July 15, 2008
Brooke’s post on holding onto old things reminded me that I’d never checked on the pricing of a replacement battery for my old Sony Vaio. (I’d been having new-tech cravings, and had been contemplating getting a new lappie. I was all set to justify it, except that it’s not really justifiable. I want a new laptop that runs perfectly, I don’t need it. Even if I did need it, I don’t have the spare cash for it anyway! So there.) Even though I feel like I can’t trust eBay for something like this, I checked there first, and found nothing.
I Googled it, and found one laptop battery site that lists it for $99. It comes with a 30 day money back guarantee, and a 1 year warranty, shipped new.
Other sites don’t even list the battery needed for this model. (It’s times like this I’m glad that I’m so ridiculously Asian that I left the information stickers on my computer. Quick and easy model reference right under my left wrist!)
Sony doesn’t even have the model number in their database anymore, or at least I can’t find it on their site anywhere.
So how much is too much for a replacement battery? In comparison to the original purchase price, it’s no more than ten percent of the cost of the notebook, but I doubt that the computer’s worth half that price now.
At this point, it’s likely to be more a matter of what’s more worth it: paying $100 for a battery or $XXX for a new computer. Drat. I know that Option A is the most frugal because there’s nothing major wrong with the computer … but I still covet a new lappy. š
July 8, 2008
I was vaguely enjoying this article about people who look at buying designer jeans, on their quest to find the “perfect jeans,” as an investment, or as a perfectly justifiable expense. Some price tags almost make the already unfathomable $200-300 jeans seem less ridiculous:
Roberto Cavalli’s bejeweled jeans, a celeb favorite: They’ll dent your wallet by $1,445.
And that’s nothing compared with a pair from Dolce & Gabbana. Those could run you $3,950. And if you really want to shoot the moon, a pair of Escada Couture jeans encrusted with Swarovski crystals cost $10,000. By the way, Swarovski more or less equates to Baccarat; both are Madison Avenue names.
The most expensive jeans on record are a pair of vintage Levi’s that sold for $60,000 on eBay on June 15, 2005, according to Guinness World Records.
Honestly, it wasn’t anything I hadn’t already heard and dismissed as run-of-the-mill spending insanity before. After all, I’m the girl who snagged one of her three working pairs of jeans (by “working” I mean there are no holes and none are threatening) for $12. (They fit wonderfully, even though they are a little long.) I think $60 is too much to pay, so really, any more than that is just someone’s eccentricity; I’m not your average jeans consumer. I know girls who own more jeans than I do t-shirts, and that scares me. Seriously, can you imagine the laundry? Actually, having more than three pairs of jeans would probably make separating out a jeans load a heck of a lot easier….
Anyway, when I got to the end of the article, my jaw dropped:
Here’s the ultimate: Pregnant women are a key market for denim designers. Of 20 mothers and mothers-to-be I surveyed, 65% said they had bought designer maternity jeans — to be worn for just a few months.
Only seven women didn’t.
“They were too expensive for too short of a usage period. My maternal practicality set in,” said Katharine Eaton, a human resources specialist from Glen Mills, Pa. “In retrospect, I wish I had and would do so if I was going through it again.”
I have never heard of such a thing!! Not that I think a 20 person survey is worth diddly in terms of a representative sample, but the fact that they could find enough people who like the idea of maternity designer jeans? For a few months of pregnancy? *faint*
June 26, 2008
This is getting tres frustrating. I know the economy’s tanking so it’s going to take a while, way to go me for waiting this long to sell the truck, but still, it tries my soul that there has been absolutely no response to my Craigslist ad in the past several weeks. Not even a single flaky, half-interested email. None. Zip. Nada. Zilch. Nothing.
I went to AutoTrader and found that they don’t even have their 90-day, sell or get your money back guarantee anymore. Dangit!
I’m doing so well with the little things, but the big things are really breaking my budget.
So, am I a standard, enhanced or deluxe ad buyer? I’m so anxious to get rid of the thing that I’m willing to consider springing for the deluxe ad!
Standard: $29
-
Online Ad
-
3 Weeks
-
1 Online Photo
Enhanced: $49
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Online Ad
- Magazine Ad
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8 Weeks
-
9 Online Photos
- Single Photo
- Thumbnail Photo
Deluxe: $79
The mood I’m in? I just want to spring for the $79 and pray for the best. It’d feel worth it get the craptacular payments off my expense sheet!
June 19, 2008
Walking out the door, I caught myself glancing at my closet and assessing what kind of day it would be, and what outfits I could put together for the rest of the week. It seems my lunch organization is bleeding into other areas of my life.
It also seems like after being on a spending and splurging cycle for the last three weeks where I couldn’t stop the budget bleeding out on little things I’d normally control very carefully, I’m back to being content with what I’ve got, and even in the mood to go through and clear things out. Thank goodness!! I’m not into self-flagellation over this stuff, but it’s such a relief to be back in the right mindset that doesn’t undermine my efforts to keep it together.
While my personal damages weren’t on a large scale, it definitely turned into a hefty bill when combined with the insane gas prices. I think the gas expenditures have gone up to about $300+/month! I’ve been diligently trying to reduce other fixed costs to compensate, but I’ve been spending like I have money: going out, the trench coat ($23), going out to lunch last weekend ($10), new shoes ($11), buying a graduation gift for a work friend ($24), and having to give my cousin a fat $50 check for graduation. In short, enjoying life a liiiiitle more than I can afford.
Ok, that last one was not negotiable, I’m the only cousin who came to the graduation and it’s only fair that I give him what I gave his sister. It’s a family tradition that at least one older cousin will gift the younger cousins a check for their graduations.
It might not seem like much, but when the budget’s stretched tight, it makes a difference. The end of the splurge cycle comes none too soon, because I hate the feeling of treading to keep my head above water.
I had to wonder, why is it so hard for someone who is normally so at peace with being frugal to break out of a spending/splurging mentality? Sure, I figured it was temporary, but heck, I felt like I was in the grips of a six armed bear for a while! I knew I needed to NOT spend money, but there was always a reason that overrode my “Uh, well, you don’t have the budget for that …” hesitation.
And if it’s this hard for me? When I’m accustomed to self denial and maximizing returns and stretching every resource to cover the necessities? Heck, I spent half an hour deciding whether or not to get a haircut this week. Then I realized that after spending over a hundred dollars I shouldn’t have, I should pass on my $14 cut. *sigh* How incredibly hard must it be for people who haven’t had to practice this?
May 15, 2008
I’m ‘fessing up to my $33 outfit transgression today. I’m going to need your *professional* opinions here. A and I were browsing the mall and mostly managed to avoid all shops that I didn’t have gift cards for … except for Papaya. Whoops. Occasionally they have the odd really nice piece on sale, so we checked their clearance racks. As usual, there was a whole lot of nothing, but I turned up this high-waisted, knee length pencil skirt that I couldn’t resist. In the history of pencil skirts, I’m sure I’ve put up better fights.
Sorry the pictures aren’t great; I haven’t figured out how to take better clothing pictures yet, but this is just so you get the idea.
The skirt’s form-fitting, with a few inches of lacing up the back to make it just a bit interesting. I plan to cover up that bit during the day.
(Front waist)
(Back waist)
And the white silky blouse could probably use another button up top to keep the top of the collar closed.
But, blouse tucked into the skirt with black closed-toe pumps and a black jacket to profesh’ it up… what do you think? Did I make a huge mistake here, or is this a viable outfit?
April 21, 2008
Oh no, not me, and not today. My coworker! For the past few days in a row, C2’s been wearing some really cute sweaters, and I finally caught on that I don’t ever remember seeing them before. When I asked if she went shopping, she stopped dead with the guiltiest look I’ve ever seen: “Yee…eeess….. I couldn’t resist! All my clothes were in boxes and I couldn’t find anything! …. I shopped online ….. and I like everything I got!”
I swear, that girl is the funniest thing. She acted SO guilty! I’m not the budget police! Oh wait, I kind of am. But I don’t care if she goes shopping, that’s just more clothes I can borrow later š
So another dangerous way to fall prey to the shopping bug, and spend too much money, is to pack away your clothes in boxes for a few days. Who knew?
April 15, 2008
For whatever reason, I cannot seem to get my mind focused on anything but investing or travel tonight. The first is simple: I finally read my Rollover IRA prospectus last night, figured out that I have a little over a thousand dollars invested in an REIT mutual fund that’s made roughly $200 in the last four years, and I don’t want to pay another $15 annual maintenance fee because I’ve been too lazy to get my butt in gear and roll this over to my Vanguard accounts. Then, too, I’ve been talking stocks with a friend who is actually quite experienced in investing and I’ve been feeling completely out of my depth, so I want to start dipping my toe into the market. Kind of reminds me of Sistah Ant’s comment about being jealous of a teenager with her own stocks š
The second? I’m desperate to get away. For a change of scenery, of pace. Just to get away from this life and my job and the bad management and frustrating workload and passive aggressive BS. I can’t move out until I have the money covered for first and last, start up costs, maintenance just in case money. Oh and a roommate. I need a roommate. So now I’m overwhelmed by this need to go somewhere exotic like Bali, the Bahamas, Mazatlan, Los Cabos.
This might be a need to shed my feathers for the summer, now that we’ve ridden through our first heat wave and an oppressive fog has rolled in to mock us, but whatever it is, I’m going stir crazy tonight. [Wait. Feathers? Shed my feathers? Look at that, I don’t even know what I’m saying anymore. Shed my winter coat! That’s the analogy I meant.] I’m itching to grab someone and just take off for a weekend. Reminding myself that I don’t actually have cash to spare isn’t helping tonight, especially not when I know that I’ve got the e-fund covered and throwing a couple-few hundred dollars at this getaway wouldn’t break me. It wouldn’t be good for the budget, but it wouldn’t break me. *sigh* I should let this run its course, and hope that I don’t accidentally find a really good deal tonight š Like a three day cruise to Mexico for a couple hundred dollars. Hmmmm……
Ack! Quick! Snap out of it!!
