Thanks a lot Costco...

Our HP laptop finally bit the dust after four good years. Turns out, that model had a known motherboard issue and there was a class action lawsuit I needed to partake in... three years ago.

Maybe I should actually read my mail before tossing it.

Anyway, the repair was going to cost $350 + labor. Considering I paid $600 for it 4 years ago, I wasn't about to drop a whole bunch of cash on it.

Things are a bit tight, and since we're cash only these days, I like to keep as much of it as possible. Who knew it was possible for me to get even MORE frugal?

Hubby was caught in traffic so I ran to Costco to buy the cheapest computer they had. I figured, the cheapest computer would be faster, have more space, and be nicer than the old one - no need to spring for something fancy.

Why did I rush to beat hubby to Costco? Because hubby is incapable of buying the cheapest anything. He always says, "For $100 more, we could have this!" as he points to the next best thing "And for $200 more, we could have THIS!!"

I hurriedly grabbed the request paper for the 'El Cheapo' version and ran to the registers.

I swear I heard his tires screech into the parking lot as I skidded into line.

Out of breath, he caught me just before reaching the register. "Don't you dare buy a piece of crap" he said as he wrestled the paper out of my hand.

Yup. We know each other pretty well.

I trudged back to the computer section, hubby already talking to the department manager about processor speeds and hard drives. "Which would you recommend?" he asked.

"This one or this one" the guy said, pointing at computers hundreds of dollars more than I wanted to spend "But definitely NOT that one" he said as he pointed to the one I was hurriedly trying to buy. "It's a piece of crap"

Hubby looked at me and smirked.

"We'll take this one" hubby pointed at one of the guy's recommendations.

"So sad to see our son won't be attending college" I said with an over-exaggerated frown.

Neither hubby nor computer guy heard me as they chatted about wi-fi and screen resolution.

We may be forced to live in a cardboard box and be limited to mac and cheese, but at least I can update my Facebook status on a high resolution screen.

Sigh.