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Loosening up the purse strings

December 7th, 2008 at 06:26 pm

I might have loosened them a little less if I hadn't made a mistake in Quicken. (For awhile, I thought I had about $500 more available than I actually did!) Grand total was $615. It's a lot to spend the first month of working full-time, but I thought about each purchase and don't regret any of them. I shopped sales and used coupons. Some of the clothes were almost Goodwill-level prices.

New (to us) TV through Craigslist $200
New throws for living room chairs $20
2 prs winter pajamas $38
4 tubes Revlon lipstick $12
Sneakers, one pr black and one pr white, $62
Bra $24
Nylon knee-hi's for work $22
2 velour track suits $72
6 long sleeve tees $22.50
1 sparkly henley tee $7.50
Black stretch corduroy jeans $15
Navy polyester slacks $15
Route 66 DVD set $37
Black leather purse $34
6 cloth napkins $7
2 computer books for reference at work $10
2 battery lanterns for when power is out $17

My body is changing, due to lots of walking, and I'm now wearing a 16W on the bottom. A lot of my older pants are baggy 20W's. The vinyl purse I bought last year is crazing and not repairable. We gave our lantern to my mother when her power was out, and decided we actually needed two at our house. The napkins I really didn't need, although they may help us cut down on the use of paper napkins. It was either spend the $7 on the napkins and get free shipping, or pay for shipping and get nothing else.

I need more decent casual clothes for running errands, in order to reserve work outfits for work. If I take my mother to a doctor, lawyer or stockbroker or we go out to lunch, I don't want to look like too much of a schlub. My old jeans are not only baggy but getting faded at the knees. That's where the track suits, tees and sneakers came in.

The "new" tv is digital, so it gives us a whole new range of channels on cable that we couldn't get on the old one, for no extra monthly fee to Comcast. It's a larger screen. It's a model that we like, but it's been discontinued, so we wanted to grab it when we could find it. And the picture on the old one kept shrinking every so often.

The new throws replace old ones which have numerous holes, pulls, and stains. The extra PJs are to help stretch out how often I have to do laundry.

I know the spending has to slow down. Next year, my ceiling for discretionary spending like this is the $40 a week being direct deposited into Electric Orange checking. But for now, it feels really good to be catching up on things and ridding my life of some shabbiness. Next project--bathroom towels. Smile

6 Responses to “Loosening up the purse strings”

  1. Analise Says:
    1228675162

    You did get some great deals and you are set for a while. What a great problem to have... that you need new clothes bec. the old stuff is too loose. *smile*

  2. crazyliblady Says:
    1228677378

    Perhaps you could place an ad on craigslist for the clothes you can no longer wear. Or, you could donate them to charity and get a tax writeoff. Smile

  3. Koppur Says:
    1228678266

    Congrats on the FAB weight loss! Great reason to need new clothes! Smile

  4. HouseHopeful Says:
    1228699706

    Sounds like you found some bargains. Great job on the weight loss. Walking really does make changes in your body. (I know - I've lost 40 pounds)!

  5. homebody Says:
    1228703400

    Good job!

  6. lizajane Says:
    1228714236

    I miss walking. I used to go every day. Then I decided that when I went around to tend to our animals, I was doing plenty of walking, but I don't think it's the same. Good for you!

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