Celebrate Your Wife's Wins. They're Yours Too

Mrs.. Barton and I recently agreed to do a little back-to-school shopping in Memphis.  

We both rightly concluded that it would be a stressful event and in order to make it less so set some parameters on spending, number of locations, and intended outcome. 

At the tail end of our shopping errand, (about an hour and a half after I confessed to her that it wasn't fun anymore) we found ourselves walking through the lamp aisle at Target in search of spray paint.

Whitney pointed to a lamp that looked very familiar and had a $29.99 price tag.  As I braced myself for her to tell me that we needed one or two of these lamps (which were not on the agreed to action plan) she connected the dots by telling me that we also had this lamp.

In one of countless instances of my wife's sexy practicality, she had purchased two identical lamps likely from a Target damaged shipment for $8 at dirt cheap.

A retail approach to economics would say congratulations! Your wife spent $16 instead of $60, you're a smart consumer.

A cynical view would be that finding something more expensive than you bought it for on sale isn't saving, its confirmation bias. 

Maybe we needed the lamps and maybe we didn't. It's not about $16 or $60 for that matter. 

The beauty is my wife is willing to be creative and open minded when it comes to furnishing our home  and just about every other purchase or economic decision we make. She does not look down at imperfection or secondhand wares.  But rather she judges items and situations on her perception of their merit, not an established or other person's.

I like to think of myself as money savvy, from earning and saving to investing and protecting. I find joy in financial wins or good decisions and regularly share them with Whit. 

By her pointing out to me that she too had a win, she was showing me love. She was telling me we spent less than we had to. That makes me happy.

She was also telling me she is the kind of woman who goes about life spending less than she has to out of choice and wisdom. She was connecting with me by telling me stories that will interest me or I can relate to. Basically, just doing good wife shit,

So to all the men who have practical, attractive, salt of the earth wives, congratulations. You're a winner.