An Offer Hard To Refuse

When I brought in our mail yesterday, I stood for ten minutes, opening and sorting, before I could get through the lot. I don’t know about your household, but ours is experiencing a bonanza of solicitations. They split into two large piles – desperate pleas from assorted charities and over-the-top offers from credit companies.

Normally, I open these and then chuck them right into the recycler or shredder.

But last week, I got an offer that made me pause. It just caught my fancy with its well-worded promise of instant pleasures and freedoms. Vacations, jewelry, clothes, toys! The terms seemed good – 0%, no fees – but then the terms always SEEM good. These kinds of offers always seem like you can just have it all, right away, no waiting and no pain if you simply accept.

Ah, temptation.

But then I remembered that I am responsible for maintaining the fiscal health and stability of our little tribe. Everyone depends on my judgment being sound for the long-term course. Braces for two children loom within the next year. The exorbitant and rising costs of college are closer than I like to admit.

And, of course, the credit isn’t free. It never is. These offers always come at a price, and that price must be paid, during unpredictable future circumstances, for years to come.

Still it’s been hard to get that lure of wild, unbridled Christmas shopping out of my head.