First off, congratulations to me on making my second mortgage payment.
Four more payments and then I can refinance and give myself a little bit of financial relief. My home value has already gone up by $16,000USD, I guess that is where those windfalls I have been praying for have been going. In four months, I should be able to get out of this mess with Private Mortgage Insurance, a trap I didn't want to fall into, but felt I had to at the time, as my children and I were facing homelessness. That should lower my payment significantly and give me a little more breathing room.
I love my bank, but it is an online bank. Today, I had to make a cash deposit (in order to have enough$$ to make that mortgage payment) and found myself with the only option being a 35 minute drive from Chula Vista to La Jolla to visit one of their "Cafe's" which is really just a Peet's Coffee Shop with an ATM machine that accepts cash deposits and has dude's sitting around with laptops, trying to get people to sign up for accounts.
I got there during happy hour. What does that mean? That means that if I show my debit card, I get any drink off the Peet's menu for free. They also had samples of delicious chocolate croissants, which, because I am limiting my sugar, were the perfect size to get a good taste, without getting the sugar rush that comes with eating a whole chocolate croissant.
To top it off, before I left, one of the "Cafe Workers" gave me a card for 5 free Peet's Coffee's (only available at that location).
Image by Myriam Zilles from Pixabay
I got my small unsweetened latte, with my piece of chocolate croissant, tucked my 5 free coffee's card in my purse and was merrily off to finish my day.
I was happy walking to my car.
mmmmm this coffee is good
I drove happily to the freeway.
mmmmmm this coffee is good
I ignored the roach coach that was spilling water on the freeway and got my freshly washed car dirty.
mmmmmmm this coffee is good
And then when I was finally about to be home, I realized that I would not have time to turn in my daily article (aka the bread and butter for me and my kids that makes it possible for me to be a "Stay at Home Mom"). It had taken longer than anticipated to find the cafe...
I also realized that my coffee was almost full and that I had only indulged in three sips of it.
Why had I only had three sips?
Because I don't really like coffee. I like the idea of latte's and they taste good when they are hot, but they wreck my stomach, and I know better than to just have a few sips. Which is of course, why I never pay 5 bucks for a delicious coffee. Who spends that type of money just for a few sips?
I had fallen into the trap of free stuff.
I accepted the coffee I would not drink, I took the piece of croissant I didn't really want to eat, and I accepted a card filled with more free stuff that I don't want, just because it is there.
In this specific instance, I would have had to make that drive anyway, and the treats made it a little sweeter... but it left me wondering: How often do I needlessly fall for the "free stuff" trap.
My kids LOVE Costco - and I think they only love it because of the free samples. They also looooooooove Trader Joe's. Guess what they get there? Free samples.
I am a sucker for free stuff.
Are you a sucker too?