Would You Spend Money On It?

I would say I am a pretty frugal person. Yes I do have credit card debt, but it is from veterinarian bills for my cat. The debt wasn’t because I was let loose at a department store and lost my freakin’ mind.

So back to the whole frugality thing… I don’t spend a lot on clothes. I’ve never really been a clothes horse or a shoe fanatic. In fact, at one point, my husband owned more shoes than I did.

Did I just lose estrogen points for saying that? 😉

The fact is, although I do love clothing, I don’t love spending money on it. I love cute dresses and cardigans and flared jeans, but forking out some coin for it, makes me die a little bit inside.

Right now, what I am wearing as I type this, are articles of clothing from stores I pretty much only shop at. Pants? Old Navy. Super cute t-shirt? Target. ¾ sleeve adorable cardigan? Old Navy once again!

This thriftiness with clothing didn’t just start with the wisdom that comes from old age. *snort* I have been less inclined to spend money on clothing my whole life. It is the one streak of penny-pinching that has followed me all of my days.

I remember right before I started 6th grade, my grandmother took me school shopping for new clothes, as was our tradition. We were at Penny’s, as she liked to say, and she wanted me to get two new pairs of jeans as opposed to one pair. I tried in vain to convince her that I didn’t need two pairs of jeans, that it was a waste of money. She said if I got one pair dirty and didn’t have another pair available, what would I do then? Then she told me to “hush, now” and proceeded to purchase both pairs.

I didn’t agree, but my grandma was from Louisiana, and I knew better than to argue.

As I moved on through the ages, my frugality didn’t leave me. As a college sorority girl, you are required to purchase all sorts of clothing/dresses for this function and that function. My inner penny-pincher quietly seethed, but what was I going to do? So I forked out my money and my wallet shuddered in protest.

Once I left the bosom of college and became a full-fledged working adult, I had to purchase new clothing for my new work environment. I’m not a fan of the mall but, I went there and shopped deals and used whatever coupons I could find. The best part of my job, was that they had casual Fridays so the Monday through Thursday pieces, I could mix and match for maximum wearability.

Now as a stay-at-home mom, my wardrobe is simply what I make of it. I purposely purchase items that can sustain chasing after a 2-year-old. The loss of a $5 t-shirt to spilled grape juice…eh, who cares? A stretched out sweater? Sure, it’s fine to wear around the house. Two of my favorite shirts, I picked up at the thrift store!

Spending money on clothing is not really my thing. But books on the other hand…that’s a different story!