Sins of the Finances: Prologue

So I told you awhile back that I was going to be writing chapters on where our finances have gotten derailed through the years as both a measure of self-accountability as well as a tale of warning for others. But first, in order to pump myself up and to save a little face in your eyes, dear readers, I have decided to list the frugal areas of my life. So here goes.

Technology: Let's start with the cell phone. I had a cell phone from 1998-1999, but when I broke up with the corresponding year boyfriend, I had to get rid of the phone because the plan was tied through his mom (awkward). I didn't have another cell phone until the summer of 2003. Yes, you read that correctly. Since then I've had only THREE phones. A tiny Motorola that I loved but unfortunately submerged in a large glass of ice water, the really old Nokia (I forgot what happened to it), and now this baby Nokia:
All were free or maybe I paid $30 for one. I can't send texts (can receive, though), and the only "extra" I have on my plan is unlimited calling because of that one time I racked up well over 1000 minutes and had to pay a ridiculous amount of money. All that said, my bill is still $55/month, which I find quite ridiculous. Now I have to admit that I am majorly lusting after a Blackberry, at which point I would not only have texting but a data package...dare to dream! I'm holding out until we're out of debt. So in Doug's words, by then something much cooler will be out and the Blackberry will be cheap. HA! As stated before, I am definitely a late-adopter of technology. Always have been, always will be. I do have DSL at home for my computer, but there have been many, many periods of time when we have not. We have one flat screen TV that we only have because Doug insisted that was what we wanted for Christmas one year from his parents (the other two TVs in our house are old school). And we all know about the no satellite; I'm thinking I maybe should have titled this section electronics. You should also know that I get made fun of brutally at work for these things. I just smile because they've made it that much easier for me to holdout because now I'm just being stubborn!

Girly Stuff - Clothes: Let me start off by saying that when I talk about clothes and growing up, I tend to unintentionally make it sound like we were poor. We were not poor, but we did struggle in a middle-class kind of way. My little brother once regurgitated what my dad explained to him and went around saying we "had a cash flow problem." I love that. Anyway, we went shoppping once a year for new school clothes. And with three of us, the budget per child was not much. I can remember things like getting 3 pairs of jeans per year and one pair of tennis shoes. See, I realize this is so much better than true poor kids have it. But for attending a private school...this was hard stuff. Anyway, things like this obviously pave the way for how you react later in life. SR and ED, and I don't think they will mind me saying this, overcompensated and went clothes crazy once they were on their own. Maybe I would have too if I hadn't gotten married so young. I can honestly say that I can only remember a handful of times in the last 10 years that I went on a shopping spree, spending several hundred dollars on clothes at one time -- once was in the months prior to getting married, once was that horrible time Sara and I went to Old Navy to buy me pants in a whole new size (still depressed about that)...hmm, those are the only ones I can remember right now. There were a few more. SIDE NOTE: I am not including Elliott shopping trips in this description. I'm only talking about clothes for myself. Most of my clothes (mainly work pants) are Christmas presents from Doug's mom. Then I add a few shirts and pairs of shoes here and there. You can guarantee that I buy things on sale and usually cheap shoes. Until I'm old I'm sacrificing quality. Right now is the first time in a long time that I have 4 pair of jeans, and one of those pairs is about to bust out in the crotch from wear and one pair no longer has a button so I just wear a belt with them. Oh yeah, and one of those pairs I just got for my birthday. I can actually see the look of shock on some of your faces right now :)

Girly Stuff - Makeup: Now here is where my friends are going to die from contact embarrassment. I very rarely ever buy makeup. The things I do buy are as follows: (1) black "Love My Eyes" eyeliner pencil ($1 at Wal-Mart) which lasts me several months and (2) mascara that I also purchase at Wal-Mart. My mother-in-law buys enough department store makeup that she's always getting free eye shadow and lipstick, which she gives to me. And I'm boycotting base/foundation/powder/concealer for as long as I can until the wrinkles of my new decade force my hand. This is not to say that I haven't bought other stuff in the past. There was a short lived period (pre-Elliott) where I was buying Arbonne makeup and spending a pretty penny. But that would be considered an outlier if you plotted my habits over time.

As for other beauty products, I buy my mosturizer, which is the one thing I'm fanatical about, at Wal-Mart too. Oh, and perfume. This is hysterical. For some present years ago, Doug bought me the Paris Hilton perfume (stop laughing, it smells good!). Right before that bottle ran out, I discovered that Cato carries a knockoff of this perfume...for $10. So that's where I buy my perfume.

I never paint my fingernails because it looks awful on my man hands, and I only bother painting my toes during the summer. At this rate, I buy about one bottle of polish per year. I don't get manicures because I think it's a luxury or something to receive as a gift, and I don't get pedicures because of my left foot. If you don't know what I'm talking about, well too bad! ;)

Girly Stuff - Hair: I do get my hair cut every 4-8 weeks, but I only do that because my eyebrows have to be waxed accordingly to keep me from looking like a descendant of Big Foot's family. Both services combined cost me $40/trip. I don't color/highlight my hair for a few reasons: (1) it's too expensive, (2) it takes too much upkeep, and (3) back in the day when I used to do it myself, it took me so long to get it grown back out to prevent root issues that I swore that I wouldn't do it anymore. I'm sure my new decade will take it's toll eventually and then I'll have to start back, but I'm not there yet.

Girly Stuff - Accessories: The only jewelry I ever buy is costume, and most of what I have were gifts. Usually when I buy a purse it costs less than $15 and comes from Wal-Mart. And I either use it until it literally breaks or I store it and reuse it after another one breaks. The last department store purse I bought was in November 2005, and it was 1/2 off during Black Friday sales (it's the purse I'm toting today). Again, if you've seen me with a nice purse, it was a gift.

Well, I think that is sufficiently horrifying for today. Let me remind you since you are now shocked into forgetting the point of this that I am prepping myself for how and when I've spent money ridiculously. You can see it was pretty much not on myself. Not that that is much of a consolation prize. :)