Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Budget Friendly Living: Designer WTF?

Okay, just bear with me today.  I had to rant.  I am SO sick of shows, magazines, websites, etc claiming to save me hundreds while revamping my home, closet, etc.  Why, you ask?  It seems so great!  A cheaper alternative when redecorating, getting a new wardrobe, and so on.  Why WOULDN'T I want to save big money?

Well, then we read the fine print.  And we realize that we will be buying something from DSW instead of BCBG or from BCBG instead of Gucci.  I may be in the minority here, but I still can't afford $80 shoes, and the $300 or $3,000 options never even ENTERED my mind.  I have couture taste, don't get me wrong, but I often consider PAYLESS to be too expensive.  Sigh.  I guess there just is no helping me.  And I guess that is why I have this blog.  Because when I figure out how to make Jimmy Choos myself, I will want to share it.  :-P

I don't quite know how it happened, but it seems like from birth I have been a sale hound.  I like resale stores, I like clearance racks, and I LOVE garage sales.  I often complain about paying full price for anything, with the exception of food, perhaps.  I complain that resale stores are too expensive for my baby clothes.  Garage sales are awesome, because I love to haggle.  I always challenge the seller to make me a deal, and I have no problem asking for a discount, especially when I buy more than one item.  I figure, its up to them to say no.  But I am not a miser (I can give things away like nothing).  I just like to spend my money judiciously.  I refuse to go crafting without a coupon, and my mantra is NPFP - never pay full price.

It never occurred to me that this was abnormal until I was shopping at JC Penney with an equally budget conscious friend a few weeks ago, and I balked at buying 2 dresses off the regular racks, and went straight to clearance.  Her response was "I don't have the patience for the clearance rack."  Blew. My. Mind.  She is so careful with her money, saving on groceries and has a crazy detailed budget like me.  She is a stay at home mommy of 2, so that single income is stretched thin!  And here she was, thinking nothing of buying off the regular rack!  Ha ha.  I had an epiphany right then and there.  Maybe it was okay to spend a little money here and there!  I always thought my husband was spoiling me, offering to buy me both when I couldn't decide between 2 $5 items.  I AGONIZE over purchases, making sure I am getting the most bang for my buck, that I will not regret my purchase, and that the item is both incredibly useful and essential.  And I do mean agonize.  I lost sleep and cried over purchases when planning my wedding.  It was hard for dollars to leave my hands.  So, now the revelation: maybe I'm a little too eccentric.  I have lived on a shoestring for ages, but perhaps relaxing a little is okay here and there.  Its a great thing to watch your spending, but you can be irresponsibly thrifty, too.  My lesson of the day: it causes stress to not watch your money, but its just as stressful to be too tight.

1 comment:

  1. Ok so you are hilarious. ;) I'm FINALLY catching up on blog reading and see you talked about me here! For the record, when I have the time and feel up to the challenge of finding That Perfect Item on Super Stellar Sale, I'll hit the clearance rack. Usually though I can't find what I want, IN MY SIZE, in the right color, or on sale enough for me to want to buy it. And then I get frustrated which means I don't want to shop anymore; I just want to find the nearest cookie store and cry. My own epiphany came when I took to heart that time is money. Why spend HOURS looking through clearance racks, driving around (wasting gas) to thrift stores and whatnot looking for That Perfect Item when I know I can find it on the regular rack.

    Do we try to be careful with our money? Absolutely! But there really does come a point where your time is worth actual dollars. PLUS you're right on that it's JUST as stressful to be too tight with money. And when Mama's stressed out, that affects EVERYBODY in the home. :)

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