Dear Frugality,

Dear Frugality,
I credit you with making me a late-bloomer consumer.
I credit you for making me sob at the one and only movie I went to in a theater when I was a new mom. I credit you for mistaking ingratitude with sincere surprise when I received a Target gift card many years ago and had only shopped there once before. I credit you for making me the sibling who always brings the smallest gifts to the family Christmas tree. I credit you for developing the bad habit of sometimes letting Facebook be my primary source of news. I credit you for spreading Naked Lady fever among every group of women I know as my primary source of clothing and the only clothes 'shopping' I enjoy. I credit you for spurring creativity and experimenting with new and found things, like the incense-making kit a neighbor passed on to me......I also credit you for the embarrassments I may or may not avoid such as giving said incense to a host who doesn't like it. I credit you with the middle of the night sanity knowing that sprinkling my carpet with crushed lavender buds and baking soda will lift the last odors of night sick without having to buy chemicals. I credit you for embarrassing the heck out of my kids who still see that the size of a gift must be a reflection of the size of one's heart.

I credit you for making me resilient, continually considering how to make something out of nothing, and how to be flexible enough to realize that sometimes I have to let you go. I never regret that eleventh-hour inspiration when I scrape up the courage to purchase a few small downright frivolous things to spread some holiday cheer. We're not through yet, dear frugality, but we may need to make some changes.
Love,
Me