Bio-rhythms

I don't mean biorhythms like those hoaky things we had such fun with for about 20 minutes after we first discovered them, and then never looked at again. This is to explain that cryptic remark I made in my last post about it nearly being August.

I have this...cycle, I guess you'd call it. It took me forever and Quicken to notice it.

Three times per year, in or near April, in or near August, and in or near December, I start to spend money like mad. On stuff I don't even really need (like more DVDs, televisions, new clothes....). I have no idea why, although I can rationalize and say that my birthday is in April and Christmas is in December...but August? My...uh...parents' anniversary! Yeah! That's it! (Which really is August 26. But I digress.)

I didn't realize I did it until I entered several years of my spending patterns into Quicken (this was a few years back) and graphed it and saw the spikes in April, August, and December. Every year.

What does this mean? Well, I don't know. Maybe I'm bipolar with a really huge frequency and those months mark my "up" phase? But I don't see a corresponding "down" phase, so maybe not.

What I do know is this: If I realize I'm doing it, I can and do stop, breaking the cycle. But I have to be very careful. It can be insidious. Like last night, when I was in Wal-Mart and I picked up two more DVDs than I went in there for, and caught myself looking at the big-screen TVs again. Not that I want to buy something like a big-screen TV from Wal-Mart, of all places. But you see what I'm up against. :) And that 52-inch HDTV wide-screen RCA TV for only $1400 was calling my name pretty loudly.... (Interestingly, I cannot locate the model on the RCA website. Must be discontinued.)

I also tend to tip bigger in those three months. I guess the waitstaff at restaurants I frequent like it. *shrug*

So now you know. Huzzah.