By: Heather Ferarr
Mark and I got married in August 1996 at CFB Moose Jaw and purchased our first wedding rings at Consumers Distributing. If you are too young to remember Consumer’s it was a shop you could go into and they had catalogues where you could pick items you wanted to order or pick up. It was quite handy and convenient in those days.
Consumers Distributing has since went out of business so those days are gone with computers and new technology brings a new era of on-line shopping. In the 80′s it was a big deal to place an order from the well-known catalogue especially at Christmas time. Now we raise the roof to find a deal on-line without leaving the comfort of our home.
My husband Mark is a fire fighter with the air force and his profession has turned his wedding band into something less to desire. Mark is currently stationed at CFB Edmonton and our house has yet to sell here in Rural Nova Scotia. It has been on the market for one year now in hopes we sell to move closer to his work so we can all be together. I will be going to Edmonton in May to visit Mark an anticipated visit I think about daily.
I have not seen Mark since January 3rd and I miss him terribly. Mark will be heading to Nova Scotia in July for 3 weeks of family time. If our home doesn’t sell by then Mark will go back to Edmonton and we will stay here until the house sells. Until then we will not see Mark until 2013 so we yearn to sell and put our family back together again.
We are on a tight budget,and Mark has hinted the last year that his wedding band is a bit beat up and had lost a stone. I really wanted to make him smile and surprise him with a new wedding band. He is a wonderful father and husband and works hard for our family and the people.
I debated how I would get Mark a new ring without him knowing and not helping me pay for it. I started to budget $60 a month for my personal allowance but secretly saving part of the money for my special gift for Mark. I was at the mall with my son one rainy afternoon and found myself outside the jewellery shop. I was enticed in the store by the gleaming rocks frosting the window and knew I wanted to look for Marks ring.
After some eye-opening price tags I finally found a men’s eternity band very similar to the one he purchased for me in Dubai. The price tag for the ring was on sale for only $419.00 down from $719.00 which was a great deal. I decided to put it on lay away in November 2011 and every 2 weeks I would put half my allowance $30.00 cash on the debt until I paid it off.
I used the following ways to pay off Marks new ring in cash!
- My allowance
- My change jar
- Returnable Soda/juice boxes (the dog and I collect on our walks)
