Cold temperatures are finally taking hold of my part of the country. My favorite season. I like bundling up and feeling the delicious chill on my face. The smell of cold, as Ben Folds once said. It’s a real thing, reminding me of high school days. Cold weather makes me want peppermint mocha and sweet treats and overcast days with no agenda or to-do lists.
Which is now a problem. My desire for sweet holiday goodies and expensive coffee is slamming into my recent commitments to frugality and food discipline. And i don’t like it.
Dave Ramsey talks about the “grocery store kid” inside us. That little brat that goes into full tantrum mode when our flesh wants something we can’t have, or can’t have now.
My inner grocery-store brat has a taste for sugar and pricey caffeinated beverages. And books. And movies. And and and…
Of course the holiday season is a minefield when you’re trying to eat wiselu. But I didn’t expect that winter would be harder for me when it comes to money, too. Yet i find myself chafing against the commitments I’ve made to my wife and myself about financial discipline. I guess, in this season of giving, i’m also accustomed to giving myself quite a few treats.
So, for the purposes of confession, here it is, friends: Hi, my name is Dave, and I’m a selfish holiday spender. (Hi, Dave.) I really want to go out with my coworkers to lunch everyday, and go to coffee shops, and bookstores. I really don’t want to be responsible with the money that i’m managing for God and now sharing with my spouse.
But.
In the last 5 months, my wife and I have knocked off about 1/4 of our total indebtedness. And we hope to be out of debt by our second anniversary. That will be more invigorating than any fancy coffee. And by the time I turn 35, if I persevere, I will hit my goal weight. That will taste sweeter than any Christmas cookie.
We sacrifice now (or “live like no one else,” if you will), so that we can reach our goals later. Maturity delays gratification to achieve results.
Just do me a favor: remind me of that when i start throwing a grocery-store fit over a peppermint mocha this winter. It may happen a few times.
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YOUR TURN: Do you have a particular “winter weakness” you’re trying to overcome? Share in the comments below. Accountability, people!
The4thDave Blog 
Keep up the good work. And, I will tell you from experience, you can make wonderful coffee drinks at home for very little cost compared to going out.
Ask yourself, am I paying for the treat, experience or for the convenience. Your willingness to make a sweet peppermint mocha at home will answer the question for you.
Also, the stuff you make at home eventually tastes better. And it feels good having that second cup w/o feeling guilty about the money part.
My winter weakness, hands down, is egg nog that they sell in those nice hand-size plastic bottles. I have a tradition, if you will, of getting a bottle, drinking it all in a day, and getting sick as a dog as a result.
And yet I want it every year. Fancy that.
Ah yes, eggnog sickness. That comes between the Airing of Grievances and the Feats of Strength, yes?