This week we’ve got three more great articles from the last week’s blog roundup:
Christian PF’s Ten Things Worth Spending More On
The Simple Dollar’s 100 Things to Do During a Money Free Weekend
Free Money Finance’s Our Real Estate Agent Has Never Met Sane People Before

You can download the MOV file here (requires Quicktime to watch)

I spent imaginary money in an imaginary way today. I really wanted to buy a new bass guitar. The bass guitar I have is broken and I really wanted to replace it. There was a used bass guitar at the music store today that was in excellent working condition, sounded amazing, and was only $149.00. I walked through the purchase process in my mind, I justified the purchase, I had explanations of where the money would come from *cough* economic stimulation *cough* and then realized that I was uber-lusting over that which I had no money for. The problem in all that I wrote in the sentence before was the phrase “would come from.” I would get money later that was wind fall income and instead of being a good little boy and doing what I should with it, I was ready to compromise my family’s income and financial future for a bass guitar that I didn’t need, I just wanted it for my own personal use.

I’ve recently had my eyes caught by a few articles that I thought I’d pass along.  Please consider reading the following articles because they’re either informative, well written, or both.

Fivers - check out the details on the new five dollar bills.  If you don’t, someone else will!

Extravagant Spending -  Is extravagant spending even remotely insane?  If you’ve ever watched a show like Pimp My Ride, Cribs, or any of the many copy-cat shows that are out there to show off (estimated) wealth, then you’ve wrestled with some of the neat toys and known you couldn’t afford it and feel right about the expenditures.

Watch Your Laundry Maker -  A handy article about doing laundry the right way: measure twice, wash once.

Fully Funding Accounts - How much does it cost to fully fund various savings accounts and retirement accounts?

The Home Shopping Brainwash Network - A great analysis of the Home Shopping Network and how they market to their watchers.  This stuff scares the snot out of me because I know there are people at home just sitting there waiting to spend money they have, don’t have, or should keep.

I will more than likely enjoy my economic stimulation check for all of two seconds as I flip it over, sign it, and then cash it in at my bank.  Upon actually receiving the funds in my account it will go towards paying off my debt.  The ‘fun’ of the spending money will be gone in a flash, but the excitement of being that much close to debt free is there.  In fact last night I got paid for some work and that money is going straight into the debt snowball.  Five hundy down in all principal since I’ve already made the normal monthly payment on  the Disguster Discover card.  It is this kind of extra payments that are exciting, but at the same time are a monument to my folly.

There are very few things in life that don’t come with lessons, but when they kick your pocketbook, the lessons feel a little more like sandpaper than satin.  I’ve found that each check gets me closer to the short term goal of debt paid off, but serve as a reminder, as I sign them,  that I’m signing off on the consequences of my previous stupidity.  I don’t say that to be melancholy, but more to emphasize that I recognize the consequences of past actions, and in the future, as I sign other checks after having my debt paid off, I’ll be signing them as a monument to where I’ve been, where I’m going, and to help build the foundation of the long term goal: financial independence.

Do you care about your economic stimulation check’s arrival date?  I figure that a few months difference in interest payments can be somewhat important, but the short term difference to me is insignificant.