Here in the middle of the country, we're having a thaw this weekend. A warm-up. A Spring teaser. After a week or two of bone-chilling temperatures, every day is 10 degrees warmer then the last this weekend, and hopefully into the coming week.
Looking at our temperatures just here in Omaha, highs are going from 4, to 14, to 34, to 45, and now moving into next week they are giving us hope they will climb all the way to 65.
I say that I love a good February thaw just doesn't come close to how I feel. I can actually feel my muscles, my bones, thawing out. Having it happen on a weekend, when I can open the curtains, let the sun shine in, and maybe open a window and let the breeze clear out the winter air, is even better. I will run Saturday errands with joy this afternoon!
From the standpoint of a person who is trying to afford pickles, there is another reason I love this weather.
Jump start on spring cleaning! Seriously!
One of the important things when you are IN debt, and when you are climbing out of debt, is to respect your stuff. Given the strong urges to shop we're feeling in this house right now, I can tell you it is Just as important when you are out of debt and relearning how to budget.
This weekend I will clean the spring clutter from my car. Not just wash the outside (which happens now with every thaw because SOMEONE lived in Salt Lake City and thinks washing the salt off is more important than keeping fuel in the tank), but I will head out with three or four plastic grocery bags, and I will open all the doors and I will gather any trash (mainly errand lists that slipped to the floor), and I will gather "things that shouldn't be in the car" like the two windbreakers and the toaster (don't ask). I will pull out the stack of paperwork I had for my road trip in October (without GPS, I had printed instructions to every place I needed to find). I will shake gravel from the floor mats and wipe dust from the console. I will let the fresh air in and the push the stale air out. I will gather all of the cloth shopping bags and tuck them safely into the pocket behind one seat, where they belong.
By Monday I will have a clean car. More than that, I will have a car that doesn't have a toaster in the back that rattles with every turn and bump and makes me think my car is falling apart. I will have a dashboard that shines like new as I drive along. I will have found quite a few things that I have lost since the weather turned cold. I will once again love my car and I will be happy it is clean and warm. Just that little switch will reduce my urge to pay attention to new car sale promotions or to test drive anything else.
His car will get the same treatment. CDs will be reorganized and stashed away. He'll discover one he hasn't listened to in year and will be renewed with "new old" tunes. (Hopefully Blind Melon because I don't like most of his other old stuff!)
Once the cars are clean they will stay out of the garage and he will reorganize and sweep out the gravel and the salt. The reorganization, and putting things where they belong instead of tossing them where ever because its so cold, will reduce his need for a new shelving system.
Recycling will be taken away, as well, freeing up a section of the basement, and again reducing the desire to "do something else with this basement, because it's always a mess."
These mid-winter thaws lead to a lot of work around here, clearly. However, they result in a new respect for the stuff we have. The stuff we still like and that we don't need to spend new money on. Stuff we were taking our frustration at the cold out on.
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