Splurges and Habits

Trent's recent post from The Simple Dollar (http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2009/03/24/splurges-habits-and-projection/) had some interesting ways of looking at the concepts of splurges and habits.
What I mostly took from the article was really quite simple: a splurge is healthy, a habit is not. I found it interesting to think of my money in this way, since I had not before.
After reading a good amount of personal finance blogs, I have learned that everyone spends money differently. As for me, I can say that I am moderately frugal, but I love a good splurge. Honestly, I can't say that I have too many spending habits (notice the spending addendum). I don't visit coffee shops regularly, or eat from my company's vending machine, or have to buy some sort of clothes or electronic every month. However, I do believe that I can get in the habit of splurging. I do still find myself shopping just to shop, although it is much rarer now. Most noteworthy, though, I feel are my random intense urges to just buy something. Now, usually this is when I know I have some money that isn't allocated elsewhere. Yet, deep down I know that this is money that can be spent on reducing my debt or put into savings, or just keeping in my bank account for that time when I will actually NEED something.
My most recent splurge is in conjunction with my boyfriend. We traveled to see our friend's largest art show to date. We ate out at moderately priced restaurants for a couple days, bought some drinks, some snacks, and of course the gas there and back. Accomodations for the night were provided by our friend's couch, so that wasn't extravagence. Then there was the art show. We were so excited and so impressed that we spent some more money there. Leaving for the night, we had spent over $200.00 on my friend's work, including a rather sizable original painting. During the night, we debated on the most expensive, the original. At the end, we both looked at each other and knew it was what we wanted. The idea of having this great piece in our house and helping our friend was just too good to pass up. So we did it. And the look on our friend's face when he found out was priceless. He was ecstatic and so overwhelming grateful. If I could have, I would have bought even more. The downside came when we came home and actually realized how much we had spent that weekend. Sure, we could afford it, but it was way more than we usually spend in a weekend, and money that could have been put towards so many other uses. We had some guilt, but came to an interesting conclusion: we didn't regret buying the art.
Money has been very complicated for me throughout my life. Growing up with not much, I felt guilty asking for anything outside of normal, everyday costs. Now as an adult, money still carries a lot of guilt and anxiety for me. I still struggle financially, but I have enough to fill my day to day needs and splurge every once in a while. Although I don't always agree with my mother on financial matters, she said something to me once that stuck, "Money is a tool." Money, like any tool, is meant to be used, but should be used wisely. I often have buyers remorse after any large purchase. And talking things over with my boyfriend, we decided that yes we should have eaten a little more frugally during the trip. The art, though, and the happiness that was a result of its purchase, was priceless. That sounds like a lame credit card commercial, but in this case, it was actually true.

Spring Break Evangelism

Today on Salon was a quite interesting excerpt: http://http://www.salon.com/mwt/excerpt/2009/03/18/unlikely_disciple/index.html. It's from Kevin Roose's book "The Unlikely Disciple: A Sinner's Semester at America's Holiest University" . Kevin Roose is a student from Brown who goes undercover at Christian University. This excerpt covers his spring break which was spent evangelizing in Daytona Beach, Florida.
I found it particularly interesting since I was once a part of a religion that is characterized by "witnessing," the word which the author feels "seems to be the most all-purpose." I have also never gone on a true "Spring Break," so let's say I was doubly entertained by the narrative.
Roose's story is filled with details of his trip through his attitude of "ambivalen[ce] towards God" and the evangelicals he consorts with on his trip. One can see that he admires his fellow students even though he obviously does not agree with them.
What stands out to me is Reese's difficulty in justifying his actions while undercover. He was extremely afraid of accidentally converting someone, to the point that he set out guidelines beforehand to ensure he didn't do so. However, it turns out that he didn't have to worry about this. Between the over-zealous hell-fire threatening types, and the meeker caring for the homeless types, over the entire week, only two people were "saved." The excerpt ends interestingly, on the road back in the "Jesusmobile," with one student questioning the productivity of the outing. The idea of "productivity" was disconcerting to me. The student says to Reese, "I probably won't evangelize like this again." I was left wondering, what other way (really) is there?
To this day, I have trouble reconciling my feelings about my former religion. I have only written about the experience one other time, and it was in my College Entrance Essay. Personally, I can't harshly judge those who feel it is their duty to spread God's word. What I have trouble with, are those who, like some in the story, threaten hellfire and other punishments for not accepting their word. I am definitely in the school of thought that believes few will listen to a message crammed down a throat.
I appreciated this article because the author also didn't cram his message down a throat, but more so exposed the lengths that certain religions are going to in order to "save," letting readers decide for themselves the productivity of the day: for Reese, for the other students, for the cheerful director, for those saved, and for religion in general. And, possibly, even the productivity of reading the excerpt. But what I want to know is, what about that Evangelical Night Club rouse? Who got saved from that? And what a great practical joke!