Thank you so much for being so supportive about yesterday’s announcement! I am so excited for this slight change in direction, and I can’t wait to get started.

Now it’s time for me to come clean. This week, I did something very unfrugal.

We bought some concert tickets. They were only $30 a ticket, which isn’t bad. But the unfrugal thing is the concert is in Washington D.C. six hours away, which means we’ll also need a hotel for a night, and we’ll have to board the dog.

Just as we’re coming up on the last month of our no spend summer, I spent. And the only explanation I have is that it’s Paul McCartney. THE Paul McCartney. 1/4 of the Beatles!

But seriously. As unfrugal as it is, this kind of thing is reason we save. We can afford this. We really want to do it. We don’t need to do it. This money would be better off in savings. But after a summer of scrimping and saving, I think we deserve it. I would rather spend $200 on an amazing experience together than let it slip away penny by penny in daily spending that I don’t even remember.

This is what mindful spending is all about. We thought long and hard about it, and we decided that we want to do this. Because we’re frugal, we have the money, so we’re not getting ourselves into debt.

The important thing is, it doesn’t negate all of our hard work. Because we lived so frugally this summer, we saved $1500 more than we would have saved on our regular budget, even if we do spend $200 on some concert tickets. So that’s that.

And I’M GOING TO SEE PAUL MCCARTNEY NEXT WEEKEND!!! :)

There have been a ton of great posts this week, so let’s get to it!

From around the blogosphere:

• Bargaineering shares the list of the cheapest cars to insure. If you’re thinking of taking advantage of the Cash for Clunkers program, these are the cars to consider.
• Small Notebook has some great ideas for how to get healthier and save money by drinking more water.
• Simple Mom suggests 10 ways to prevent overspending.
• Sense to Save hates to use her credit card because it feels like paying for purchases twice. It’s an interesting perspective that might make it easier for you to avoid charging!

And from the Pecuniary Associates:

• Budgets are Sexy hosted this week’s Carnival of Pecuniary Delights. Check it out for some great posts!
• Counting My Pennies discusses the meaning of value — both financial value and enjoyment value.
• Pecuniarities shares why she lives without air conditioning in the summer. Yikes! I’m not that strong, but I sure do respect anyone who can do it!

That’s all from me this week! I’m going to get started on some brainstorming for new ideas, and I might even start on a redesign this weekend. :) Happy Friday!