Budget busters suck the piggy banks

.
TWO THINGS I need to talk about: A vacuum cleaner and a percolator. These are household appliances that really won't make it to my list of essentials. They’re budget busters. We can do without them. The floor won't rot without that noisy machine, and hot water from a pot on the stove is enough to melt instant coffee and produce an aroma that wakes up my senses every morning. But the wife seems nesting, so to speak, and I had to shell out cash, suck from the piggy bank a bit, or she might miscarry.


So an equivalent of $105.50 (US) went to our Non-Essential Expense column. Help, I don't want the wife to miscarry.


You see, I've to be considerate. Everyone in the family, I believe, has been cooperative insofar as cutting costs to make sure we get to meet our monthly mortgage downpayments. I write to keep myself focused and to date I've been good at keeping tabs of money that comes in and goes out. I'm not sure yet what the wife does to keep herself committed to our investment -- the condo unit in the Philippines that we look forward to moving into years from now. But I'm beginning to suspect she's nesting. She saw the Cornell cordless kettle at the mall and it was selling for a discounted price of $15.90.

"I would love to have this percolator when we move into the condo," she said. "We can always keep it for now and ship it back to Manila when the unit is ready for occupancy. I mean, it's a good bargain and I don't think I can get that price in Manila."

She bought it a couple of days after and stored it atop the cupboards. And then the other weekend I had to be true to my promise: To buy a vacuum cleaner. A Hitachi one selling for a discounted price of $89.60.

"We won't be using it often really, so it'll be useful still when we go back to Manila," the wife sang. "Nice for the condo, isn't it?"

I didn't sing along with her. I don't agree, really. These are budget busters. But if it feeds her nesting glands, then so be it. After all, she's been remarkably cooperative. She has efficiently kept tabs of the monthly household budget, asking for a little extra only when there are surprise school expenses, such as textbooks that were not originally on the list. And her emotional restraint when viewing items in the cosmetics section of the malls has been impressive, awesome. (Am I right, honey? Or are my eyes not quick enough?)


"Anyway, you can deduct the expense on the percolator from next month's budget," said the First Lady of the Condoko Republic. Not bad. The piggy bank smiles.

Not bad, not bad. Even fitness and diet experts encourage their students to indulge and have a Sundae after a week of low-fat meals. Shall I also reward myself with a MacBook Air? Help!