ALONG COMES MARY

I am in the middle of a beautiful spring, which means one thing to me: SUMMER is one season away & SUMMER (sorry for the capital letters, it just means I am excited!) means lots of churches to do one of my favorite past times: See live shows! Every concert of interest seems to be going on sale at once….& I am desperately trying to budget out my finances to enjoy myself. A highlight last year for me was The KROQ Weenie Roast on Cinco De Mayo. Garbage. The Offspring. Incubus. The Silversun Pickups. Soundgarden surprised us. Loudness. Moshing. Horribly long bathroom lines & $14 margaritas. I was in Mary heaven 😉

Already this Summer, I am looking at Bjork, Depeche Mode, Weenie Roast (again) & San Francisco’s Outside Lands. I also had a friend invite me to see her in Oregon in afew weeks. My parents want me to come away on their coastal getaway. I am talking with bloggers about a road trip to Vegas in January (Yes, far away…but still factoring in the expenses). & I have an exciting Blog-iversary day planned at Disneyland to also celebrate Erin’s blog & her birthday, woot! So, I want to say YES to it all, but ohhh yes….that one little elusive thing that comes & goes so quickly for us all….

Money.

I feel grateful I can even try to swing at-least afew of these ideas, but then I start thinking: I don’t do that much. Ya only live once. I wanna do it ALL. I am weighing the pros & cons of these concerts….I love The Hollywood Bowl, where I would see Bjork. I have wanted to see her since I was young. Depeche Mode would be great, but it would be up north, & isn’t til nearly the fall…its on a weeknight, too….the 101 on a Tuesday…d’oh. The festivals haven’t even announced their line up, so for all I know it would be a weekend of music that I am not dying to see, anyways.

I literally searched, “Balancing your money for fun” & came across some helpful articles, like this one.  I also am a proud Pioneer member of Happify, an exciting new web-site hat literally teaches the art of happiness; once you’re a member, their quizzes & Q&A’s help you see where you can use some help in your life, & where you seem to be most happy. I got a 73, showing me that I am an overall happy person, & from there, you can learn more about tests/polls/studies that have been done, one states:

“A 2010 study conducted at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School by economist Angus Deaton and psychologist Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize winner, found that although people who earned a higher income were indeed happier, there was a plateau. Once people’s basic needs were met, there was little correlation between cash and contentment. The magic number? $75,000 a year. After that, people didn’t increase their happiness by making more money.

In a 2011 study researchers tracked and examined 5,000 households’ purchases and happiness over four years. They found spending money on things designed to create positive experiences increased people’s happiness. But what increased their happiness even more was to make a series of smaller purchases rather than one big one.

Spreading experiences out over time—and staying within your budget—will bring you the most happiness according to an April 2010 study.

A Texas Tech University study found that the people who want what they have tend to be happier than those who are always wanting more.”

I really can relate to the 2nd paragraph; I am definitely satisfied with buying some concert tickets instead of a BMW, or even a new outfit or something for someone.”

If you’re able to enjoy yourself to some treats, how do you decide what to splurge on? I feel like I should get a savings account going, simply for times like these. Wanting to balance it ALL, like I discussed on another recent post, truly can become a hat trick. I work. I go to school. I have family. I have friends. I love downtime. Do you have any adventures of your own in the works….are you going to any of the concerts I mentioned & need a partner in crime? 😉