Mr. Ramsey, we're so sorry...

We are Dave Ramsey people. We have always been Dave Ramsey people. We save for a rainy day, we over-insure, we buy instead of rent, we pay double on our mortgages to avoid excess interest, we don't base our decision to have a child (or two) on our finances, we tithe...you get the idea.

When my husband told me he wanted to buy me a nice purse for Christmas, I thought it was sweet, but I had serious reservations about looking like a snob or anyone thinking that I thought a new purse was some sort of status symbol. I've never had a name-brand bag, you see. Walmart, Target, sale racks at Steinmart - that's where my bags come from. Anyway, we went back and forth about it for over a month, and one night, when we were out shopping for Henry, he tricked me into looking at fancy pants handbags with him. Sneaky one, he is.

Ultimately, I gave in. Afterall, he's been trying to take me shopping for one since we started dating in 2006...I figured one Coach purse never hurt anybody. Besides, he said he was 'totally desperate' to find a gift for me for Christmas this year and that every other idea he had was flopping. Since I had such a great gift for him (more on that in a later post), I admit, I felt a little sorry for him and how embarrassed he might feel on Christmas morning if I whipped his butt as bad as I did on our wedding day again (if you were there, you know what I'm talking about).

So, opening up the box on Christmas morning to find this was all within my realm of expectation...it was the note inside that was not part of the plan...

Oh, and did I mention, we DO NOT buy new cars either.

And, we NEVER will. In fact, I was just whining to my sister a few weeks ago that Jared would never spring for a new car, you know, the depreciated value as soon as you drive it off the lot is just sickening to him...blah, blah, blah...wah, wah, wah...

Well, that's what I thought...

...that's what we 'decided' together, anyway.


Accordingly, I can't rightly say how we ended up with this beauty. It has 116 miles on it. It is pristine. It has 'that smell' - you know the one. Leather, wood-grain, DVD player for the babes, headsets, well-placed cupholders, a healthy engine, and he took care of the license plates and registration before giving it to me. In fact, this little secret spent 3 whole weeks being babysat by the dealership and being pimped out and kept hidden. Wise, darling, fantastically stealthy husband...

At this point, I think it's safe to say that the hubs got even with me for my wedding day surprise, and even safer to say that we're probably on Dave Ramsey's s-list for life.