this wasn't in the plan |but life is still pretty good

I adore facebook. I love staying in touch with friends and family members that I don't see often. I love that it's allowed me to reconnect with old friends.

But it brings the term "keeping up with the Joneses" to a whole new level. Now, it's not just about the people in my immediate social circle, but also those people that I knew in elementary school that now live on the other side of the country. And for some reason, that makes it harder.

For me, the problem is not going out and buying things to ensure that I have the latest and greatest (thus "keeping up with the Joneses"), but rather that jealousy tends to rear it's ugly head.  There is a very odd link between how well I know someone and how much their behavior makes me turn completely green with envy. I tend not to be bugged by things when they happen to people I know well or have a lot of one on one contact with. But when someone that I only kind of know, or that I used to know posts on Facebook about her fabulous upcoming trip or her cool new outfit, well than I want it too!

 So far it's never actually had any adverse effects on my spending, but it often makes me wish we were doing "better" in the whole financial scheme of things.