Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Clearance was my first word

I love to shop. I love to shop cheap! Fortunately for me I married a wonderful man who loves the clearance racks as much as I do! Clearance is my favorite. Clearance what you ask? Clearance anything!

I find it hard to pay full price for just about any item other than a Reese's cup (because sometimes you just gotta have a Reese's cup!). I can also talk myself out of just about anything whether it's on sale or not. I'm tight fisted too, I know where every cent goes, and sometimes I worry I'm downright cheap. Lucky for me I'm married to man who is as much in love with Clearance as he is me! We make quite the cute thrifty and frugal couple.

I often wonder if we'll always be cheap and thrifty. Currently we're working to pay off debt and build several months income in a savings account. We only finance items such as our house (because if you have 200k lying around, you should share it with me!) and our future cars. We don't finance large purchases (TV's, Computers, etc) or vacations (Europe anyone?) so we also save for those sorts of purchases. Since we're both in the early stages of our careers (and going to grad school) we know that this is probably about the poorest we'll ever be, and thus far, we are extremely blessed!

So I often ponder if when we have more disposable income if we'll be a little more free with our spending and purchases? I'm quite certain that we'll still know where every cent goes, but will it be as big of a deal purchase things as it is now? Then I think that if we opt for me to be a stay-at-home-mom, well we'll most likely find ourselves in a very frugal state just because we want to make the most of one income.

But all of that aside, no matter how much money J and I have or ever have, I just cannot see myself gallivanting into Banana Republic or Ann Taylor (or Gap, Limited, Express...make it stop!!) and purchasing an outfit at full price and walking out with it. The same goes for any fabulous handbag or pair of shoes that I find at Belk, Parisian, (or any of the other fabulous stores that I'm just not strong enough to mention...) and purchasing a full priced item, just as I cannot see myself purchasing my overpriced Clinique that I love unless they're having a bonus. I also simply cannot purchase any item at target because I know without-a-doubt that it will be on clearance within 30 days.

Maybe I'm cheap, but I think I'm just a smart shopper. Trust me, if you could see my closet and witness my vast collection of shoes and handbags, you'd know that I'm not doing without, I just find better options more times than not.

So what about you? Are you cheap? Do you spend without thinking/caring? What are your splurges? Do you find things you absolutely have to have and will purchase at any price? Do you have so much money that you can buy anything you want and also send me a check? Good!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

I am cheap, really cheap. However, there are times when I will splurge. For instance, if I have a job interview, I will buy whatever I want (within reason) to make me look good and feel confident.

Sometimes I think about quitting my job just to get a new outfit ;)

Otherwise, though, it's gotta be on sale. Friends don't let friends pay retail.