I feel like I'm falling into a trap. We have an emergency fund. We also have an additional $3000 saved above our emergency fund goal.

And. I. Don't. Want. To. Spend. It.

As I talked about a few posts ago, we have savings goals above and beyond our emergency fund and paying off debt. And now that we have the money, I don't want so use it. 

I got such joy this weekend out of using Amazon gift cards for our new fireplace so that I didn't need to transfer any money from savings. And then I was so happy that we sold some things to make the cash for the fireplace surround so that we wouldn't have to touch our savings.

It feels like a trap. Work hard to build you savings. Save cash money for things you want to buy. Then, cry and pout because you feel like your savings account took a hit when you do use the money.

We currently have the most money in savings that we have ever had in our married life. And it feels good! For the first time in our lives, we aren't living paycheck to paycheck and I love it! But then I feel sad and guilty when I want to use our planned savings... It feels like there is no middle ground!

I'm so glad to have money in savings! It's awesome to have an emergency fund! It's awesome to have extra savings for things we want to accomplish! But it sucks that it feels like failure when we use that savings! In my head I know it's not failure to use the money for what it was intended for, but my heart isn't on the same page.

Okay, rant over! I'm trying to look on the bright side and just be glad we actually have money saved for the first time in our lives! Money for an emergency AND money for planned spending!

We ordered the fireplace insert for our bedroom over the weekend. It should be here in 4-10 days. Out of pocket, it only cost us $90!

We participate in a wellness program through The Husband's work. We get points for completing different wellness activities, working out, seeing a doctor/dentist regularly, etc. The points can be redeemed for lots of different things; we almost always choose Amazon gift cards. Apparently, we haven't redeemed the points in a while. We had enough points to redeem $375 in Amazon gift cards, which paid for the majority of our insert!

The insert is 36 inches wide by 27 inches tall and about 8 inches deep. It can be used for heat or just for ambiance. I'm super excited to get this process started! I can't wait for it to come so The Husband can start building the mantle.

Also, over the weekend, The Husband listed some items on Facebook Marketplace to sell. We were given a backyard awning 6 or 7 years ago that we have NEVER used. It has actually never even left the box. We also had a drywall lift that we had bought when we were remodeling our old house that has also been sitting in our backyard since we moved 5 years ago. Lastly, he listed The Boy's basketball hoop. Our son hasn't used the hoop in 2 years probably, it was time. All three items sold relatively quickly and painlessly! We listed the awning for $200 and sold it for $160 to a young couple that had just bought their first house. The drywall lift sold for $140 and I was beyond happy to get it out of my backyard! And the basketball hoop sold for $50!

It was all "found" money to us and none of these things were being used and were actually taking up space! The money from the awning and the drywall lift is going to be used to buy the lumber for the mantle for the fireplace in my bedroom! Although we saved the money for the fireplace, I'm so happy that we won't have to use much of it. We used gift cards for the insert itself and have about $300 from items we sold to use towards the wood!

The money for the basketball hoop we gave to The Boy. It was his hoop, so we figured the money should be his. We have our kids split their money up into three categories: tithe, spend, save. They have to tithe 10%, they get 50% for spending, and 40% goes into savings. 

It was a good and productive weekend.