Setback or Victory?

Yesterday, my family had the pleasure of waking up to 20 degree weather and a furnace that was dead. The house was quite chilly and I was beyond grateful for the number of space heaters we have that kept the living area comfortable for the kids. My husband made the call nice and early to get some guys out to take a look at it. We prayed for a cheap fix as the unit is only a couple of years old.

After two hours of diagnostics, guesses and more diagnostics, they determined the problem and repaired it easily. Only a couple of old broken wires, thank goodness, but the total was still $160 which is no small chunk when every penny is well-budgeted.

Praising God that it was only (my husband hates when I use that word associated with money ;-)) $160, I looked at the budget and felt huge relief that I could easily tweak some items to fit it right in. No credit. No savings dent.

Initially, I looked at it as a setback. I was frustrated and kept thinking what else that $160 could have gone towards, but if I have learned only one thing on this debt-busting journey, it's that mindset is everything.

Negativity like annoyance, anger and victim mentalities only exacerbate situations. It only fuels the mindset that things will never get better and goals will never be reached. Instead of holding that mindset, I chose to look at this as a victory. We had the cash available and because of budgeting every penny, we could make the unexpected cost work. I can look at the situation with thanksgiving and positivity which makes pushing for some extra savings next month feel like an exciting challenge as opposed to an unfair chore of circumstances.

Setback or victory? Definitely a victory.