It’s my mom’s fault, if I get to lay blame somewhere. She turned me in to a sale-shopper when I was still in elementary school. Although she’s an Aquarius, she has that Capricorn-ish tendency toward frugality that I really admire … most of the time.
Except that when her penny-pinching ways were passed down to me, they mutated into a compulsion. I am powerless before it, and even the fact that I recognize my weakness doesn’t do anything to mitigate it.
I will buy something I don’t need JUST BECAUSE IT’S ON SALE.
It’s ridiculous. When I’m clothes shopping, it doesn’t matter if it’s just for fun or for a very specific item: I am literally incapable of even looking through the full-priced racks. I know exactly where the sale sections are in almost every store I visit; I walk straight there and start going through every single item. A black tank top (I already own three, mind you) that’s now only $3.49? How many other colors are there in my size?! A pair of jeans marked down to $9.99? Who cares that I already own a pair that look almost exactly like them (and when I get them home, I discover that they are the ones I already have)? A sweater I will probably wear only one time? Doesn’t matter—it was originally $48 and I got it for $12!
But the endcaps at Target are the worst. I have shower gel, picture frames, and chocolate that I was suckered into buying because of that little red Sale Price tag (and don’t even get me started on things that have a stack of red tags three or four deep—then I don’t even look at what I’m buying).
I now own, for example, a pair of $5.38 brown heels with toes that are way-too-pointy-to-be-comfortable. Also, they don’t fit in the arch—if you stand next to me and look down at my feet, you can see the insoles on the insides of each shoe. It’s like seeing a Barbie wearing shoes that were made for Jem.
But I haven’t yet convinced myself that I can return them. I mean, they were originally $24.99! And I got them for fewer than SIX dollars! Amazing! Even though if I took them back today, I’d be able to exchange them for toilet paper and a travel-size lotion … things I actually need … I just can’t seem to let go. Maybe I should wear them around the house for a few hours until my feet start screaming at me, “Hey, idiot, time to let go! Don’t even think about taking these shoes with us to Vegas. We’ll walk right off and leave you in the airport alone and toeless. That home pedicure will be worthless! Now let us out!”
What’s your shopping fetish? Are you, like me, a slave to a bargain? Or, also like me, when you find something you like, do you snatch up as many as you can reasonable justify in different colors? Or do you have more black dresses (or shoes, or books) than you’d ever admit? What do you wonder why you buy?
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3 comments:
oh sista friend, i hear you on the bargains. i bought little mama 8 pairs of shorts at kohl's over the holidays. they were $2.14!!! how can i NOT buy them?
oh my. don't tell my husband about this topic. his head may explode if he finds out my secrets.
I am proud to say that Owl has broken me of this habit. Yes, it may be decadent to own a one hundred dollar pair of jeans (granted I bought them when I was still on salary and could surely not do so now) But I must say- that one pair out of four jeans I own is the only pair that fits perfectly. The money I save Not buying the on sale stuff I don't need can be put towards treasured bits of finery. (I also like to think of what stacy and clinton say on what not to wear-the reason it's on the sale rack is because no one else wanted it, honey, and you shouldn't want it either).
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