You decide

I'm either too smart for my own good, or I'm really just rather self-delusional and dim-witted.

When I was a kid, I used to successfully "hide" money in dress up purses or the back of drawers and then "re discover" the money later. I'm not entirely sure if I just forced a suppression of memory so I could believe that I was surprised, or if I actually forgot I had hidden the money away in the first place.

I'm still rather like this at times with my finances as an adult. Currently, my money in USD in the States is effectively non-existent. I don't use it for anything, and I just let it tick away earning interest. Someday, I'll have a good reason to withdraw it I'm sure, but until that time, I'm happier pretending I don't even have it. I'll be pleasantly surprised to rediscover it when I reach into that virtual coat in the back of the closet of my personal finances*.

But anyway, the point I was going to make is that yet again, I've managed to dupe myself. This time, with my vacation time, and I honestly can't remember if I tried to design my spreadsheet so that I wouldn't easily "see" the extra days I have or if I just made an honest mistake.

Either way, the upshot is that despite my trips I've taken all year, including 2 weeks to the US in May and 10 days to Greece in June, I actually still have 5 vacation days to take between now and.....Sept 19. Yep, I use them or lose them before my leave of absence, so it looks like I'll be taking a few long weekends - most likely to allow myself to do personal errands and doctors appointments before my LOA starts.

I can't really afford any more actual trips, as I've maxed out my budget for the next few months as it is (including a last minute trip to Edinburgh next weekend and a potential trip to North Wlaes two weeks later). But, it's nice to know I will have just a few more nights in my own bed this summer and a few more mornings sleeping in....

*Don't get me wrong, I record the updated value in a spreadsheet every month to calcuate my net present worth, but being in USD, it's like play money :)