Sometimes when I'm reading blogs that talk about budgeting or frugality, I am left with the feeling that the author is obnoxious and self-righteous. Wohoo, look at me and all of the ways I save money and am totally awesome. I make my own crackers and purchased a new car from saving box tops. Blah blah blah. I hope that's not the feeling you get here - at least from reading about some of the things we do to try and cut down our expenses. If you think from some of my other posts that I'm obnoxious, well, it's probably because I am a little obnoxious. Sorry! But please love me in spite of that, okay? Let's just be friends :)
Lance would tell you that I spend too much money. But he is bargain barrel frugal and I am, well, not. But the thing that about being frugal in some areas means that we do spend money in other areas. Frugal, for us, is about prioritizing what we're doling out our precious pennies towards. Here are some of things I'm spending my pennies on:
For example, I buy salon hair products - mostly Aveda. They are expensive so I buy them only once or twice a year when my local salon has their annual holiday open house and all products are 20% off. One year my mom bought Aveda AirSpray hair spray for me as a stocking stuffer. She said that was the most expensive hair spray she had ever purchased. Sorry mom. But I also try and take advantage of Beauty Brands Liter Sale in August and purchase mega bottles of shampoo and conditioner for cheap. Currently I'm using Sexy Healthy Hair Color Safe Soy Moisturizing Shampoo and Conditioner. I got told last fall by an Aveda student that I had the healthiest hair she had ever seen. So are pricey salon hair products worth it? Maybe ...
Two. I have expensive makeup. A long time ago I fell in love with a store called Sephora and the rest was history. Yes, I buy makeup at Sephora, no, I don't buy Chanel or Dior makeup. While it's not Covergirl, it's not the top end of the spectrum either. I mostly buy Clinique, but here's my trick. I save my credit card points and will redeem them for a gift card to Sephora or I buy what I need during Clinique Bonus Time. I also use expensive nail polish. I don't really have a good reason for that one, I think that I've just fallen for marketing ploys over the years.
Three. Oreos. Fake oreos are just that - fake. And gross. There goes any preconceived notion of you (Jessie) thinking I don't buy processed foods. I also think that generic Wheat Thins are gross.
Household/consumer appliances. Yep, we bought a monster expensive Vitamix blender. I have really nice Cuisinart food processor and a professional grade Kitchenaid mixer. I love my Pampered Chef kitchen tools. And my Tupperware modular mates. But the mixer and food processor were momma gifts (my mom loves me A LOT) and the Vitamix is a forever gift. Much of the Pampered Chef and Tupperware were bought at a discount or secondhand. Have you ever looked into someone's pantry who has everything labeled and organized into containers that fit together exactly? It's a sight that makes me weep :)
In fact I have no issue buying stuff secondhand. Stuff that either has no visible signs of wear and can be washed/sanitized or lasts forever (like my baking storage containers - they'll last forever). I regularly surf around facebook groups, craigslist and ebay for namebrand clothing for the whole family.
Car seats. We own two Britax car seats (a Marathon and a 70-G3) both of which were well over $200 a piece. We bought one on Black Friday and the other I bought using promo money. I hate doing event promos, but safety is safety. (For the second car seat I demoed Justin Beiber perfume. I had to remind myself why. CONTINUALLY.) One of the things I love about these particular car seats is that you can remove the liners and throw them in the washing machine. Poop-explosions anyone?
We have an iPad and I love it. Do we need it? No.
I have a nice DSLR Nikon camera. It was purchased with my congratulations-you-finished-grad-school money. It was also purchased pre-budget and pre-Dave.
I spend money. Being on a budget doesn't mean that I'm cheap. We track where our money goes, but we still spend money. I am a big believer in quality over quantity. Although if you ask Lance, my closet says something entirely different. My closet says I'm a big believer in sale shopping :)
1 comment:
Great post, Kara! Like so many things in life, your personal finances are obviously a balancing act. I do read a few budget blogs and I hate it when all they say is what they save on and not what they spend on. One blog said their monthly grocery budget was like $150 or something totally ridiculous and it showed them buying a bag of lettuce and some bananas at the store. That really irked me and then a few months later they revealed they were spending hundreds of dollars going out to eat each month!
I just recently discovered Sephora (was always too scared to go in there before) and I am in love. So many beautiful products! It is dangerous for sure!
As always, I appreciate your honesty!
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