December 13th, 2007 - The money’s gone
All my personal spending money I’ve been saving–gone. I was going to write a couple days ago about how I feel like I’ve frittered away quite a bit. I was going to start looking for a piano when I’d saved $4000. I was only a few months away from that goal and by Monday I was down to under $2500. But now it’s all gone because I bought a piano yesterday.
So where did the money go?
- moving & cleaning the used piano (which by the way, left the house Saturday. I forgot to tell you!) about $260
- Pampered Chef $450
- eating out maybe $100?
- Rush cds $75
- digital camera $325
- this and that that I don’t remember
The last one is why I’m frustrated with myself. I had just told Eric to help me out in restraining my spending but now I don’t have to worry. Used pianos from music stores cost more than I’d expected. The lowest end one, which I bought, was $2150 (plus 5% tax). Luckily, moving and one tuning are included. Also, this store has a trade-in program. In the next two years, I can trade it in for another piano evens up (that is, I’d get the $2150 towards a different piano). It was hard to decide between the two they had at this price. Eric preferred one with a darker muted sound while I preferred the brighter sharper tones of the other. That one did have an issue with the practice pedal; it was easily fixed but made Eric nervous (the saleslady who fixed it showed me how to as well; it shouldn’t actually ever change now so I’m not concerned at all). It’s also generally louder than the other one. I thought the muted one was less responsive which I didn’t like at all. I did have one great idea: I realized it would be a good idea to bring along my favorite piece of music to play on the pianos to get a feel for it. That is such a good idea! Since I am so familiar with the piece, it was easier to listen to the sound of each piano.
It should be delivered by early next week. I wonder if we’ll put the practice pedal on permanently for Maggie….
Update on the other piano: I couldn’t sell it. So I gave it away on Craigslist. I had a ton of replies. The folks I dealt with showed up Saturday evening with two guys and a small pickup. I was doubtful, but they managed just fine. It was nice to have it gone but both Maggie and I missed it. Maggie asked for a couple days, “Where is piano?” I’d remind her it was gone and she’d say, “It’s on the truck!” since that was the last place she had seen it! She was excited to go to the piano store; last night Eric found a child’s piano on the floor for her to play with. She sat with her legs under it and looked like Shroeder (from Peanuts–the piano was the size and shape of his).
Oh! And after buying it, we were pleased to learn that we got a gift card for $210 (10%)–with no expiration date. So we can buy music or lessons in the future! Eric found a book of Metallica songs arranged for piano. I said I’d buy it for *him* for Christmas. Except he doesn’t play! We might use the card for lessons for him as he’s interested in trying it out. I wonder what they cost?
December 13th, 2007 at 11:03 am EST
I wouldn’t be too hard on yourself. It looks like you have lots to show for the money that you spent. It’s not like you spent all of your money buying junk from QVC or added a ton of unicorns to a collection. You’ll enjoy the piano, cook with all of the Pampered Chef stuff, take photos with the digital camera, and enjoy listening to the RUSH CDs. As for eating out, everyone needs to get out of the house now and then.
Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, Happy Festivus, Happy Winter Solstice, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy New Year (I think that covers most of the holidays)!
L.