Getting My Money’s Worth?

Dearest Rachel –

These days, I try not to worry overmuch about what this or that thing costs me. This is especially true of regular bills, like utilities and phone service. We’ll use what we’ll use, it’ll cost what it’ll cost, and there’s no sense in getting all bent out of shape about it, because…we need it. Besides, it’s not like we can’t afford it; as I keep telling myself (and I used to tell you, back when it first fell into your hands), the biggest changes to what we have come not from expenditures, but from market fluctuations, which are so much further out of our hands as to render any concerns about price and cost picayune in comparison.

That being said, we spent too much for lives living from paycheck to paycheck (and I know you used to tease me about calling our situation that, but the fact of the matter is, while we managed to pay all our bills as they came in, by the time that we did all that, it was almost always enough to eat up my paycheck, leaving us waiting for the next one to come in) to not be concerned about where our money was going. Your folks wanted to make sure that you knew the value of a dollar, and in that, they certainly succeeded. You were never as penurious as they were, but you certainly inherited a level of frugality from them.

Even so, since we relied on my paycheck as the breadwinner in the family, you left the bill payments to me. You didn’t hover over my shoulder, querying about every last little expenditure. In fact, it was often the other way around, with me asking you about this or that transaction, purely as a matter of knowing how to record it; the accountant in me I suppose.

And so, I guess it’s still the accountant in me that concerns myself with the little niggling costs, such as our cell phone. Normally, this wouldn’t be a big deal; we’re on a plan, after all, so it’s very much the same from month to month. But when you’re overseas like this, the rules kind of change. Our carrier doesn’t have the same kind of presence over here as it does in the states, so it has to piggyback off of what exists here; and that gets passed along to Daniel and I, both in terms of service and cost.

It does provide for a ‘bank’ of a certain number of days that we can save up while in the States, and then treat as normal stateside days while abroad. But I dare say we depleted that bank account while we were over in Israel, and so while we do have a few days left at the moment, we will run out of these days before we go home.

Even then, each additional day we use the local cell service is a fairly nominal amount tacked onto our bill; somewhere between ten and twenty dollars a day. So I really shouldn’t be worrying myself about it. And yet, I can’t seem to keep myself from doing so. Both Daniel and I have been keeping our cellular service switched off on our phones, so as not to use too many of those extra days we’ve banked, unless it’s absolutely necessary.

But then, what constitutes ‘necessary’? And when is that likely to happen? How would we have heard from Logan about the refrigerator, if our cellular service has been off? Well, as it turns out, our plan also has the option to make calls over Wi-Fi, which I’ve just discovered. However, just like with regular cellular service, I don’t know if that costs extra when we’re out of the country like we are.

So, are we getting our money’s worth?

On the one hand, it was a good thing to be able to respond to the news about the fridge; Dad has contacted Abt, and they will be out tomorrow to look at it (and they also assured us that it’s still under warranty). So in some ways, no matter the price, to be able to take care of this from where we are has made it all worth it.

On the other, it seems I still can’t avoid junk calls that ring in the literal middle of the night (because the bots still think of my number as being on Central time in the U.S., and ring me up in the latter hours of the morning over there). I’m not going to lie, if it turns out I’m getting charged for privilege of receiving these spam calls, I’m going to be most put out about it. At least Daniel manages to sleep through them; it’s bad enough that I have to get up to answer them.

Well, that’s all I have for now. I’ve been writing this as I’ve been watching the ship pull into Niigata, and it looks like we’re pretty much here.

So why get bent out of shape over a couple hundred dollars, just to stay in touch – maybe not so much with you, but everyone back at home? I’m getting my money’s worth; or even if I’m not, what difference does it make? We’ve just got to enjoy what we’ve spent it on, and not worry about having done so, wouldn’t you agree?

Anyway, I’ll fill you in on Niigata as we make our way around the town. Keep an eye on us, honey, and wish us luck. We’ll probably still need it.