Sometimes you just have to buy stuff.

We woke up this past week on New Year’s Day to no less than 8 inches of snow on our driveway!  Such is the life of those who live on the west coast of Michigan, where so-called “lake effect” snow is about as prevalent as the mutant black squirrels that populate our area as well.  We’re used to it, but that doesn’t make it any less annoying to clean up, particularly when you’ve got company on the way and a wedding to attend.  Nonetheless, Julie and I trekked outside to make quick work of the fluffy white stuff.  And we did—it only took us about 45 minutes to clear the driveway for our guests and for our own convenience during the weekend.

About halfway through the job we were both looking up and down our street to see no other shovels, but plenty of snowblowers.  Jules and I looked at each other and realized we needed to add our own snowthrowing machine to our arsenal (which at the time included just one shovel and the one our neighbors let us borrow).  After all, we had already been thinking about purchasing one for a fair amount of time.  We headed out to Menards after lunch that day, hoping the prices hadn’t mysteriously been doubled in light of the recent snowfall.  Nope, everything appeared to be for sale at regular price, we found.  No preseason deal, but hey, we were mildly desperate at this point.  We put one in the cart and were quickly on our way.  (It runs great, by the way.  Now we just need some more snow.)

The point here is: situations happen (do you like the delicate way I put that?).  If you’ve got some cash money saved up, you’re going to be prepared when the sky (or snow) falls.  We felt the freedom to be able to go out and make that purchase with little concern.  Now, were we in a spot where making that large of a purchase wasn’t going to be feasible with just cash, you can bet you’d find us shoveling when the next snow falls (probably 5 minutes from now).  Be blessed by what you have, and don’t be afraid to make an investment if you have the ability to do so.