B.U.
12 years ago
Smart shopping
I Heart Target. No seriously, I love that place and if I were to get a nanny for a few hours a week (still working on that one with Tim), most likely I would end up filling up my red cart there every day. My problem with Target is that I cannot leave the store without spending at least $200 (isn't their slogan something about being "for less"?) and I NEVER get home with what I had gone there to buy. I just get so swept up in the unbelievable "deals" for too cute stuff for hannah and the fact that I get some truly chic stuff for myself there (Tim thinks I must be white trash to buy my clothes there but seriously, I got a "by Alexander McQueen" tank there that is oh so cool!). I have realized in my relatively new stay-at-home-mom status where I'm not really contributing to the piggy bank and I'm trying to pinch a few pennies that SOME things are worth spending a bit more. Of course there are the products where you really can buy the generic and never know the difference (am I the only one who has mistakenly come home with "Wal-tussin instead of Robitussin? Cough went away just the same). Compare the ingredients of half the products on the shelves at Target and you'll see they are all the same. Some with fancier bottles and more advertising but in the end, same juice. I mean my pharmacist doesn't even give me a choice in most instances... just hands me the generic.
Then there are the products that you assume you should spend more on and it's just not worth the risk to NOT spend more. Baby car seats are a good example of this. For many, risking your child flying from their seat in a fender bender is not worth the $100 or so that you'll save on the cheaper brand. Same for most baby products actually... worth the bucks if you're going to keep your child happy/safe and you'll never "test" a cheap one just to See (is it worth a bath full of tears after buying the cheaper baby shampoo? I think not!). Same I think (mom, this is not from personal experience) goes for condoms. I'd ASSUME most just spend the extra pennies and feel confident they will do what they want them to do. I know I would. Unfortunately for my dog baby rules don't apply with her, and learned the hard way after buying the knock-off dog food. I paid for that mistake over and over on my family room rug.
Then there are the things that I have learned over my shopaholic days are definitely worth spending a few more bucks. Here's my short but distinguished list:
- nail polish: unless you like the 2 week old manicure look the DAY after the manicure, go for the more expensive stuff. Plus the bristles of the brush were falling off as I was painting which gave my chippy nails the "hairy" look as well.
- Wrapping paper: the bad news was that any slight tug of the paper as I was wrapping the gift ripped the paper leaving holes and tears all over and many foul words flying from my mouth as Hannah was trying to help me. The good news was I was able to pass off the wrapping job to Hannah leaving the hosts quite impressed with the 4 yo wrap job.
- Toilet paper: chafed tush, not what I go for. I don't have the choice in public potties... at home I do. Same for tissues... go for the Kleenex and your nose will thank you.
- Diapers: Ok, it's the ONE baby product I tried to skimp on. I couldn't imagine what could be so different (having worked my career in marketing I knew the shenanigans that marketers pull with their verbiage on packaging and thought I would "show" them!)...Luke waking in the middle of the night with poop dripping down his leg because of the faulty leg elastic and I was proved wrong.
- socks: this one I discovered by mistake. I was at CVS and was cold. I bought some "trouser socks" (I should have known not to buy something with the word "trouser" on it since the last time I heard that word used in these parts was when my 85 year old grandpa (may he rest in peace) was getting dressed in his matching pink trousers and shirt) and immediately put them on. Later that afternoon my legs started aching and I was getting shooting pains in my knees. Thinking I was having some horrendous delayed reaction to a run I had taken a week earlier, I sat down on the floor of my living room, pulled up my "trousers" and saw that my socks had pretty much become tourniquets on my legs. There was no blood moving through my veins above my socks and there were purple rings where the tops of the socks met my upper calves. I'd blame my calves not the socks if this had EVER happened before but I don't have extraordinarily large calves - at least not larger (I don't think) than other CVS sock shoppers.
This experience led me to steer clear of CVS underwear and don't plan on trying CVS bras anytime soon either. I think as a matter of fact, I'll avoid CVS garments altogether and wisely shop for these type products at higher end establishments - like Target!
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1 comments:
My dad always called cheap toilet paper "The Brown Finger Special" -- LOL, my dad has some rough edges, but he sure makes me laugh!
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