Useless Poll

[lunabee34]

Okay, here's the thing.

I'm a thrifty gal. I grew up in the one of the cheapest families known to man and while I don't think I've carried that tendency as far as some of my relatives, I know how to pinch a penny. I cut my dryer sheets in half because those fragrance free ones that Josh and Emma have to use are expensive and half works just as well as a full sheet. I don't waste and I look for sales and I almost never shop for myself. I usually wait until it's a necessity, like I've grown so fat I have no pants that will fit me or all my underwear is full of holes. We will not speculate on the reasons for that. *g*

However, I'm not stingy. I like to spend money on experiences--travel, food, drink, comfort (I run the AC higher than I should in the summer because I'm not sweating in my own house). I know that sometimes you just can't be cheap because whatever you're buying is worth the money.

But this? This crosses the line. I love my fashion mags, but I am continually flabbergasted at what many of the items featured cost. I get expensives dresses and coats and jewelry, but the 200$ T-shirt is a thing I will never understand. So, poll!

[Poll #1314337]

Comments

[lwbush.livejournal.com]

In my defense, the single item of clothing I spent around $100 on? Was my wedding dress.

[mofic.livejournal.com]

ZOMG I'm in love with you. And you're married - just my luck.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Is that you in your icon?

Because way cool.

[mofic.livejournal.com]

Yeah, me an a baby orangutan. A very long time ago.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Cool!

Are you a biologist? Or zoologist?

[mofic.livejournal.com]

LOL! No, I was at a zoo and somehow managed to persuade the keeper, who was moving the baby orangutan into her night cage, to let me have my picture taken with her. I stood there holding her hand, but then she put her arms up just like a human baby to be picked up, so I did.

You can't tell in the icon since it's so small but she's got one loooooonnnnnnngggg arm all the way around the back of my neck and coming out the other side on the shoulder :-).

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

That is really super cool.

I've seen orangutans at zoos but never had an up close personal encounter with one.

:)

[mofic.livejournal.com]

Well this was long ago (early 1980s) and far away (Delhi, India). It could not happen here and now.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Oh cool!

I've never visited India. Were you living there at the time or just visitin?

*is incurably nosy*

[mofic.livejournal.com]

Just visiting. My spouse (at the time, now ex) and I spent a month there. We stayed with friends in Delhi and traveled to Bombay, Maharashtra, Agra, Rajasthan. We did a lot of stuff in and around Delhi, too. The tours we went on were ones for Indian tourists and we were staying with an Indian family (friends who had been in grad school at McGill when we were undergrads), so I feel like we got a good taste of the culture. I'd love to go back but have never had the time and the money at the same time.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

When I was an undergrad, we had several very good friends who were Indian (and also, incidentally, from Delhi) and there was much bandying about the idea of taking a trip to India with them, but Josh and I never did. A couple of our guy friends did end up going home with A.C. one summer adn we are all incurably jealous but none of the rest of us could afford the airfare.

:)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

You are made of awesome!@@!@ The most I have spent on a single item of clothing was also on my wedding dress--350$. We're both still WELL under the national average. :)

[lwbush.livejournal.com]

At the time, I was helping put hubby(to-be) through Law School by working at Davison's (an Atlanta Department store since bought by Macy's). They had this lovely Gunny Saks white satin prom dress on clearance, in my size, and after employee discount and all, I paid 79 dollars for my wedding dress. And it really was beautiful (of course, I wasn't too shabby in those days, either. Time is the enemy on that front).

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Dude!

I am certain that you were ravishing.

I was ravishing.

Time is everyone's enemy.

LOL

[trobadora]

Single article of clothing - does a winter coat count? These things aren't cheap.

[havocthecat]

Thrift stores, though?

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Dude! I just bought two suit coats at Goodwill for 15 dollars! Not apiece but together! And I look fetching in them both!!!!!

Thrift stores rock the house.

[havocthecat]

I buy most of my high end, expensive stuff on sale at thrift stores. Not everything, I'll admit, but when I can. And lots of my street clothes! When I don't get them at places like Target.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I used to buy most of my clothes at Thrift Stores too. I can remember that my freshman and sophomore college wardrobes consisted of shirts that cost a quarter and this spiffy zip up jacket that cost a dollar.

I haven't done that in a long time.

I should remedy.

[havocthecat]

My favoritest dance top ever was $2. And when it broke, I went and bought a $2 button from the fabric store and fixed it. It's awesome. (My dance teacher hates it because it doesn't match, but IT WAS SO CHEAP.)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Hahahahhaahha!

I mean I kinda knew I loved you already, but *heart to bursting*

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

They count. But you notice in my post that expensive coats I get. They're intended to last for forevers. We're talking investment. :)

[trobadora]

I think my most expensive item is a coat for something just under 300 Euros. I've no idea what that was in dollars at the time - I've had it for years -, so I guesstimated on the generous side. *g*

I do buy all my clothes new, but I have them and wear them for ages. (Fifteen years isn't bad for a summer dress, is it? *g*) Quality definitely matters to me, and I'm willing to pay a little more for that, but I still generally stay well under 100 Euros even for the more expensive items.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I also wear my clothes for ages. I think of them as investment pieces and if they cost a little more but I'm going to wear them for years, that evens out.

But shirts to wear everyday are not investment pieces for me. All that stuff in the poll? That's stuff I routinely do to my clothes. I am such a klutz. LOL


You sound like a very sensible shopper. :)

[trobadora]

What I really don't understand is people who buy clothes, wear them one summer and then throw them out. That just baffles me. I hang on to things forever.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

YES!

Or the, I can't possibly wear that dress again because someone else in the world might also wear it in a three mile radius of me.

WTF?

[trobadora]

*gasp* The horrror!

You know, I have a blouse I really like. My boss has the same one, although she wears it differently. And oh shock, I still wear it! And it hasn't killed me yet! I still really like it, and no way am I giving it up just because someone else also has it.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

You, you, you

REBEL!

[trobadora]

Ha, I never realised how subversive I am! *is proud*

[ana-grrl.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that I'm willing to pay for quality (especially if it's fair trade/sustainable livelihood quality), and I don't mind budgeting for that. But I refuse to pay for a name (especially because many of those names produce their stuff in terrible factory conditions).

Incidentally, let me recommend the dryer ball (http://shop.therainforestsite.com/store/item.do?itemId=34684&siteId=221&origin=ShopGreen_GOOGLE_ADGROUP_RS-DryerBalls&gclid=CLi23ci4vJcCFRKAxgodgWGjcA) to you. Last forever, work as dryer sheets, but without 1) all of the chemicals (even there in the fragrance-free ones) 2) all of the waste. I've linked you to the rainforest site, but I bought mine in Zellers (a Canadian store kind of like Target or K-Mart), so they're available in these kinds of shops (and probably hardware stores). Definitely worth the money (and will save you money).

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

No, you are so right. And I totally get paying more money for a cause you believe in. THAT I respect the hell out.

But some non-special COTTON (OMG COTTON COTTON COTTON) shirt that costs 200#$?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lorraine is nonplussed.

Ooooooooh, dryer ball. Awesome advice.

Yayness. Phil is dancing.

[ana-grrl.livejournal.com]

But some non-special COTTON (OMG COTTON COTTON COTTON) shirt that costs 200#$?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lorraine is nonplussed.

Word! It's ridiculous.

Dryer balls: you won't regret them!

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I bought a package of two yesterday! I'm going to try one out today when I do laundry.

You're influencing the world for good, Ana!

[ana-grrl.livejournal.com]

You're influencing the world for good, Ana!

While also preparing for the apocalypse! Is this...multi-tasking??

I use both of the balls in the dryer together (that's what my package said to do). I like them very much - I hope you do too.

(Wow, we are so domestic!).

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Ahahahhaahahahahahaha. Yes. We are. LOL

You should write a fic about Simon and Jayne in the SAME SITUATION.

[ana-grrl.livejournal.com]

You should write a fic about Simon and Jayne in the SAME SITUATION.

I shall call it 'Dryer Balls: The Mystery', and it shall be a domestic who-dun-it, with sexing in the laundry room. And debates about how to get that laundry soft and fluffy.

(Is it bad that I actually have written a Jayne/Simon fic involving laundry and sex in the laundry room?)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Emphatically, no. This is why we love you.

And I love the clever double entendre of Dryer Balls. Is it Dryer or Drier?

Heeeeeeeee.

[shannon730.livejournal.com]

I actually do have a pair of $200 jeans...I didn't buy them, my cousin did then lost weight before ever wearing them (we won't even discuss the idiocy of buying jeans that expensive when you're successfully losing weight and plan to continue). They are the most uncomfortable pair I've ever owned and half the time I'm afraid to wear them because I don't want to tear them or get them dirty or you know any of the other things you don't usually worry about when wearing jeans...

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

One of the reaons I am loathe to buy clothes is that I am forever in a state of losing and gaining weight. It feels wasteful.....or like I'm tempting fate.

What's uncomfortable about them?

[shannon730.livejournal.com]

She was in Weight Watcher's and had lost 60 pounds and planned to lose 30 more...I get she needed new clothes but wouldn't you spend as little as possible until you were done? Or at least close to your goal?

They're cut very weird...At first I thought it was just because they are low-rider jeans (Marisa has no waist or hips at all) but all the jeans Marisa gave me are low-rider and this was the only pair that was this bad. They cut is way too low, the thighs are oddly wide, they say petite but are very clearly not...all reasons apparently she kept putting off wearing them, btw...so one would have to wonder why she purchased them...

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I cannot abide low rise jeans.

I don't want the ones that come up over your bellybutton either, mind, but I cannot stand the constant worry that my underwear is showing, or *gasp* the ass stretch marks that Emma gave me. *g*

[shannon730.livejournal.com]

Seriously, when I lost weight and could wear the jeans Marisa gave (it was like 10 pairs) I had to go buy all new underwear because they were all so low. Sadly, though with no waist or hips she needs low rise jeans and she just refuses to shop according to what I like...


But no, normally I can't stand low rise jeans either. But I get much less picky when I get them for free.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Well darn her for not taking your needs into account when shopping for her own clothes.

*g*

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

The "most money on single piece of clothing" is, for me, a little bit of a misnomer; it's really "I've spent more than $500 on specialized sports equipment that I then wear," and when the sport is skiing, everything is mind-blowingly expensive and parts of it (boots, skis, gloves) are really not worth skimping on. Spending $50 for a pair of socks isn't out of the question. (But while you can spend $193 for a nice long underwear top, that's one thing that isn't worth it.) And then I started grad school and haven't skied since. But if I lived nearer a good mountain, I'd spend money so fast my head would spin.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

That's also different. Sports equipment gets its own category. That I understand and do not sneer at. You want to be safe and to perform well and I get that that costs money.

100$ pantyhose is beyond my comprehension, however. LOL

[thelastgoodname.livejournal.com]

Although it helps to wear pantyhose when contemplating wearing something that expensive. Since I don't wear hose ever anyway, the mere idea is enough to make me question the entire idea of capitalism. (Not that I don't regularly question the idea of capitalism anyway.)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Heeeee, heeeee, heeeee

*snerk*

I rather like the idea of hose and then it cuts off my circulation and well. *sigh*

[mofic.livejournal.com]

I have a beaded evening jacket that is the single most expensive article of clothing I've ever bought. It's also the dressiest garment I own. It think it was about $250 and I bought it 10-12 years ago for a wedding. I wore it at all my kids bnai mitzvah, too.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

This? I get.

You bought an investment piece. You wore it multiple times. I am imagining that you love it. That it flatters you. That you will probably wear it again.

But a T-shirt that costs hundreds of dollars? A garment intended for one to knock around in? Lounge in? Go to the game in? I cannot support such a garment.

[mofic.livejournal.com]

You bought an investment piece. You wore it multiple times. I am imagining that you love it. That it flatters you. That you will probably wear it again.

Yes, that's all true. I feel good in it. I feel like I look good in it. I've only worn it a few times, but I really like having it and will wear it again if the occasion arises.

[kaleecat]

can you give thrifty lessons? ;-)

I do well with some thriftiness, not so well with other aspects. Which would be why I no longer have a credit card, even though I need one. (I have one in my name that my parents pay for & is for extreme emergencies--such as paying the stupid school their stupid fees when they used to give you all year to pay them off).

Someone in the comments mentioned the dryer balls. They're blue spiny balls. they are also very loud rattling around the dryer. So you have to balance the banging noise. If you have a Beall's Outlet Store near you (there was one up in Calhoun, GA so I know they're in GA; sometimes called Burke's Outlet) you can usually find them there for 5 bucks. My doctor told me to stop using even the fragrance free sheets. Sure I have static but I don't really miss them.

Congrats on finishing your first term there at MGC.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Thank you, sweet pea!!!!!!!!!!

I am loving MGC. I am doing so well here. It's amazing how when you find your niche, everything falls into place. :)

My other main thriftiness lessons would involve pretty much always buying the Food Club/Store Brand version of everything, only going to Target once a year (because let's face it; Target is shiny and awesome, not cheap), and appropriating office supplies from work.

I think I can deal with the noise. We don't dry when we're trying to sleep, so that'll prob be ok.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, right down to the holey underwear. :) In fact, we just finally hauled ourselves over to Target today so I could get a new comfy shirt for around the house because my old one has huge holes in the elbows. I was down to one because the other was literally coming apart at the seams and I could no longer wear it and had to throw it away. So I got two new shirts today, $7.99 each. They will probably last me several years. Sounds good to me.

I clicked $100 on the poll. We don't have hugely cold winter weather here, but it does merit a warm coat once in a while, and so I have one of those big Adidas coats, windbreaker material on the outside, padded sweatshirt material on the inside. I bought it oh jeez, probably before Bruce moved out here, so maybe 12 years ago? 13? And it's still in excellent shape. It was probably right around $100, maybe slightly more.

(And my wedding dress was about $20 at Mervyn's. My grandmother paid for it.)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Oh, wow. I paid 350 for my wedding dress and while much more than yours (OMG awesome thriftiness on your part!!!), still well below the national average by thousands, THOUSANDS!

I have just always been Meh about buying stuff for myself. I only do it when I have to. I just bought a new pair of tennis shoes. The old pair I bought in circa 2000. That kinda thing.

And coats are just expensive. No two ways around that. Thank gods I have an executrix who sends me Burberry trenches in the mail. *loves*

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I totally forgot I actually paid like $140 or so for my bridesmaid dress for my friend's wedding. So that was probably the most expensive thing I've ever bought. Me and the other bridesmaid went to a tailor to look at dresses and picked the absolute cheapest one, which was under $100, and they said oh, if it's more than a size...I don't remember, 20 or so, it will cost extra. Well, at the time, both of us were maybe size 14-16, so we thought no worries. But it turned out they use some special wedding sizing, so we both ended up being like 22 or 24. D:

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

DUDE YES!!!!!!!!!!!

I know of which you speak.

Sample size for wedding dresses and bridesmaid dresses is like something that would fit a 13 year old.

May I say? Demoralizing.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I'm still angry over that dress. The worst is that it's not even something you can continue to wear and get use out of. :( I wore it once, for a couple hours, and then it sat in the closet for years, after which I eventually gave it to a thrift shop. At least I can hope that someone else got some use out of it after me, but argh.

(The whole experience really soured me on the bridesmaid thing, which I'd never given much thought to before.)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I have been a bridesmaid and bridesmatron (and, boy, is that a life-affirming title) about four million times and they've run the gamut from "Shot gun wedding and we're gonna rent your dresses from the prom rental place and they're maroon" to "I inexplicably believe the female ass is excentuated with rhinestones and a bow the size of a fat child; me a Sir Mix-a-Lot are totally BFF."

[tabaqui]

300 dollar jeans are not superior in any way, shape, or form unless they somehow keep you from messily and horribly killing yourself in front of small children because spending the money somehow makes you feel good.

I'm....boggled. Clothing is clothing and i'd only spend money on a coat or shoes. In fact, my last boots were about eighty bucks and i agonized for literally months. They will *never wear out*.

Before that, about fifteen years ago i bought this gorgeous, imported skirt that was originally almost 100 bucks but had been marked down to something like thirty. I wore it for years.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Yes!!!!!!

I believe in investment pieces. A good suit, even if it costs three hundred dollars--you've got two, possibly three pieces if there's a skirt and you're gonna wear it forever. Also, cheap suits look like shit.

And you need good longlasting shoes (I have worn some shoes for literally a decade!) and good coats. And I get the desire for a fancy dress. Everybody should have one fancy piece if they so desire.

But knocking around clothes? Possibly getting dirty destroying LIVING IN clothes? That shit should be cheap. Otherwise we're living in a Ibsen play.

[havocthecat]

My wedding dress was expensive, but other than that, even my belly dance clothing - the stuff I buy - isn't more than $100 or so. I think I paid $110 for a coat. I make the bulk of it so as not to pay too much.

But street clothes? Ugh, I hate spending too much on clothes.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I am so curious. :) How do you define expensive for your wedding dress? We talking thousands? (*knows way too many people who could have bought HOUSES with their wedding gear)

I hate spending too much too. And I know part of that is my whole Protestant crazy upbringing but also part of it my incredibly practical side that is also crazy.

[havocthecat]

Thousands? Oh, no. I think it was about $800? I'm still trying to figure out what to do with it so it doesn't sit in my closet forever.

I didn't have a Protestant crazy upbringing, but my parents are from LARGE families. You just plain get frugal when you have to make things stretch like that. I was weirded out when I found out classmates (and later, coworkers) thought that hand-me-downs were skeevy.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

800$? STILL BELOW THE NATIONAL AVERAGE!!!!

Wooooooo!

OMG, if it were not for hand-me-downs, I fear that my child would have been mostly naked. LOL I do not get the whole, "Your largely unworn clothes are unwanted here" attitude. *shakes head*

[havocthecat]

AND YET IT FEELS LIKE SO INCREDIBLY MUCH.

Seriously, I'm waiting 'til one of my cousins near my size gets married and maybe I can offer it to one of them.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Have you thought about EBAYING it or consignment shops?

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

I never had a fancy wedding dress, but I did eventually donate my bridesmaid dress to a thrift shop. I hate the fact that I personally can never get any more use out of it, but at least someone else can.

[phenway.livejournal.com]

Yeah. The expensive wedding gown is me. God, I am SO conflicted about it. I mean, it's an absolutely spectacular garment and I adore it and all, but DAMN it makes me ill to think of how much I paid for it. Yeah, I spent a ridiculous amount of money on my wedding gown. In my defense, though; I had a financing deal with the bridal shop where I paid no interest, so at least i didn't put that much on a credit card.

Still, I really don't want to think about how much I paid for a dress i wore once. Gaaaaahhhh. And naturally I have only boy children so I can't even justify that my daughter can wear it one day. :(

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Wedding dresses are exempt from my extravagance ire. Something for a special occasion, even if you're only gonna wear it once, is understandable to me.

With my dress, I knew that no one could pay for an expensive one should I want it (we didn't even have credit cards at the time) so fortunately a bridal shop was going out of business and trying to move some merchandise. My dress is worth far more than I paid for it.

Perhaps your daughters-in-law would be interested. Stranger things have happened.

Also, you could sell the blessed thing. I would.

[ariadne83]

I spent $500 on my wedding dress. Aside from that, I've probably spent up to $200 but that was on a seriously awesome winter coat that lasted for years (until I lost it *sigh*)

[ariadne83]

Oh, and I buy expensive jeans (compared to what I used to have): $120 but they're comfortable and awesome. And they were the only pants I had that actually fit for almost a year because all of the other were too big/too small thanks to the wedding stress (yay for fluctuating weight *eyeroll*)

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

What kind of jeans are they?

*is curious*

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Oh, man. That sucks that you lost the coat.

You have to spend money on coats because materials that keep you warm are expensive and heavy and if you think of how long you wear a coat, it's not expensive averaged out over the years that use it.

[jeanieofoz.livejournal.com]

I bought a formal dress for my high school prom equivalent. I think that it cost a bit over a hundred dollars but since it was so long ago... THough some of my wet weather gear has also been over a hundred...

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

You cannot skimp on rain gear. If it keeps you dry and lasts for years, it's worth the investment.

*nods decisively*

:)

[spikedluv]

Maybe if I tried it on and it gave me Teyla's figure.

Hahaha! Yes, I'd buy it then! Sort of like a trick with mirrors and shit. *g*

I almost never shop for myself. I usually wait until it's a necessity, like I've grown so fat I have no pants that will fit me or all my underwear is full of holes.

That is so me! But I think it's more becuase I'm lazy (and fat, and really, shopping for us fat gals is not the same fun experience as shopping for skinny chicks) than thrifty. *g*

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Yeah.

Who am I kidding? I would too. If the magic was real, I would be all up on that jazz.

I am with you on shopping. Shopping is hard for me. I also start out excited and optimistic and then grow more and more disgusted and depressed when nothing fits or the things that do fit are not my style at all. Lately, I've been having a lot of success with shopping which I attribute more to my current mental health state of happiness than anything else. LOL

[yin-again.livejournal.com]

I once spent $75 on a pair of boots. That's it. I'd say wedding dress/really nice winter coat/something extravagant, but I've never purchased those things for myself. I have spender's guilt. Even when I was deep into retail therapy I never bought expensive things...just lots of inexpensive things - and really, really awesome deals. I had discount retail therapy.

Now that I'm a teacher, a major splurge is fresh produce and a six-pack of ramen.

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

I have much guilt. About much. But not spending. Sometimes I get anxious over money but I don't really guilt over spending it. We should shop sometime though because while I love the bargains, not so great at sniffing them out.

I hear you about the teacher salary. LOL We've moved one tier up in pay now that I have a tenure-track job, but Josh is only adjuncting because GA has a hiring freeze on right now. As soon as his position turns fulltime (which it looks like a kinda long wait now boohisss) we'll be in the gravy. I hope. LOL

[lunabee34.livejournal.com]

Yes, that counts!

And makes me jealous because any shirt I could have worn in high school would now function best as a leg warmer. LOL