Money Saving Tip: A Happy Ending to the Garage Door Saga

Just to get everyone up to speed, I recently wrote how my son trashed a neighbor's garage door by playing Tarzan on it, how a friend fixed it (saving us a bundle of money), and how the friend refused to accept payment for helping us. I then posted on a few comments this piece inspired and detailed our plan to give the friend a $50 gift card to a local superstore. Well, the saga is now over and I thought I'd share the results with you. Here's what happened:

• Our friend received the $50 gift card at "just the right time" (the wife's words) as their son's bike had broken down. The $50 my son took out of his bike fund to pay our friend will now go to buy a bike for my son's friend. Kinda ironic how that worked out huh?
• Our neighbors love us. Not only is their garage door working "better than ever" (they said it used to make a strange sound but now it's perfect), but they were impressed that my son had sent them a hand-written apology note. They thought it was a thoughtful and classy thing to do. (Credit: my wife.)
• My son seems untroubled by the whole incident. He still has enough saved up to get his bike (including the amount we'll kick in for his birthday), and it's hard to tell whether he's learned anything or not. I wouldn't be surprised to drive home tonight and find him launching golf balls randomly throughout our neighborhood and then being "surprised" when several windows are broken. Oh, the joys of a nine-year-old! ;-)

Overall, it seems like we came out of this little financial situation much better than I thought we would that night I walked in the door a couple weeks ago...