Mental Spending

We finished and filed our taxes over the weekend, most definitely the earliest we've ever completed them.

While we were on our little Vegas trip a few weeks ago, we sat at lunch and made a list of all of the things we would like to do with our taxes. For three out of the past four years, we've used that money to go on vacation (2006: Maui, 2007: newborn, 2008: Alaska, 2009: New York.) 2010 is another newborn year, so we're staying home, which is good since we've got big plans.

Here's the entire list.

Repairs to husband's car. Not urgent, but necessary within the next several months.

Bed for Bub. Even though his crib converts to a toddler bed, we'll need the crib for the baby, so our plan is to go straight to the twin bed. Since he climbed/fell out of his crib this morning, this is more of an urgent need than we originally thought.

Bub's birthday party Even though his birthday isn't until June, we've already chosen a date for the party and a theme. (Clifford, naturally.) Since baby girl no-name is due ten days before his birthday, we're having his party a month before his actual birthday.

New Couch We bought a new couch for our family room last year, but the living room couch has a smell. A smell suspiciously like cat pee. Our cats were very, very upset with the house/pet sitters we left them with once and they peed all over their luggage, which happened to be on the couch. Despite our best efforts, the smell remains. This item is non-negotiable for me.

Baby Stuff: This includes clothes, nursery decor, and everything else a baby could possibly need. We saved all of the big stuff from Bub, but there's still plenty we need. This is one area where I'm going to have to make some serious decisions between need and want.

Carpet for the kids' bedrooms This is at the bottom of my list but the top of my husband's list. Currently the two smaller bedrooms have hardwood flooring that I like, and he hates.

Replace backyard fence Blah. Boring. Necessary. Fortunately, we can split the cost with our neighbor.

Thanks to the power of direct deposit, we'll have our money soon. Even though I trust that it's actually going to arrive in my account, husband has strictly forbid me from spending until we actually have the money. There's probably a good reason to have one responsible partner in the relationship. Until then, I'm taking suggestions on any an all cute baby items I should squee over.