12 posts tagged “shopping”

My shopping embargo aside (which, let's be honest, hasn't been too hard except for the technology/hardware/software end of things - if I put an embargo on food, that would be a different story), I am trying to justify a $400 expense as soon as the embargo is lifted (in August - don't think I forgot!).

Because I really really really want a Kindle.

I love to read. No, I seriously do. I can't remember a time in my life that I didn't enjoy reading. And there are scores of books out there that I would own if (a) I didn't have to store them somewhere and (b) I didn't have to lug them around in order to read them on trips and such. I have an enormous list of what I call my "Must-Reads", and it just keeps growing and growing. Now, it's not to say that I would suddenly have the time to read once I got a Kindle; I'm just saying that I wouldn't have to worry about physically storing these books someplace in order to read them.

Plus, there's the whole issue of lost bookmarks and such. No one likes dealing with that.

But Amazon has them in stock (finally!), and I again find myself really wanting one.

It's not even a case of But-Everyone-Else-Has-One-So-I-Need-To-Get-One-Too syndrome. In fact, I personally know of no one who has one, and I don't even think my circle of friends is remotely interested in getting one. But I desperately want one. The idea that I can bring a dozen books with me anywhere I go is dizzyingly exciting. The notion that I can instantaneously purchase and read books, newspapers and magazines is so tempting. And knowing that I can indulge in all of this reading without needing to later store (or recycle) said books, newspapers and magazines is all the more intriguing. I could read the Wall Street Journal for $10 a month - and I wouldn't have to worry about storing each issue someplace until I got around to reading it! Bliss!

Thankfully (or perhaps not), I have until August 1 to fully reflect on this and decide, once and for all, if I would truly use a Kindle. There are definite pros (most of them already mentioned), but some cons, too. I may well be tempted to purchase books that merely interest me but never get around to reading them, for example (though, let's face it - that happens in real life, too). And I wouldn't be able to share my books with anyone unless they had a Kindle, too (because I'm certainly not going to give up mine!).

Just a few things upon which to reflect as I ponder the necessity of this item.

Because I really really really do want one!

I found a loophole in the rules of my Shopping Embargo. I am allowed to purchase embargoed goods as presents for others, provided they are legitimate presents, right? But at no point did I say that I was not allowed to purchase any presents for myself on someone's behalf. This is a loophole that will be closed immediately starting right this moment, because I already went back to Target and purchased a sleek new red Nintendo DS Lite for myself, on behalf of my husband, as an early 2nd anniversary present.

Oh, and I bought one for him, too.

And a carrying case with all the necessary travel gear.

And two games.

So that's it! I am done! No more shopping for myself! This means no gifts, no treats, no nothing!!!

And really, for this transgression, I really ought to push my end date forward a bit to the end of August. But I'll see how I feel at the end of this month. If I promise to be really really really good, I think I might let myself off easy.

But only this once.

Okay, I read Jennifer's post yesterday and ruminated on it, then one of my neighbors decided that she was going to take the plunge, so I've decided, well, it must be possible.

So, I hereby announce my personal shopping embargo.

Clothes shopping has never been a real issue for me. I go through spurts, where I might not buy any clothing for months and months, then suddenly decide to spend a couple hundred dollars in one expedition. At the end of the day, it's really not as bad as it could be. But I definitely have other vices.

Since shopping for clothing is not a major issue (I think the last item I bought for myself was a belt at the beginning of the year... which I seem to have since left behind in the Philippines and will need to replace before the end of the month), I've decided to make up my own rules in my shopping embargo:

1. No purchasing of new or used clothing (excluding underwear - I own enough socks) - PERIOD. This includes accessories and shoes. No new jewelry, no new shoes, no new ANYTHING. (Not even a concert T-shirt.)
2. This embargo is limited only limited to adult clothing, meaning that I will not purchase anything for my husband or me. The baby, on the other hand, still needs to be clothed (nakedness - as much as it becomes him - seems to be frowned upon as we do not live in a nudist colony) and I honestly don't have nearly enough clothes to sustain him for any extended period of time. Toys for the baby are also exempt from this embargo (but they have to specifically be for the baby, and not something like a Nintendo DS, which would really be for me).
3. I am allowed to accept clothing from others, be it borrowed or hand-me-downs. This also means that when my company has Sample Sales (such as the one we are having at the end of the week), I am allowed to acquire whatever goods I choose, as long as I am not required to outlay any funds.
4. Alterations, dry-cleaning, and shoe repairs are musts.
5. No purchasing of new (or used) scrapbooking supplies (excluding adhesives - and only then if I legitimately exhaust all of my supply). This includes paper, ribbon, stickers, etc. Since my magazine subscriptions have already kicked in and do not need renewal until the end of the year, I'm free to continue receiving them. I just can't buy anything new.
6. No purchasing of yarn unless I completely use up my existing supply. And even then, I'm sure mom left more than a few skeins for me to use in a project of my choice.
7. No purchasing of new (or used) books (beginning Monday, February 25, only because there are a couple of books that I want to add to my library), with the exception of work-related books and textbooks (in the event that I either need books for work or choose to return to school before the designated end of my embargo - neither of which is likely, but nothing is impossible).
8. No purchasing of new (or used) kitchen gadgets, appliances, cookware, or tools. I have a lot in my kitchen already. I could probably stand to get rid of some of it.
9. No purchasing of new (or used) electronic hardware or software. Since I've already done my taxes, I won't need to buy Turbo Tax. And since Nintendo Wiis are still hard to come by, this really won't be much of an issue for me.
10. I am allowed to accept any of my embargoed goods as gifts, provided there is no exchange of money for said goods. Additionally, I am allowed to purchase any of these embargoed goods as gifts for others, provided the gifts are for legitimate occasions (i.e., not just because it's pay day) and my primary intention is not to then borrow said goods for my own personal use.

In a nutshell, effective immediately (with the exception of books, which I am postponing until Monday, and a new belt, which I will purchase today), I declare an embargo on all goods except foodstuffs and baby items. How long will this embargo last? Jennifer has proposed a year, but her embargo is strictly on clothing. I challenge myself to maintain this embargo until the beginning of August, which is 6 months. At that time, I will re-evaluate my position and share with you, my blogging public.

Wish me luck!

There is a reason I go to Target on my lunch break. Several reasons, actually, but the primary one is that I have a limited amount of time to spend at the store and will, therefore, not get sucked into the ritual of scouring each sale rack in the infants and toddlers section.

Except that I seemed to have forgotten that rule today, though I still managed to stay on schedule.

Baby C needs new pacifiers. He's had the same three for the past 6 months, and it's definitely time to retire them. Not that they're damaged (I'm very careful about that), just that they're, well, 6 months old. And besides, "they" say you're supposed to switch out pacifiers every few weeks, so I'm going to guess that 26 weeks is long enough.

Anyway, that was the mission: go to Target and get pacifiers. And a pretend remote that Baby C can play with and use as a teething toy (which I couldn't find). And he's outgrown most of his socks, so he needs socks, too. And some sleepers, because he's only got two that fit him now. And some dipper spoons, because he likes to play with his food (and I have a coupon). And some sippy cups with handles to get him used to holding them. I have a coupon for those, too.

And, for good measure (and in my efforts to do something nice for myself every once in a great while), I bought a cute little scarf for myself, too. Not that I need a scarf right now in Florida, but we're going to New York next month and might be going up to Kentucky in December, so, I'll need something to help keep me warm.

So, I survived the trip to Target, aka "New Mom's Mecca". I found some wonderful deals, and Baby C now has some perfectly adorable sleepers, but I'm a little mad at myself for not showing adequate self control while trolling the sale racks. To be fair, there was a lot more that I left behind than I put in my cart.

Of course, most of those were the wrong size, too. :-)

My husband married a planner. I don't know if he realized it at the time (though he might have caught wind of the fact when we were building our house - and I insisted on a space for the baby before we were even engaged, let alone expecting), but he married a planner, researcher, and just all-around nerd. This is just how I am.

So, earlier in the week, I broached the topic of getting a new car to replace his existing one, and told him, based on the car he chooses, I think we would be able to afford it with $X downpayment, which would probably result in a $Z monthly payment. He said he would have to look at his finances but didn't want to make any rash decisions. (Keep in mind, it doesn't sound rash to me because I've already crunched the numbers, but I know when it's best to let him decide on his own.)

Yesterday, he went to the Magic Kingdom for a haircut and to get a better look at "It's a Small World", the theme for our nursery. I elected not to accompany him (it's hard enough to walk around Target, let alone a theme park) and stayed at home designing my son's birth announcement, instead. At some point, while trying to decide which of these two very similar shades of blue matched the adorable plaid (I love plaid) paper I selected, I dozed off. He came home, around one o'clock, with the news I had been dreading.

"My car died," he said, "coming up the hill." (Note: We live in the flat plains of Central Florida, but I did manage to find the one community where we actually drive up a hill-like incline to get to our gate. It's not much of a hill when you consider that I'm from California and he's from Kentucky, but it's a hill nonetheless.)

After asking a few questions (Were you able to restart it? Where is the car now?), I pushed myself out of bed and announced, "Okay, we need to go car shopping, then."

"But I need to paint the nursery," he protested.

"And you need a reliable means of getting to and from work this week," I said, wondering if this was a secret attempt to get out of going to our 3rd Prepared Childbirth class on Tuesday. He relented, and I went online to check inventory levels at various dealerships.

I love the internet, by the way. I don't know how people managed without it.

Since I knew exactly what make and model he wanted, it was just a matter of finding a nearby dealer who had one in stock. Earlier in the week, I found two dealers with the '07 model and one with the '08 model - one of the '07 dealers is in Polk County, though, which has a slightly higher sales tax than Orange County, so I was determined to go to one in Orange County. I needed to check, before we left the house, that they were still in stock - which they were. The caveat? Neither of us really know Orlando all that well, besides those destinations common for us (i.e., amusement parks, work, friends' houses and some downtown restaurants). So, we spent a good hour, I would say, looking for the dealership that had two '07 models in stock and from whence we made our purchase.

But first, we stopped at the dealership that had the '08 model, where we searched with the salesman (Joe - really nice guy) for about a half hour, looking for the car that someone from the Internet Department apparently hid. [sigh] Then we got a little turned around (or, rather, I got a little turned around) and made our way to the other dealership. That's really why it took so long.

Long story short (too late!), we were both home around 8 o'clock with a brand new car for my husband (and my old car for me... for now). The monthly payments ended up being more than I anticipated, but the car cost more than I anticipated, too (he got one with the navigation system). The most important things, though, are that he has a reliable car (that he really likes), and I'm comfortable knowing that Baby C will be safe driving around with his daddy.

And now, since my car is still in good running condition, I've got time to research cars and find one for me. This notion of buying a car because we have to adds so much pressure to an already tense experience - it's far better to shop for a car when you know you can easily walk away.

My family was in town this week, and I was able to spend some of Saturday afternoon chatting with my mother before I needed to take them to the airport. It's amazing what you can learn about yourself by talking to your mom. She provided all sorts of insight into things I had just taken for granted.

Take, for example, my ambivalence towards clothes shopping. It's something I have to do (oddly, people tend to frown upon complete nudity in my area), but I don't particularly have fun doing it. I thought it was because of the shopping excursions I would be forced to endure with my mother and sister (whom, by the way, are both marathon shoppers - together, they are a force to behold), bored out of my mind. But no, as it turns out, up until the age of about 6 or 7, I used to love going shopping.

Really? Me?

The blame for my shift in thinking, apparently, lies at the feet of the designers. Jordache, in particular. See, when I was just starting out in elementary school, Jordache jeans were all the rage. (This should give you an idea of how old I am.) Anyway, the smallest size Jordache made was a size 7. When I was 7 years old (and should have been wearing a size 7), I was still wearing a size  6X. Frustrated that nothing ever fit (even as I got older - I used to be very slight before I got pregnant and hope to one day be again), I gave up on shopping for clothes and found myself content in wearing my sister's hand-me-downs. In fact, I'm still content doing so and am actually frustrated whenever I have to shop on my own.

So, if I don't spend enough money in clothing stores to help boost the consumer spending numbers, it's all because of those early formative years, when nothing was in my size... and very little still is today.

It was just good to know the shopping gene didn't skip me completely.

Except for the fact that there's a very limited selection of baby supply stores here in Central Florida, I would not set foot inside Toys R Us or have any dealings with them. Unfortunately, we don't have the awesome boutique shops that my sister has at her disposal in New York or some of my friends have back home, so Toys R Us has to fill in the gaps left by Target. (I refuse to go to Wal-Mart - that's another whole topic altogether.) In fact, I do as much shopping online as possible to avoid having to go to Toys R Us.

But my mother-in-law is in town and wants to buy us our baby monitor, and I'm not about to refuse. Ever the analyst, I did my homework and decided upon a specific model by Sony (that has 27 channels so it shouldn't pick up too much interference from our hyper-electronic house). And, of course, the Sony website said that Toys R Us was the only local retailer that carries it. [sigh] So, after 10 minutes on hold with Toys R Us, I learn that, yes, they have it in stock. [sigh]

I'm glad I found a place to get it locally, but I just wish it wasn't Toys R Us!

So this means, at the very least, we have a way to bring him home from the hospital. The crib should also arrive this week (yay!), so once I get the mattress, he'll have a place to sleep. Everything else is incidental.

7A01ADE2_z

We decided on the Graco Vienna travel system because the stroller has adjustable handles (since my husband and I are very different heights). As he will use the stroller at least as much as I will, we definitely need adjustable handles. And since Target is having a 10% off baby products special this week (online only, of course!), I figured this was as good a time as any to use up some leftover wedding gift cards and get the car seat, stroller, and an additional base for the car.

I never thought I would be this excited about a stroller.

Setting up a baby registry is very stressful and totally different from setting up a wedding registry. I have no idea what he is going to need, what toys he's going to like, how big he's going to be when he's born, etc. I know some things would be totally adorable to have (like tiny Doc Martens that match my husband's and mine), but as far as things he needs, I'm at a total loss. You'd think I would have picked up a thing or two watching my sister take care of my nieces, but, alas, much like academics, my thirst for knowledge of practical matters manifests itself only when my brain needs to process and retain this information. It's very sad.

So, my collection of items for baby is steadily growing and I'm very pleased. Next week: crib mattress!

I had to run a quick errand at lunch (to pick up the last piece of my husband's Christmas present), and I stopped off at Michael's on the way back to the office. For one thing, I needed to use the restroom (it seems my bladder doesn't hold as much as it used to); for another, it's been a while since I went to Michaels to really look at the new scrapbooking products they have.

As far as new scrapbooking products, there are a few things that are really cool, but nothing that I desperately have to have. In fact, I really didn't see anything that I even wanted to put on my birthday wish list (which, for those playing at home, is only 13 days away). There were some cute papers (a lot of which were on sale), and the Christmas card-making stuff was already 50% off.

So, I browsed... and browsed... and browsed some more. Really, I needed to stretch my legs (and abdomen) because I was getting a bit sore sitting down at my desk all morning. But the point is, even though I picked up a few things as "I'll think about it" items, I didn't buy anything!

Those who know me (and especially those who have been to Michael's with me) can understand the magnitude of this. I was extremely proud of myself.

It is only 8:30, and I feel like it's midnight. An hour and a half ago, my husband fixed himself a cup of coffee, and I asked him if he didn't think the caffeine would keep him up all night. My sense of time has been irreparably damaged today.

So, I got up at Oh-Dark-Hundred and headed to Staples for my one Christmas shopping trip of the day. I bought a bunch of stuff at ridiculous prices, including something for my husband's birthday and one of his Christmas presents. I also bought a heavy-duty shredder, only because my existing shredder is very little and we get a lot of junk mail.

About the trip to Staples... I arrived at 5:15 (the store didn't open until 6), and there was already a pretty extensive line. I would guess there were at least 80 people in front of me. I liked their system, though. They had vouchers for all the items on the front page of their ad, and once the vouchers were gone, it meant they were out of that item. Then, once you got into the store, you went to the back of the store to redeem your vouchers. It was brilliant!

They didn't have carts, though, and since the shredder I bought was pretty big, I stood in the checkout line basically kicking the shredder's box and lugging my little basket full of other (heavy) goodies. A Staples associate saw that I was buying the shredder and offered me a warranty on it, which I declined, only because I've had my little cheap shredder for almost 4 years - and if that didn't break down after all the shredding I put it through, I felt very confident that this larger, heavy duty shredder, would last. But since he was talking to me, I asked him if he could please see if there were any carts available. He basically blew me off, which I didn't appreciate.

But chivalry, I learned this morning, is not dead! A very kind gentlemen in line behind me went out into the parking lot and got a cart for me. A completely random stranger showed great kindness - and even helped me put the very heavy shredder in the cart! My faith in mankind was restored. My faith in Staples associates was still tarnished, but my faith in my fellow man was greatly restored.

After I paid, I loaded my car with my goodies and headed home. I quickly wrapped the presents I bought (before my husband could see them), then went out to breakfast with my husband and father-in-law. (Incidentally, the service at the Cracker Barrel was incredibly slow. Chris thinks it was an issue in the kitchen, but whatever it was, we were there for about an hour and a half!) Then, after we stopped back at home for a bit, I headed out again to the Home Depot and bought new plants for my indoor garden. My basil had died from neglect, and my thyme perished not long after. I also wanted to get some new herbs and test them out (dill, which I love but have always had difficulty growing, and cilantro), and I decided to try my hand at salad greens (specifically romaine lettuce). Chris and his dad met me there, and we walked around a bit looking for supplies needed to finish the Tiki Bar in my living room.

I then spent the next few hours transplanting my new acquisitions into larger containers. Before I knew it, the sun was going down. When I sat down in the shower an hour later to wash my feet (the only way I can do it now), it finally hit me how tired I was!

So, now that I've eaten and taken my last antibiotic, I think I'm ready for bed. Let's just hope I don't spend most of the night coughing like last night - and that my body will let me sleep long after the sun comes up!