How to spend $1000.00 during your lunch hour

I take a late lunch to pick Teddybear up after work and headed to our local video game store, Video Games Etc. (Motto: Just a Game? I Don't Think So!) Christmas is getting close and there are still a couple items we don't have, namely an XBox 360 and a Wii. I am not worried about the 360 but the big question is will we be able to get the kids a Wii before Christmas? Last week teddybear offered to stand in line all night at a Gamestop for the ones that came out Sunday but I thought that was a little drastic for something that could wait until after Christmas (sweet of him to offer though, see why I married him?)

So there we were forking over $489.00 to buy the 360 premium pkg. with an extra controller of our choice and $50.00 worth of pre-owned games. As I am making the purchase, I mention to the manager that it is to bad they don't have any Wii systems since it is going to be a harrowing time this weekend trying to find one for Christmas. "Well," the manager says, "We are getting some Wiis in tomorrow and if you would like to pre-pay, we have a $399.00 package with three games. "

SInce we could not pay cash for the Wii and the 360 we ask if he will hold the 360 for us until tomorrow (when teddybear gets paid and I take the rest of the money out of savings) and he says we can put it on lay-away. So for $160.00 into layaway goes the 360 package, a second headset, Gears of War (Merry Christmas Teddybear) and a 1600 point card. You guys should have seen his face as he realized he would have to wait ONE MORE DAY for his precious 360. The things that man will do for his kids, I tell ya. Over the counter goes the 399.99 + tax for the Wii so I can pick it up tomorrow.

Did I just commit over $1000.00 for video games (I had to reserve Halo3, Halo Wars and Blue Dragon for $5.00 a piece just to top it off!)? Yes, I think I did.

I keep reminding myself this was a planned purchase, not an impulse buy but it is still scary for me. Maybe I could have saved $150.00 and spent hours hunting a Wii but this still seems like the more sane route at the moment. I still am going to have to pay for some extra controllers though...Well, I guess we may not be able to eat for a week or two, but perhaps we can invite over friends to play and have them bring snacks, hmmm....