I Just Overspent

[mikandmari]

I'm addicted to my flower garden. Over the summer I had a dwaft Alberta Spruce near my front entrance die. On the other side is an overgrown boxwood.

So every year my local nursery has an end-of-season sale, buy one & get one for $1.00. I waited for the sale and planned to purchase 2 new Alberta Spruces that would come to $50 for the pair.

I was the first one at the sale. It was raining. I stood in the rain and had my pick of everything (like a kid in a candy store). I lost all restraint and chose 2 ornamental junipers.... they are like a narrow spruce that has been raised & prune in a spiral shape. The total cost: $160, which is $110 over my plan.

We might try to sell our house in a few years (depends on what the market does). I figure they will really make the front entrance a focal point. (At least, that's the story in my head to justify the purchase.) I'll try to post a photo tomorrow after we plant them.

Please, please please.... could you guys share some stories with me of when you've gone overboard? Kind of like a support group I feel so guilty!

[Royal]

Well yesterday I kinda spent a lot of money (in my eyes) on clothes for my DH and shoes for my oldest son. I felt guilty all day today but then I told myself that I can't change it and that my DH really needed new work clothes. I have to say though that since I've joined FV I feel guilty when I spend money as opposed to about a half a year ago I didn't think twice about spending a lot of money on "things". I guess I should be glad that I do feel guilty, it withholds me from doing this too often.
Enjoy the new trees!I love gardening as well. I'm just like you, a kid in a candy store. I could spend all day at a gardening center and make huge plans in my head of how I would like to create my garden.

[mikandmari]

Thanks Royal. I feel better about it now, I don't know for sure if we will every move, it depends on the money of course. But if we do, I think this will really improve the look of the entrance, which is the first thing a potential buyer sees!

But I've vowed to make up for this indulgence by being especially well-behaved in November. I've created a holiday budget and I'm sticking to it!

[Jaded]

O.K., I'm a horticulturist and admitted plant junkie. I cannot go to Home Depot or Wal-Mart without going to the garden dept. I can almost NEVER go to Lowe's without bringing something home. I used to work at a nursery...yep, like an alcoholic bartender. I usually only brought home cuttings, and stuff they were throwing out, or had dug up from someone's yard, but one day, I just went berserk! I started buying, and couldn't stop. I ran up an $180 bill. I bought 20 1 gallon ground covers at $4 each, 2 shrubs, a bunch of 1 gallon perennials and a fruit tree.

Did I NEED any of these plants? NOOOOO!!!! Did I plant them all out???? NOOOOOOOO!!!! some of the ground covers actually died in the same pots I brought them home in. The shrubs I did plant, but most of the perennials didn't make it once I planted them, and the fruit tree is looking pretty sickly.

I was very angry with myself, and have never done that again. Now, I only buy tiny little pots of annuals, or markdown plants from the box stores.