November 1, 2007
One Frugal Girl and Mapgirl recently blogged about the existing and perhaps unacknowledged abundance in one’s life. They both point out that clothing that’s hidden or stashed is a waste of money if you never using it; likewise with other resources like books or yarn. This is a great reminder of the WWII motto: Use it up, wear it out, make it do!
Ironically, I’m probably more in line with WWII than I am with my own generation on that regard. The ability to buy something new and not wearing it immediately was my private, adolescent idea of personal (closet) wealth. Then, as now, I only bought something new if I had to: if I had to replace something else worn and discarded, or simply couldn’t show up to another school/work event wearing the same thing I wore the last three times. But in high school, I had a girlfriend who always found the best deals, and was a nice medium-large size so she could find at least one of everything that fit her perfectly. She was the queen of buying things without ever trying them on, and so was always in possession of a surplus of lovely attire. She had a Mary Poppins closet: every time she reached in, something so new it still had tags on came out! I positively lusted after her ability to always have something new in that closet of many colors. That, back in the day, symbolized financial stability: buying things because you wanted them, not because you needed them.
Years later, that impressionable little self still wishes that I were “wealthy” enough to buy and stash clothing that’s not immediately pressed into service one I get home. Since it clashes with my need to have a perfectly honed, no-waste-here closet, and I don’t truly have the means for a cornucopia of clothing, I artificially cultivate that feeling of having, instead of needing.
The NY trip yielded the two long sleeved shirts and nice sweaters that I needed for work. I’ve defeated the purpose of having shopped specifically to fill those needs by hanging up the clothing and refusing to wear them for at least a week. Sort of a, “hah, I have new clothes but I don’t have to use them right away!” Since I’ve pruned out the old and worn clothes already, I find myself falling back on some really old stuff that probably shouldn’t be seen in public anymore (like this black shirt I’m wearing from high school), but in the meantime the shiny hasn’t been rubbed off the new stuff.
At the same time, I try to clear out my closet regularly and to root out any article of clothing or shoes languishing in the back of the closet, and that helps keep my eye “fresh.” It’s really too easy to stare at the same things, the same way, and thinking “I have nothing to wear!”
In essence, I’m prolonging the sense of newness for as long as I can. It’s a standing shopping moratorium to help combat the I-wants.
Does anyone use this sort of trick to keep themselves from overconsumption?
October 2, 2007
It’s time. It’s been months – multiple months – since my brother’s made a car payment and it’s time for me to seriously move on selling it. Our agreement, two years ago, was that so long as he continued payments for the car and insurance, he would have use of either the truck or the family sedan. He’s been using and abusing the sedan at will for the past two years, but had kept up with payments throughout that time.
Due to continued poor judgment in all aspects of his life, he’s been unable to make payments for either responsibility for some time now, and I’ve had to bear the cost of the truck payments. Well, no more. He’s been given notice that I’m going to have to sell, and doesn’t seem to care that he’s demonstrated once again that he’s still an irresponsible git who’s only around when he needs something. If there’s a lesson he shouldn’t have to learn, it’s that I don’t mess around.
It irks me that we’ll end up with the poorly maintained sedan after all this time, but there was only so much familial mediation I could deal with. This will leave us with my little sports car and a good deal of maintenance on the Camry. I need to Kelley Blue Book the truck, and then we’ll see where I go from there. This is a headache I really wasn’t in the mood for. The good thing about selling the truck is that since we’ve only used it lightly, it’s in pretty good shape.
Does anyone want a 2005 Toyota Tundra?
October 1, 2007
My water bill came in the mail last week with a surprisingly refreshing note: You can now pay your bill online by credit or debit card!
That’s wonderful!
I don’t think I have anything so advanced as an online billing interface, but at least I can log in online and pay via credit card for next-day posting instead of trying to remember to mail this single mail-only bill.
September 28, 2007
The girls are taking me out tonight to dinner, drinks and dancing tonight. I was excited but the weather’s all gloomy and gross, and all I want to do is go home to curl up with my brand new:
On an entirely different topic, I just got an email from Little Boss asking me not to do anymore OT until further notice. I’m almost sure that it’s a budgetary concern, and not a reflection of performance, but the pessimistic side of me can’t help but think it has to do with the increased goofing off that’s been going on lately. We’ve been collectively letting off steam a little TOO much in the past week, and it probably can’t have helped. I know one other person’s gotten the same request, and we’re equally paranoid about it.
September 27, 2007
We’re finally having my birthday lunch in the office today. I selected the cuisine and menu because we have a horrid habit of over-ordering and stuffing our mini-fridge to a fare-thee-well. We can’t do that now because mini-fridge has been smelling weird for the last three days and no one can figure out why. Most of the time I’m really embarrassed by non-friend celebrations of my birthday (meaning anything staged by my family or work cohorts) because I hate being the center of attention. But now that it’s nearly a week late, it doesn’t feel like it’s really my birthday anything, so I don’t mind as much. Yes, weird.
Whether it’s because of this last big conference that required a big clothing buy or just the all-expenses-paid sort of mentality that’s seeping into regular life, I’m fresh out of motivation. It may finally be wearing off now, but I’d better not get too complacent.
Cake does a really strange rendition of “I will survive.” Or is it just weird because I’ve never heard it before? Gloria Gaynor DID do it first, right?
Fabulously Broke tagged me for a “How we met” story, so I’ll have to get that post together. Soon.
Oh! And I finally faxed off the correction to my 403(b) to increase my contributions to $1000/month for the next three months. Since I have a thing about keeping as much of my income as retirement or planned goals savings instead of paying some ridiculously high amount of tax on untaxed income, this should help offset my total taxable income tax bill that’s to come by reducing my taxable income. It’s possible that I won’t be filing as Head of Household this year, so I’m preparing for a heavier tax burden. I hate that my tax status is so changeable without any appreciable alterations to my actual lifestyle.
What else? The check will be, supposedly, in the mail next week. This whole raise business has been abnormal and decidedly odd. Whatever, come here li’ raise!
September 24, 2007
I apologize, it’s been an age since I last blogged. Much has happened since you last tuned in: we survived the conference in San Diego, a marriage proposal was made during my absence and the birthday weekend was cold, rainy and full of comic books and sleeping in. Ok, not much has happened at all, really. We do, however, have the two final candidates for the bridesmaid dress! (courtesy of David’s Bridal).
Our first contestant is a lovely satin number. She takes after her mother, a ball gown, and has her father’s sense of flair with that beaded band across her middle. Please meet contestant number one!
Our second contestant is a daring charmeuse/chiffon. She’s got flair in the form of a cute tail, or as we in the business like to call it, a “back cascade.” The empire waist and chiffon halter are unified in our formfitting contestant number two!
Both dresses will require quite a bit of alteration, though I think the second one would be less complicated. I need to rustle up a personal seamstress whose services I can afford on a regular basis because I simply don’t have the expertise to tell what is and isn’t feasible. Opinions, anyone?
September 12, 2007
but the word on the raise is … weird.
The guy in charge, let’s call him Treasurer because that’s how I think of him, has decided that it would be best to just send me one half of the total raise before January 1st. The other half would be sent after January 1st. Leaving aside the obvious vagueness of the whole thing, that’s one quarter of my salary in a lump sum UNTAXED.
Holy tax implications! I’d better hie me to the Benefits Office and hike up my pre-tax contributions for the rest of this year. I have no idea how much that’ll really help, but any little bit at this point is probably good.
