I, like many of you, was just a few seconds away from dropping a few hundred bucks on plane tickets and Final Four seats. Before the game, I saw that direct flights between LAX and Minneapolis were around $320 (granted, on Delta’s basic economy), but I figured that was a pretty good deal given that it was the week before the Final Four.

As Cline got ready to take those free throw shots, I could feel that my body wanted to move off the couch and to my computer to buy the tickets. But alas, I told myself, wait until the very end, because you never know what could happen.

When Virginia sealed the deal and won the game, my wallet let out an audible and quite smug sigh of relief. Fine, be that way, American Express...

So while most of us won’t be spending those couple hundred, maybe thousand, dollars to go to Minneapolis this weekend, what should we do with that money that we were willing to spend? Put it into a savings account? Make a few key investments? Put it into your child’s college bribe fund account?

Nah. I’ve got three words for you:

TREAT. YO. SELF.

“What is that?” you may ask. Got a few resources to help you understand:

As I proposed in our latest podcast (which you should listen to *hint hint*), I think Purdue fans should take the money they were going to spend on Final Four tickets and treat themselves to something nice. After all, this weekend was extremely stressful, and we could use some pampering.

As for me, last month I bought some cheap tickets to go to Australia for a week. Now that Purdue isn’t going to the Final Four, I think I may use that money to go snorkeling at the Great Barrier Reef.

Let us know what you plan to do. Nothing is off-limits (except maybe a time machine that will tell Purdue what to expect in those final seconds of regulation).

And if you find yourself asking “Is this necessary?” “Should I really be spending this money?”, I’ve got one answer for you:

*It’s the best day of the year!*