Cheap Rants

OMG I went to Walmart to find two things…Dahlia bulbs that were on clearance a couple of weeks ago and felt for my umbrella stand design. Dahlia’s were gone 😦 so I can just get that out of my head until next year.

Felt was $6.00 for 5 pieces of 8×10 felt. When did felt get so expensive??? I dunno I been having so much sticker shock lately. I passed

Sharpies…$15 for 5 color sharpies… WHAT??? I passed

Yarn to make some trim: $6.00 a skein. WHAT??? I passed on that too but then when I shimmied on over to the clearance rack I found the same skeins of yarn in neutral colors for $2.00 a skein. That’s more like it. I got a couple. Now tonight I will be dreaming about that yarn and kicking myself in the butt for not buying more and when I go back there will be none left. hhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

A few months ago I backed my car into my yard guys trailer. The ball dented my rear bumper. I took it to get an estimate today… $1600. WHAT??? for a little dent in the bumper? I asked them can’t they fill the dent and repaint it? Of course they can’t. I keep forgetting though, there has NEVER been a time when I took my car in for repairs and the bill was less than $1,000…unless it was a warranty repair. LOL of course..they look out for each other. $1,000 is just the magic number for me. I passed. I need to do like this guy, get a new bumper and duct tape it to the car. LOL now thats cheap. (yes I take photos of funny stuff…and put it in my what the hell album)

I went to Habitat the other day and pal-eeze, I won’t even speak on their prices. Lets just say I left empty handed even though I saw plenty of things I liked and wanted…real bad. I am still thinking about a light fixture I saw in there but no no no…they not getting to me.

I went to the thrift store next door to Habitat and got a couple of cute little trinkets and some books, for which I am running out of shelf space. I just can’t pass up a craft or DIY or travel book for less than $1.00.

Prices are making me feel really cheap. Have I always been like this? Well I was going to say no but then a memory of my youngest son just popped into my head. He said when he grows up he is not going to be CHEAP…referring to me. LOL I will never forget that and of course my response was…we will see when you grow up and have to spend your own money, then we will see if you will be cheap or not. Now that he’s grown I can honestly say he is not. He buys the most expensive of everything whether it worth the money or not, and if he gives it as a present he leaves the tag on it so you know it wasn’t cheap. He refuses to buy any cards other than Hallmark either and when he hands it to you he says, “I cared enough to send you the best” LOL, yes he is a character…. My daughter splurges also. She has 4 kids and they all wear designer clothes and she buys good stuff for the house. Hmmph, well she doesn’t have destructo kids like mine were apparently. Do you think maybe being cheap marred them??? My oldest son, however, learned from the best…me. LOL He will scour the world looking for a deal.

Its like this. I am not going to let these people squeeze money out of me. I will spends HOURS on the Internet comparison shopping, wait for Black Friday, wait for stuff to get on the clearance racks and do what I have to do to stretch my mighty dollar. I will hound the store every single day, search the Internet for hours, whatever I have to do except I WILL NOT DIG through bins, that’s where I draw the line people. Ugghhhh that aggravates the heck out of me. My neighbor (Louise) once told me that she dug in a bin to find a handbag and she and her sister almost had a fist fight over that pocketbook. When she died she was still using that bag (some ten to fifteen years later) and she always said her still having that bag in good shape was testimony to her knowing quality when she sees it. LOL.

My patience to find the deal of a lifetime is the reason why when I was looking for an embroidery machine I waited for over 3 years to find the right deal. Then on my birthday I gave up and decided to just go ahead and buy one for my birthday present because every year I usually splurge on myself. I looked at the Vikings and I decided to wait one more day because they were just so freaking high and low and behold I went into Sears and got a BRAND SPANKING NEW ELNA sewing/embroidery machine for $150 because when they put it on display someone stole the pedal. I saw it on the floor under the table and I convinced the manager to sell it to me.  When I asked him the price he said $150 since I had to buy a new pedal and a manual.  OMG that was about 10% of the retail value.  You best believe I jumped on that…and that’s my favorite bargain story to tell.  I got the pedal on eBay for hardly nothing and downloaded the manual and printed it.  Done deal. Granted, it is not a Viking, but it does beautiful embroidery work and sews well. I did wind up getting a Viking though cause my Momma went out and brought her one when I got the Elna (she had to show me up.  LOL…that was my Momma).  But I got hers when she passed away and I gave my daughter the Elna. So cyber people you can say what you want about me being cheap…I eventually get what I want because I wait and I shop around.

I do have things I splurge on…my dog…cellphones…electronic gadgets.

Where do you fall on the spending range…spendaholic, bargain hunter, cheapie, extravagant? What are you cheapest on and spend the most on? Do you hide purchases from your spouse? Come on fess up and dish us the dirt. One day I will have to tell you about my trunk when I was married. LOLOLOL you probably can guess what that’s about.