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Inside: Learn why I wear these shoes whenever I can…even though I’m not a fan of this style of shoes and I HATE pink!

We were at our county fair, stinky and sweaty after a long week of showing animals.  It was the last day, which is always hard.  Some of our animals would go home with us.  Others would be sold at auction.

Even though my son wasn’t particularly fond of this set of lambs (they’d given him a lot of trouble!), he was having a hard time letting go.  He’s old enough to understand the food chain.  And while our whole job was to pass a good product on to the consumer, selling animals is tough.

So even though I’m a no mom, and even though I know he needed to work through the process, I couldn’t say no when he asked if we could bring a bunny home.  So after working out a deal with a 4-H rabbit shower, we needed a cage.  That meant a quick trip in the pick up truck to Tractor Supply Company.

First we stopped by our tack box.  We sat down and fanned ourselves off.  I knew I smelled like a barn, but I was too hot and tired to care.  The best I could do is switch out of my nasty gym shoes and slip into my $1 flip flops.

We headed out.  As we got out of the truck and headed into the store, I felt a snap.  My $1 shoes had given their last flip.  There was no way to put them back together.  I had no other shoes with me, and we weren’t close to home.  I decided I’d just have to grab whatever shoes they had inside.

That’s When It Happened

After looking all over, the best I could do was a pair of hot pick Crocs.  There were no cheap options, and this was the only pair of shoes that actually fit.  For $32!

Guys, I’m not a shoe person.  I live in my gym shoes and flip flops.  Collecting shoes isn’t my thing.  And let’s just say that pink is not a color option I EVER choose willingly.  I wasn’t happy about any of this.

We’d been having a pretty good #yearofno, and spending this kind of money on an ugly pair of shoes seemed wrong.  We picked up the bunny cage (which technically wasn’t a necessity, either) and I left there with a lot less money in our bank account.

It took a while to realize that those ugly shoes actually taught me some valuable lessons.  Things I’m still thinking about nearly a year later.  And yes, I make myself wear those shoes whenever the weather is warm.  It’s good for me.  😉

Lessons Learned from My Ugly Pink Shoes

Life Is Weird

Every once in a while I find myself in line at a fast food restaurant thinking about how strange money habits are.  We’re still living our #yearofno–that means no frivolous spending without carefully considering every single purchase.  But sometimes even the best laid plans don’t work out.  And then you find yourself dropping $30 to feed your family a quick meal.

For the same $30 I could have bought myself a decent set of gym shoes (something I’ve avoided getting even though I really need them).  Or grabbed a pretty clearance decoration for my ugly kitchen.

Or bought just about anything except for ugly shoes I didn’t really want.

It would have been really easy to justify buying things I wanted to buy after the Shoe Incident of 2016.  But you’ve got to squash that kind of thinking like a bug.

Sometimes saving money seems backwards, but it doesn’t have to make sense.  Sometimes you avoid buying $1 burgers for months only to turn around and waste 30 times that amount on something else.

Don’t let weird spending derail your whole plan.

Be Prepared!

The Shoe Incident was too many out of the ordinary events put together, and that’s why I wasn’t prepared for that situation.  And you won’t be prepared for every curve ball life pitches, either.  But it did serve as a reminder to be prepared whenever I can.

It certainly made me think about leaving an extra pair of shoes in the car.  Our stow and go is the perfect place to keep extra clothes.  (I don’t know about your family, but it’s astounding how often my kids need a change of clothes when we’re outside!)

Go With the Flow

I’ve never hidden the fact that I lean toward Type A behavior.  I want things to follow my plan.  And when things don’t work out I’m tempted to throw up my hands and give up on everything.

Life doesn’t follow your plans, though.  All you can do is make adjustments to try to stay on course (once you’re sure you’re following the right course!).

Those are some of the lessons I learned from my ugly pink shoes.

My family gives me a knowing look whenever I have these shoes on my feet.  After all, you can’t miss them!  So if you see me out and about wearing my pink shoes, you can give me a wink.  I’m still learning lessons on spending!

And if you own a pair of hot pink Crocs (or want to!) and you love them, that’s fantastic.  They just aren’t my cup of tea…

Read more crazy things we’ve done to get out of debt here.

How do you handle twists like this?