Act Now!

Have you ever bought something and later (or even immediately after) asked yourself, "What was I thinking?" I made one of those purchases about a month ago. It's bad. Real bad. I saw an ad in the newspaper for a once in a lifetime opportunity and it just so happened that this "deal" was that day only. Plus there were limited quantities, so I had to act fast in order to be one of the lucky owners of this item. I first wanted to see if I was too late for the purchase or if they had any left. I mean if I was too late then I could have said it wasn't meant to be. So I called the number and sure enough while they were "going fast", there were still some left. Well now that I had the salesperson on the phone, I couldn't just say "Oh I just wanted to see if you had any left. Bye." That would be rude. So I bought it and ever since I hung up the phone I have regretted it. I didn't tell my husband because he was out mowing the lawn. To my credit, I tried knocking on the window while he was outside, but he couldn't hear me. And even though is the beauty of having separate bank accounts, we still we try not to make stupid or rash purchases and are usually quite successful. Unfortunately, this purchase qualified as both. So I called my mom because I thought if I confessed to someone it would make the purchase seem more reasonable. That was not the case. Even she asked me what I was thinking.

I decided to put off telling my husband and pushed the mistake to the back of my mind. Then one day there was a giant package by the front door. At first I thought it was a surprise present, but I soon realized what it was and my stomach dropped. I had forgotten about the deal of the century. I didn't even open the box. I hid it in the guest room closet hoping that my husband wouldn't go in there for anything. I knew I had 90 days to return it, so I held off my confession. I thought about writing a blog post while he was out of town, so that way he would find out while he was miles away in a hotel room. Then I decided to put it off longer and he came back in town. My time was running out. I played the conversation in my head and the more I played the more comfortable I became. Maybe he would be excited about the purchase and my eclectic taste. I would tell him how I worried and we would laugh about it over a glass of wine. Then he would take me to a nice dinner because this item would SURELY increase in value and make us rich someday. So finally this past Friday I let him in on my secret. We opened the box together and he just shook his head restraining himself from the 1500 jokes he had, all at my expense.

So what was the item you ask? Only all 50 State Quarters and 6 Territory coins. Uncirculated. I will say I was smart enough not to buy a set from each of the U.S. Mints. Which sadly, I considered. All of this begs one question... Well, two really. "How old am I?" and "What are the 6 territories?". I didn't go blow my paycheck on a new pair of Jimmy Choo's or a designer dress. I bought COINS. COINS. FYI- my 88-year-old Grandpa buys coins. That and an Amish heater that he swears is the greatest thing on earth. My husband asked me how much they were and I asked him to guess. His reply was "I hope not more than 56 X $0.25". Spoiler alert: They were $88 plus s+h. Technically the coins were free. I just had to buy the crappy frame that doesn't even have glass. Did I seriously think I was going to display these in the gargantuan "antique" wall frame they came in? Everyone else buys home decor from Pottery Barn. Not me, I've got coins on the wall. Correction, ALMOST had coins on the wall. Saturday I woke up bright and early and sent the coins back to the "World Reserve" where they belong. They will soon be someone else's treasure (or mistake). Hopefully all this lesson cost me was the shipping and handling. Well that and the embarrassment it has caused. But FYI, the Tennessee state quarter has already increased in value 1100%. This may have been my ticket to early retirement.