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The Emergency Twenty
Feb. 11th, 2020 08:03 pmScrounging for change to pay for something is not necessarily new to me. Growing up poor... then dirt poor... in Southeastern KY, I learned quickly to watch every penny when I went shopping. I knew that as I added items to the grocery cart to round up the prices, so I would never go over the amount of money I had. I actually got pretty good at it as a kid.
Nowadays, I admit that I don't have to do it for every day things. I have savings, I have a good salary, and I know I have enough money to pay for basics without worrying about going over. However, all of this hinges on my wallet being in my pocket.
I went out for a quick lunch today by myself. I got out of the car and was three steps away from the restaurant door when I almost instinctively patted my pocket, only to realize my wallet wasn't there. Earlier, I had pulled it out to get my credit card to make travel arrangements for an upcoming work trip. I'd not put it back into my pocket and had left the office without it.
While I was mad at myself, I was also relieved that I hadn't found out AFTER I ordered lunch. I pondered driving back to the office to get it, but I knew it would eat up my lunch time. I have a cup in my console full of change. I recently had cleaned it out, but left most of the quarters. I pulled out $5 worth of quarters and drove to Wendy's across the street and got a very cheap and not very healthy lunch to take back to work.
So the diet got wrecked today, but I was happy that change was there. I had long joked that I needed to stash a $20 bill in the car for emergencies. I did that today. The emergency $20 is now in place and hopefully there will never be a situation to require me to use it.
Nowadays, I admit that I don't have to do it for every day things. I have savings, I have a good salary, and I know I have enough money to pay for basics without worrying about going over. However, all of this hinges on my wallet being in my pocket.
I went out for a quick lunch today by myself. I got out of the car and was three steps away from the restaurant door when I almost instinctively patted my pocket, only to realize my wallet wasn't there. Earlier, I had pulled it out to get my credit card to make travel arrangements for an upcoming work trip. I'd not put it back into my pocket and had left the office without it.
While I was mad at myself, I was also relieved that I hadn't found out AFTER I ordered lunch. I pondered driving back to the office to get it, but I knew it would eat up my lunch time. I have a cup in my console full of change. I recently had cleaned it out, but left most of the quarters. I pulled out $5 worth of quarters and drove to Wendy's across the street and got a very cheap and not very healthy lunch to take back to work.
So the diet got wrecked today, but I was happy that change was there. I had long joked that I needed to stash a $20 bill in the car for emergencies. I did that today. The emergency $20 is now in place and hopefully there will never be a situation to require me to use it.
