Budgets Are Sexy

(Guest post by my kid brother, T. Penny – who thinks debt is like kissing your sister (err… our sister?) and who blames his baldness on Bank of America )

It beckons me like a glazed donut to a glossy-eyed fat kid. There it sits, all pretty and shiny on its shelf, the McDonald’s-red discount sticker winking at me something fierce. Yes, I’m aware it’s only $429. Yes, I know that it’s $100 off. It’s got all the fixings? Well I’ll be. It’s big and wide and beautiful. It’s the flat-screen television of my dreams, and I can’t purchase it … or can I?

The skinny: I recently filed my taxes, and it looks like I’m going to get $3,300 back (a HUGE high five to my condo and 401k account). Unlike that third nipple I found beneath my armpit the other week, this was a nice surprise! The second I saw that hefty number, I thought two things: 1) I wonder what my face would look like on a dollar bill, and 2) This is going to look sexy in my emergency savings.

For those of you who’ve read my previous posts, you’ll note that I’m a little different from my brother. For one, my bicep is about as big as his head. Two, I’m still swimming to the shores of financial sensibility, and he’s in one of these things, strumming his way around the world, educating people on the dos and don’ts of dollar stuff. I’ve made some great changes, for sure, but I still come up against some head-scratching financial scenarios, so I look to him for wisdom.

Here’s the thing: I want that TV more than Screech wants Lisa Turtle, but I also love the idea of having an emergency savings on steroids. I practically doubled my reserve with this tax refund, and it’s looking purdy* in my bank account. And now that my account is swollen like Macaulay Culkin’s face in “My Girl,” I don’t want to touch it. It’s too intoxicating. I’m not as financially smart as I’d like to be with putting money in my savings (a little here and there each month … nothing glorious), and who knows when I’ll have that much in my account again.

You know what my bro said? Something like this. In a salty nutshell, he said that life is all about being happy, so why not treat yourself from time to time (within reason) and get the most out of what money can bring? I rarely buy myself anything these days, outside of a shirt here and there, and dammnit, I deserve to be rewarded for being so good-looking. Will getting this 40-inch TV make me happy? Like a school girl at a Justin Bieber concert. Will having a fat emergency savings make me happy? Like Justin Bieber at an all-girls’ school.

I’m leaning toward the television, but only because I’ll get to watch my Dido Live DVD in a bigger format. Nothings soothes the soul like Dido Florian Cloud de Bounevialle O’Malley Armstrong. But hey, that’s just me. What would you do in my situation? Details: 29, single, own a condo, few bills, $800 free after all bills each month, no debt, no hair, nice shoes. Eh?

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(Photo by ElAlispruz)

Originally published at budgetsaresexy.com.