my half of the deposit on our wedding venue. The total is about $450. "Oh no!" I thought, going into a mild panic, "I'm going to have to dip into my savings!"

Until I remembered that the whole reason I began saving so aggressively in the first place was so that I'd be able to pull my weight with the wedding costs, and for us to visit my family on the east coast before the wedding.*

I'm fairly positive that this is the first time in my adult life that I've saved up for major purchases before making them. Before, it was my habit to just buy Whatever and figure out how to cover the costs later which resulted in a lot of nailbiting, overtime, and overdraft fees - not to mention unpaid bills, late rent, and searching the couch cushions for gas money.

Starting at age 18 and continuing (I imagine) until just before you die, there are a lot of "I'm a real grown-up now!" moments; buying a car, paying a bill, moving out, cooking your own dinner, getting married, buying a house, having kids - they run the gamut from seemingly mundane to obviously life-changing. I think putting a deposit down on a wedding venue with money I saved up for the cause is a pretty notable "I'm a grown-up!" moment.

To balance it out, I think I'm going to watch Star Wars while playing with Legos and gorging myself on sweets.

*and the Pacific Northwest.