Strategy vs. Reality

It’s 3:00 am and I’m up after a nighttime bedwetting episode (the kids, not me). As I tucked the wee one back into a warm dry bed, the effects of some of the cost cutting measures we’ve taken became apparent to me. One of these is “saving by attrition” – not replacing worn or broken items. I was rethinking this strategy as I attempted to change bed sheets half-blind. Paul and I both wear contacts, meaning we rely on glasses at night.  Christopher apparently hid mine yesterday, so I’m borrowing Paul’s – a weaker prescription. I’m discovering how annoying the missing ear piece is – a war wound from a previous encounter with the kids. Typing on the computer with these isn’t great, either. 

Another strategy we employ is “making do with what we have.” This works out great most of the time: we complain a little as we work around the missing article, but it doesn’t affect our quality of life much. In this case, the absent item is a replacement waterproof mattress pad. Only having one means that the used one needs to be washed and the bed re-made tomorrow – or, if we forget, risk a wet mattress in the future. Each time I’ve been up at night, I’ve sworn that the next Target trip will include another mattress pad. And each time I’m at Target, I decide we can make do with the one we have. After tonight, new glasses and a mattress pad are both on the shopping list. We’ll see how things look in the morning!

 

Comments

[Rachel Seltzner]

I hear ya, Heike! That's the pits in the middle of the night... I had the same situation until I went for Lasik. With my prescription, I have already saved $$ in the long run (I needed my glasses just to find them, if they weren't in the right spot! So my coke bottle glasses and special contacts were NOT cheap!) I got a bit of a discount since so many family members had already been to that Doc for their eye surgeries. It was still about $3k, but it was worth every penny! Safety and peace of mind by being able to see = priceless!