Janey's a new doll

We have put ourselves on a really tight budget. Jeff and I have just finished Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University and we are now committed to being debt free and living within our means. In order to get rid of the debt, we are attacking it with "gazelle intensity," - to quote our hero, Dave. This means that we are very conscious of every dollar we spend. We live on a written budget and rarely eat out or splurge on anything that isn't needed. At the rate we are going, we should be out of debt - with the exception of the house - by next year at this time.

Since we are so committed to this plan, our Christmas giving is a little different this year. We are using cash only - no plastic. And since we are in the midst of the "debt snowball" there isn't much cash available. Now, before you start thinking that this is a sob story about how life is tough at the Furnald house, remember, we are doing this by choice. We are so excited to finally have a handle of our finances. It truly is a peaceful feeling. Since the kids have been coming to classes with us, they have been pretty involved in the plan as well. In fact, sometimes as I am reaching for a questionable item off of a store shelf, they will give me a look and say something like, "is that what Dave would do?"

That being said, at Thanksgiving we decided as a family to approach our holiday shopping a bit differently this year. Santa will of course make an appearance with some much needed winter fun items and I'm sure he will fill the stockings with lots of little goodies. But instead of lots of little presents for Janey and Joey, we are getting one big family gift. After much thought, discussion and research, the XBox 360 emerged as the gift of choice.

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Right about Thanksgiving time, the American Girl catalog arrived at our house. Janey spent days looking at it and circling things that she would like to have. She has been reading the books about Felicity and was particularly interested in those pages. This year, Janey was also interested in the prices as well, making note of the fact that the dolls are quite expensive. Since she is very aware of our family commitment to the debt reduction plan, she was pretty certain that another doll would not be making her home at our house any time soon. And honestly, she seemed okay with that. She's never been much for toys anyway and the doll she got last year has hardly been touched since about June. But when my Mom wanted to know if Janey would like another doll for Christmas, I did a little detective work and found out that Janey would like Felicity.

We shared Christmas with my family on Saturday and among other things, Janey got her American Girl Felicity doll. When she unwrapped the box and saw the face of the doll, Janey fell silent and looked up in disbelief. And then, poor thing, she started to cry. Not just a little teary, but a big sob. And of course within a few moments, we were all in tears. When she calmed down and was able to speak, she told me that she thought that she would never get the Felicity doll because she is so expensive. Even after we got home, she was still emotional about her new doll. She cried again before she went to bed. Now, I have to admit that for a little while, I felt guilty. Like I should have known that she wanted the doll that bad and gotten it for her myself at any cost.

But the truth is, I am so proud of her - and of us. There was a time, not that long ago, that I would have bought her a hundred dollar doll and lots of accessories to go with it. I would have charged all of the rest of the books and maybe even the horse.

And she wouldn't have appreciated it at all.

But now, she has her doll and a greater understanding of the value of a dollar.

And I have a greater understanding of the value of a doll.