SHOCKED!

First off, I'm not a winner. I do not win at things. I do not buy lotto tickets, even scratch offs because I just don't win.

Ok, so a few weeks ago, I decided to enter a video contest from getrichslowly.org. I entered 2 videos into the contest, 1 for my financial success story (which I already posted on here), and 1 for my financial tip. Now, the rules were the video could only be 2 minutes long. So, I went for a "music video" approach, and crammed a TON of info into 2 minutes. Honestly, it's was really hard to get it down to 2 minutes, so you may have to go back and pause to get all the tips that are thrown in. Yes, it's embarassing, but it was also a lot of fun to put together.

So, the real exciting/shocking part - hence the title of this post - is that I actually WON the video contest for my financial tip! $500 cash money!!! I'm so shocked still! I'm not really sure when it will totally sink in. Now, to some people $500 may not seem like much, but to me - it is like I won the lottery! To some, $500 is a nice pair of shoes, but to me $500 is 4 months of groceries/toiletries for my family! So, it may sound crazy when I say that I want to use the $500 to buy a new camera for my family, but let me explain...
I have a horrible memory. I remember random things from my childhood (i.e. I can TOTALLY kick butt at Super Mario 3 on Nintendo and I remember every secret still), but overall, I have a horrible memory. I can't remember that I was a counselor at summer camp or what our house looked like when I was growing up. And to be totally honest, it scares me. I am worried that one day I will actually be like the lady on the Notebook and my husband will have to tell me the story of my life. With that being said, I really cherish pictures and videos. My baby boy is already 8 months old, and I'm terrified of when the time will come when I forget some of his firsts or when I forget how the first night in the hospital after he was born, he made little noises all night long while he was sleeping. So for that reason, I really cherish videos and pictures. This is why I have been budgeting $75/week for groceries for my family since the beginning of 2010. I take out $75 cash, and whatever I don't spend, I put towards my camera fund. Well, I have $485 saved so far, but I'm thinking of putting that money towards the next 4 months of groceries, and using the $500 from my video winnings to buy a new camera to capture these precious moments!
(Though to be totally honest, I might throw in a manicure/pedicure for myself since that is something I would normally NEVER spend money on myself for =) )