The Accidental Shopper

Shopping appears to have become one of my hobbies. I’m not sure when that happened but if you do not have a regular job and rely on emergency teaching then shopping should not be your number one priority.

Next week is the last week of school for six whole weeks, so that means NO WORK for six weeks. Meanwhile the bills keep coming in and I keep shopping. The most frightening of which was last month’s credit card bill; my savings will look far less healthy once I have paid it off.  So I have declared that I will NOT use my credit card until next February (at least).

I’ve been reflecting on how I have allowed my spending to ramp up to such unprecedented levels and while I can pinpoint a couple of instances where I have gone wrong I think that on the whole I probably should not be allowed in shopping centres unsupervised.

This is what happens: a couple of weeks ago I went looking for an outfit for the Melbourne Cup. I had a dress that was almost, at a pinch, suitable but I suspected it was more Garden Tea Party than Melbourne Cup. So I browsed the shops.

And left with a white jacket that I did not end up wearing with the dress. In fact, I still haven’t worn it over a month later. I also managed to purchase a very nice dress but not one that would be suitable for the Cup. I thought I could wear this one to my Friday night social-drinky-doos.

Yes, well that’s all very well but when I got it home and put it on with real shoes it appeared very short. When I tried it on at the shop I may have made that classic mistake of throwing it on over the jeans and just dropping my jeans to my knees. You know how it’s far too much effort to untie your runners and kick them off your feet to get out of your jeans totally.

Oh sure, when there’s a pair of jeans around your knees anything you’re wearing on top looks a/ fairly good, and b/ long enough.

Turns out it wasn’t. Or it doesn’t feel like it. So I’ve added a hem of lace to make it longer. Now I am completely unconvinced about the whole thing and still haven’t worn it.

And then I also had to rush out and buy a copy of “The Princess Bride” for a friend’s birthday. Trouble is on the way to the DVD store, which I couldn't find, I got waylaid in a shoe shop. I ended up looking at Dr Martens. They’re so funky and I fell in love with these:

Sorry about the poor quality image, I had
 to stop looking once I found this one
 in case I found other shoes I simply had to buy. 

Look how cute they are, inside the lining is a pretty floral. And instead of laces they come with these really pretty ribbons, I fell in love pretty much instantly. And they actually make them in my size. However, once I saw the price I was very strong and left the store intent on looking for the DVD store.

Before I could get to the DVD store I found another shoe store and ended up with a pair of black Converse type runner/boots. I figured these were less than half the price of the Dr Martens and would be very useful for the waitressing job I’d picked up to help out with my shopping addiction. Plus they were on sale. (True story.)

See how you can get yourself into trouble with these things?

I did not find the DVD store. Instead I sensibly left the shopping centre.

"Sensibly" didn't last very long: when I got home I discovered I had a real craving for those Dr Martens and try as I might I could not kick the thought of them from my head. And, I reasoned to myself, I’m not getting any younger if I don’t buy these boots now I’ll be too old to get away with wearing them.

So the next day I got on-line and bought them anyway!

  

Nooooooooo!!!!!!

Did you see what happened? I didn’t buy the DVD for my friend and I ended up with not one but TWO pairs of shoes. And the credit card still needs to be paid off.

Fortunately school has rung up and asked me to work three days in the last week of term; I have even sacrificed one of my rowing sessions so I can work. Sob.  This will help but I have to ban myself from using the credit card.

Yours-in-debt-Stella xx

Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, New Year's Hell *

* With a little effort you can make that work, it's all in the timing.

It’s been a long time since I blogged, or even read a blog, and that’s because I’ve been out and about having a lovely time. I’ve made new friends in the social group I attend and so most weekends I am now out socializing, drinking and dancing with them, and having a blast.

I also find time to row twice a week. Yes, I am definitely a rowing tragic now. I go to yoga as often as I can, although I have given Bikram the heave-ho and go to a Vinyasa powerflow class. (I still can’t do handstands.)  And I also get to tango classes on a haphazard basis. Oh and I picked up a casual waitressing job once a week too. Even that can be fun and social. 

I have cleansed my life of on-line dating, and am happier for it. I go on dates with men I meet socially but there is still no one significant in my life. (And that still sucks.) But on the whole I am much, much happier than the same time last year. . .

 . . . until the prospect of Christmas rears its ugly head. And New Year’s Eve. There are still a few anniversaries and days that have the power to make me pensive. I am relieved to say I hardly ever cry in public anymore! Three years on, now that's progress! (Yes, I am gently mocking myself but it's still true.) However the holidays still sometimes suck (gotta love alliteration) and I never did figure out where I could run away to so as to avoid Christmas entirely. 

Today I was unexpectedly reminded of that. A friend of a friend has emailed us all and encouraged us to attend a function on New Year’s Eve. You know, it’ll be about champagne and canapes. My friends are all keen to go, I am less so.

Apart from the logistics of getting home after drinking on New Year’s Eve I don’t enjoy the crowds or the pressure to have a really-good-time-because-it’s-New-Year’s-Eve. Yet the alternative is to stay home. Hardly fun either.

When the hubby was around we’d go to another couple’s place and have a low key celebration locally. That was enough for me. I didn’t want to throw my own party, or make a big deal out of New Year’s but hanging out with friends for a casual drink was fine.

Now those friends have packed up and moved back interstate, other friends we often saw go away for Christmas until New Year’s and so I’m left torn between going out with other single friends or staying home.

And neither appeals. 

Any advice?

Stella-the-wet-blanket x