Saturday, March 14, 2015

Rationalizing

Today I went to a locally owned bike shop and spent a decent about of money on a bike for my seven year old.  I have had a bit of buyers remorse because of the price tag but her smile has made up for it.  As I sit and reflect upon the day I am entertained by how natural it was to rationalize such a purpose.

The whole "new bike idea" started with a spring break camping trip.  Her bike, purchased used last spring, is too little to fit on our existing bike racks on the top of the car.  In order to get a bike rack to fit on the back of my car we have to not only buy the rack but install a trailer hitch.  The act of bringing her bike was going to cost at least $600.  We realized that it would be cheaper to buy her a new, bigger, better bike that would fit on the rack we already owned.  (Reason #1)

Mike husband loves to ride his mountain bike and I love the idea of them riding together.  We also want her to enjoy it so we want a bike that is going to work well so she walks away from the experience with a smile on her face.  Consequently, we had to buy a good mountain bike.  Let's just face it, we are kind of gear snobs. (Reason #2)

I brought her to the bike shop that the husband of a teacher at my school owns.  My daughter plays soccer with their daughter so I thought it would be a good place to start.  We were NOT going to buy anything.  We were just going to look.  I was thinking about going to REI in Denver at the beginning of break to save $75 or so.  Once we were in the store and we had tried out the bike I started realizing how much of a pain it would be to get to the REI with both kids, by myself, to get the bike so I decided we would buy the bike here. (Reason #3)

My husband is very happy with the decisions I make.  He doesn't need to be troubled with this bike or that.  He doesn't care about the color and most kids bikes are the same anyway.  So if I went home without the bike we would just need to come back the next day so I might as well buy it today, Mike wouldn't care and the bikes are virtually the same shop to shop.  (Reasons 4 & 5)

If we got the bike today we could ride it two days in a row to give her time to figure it out a bunch before we go camping.  We could even ride right after purchasing it.  (Reason 6)

Sealing the deal was the look on her face.  She is such a good kid.  Great grades, dedicated to school, kind and loving to her sister, good natured about our adventures or non adventures.  I'm constantly scrimping and saving.  I'm always saying "No our family doesn't just buy presents or treats."  It would feel so good to just buy it for her because she loves it.  (Best reason of all).

Now we have a beautiful pink bike that she has already ridden and washed parked in the garage waiting for tomorrow's ride.
















8 comments:

  1. Love the pink bike and your slice today. That smile makes the cost of the bike insignificant.

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  2. Love the pink bike and your slice today. That smile makes the cost of the bike insignificant.

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  3. Love all the rationalizing. I do the same thing! You will not regret the extra money-I spent way more money on a TREK road bike than I ever thought I would-but I've biked almost 4,000 miles on it in two summers. It's freedom on wheels and the money doesn't matter anymore because the comfort on a bike that works well and fits is worth it all. I love the bike carrier-how old are your children before you can't haul them anymore? I'm considering one for my granddaughter for my trail bike. She'll be two this summer.

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  4. Love all the rationalizing. I do the same thing! You will not regret the extra money-I spent way more money on a TREK road bike than I ever thought I would-but I've biked almost 4,000 miles on it in two summers. It's freedom on wheels and the money doesn't matter anymore because the comfort on a bike that works well and fits is worth it all. I love the bike carrier-how old are your children before you can't haul them anymore? I'm considering one for my granddaughter for my trail bike. She'll be two this summer.

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    1. The bike carrier in the photo is a Charriot. They are really expensive but worth the money. You can buy singes and doubles and ours holds up to 75 pounds. You can buy jog, bike and ski attachments. We have done all three with it. My husband used to irrigate our ranch with our daughter in the charriot and the shovel in the back pocket! Our older daughter quit riding in it when she was about five and could ride a two week bike on her own. Good luck and amazing job on your road bike. Four thousand miles is a lot of miles! Good for you!

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  5. You worked so hard to rationalize that purchase - but, wow, a new bike in time for spring riding...you had me there! She is radiant. Great purchase!

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  6. Marie, this was a great read. And your daughter looked so happy. What a great weekend she must have had!

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