Easy Come, Easy Go*

Last week, I finished a small ghost writing gig, and as a result, I got a few extra pennies tossed into my Paypal account. Since I didn’t anticipate to have some extra money to work with, I decided to something (or a few things) nice for someone besides myself. So with the extra few bucks I had I did the following:

1. Got Ethan a new Skylander:

Ethan loves the Skylander video games, especially that new Giants game. We have the game for the Wii at his Mom’s place and for the PS3 at my place. So whatever figures he gets for the game can be used at both homes (thank goodness) so when I got some extra cash in Paypal, I went onto E-bay and grabbed a new figure for his game that he can’t get in stores.

This is Sunburn, a figure Ethan has been dying to use on his game… but the figure has been retired for a while cause it’s part of the previous game ‘Spyro’s Adventure’. So it’s not available in stores anymore, which is why I had to go to E-Bay to find him. I managed to get him for a fairly decent price and it should be here within a week or so. Ethan will flip out when he sees it.

2. Bought Birthday gifts for Chris:

Chris turns 40 this coming Monday, and since I happen to have a few bucks on me this time… I wanted to make an effort to get him something this year. So I did two things this year for his birthday: I got him a Cineplex gift card and a Zombieland t-shirt.

…

He’s dying to check out that new Star Trek movie, and while I had planned to book tickets for a precise date, I couldn’t do it cause of their schedules… so I just went with a gift card that they can use when they eventually feel like going to see the movie.

As for the t-shirt, one of Chris’ favourite movies is Zombieland. This shirt is pretty cute and the rule on it rings true for real life as well as a Zombie Apocalypse… no matter what is happening, take time to enjoy the little things. I think he’ll love it.

3. Bought a new wallet:

I’ve been thinking about getting a wallet for a while now cause the one I have is slowly falling apart. So when I was buying Chris’ Zombieland T-shirt, I saw this awesome little thing on the same site:

That’s right; it’s a BACON WALLET!

Just admit it, you’re jealous.

I can’t wait for that first time when I pull my wallet out to pay for something. I can’t wait to see people’s response to what looks like me pulling out a slab of bacon out of my pocket. It’s going to be epic.

4. Made a donation to charity:

When I read the book ‘On Writing…” by Stephen King, there was a part of the book that I really took to heart. In the book, King admitted that a dime of every dollar he makes is donated to charity. He said that isn’t a lot to ask for, and I agree with him on that one. So when I got some extra money from this writing gig, I donated close to 20% of what I made to what I think is a worthwhile cause:

The David Suzuki Foundation is an environmental organization based in Vancouver, British Columbia. It is a non-profit organization that is incorporated in both Canada and the United States whose goal is to: “Work towards balancing human needs with the Earth’s ability to sustain all life … to find and communicate practical ways to achieve that balance.”

The mission of the foundation is to protect the diversity of nature and our quality of life, now and for the future. Their vision is that within a generation, Canadians act on the understanding that we are all interconnected and interdependent with nature.

It’s a great organization, so rather than waste money on things that I didn’t need… I followed Stephen’s advice and donated a healthy chunk of what I had towards the foundation. I plan to donate future writing earnings not only toward the Suzuki Foundation but also to Amnesty International, which is another great organization that I’ve donated to. I also like to think that donating to great organizations like this is also a gift to my children, as they protect human rights and the environment, efforts that many children will benefit from in the future.

So that’s what I did with my extra cabbage. Sure, I could have bought more stuff for myself, but believe it not what I’ve missed most about being short on change the last while was buying stuff for the people I love. Don’t get me wrong, I love to get gifts… but I get a bigger kick out of giving them away. So I was more than happy to do this with my extra change. It’s just money. It’s meant to be spent and we all can’t take it with us in the end.

Peter