WE have a new host for the month of March! http://n-good-company.blogspot.com/ and their topic is: Splurge vs Steal . . . List 5 things you are willing to spend your hard earned cash on and five things you would rather steal (hypothetically) than waste your money on.
1. Diapers– I’d rather pay out the up front cash for cloth diapers as a ‘splurge’ than to have to wonder if I can pay for disposables week by week, and trudge to the store and worry about running out in the middle of the night! Although, this isn’t really a true ‘splurge’, because you will pay less in the long run!
2. Food– I’d rather shop at the cheap grocery stores and make my own food ‘steal’ than pay through the nose for restaurant food. Exception: Aussie Cheese Fries from Outback (seriously, these should be made illegal!)
3. Clothing– is definitely a ‘steal’ item for me. I definitely buy stuff mostly on sale or try and shop clearance whenever possible. While I don’t go to goodwill, I do try my hardest to save as much money as I can. I used to only buy things as discount stores like Wally World, but now I try and buy stuff that needs to LAST (aka for grownups) at larger chain department stores like JC Penney, Kohl’s, etc. I usually only buy for certain occasions (birthdays, or if it’s really needed for an event), this way I can shop ahead of time whenever there is a particular sale. Kids clothes are a ‘catch it where you can’ thing. I try to keep under $3/shirt, I might spend a little more on pants and go up a bit more for ‘special’ items.
4. Gifts- I try now that we actually MAKE money to give as good of a gift as I can. Sometimes, that means a splurge on something that someone really wants, but often it’s a combo–using something I can do or already have to make a nice gift paired with something else. When one of my cousins had a bridal shower, they asked people to bring a ‘pantry’ item. So I brought a bag of chocolate chips, added a recipe to it, and then found one of my grandmother’s old dish towels (she was famous for crocheting a top on them and adding a button so you could hang them on the stove) — and I included a note saying I wasn’t sure if my cousin had one, but wanted to share a mutual memory with her and hope that she had good luck in cooking and so on. When one of my friends got married, I spent a lot of time cross stitching dolphins onto days of the week flour sack towels. I added those to a bunch of utensils as a combo gift. That’s the kind of thing I like to do. So I guess this one is a ‘splurge plus steal’ or something!
5. Fix it items- We’ve learned through the years to splurge on the BEST you can afford at the time to fix car issues, or anything to do with your house. You need to invest in these sorts of things, since they will last a long time if you take care of them properly.
I’m not sure I did this assignment exactly as was wanted, but this is what came out today!
Janis
Your list is very pratical Jill. I love those baby clothes deals you got. I love shopping the end of seasons to stock up for next year. Doesnt it make you wonder the mark up on things!!!
Mindy
I totally agree with buying clothes for adults that last. I used to obsessively buy from discount stores or sales racks only – but I’d find that I had a bunch of clothes that I liked, but didn’t necessarily meet my needs. I still shop this way, but try to use more discretion and worry less about quantity.
Sayre
We have similar approaches to kid clothing – it works up to a point. I used to be able to get a couple years of wear out of T-shirts and shorts. Buy them a little big one year and by the end of the second they’re getting snug. Then came the phase with giant growth spurts. He’d be the same size for a while and all of a sudden NOTHING he owned would fit! I’ve decided that Goodwill is the way to go for this phase of his life (except for special occasions) because I can’t afford new clothes everytime he gains two inches or 5 more pounds. And shoes? shoes are the worst! At least next year (fingers crossed) he’ll be wearing a uniform to school and I won’t need to buy so many other clothes.