You never want to hear the phrase “There’s nothing thawed for dinner” 30 minutes before dinner time. But, that’s exactly what Mark said to me yesterday afternoon. I never realized how deep our Money Conditioning really runs until yesterday afternoon.
I immediately started calculating the amount of money we had left in the budget. Mark began the rundown of options with “Ok, it’ll cost $20 to order pizza, $40 for chinese delivery, and $60 to go out with the kids. Which are you in the mood for?” We polled the children, who were all actively engaged in heated debate over the options.
The more I thought about this, the more I realized that our reaction was pure conditioning. This is the way we’ve always handled the 5:30 “dinner emergency” and even though we were now discussing it in terms of how much money we were willing to spend on it, we were STILL thinking like spenders. I stopped in my tracks, and started running a mental tally of what was in the kitchen.
The children were completely on board when I suggested that we had all the ingredients for nachos. We could have Mexican food night. As soon as I started tossing out ideas, Mark offered to make his famous Rotel Cheese Dip to go on the Nachos. 30 minutes later, we were all sitting in the living room, laughing and watching a movie over our yummy homemade nachos.
Tortilla Chips = $1.19
Cheese Dip = $3.50
Veggies = $.75
Family time (and setting a good example) = Priceless!
What about you? Have you managed to shut down your money conditioning during unexpected situations?
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{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Ooooh, the thought of my famous cheese dip makes me want more….unfortunately the kids sucked down every oz so there is none left.
As for the movie…the children and I enjoyed the deep analysis of that most important topic regarding the saving of our environment as put forth by the classic movie “Bio-Dome”…chillin’ with the Weeeeeeeeze!
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Momma reply on June 20th, 2008 7:44 am:
You weren’t supposed to tell them that
! I don’t want everyone to know I have such a deep love for bad 90s movies and Pauly Shore.
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It is so true it is about conditioning! When I moved to a rural part of England a few years ago, I met people in their 20’s and 30’s who had NEVER had take away food or food delivered or been to a fast food restaurant. They made do, even when it was 5:30 or 6 o’clock.
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Momma reply on June 22nd, 2008 4:20 pm:
I grew up in the country too. It wasn’t even an option for going out for a meal without a 30 minute drive.
Thanks for the comment! Glad you’re back from your hiatus. I really hope the flu passes quickly.
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