This is a picture of my beautiful best friend Lizzi. She is the most amazing mom, friend, sister and daughter. She is fighting the battle of her life and I couldn’t be more proud of her. She is beautiful, kind, funny, compassionate, patient, loving, silly, resilient. I love her more than words can possibly describe.

I don’t tell you these things to make you feel bad for her, I tell you this because I want everyone to realize that life is so short. One day everything is fine, and the next the rug is pulled out from under you. Hug your family, tell your friends you love them, snuggle your pets a little longer. Take nothing for granted.

This leads me to the things I spent money on last month that were worth it and a few that weren’t.

The things that weren’t worth it:

-Unhealthy snacks from Grocery Outlet $17 (You know how you are not supposed to go shopping hungry? Ya, I was hungry. I ended up with a bunch of stuff that was full of sugar and just generally yucky. Most of it went in the trash within a week so that was a total waste!)

-Decorations for Halloween/Dia De Los Muertos $23 (I feel really guilty about this one. As you may or may not know, this is my favorite time of year. I keep skeletal decorations out year round. So this is when I typically scour the stores for new pieces to add. Did I need that garland? No. Did I need those little sculptures? No. Le sigh. I really wish I had taken the time to think out each purchase ensuring that I picked things I really love.

The things that were worth it:

-Decorations for Halloween/Dia De Los Muertos $16 (Confused yet? Ok, so though some of the things I purchased were less than stellar, I got a couple things that I really love. I got a small wooden coffin with a skull carved in it, LOVE IT! I also got some paper decorations to hang in our kitchen, and a hand carved and painted box for little treats. I love them. So these decorations I definitely don’t regret!)

-Indian lunch from a cart $6 (My good friend from high school and college was in town and she had never been to Portland before. I decided one of the best ways to show off our city was to get lunch at a food cart. The Bombay Chaat House is one of my absolute favorites, and they have a $6 lunch special that totally fits the bill. That lunch will definitely feed me at least 2 meals, maybe three. It’s huge! If you live in Portland and haven’t tried this particular food cart, you should definitely check it out. Each meal is vegetarian, though can be served vegan, and contains rice, naan, a cup of chai and 4 different “entrees”. Trust me, you’ll love it!)

-A bag of snacks from Trader Joe’s $32 (As mentioned before, my best friend Lizzi is fighting cancer, for the second time. She spent about a week in the hospital while recovering from brain surgery and I went to visit her daily. Though the hospital food was just fine, I thought a bunch of yummy snacks might lift her spirits. Who doesn’t love peanut butter stuffed pretzels!?! I was right. The bag of snacks was a big hit and lifted her spirits. I will never regret a single cent spent on helping those that I love in some way. She is home now recovering further, and I am so glad to see her improving.)

There was definitely some other superfluous spending but I can’t seem to find it at the moment (that’s probably part of the problem right there!) That’s okay, I will do better next month.

What did I learn? I have always been a big fan of spending on experiences rather than things, and I think this list definitely demonstrates this. The money spent on time with family and loved ones was never wasted. What did you spend money on last month? Was it worth it?