“Got my credit card bill today. The AUDACITY!”
Walking Inspiration
Sugar loves her daily walks. They not only give her a chance to relax, but sometimes they inspire her to try something new. Like last week. Sugar was walking through the park and saw a few dogs having a cookout. The aroma coming from the grill instantly reminded her of the cookouts she used to have with her family when she was a puppy.
More importantly, she remembered her mama’s potato salad. Sugar loved it as a puppy and still asks her mom to save some when she makes it. She’d also been trying out new recipes for her pupcakery. So, she was inspired to turn her mama’s recipe into a pupcake.
When Sugar got home from her walk, she sat down at her kitchen table and started scrolling through her phone. She wanted to find where she could get the ingredients she needed on sale. Then “Ding!” The alert for Sugar’s credit card app went off on her phone.
Sugar cringed. “Oh, Bark!” Sugar woofed to herself. “I can’t deal with this credit card statement now.” So, she put her phone face down on the kitchen table, got up, and walked over to her kitchen cabinet to get her mixer.
A Dog Mom Money Reality: The Oven Wasn’t in the Budget
Sugar’s grand opening was more expensive than she thought it was going to be. Her oven broke down, which was not in her budget. Sugar mapped out her budget down to the penny, but her oven breaking down was not in it.
Sugar didn’t have the cash. So, she maxed out her CitiBark card to pay for it. Not ideal. But it was a short-term solution. A pupcakery needs an oven. The only constant may be change but bills always come on time.
Hearing that “ding” on her phone sparked Sugar’s anxiety. So, she decided to do the one activity that calms her down when she’s stressed. Bake. Luckily, she had that Potato Salad Pupcake recipe she was inspired to try.
Five Tries, Two Trips, One Recipe
Sugar spent the next few days doing everything she could to get her Potato Salad Pupcake recipe right. Plus, baking gave Sugar the perfect “good excuse” to avoid looking at her CitiBark card alert on her phone.
Sugar burnt the first batch of pupcakes. She forgot to set the timer on her phone. Her second batch of pupcakes were undercooked. And Sugar forgot to add her mama’s secret herb mixture to the third batch. So, the pupcakes completely lacked flavor.
She didn’t expect that it would take this many times to get the recipe right. So, she had to run back to the store to get more ingredients.
Ripping Off the Bandaid
Sugar got the recipe just the way she wanted it. FINALLY. It took 5 tries, 2 trips to the grocery store, and a sprinkle of her mama’s secret flavoring to get the recipe to taste “like mamas.”
So, Sugar did what she aways does when she wants to show off a new pupcake recipe. Take her phone out to take a picture and post it on social media. Sugar started scrolling through her phone to find the camera app.
And there it was. The CitiBark Card alert she’d been avoiding for the past few days. She hesitated. In fact, Sugar avoided the alert so much that it started to be invisible.
But Sugar felt a sense of accomplishment after creating this recipe. So accomplished that it gave her the courage to look at her statement. Sugar put a pupcake on the plate, grabbed her notebook, and took them over to the kitchen table.
After days of ignoring her statement, she finally decided to look at it.
