Looking Forward - A Shopping Preflection

I was thinking about the upcoming month in terms of spending on my bus ride into work this morning. I know a lot of people set monthly spending goals ($1000 a month for everything above rent or something similar), but it's not something I really want to get into yet. I feel like my months are still quite variable in terms of spending, and I don't want to put off doing something because of an arbitrary figure I've chosen for myself. It's awesome if it works for everyone that's doing it, I just don't think I'm ready to hop on the bandwagon yet.

Especially not this month :s

Anyway, I was thinking about the spending because I realized that this was going to be a kind of expensive month for me. I need to get 3 things: A weedwacker, a bra, and moisturizer. It doesn't really sound expensive at first, but if I can't find cheaper alternatives it's going to set me back about $500 (minimum) for those 3 items.

The moisturizer is kind of a non-negotiable item for me. Some of you might remember back in December when I was struggling with the price of the stuff. Well, fast forward a few months and I can honestly say I'm not going back. My skin doesn't hurt when I wash my face anymore, and I don't have to avoid touching it for fear of rupturing something. The cyst I spent over a year trying to get rid of finally disappeared, and the scarring is slowly healing. The jar is almost empty, and I'm going to have to switch to the lotion as the cream is getting to be a bit too heavy as it gets warmer out. It's cheaper per ounce, but comes in a larger container. This is going to set me back at least $240. I'm going to try to time it to line up with a gift with purchase or something, because the stuff doesn't go on sale.

The bra is a bit of a contentious issue for me. You could say that I developed early as a kid. I started wearing a bra in grade 6 or 7, and by the grade 8 I was easily a C cup. That would have been fine and dandy if they had stopped growing then (and why not? That's when I stopped getting taller), but they didn't.

Above is a bra sizing chart. The areas outlined in green are approximately your standard bra sizes. That little red splotch over to the left? That's me. I don't even make it on to the chart. I spent much of my teenage and early adult bra shopping years crying in change rooms because nothing fit, and anything that came close looked like something your grandmother would wear. My mom has the same problem. A few years ago after I moved to Edmonton to go to University I found a bra shop that carried my size.

HALLELUJAH!

The shop specializes in bras and specialty sizes. They order their stock in from Europe, where you can actually get a wider range of sizes. Not only that, for the first time in my life I could get a pretty bra. I think I cried tears of joy in her fitting room. Unfortunately, they do come at a price, and the last time I bought bras there they were about $160 a piece. The exchange rate has gotten better, so they may have come down in price a little, but I'm not holding my breath on that one. Two of my current bras have underwires that are about to give out (trust me, they hurt when they're stabbing me), so I know this expense will be hitting me soon.

Last but not least is a weedwacker. This is the one where I should be able to get the most pricing wiggle room from. I've only checked 1 store so far, but they're sitting at around $150-$200 for a gas powered one. I'd like to find an electric one, but I'm not 100% set on that. I tried to get by without one last year after I bought my place, and I can tell you it's not going to happen this year. I bought my house during the winter, and come spring I realized I had bought "That house". You know, the one overflowing with weeds in the neighbourhood of pristine lawns. I spent a lot of time last year fighting the weeds, and I'll be doing it again this year. I need to keep the upper hand on them as they can get away from you REALLY quickly, and the city will fine you if you don't keep them under control. My lawnmower doesn't reach everything, so this year I need to get one. I'm going to check out Kijiji and Ebay as well for a used one. The snow is melting here quickly, so I need to get on it soon.

I'm glad payday is Thursday.

What Would You Do?

I had one of those "That will never happen twice" strokes of luck last night. At least I think I did, because I'm not sure whether or not I should have handled it differently.

I asked The Boy last night if he wanted to do anything, and he said a friend of his wanted to do a casino night at one of the big casinos in town. I'm not one for gambling, and I told The Boy that, but I said I'd tag along and hang out anyway.

We got there, and one of the friends sat down at the roulette table to play. He had a "fool proof strategy" for winning money in roulette. While the method he used does work, albeit slowly, you have to have a LOT of money to back you up. He didn't have enough. It was painful to watch, because he was betting on red, and it came up consistently black again and again.

After leaving the table, The Boy and I decided to go back and see how long it took before the roulette table hit red again. We got there, and the wheel kept turning up black. I looked down and noticed a bunch of money laying on the floor behind the chair where our friend had been sitting, so I picked it up. It was really busy, but I looked around to see if anyone was fiddling with their wallets and could have possibly dropped it. Everyone was facing tables concentrating on their games. It wasn't near any of the dealers, so I didn't think it was house money. I looked at The Boy, and he told me I better put it in my pocket.

We walked over and told the people we were with what happened. They were stunned, but nobody actually claimed the money as theirs.

The Boy and I wandered around while the friends played $5 black jack and nickel slots, then headed out for the night.

Neither The Boy or I placed a single bet at the casino, but I walked out with almost $200 cash in my pocket.

He says he's bringing me to the casino more often.

Some of the money is going towards a girls night out tonight, but the majority of it is currently sitting snugly in my emergency savings account. It was the little kick start that account needed.

However, I have that needling little bit of guilt in the back of my head. I know that holding it up and saying "did anyone drop this?" would get me swamped, but does anyone know if there is a proper protocol for found money in a casino? Just curious.

First Date Finances

As I mentioned yesterday, I went on a date on Saturday, and despite both of us being quite nervous it seemed to go pretty well. In fact we're going on another one this week.

I know the generally accepted first dates are typically coffee or drinks, but ours turned into a full day adventure. We watched the Oiler's skills competition (playful hockey competition for those of you not familiar with the NHL), played several games of pool, and went for dinner.

I know it's traditional/customary for guys to pay for the first date, but I realized something this morning that has me thinking. While we were at the skills competition, he was paying for everything with cash. After we played pool, I believe he paid cash again. When we went out for dinner, he paid with a credit card. I'm well aware that it wasn't a cheap date, and I'm feeling like I should have chipped in somewhere. I don't like to think that a guy is putting himself into debt just to take me on a date!

I have a couple movie passes, so I'm covering the cost of the (much smaller) date this time. We're going during the work week, so I know this one won't turn into another 12 hour adventure. But I'm still wondering if I should have chipped in on the first one. How do you feel about first date payments? Do you go traditional, or do you believe the "he pays" is obsolete? Do you think when you switch activities that you should start chipping in? (So the first date was essentially 3 dates) I'd like to hear from you on this one.

Needs vs. Wants

I have acne. It’s quite severe acne actually, as I get cysts that are leaving deep scars. Some of it is genetic, some of it is hormonal, some of it is stress, and some of it is the food I eat. I’ve been fighting it for years (9 years seriously, 14 years total). I’m on 3 separate medications from the dermatologist for it. I’ve spent literally thousands of dollars trying every cleanser, cream, serum and peel on the market that I could get my hands on. I read books, I read blogs, I made my own cleansers, I tried diets and I tried organic supplements. I know they say it gets worse before it gets better, but after a couple weeks of trying something new, if not after a couple of days, my face would be swollen with infection raging beneath the surface.

I promise this has to do with finance.

Finally, after years of searching, I found a moisturizer that works. My skin calmed down, the swelling went down, and the big one: my face doesn’t hurt anymore. It’s been wonderful. There’s only one problem with it.

It’s $160 an ounce.

I managed to make the two samples I had last 3 weeks before I broke down and bought a small jar. Usually paying an exorbitant amount of money on something like this would easily fall under the wants category when it’s compared to a $5 moisturizer from the drug store. But what happens when the $5 moisturizer doesn’t work? When the frugal option doesn’t work, at what price does the need turn back into a want? It seems to be a highly personal question, with no strictly correct answer. Organic food may not be a necessity for most people, but maybe for the person who is allergic to pesticides it is. Take the singer Jewel for instance; before hitting it big she was living out of her car in Alaska with a kidney problem that she couldn’t afford the medication for. Her doctor told her to drink lots of bottled water. For anyone else bottled water is a frivolous and unnecessary expenditure, especially when you’re homeless, but for her it was necessary.

So I’m curious, where do you cut off your needs vs. your wants? Do you set a strict dollar limit? Or is it subjective? I’d love to hear from you on this.

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