Priorities

Last night Luke and I were plowing through the aisles of Super Target, accumulating items scribbled onto our first shopping list of the month, and it was within the first ten minutes of our entering the store that my loyalty to The Spreadsheet was tested.

We were strolling through the electronics section searching for possible gift ideas for my brother-in-law when, through a series of red-and-white sales tags strategically positioned at eye level, the TV kiosk announced that every season of Sex and the City was available for an impressive twenty bucks a pop. I gasped and clutched at my heart over the wool of my pea coat, so excited that I thought Luke was going to have to fetch the eyeballs that had just somersaulted out of my head. My fingers reached up to caress the case for season three, as I already have the first two and the second half of season six (purchased in a frenzy almost two years ago when Luke's VCR missed the last ten minutes of the series finale on TBS); the unedited unfolding of Big and Carrie's extramarital affair could be mine, all mine, for the price of Women and Money, Suze Orman's latest book, purchased the night before at Barnes and Noble. Ms. Orman is constantly inspiring me with her frank approach to personal finance, and the gems I gleaned from her Money Book for the Young, Fabulous & Broke helped me to choose funds for my 401(k) account at work, and their average annual rate of return seems to hover around eight percent, thank you very much, thus cinching my undying devotion. Plus, I am a woman and I have money. It's like Suze wrote it just for me!

However, making a decision about the DVD was more difficult, because you see, Luke and I only allotted fifty dollars for miscellaneous spending this month, and my upcoming hair cut in Chicago will cost exactly that much with tip, so I was already kicking myself a little for buying the book but figured the difference could be offset through thriftiness in other areas of our budget. The cost of the DVD coupled with the hair cut would definitely leave March in the red.

There was one possible solution to this dilemma that would allow me to walk away with the book, the DVD, AND the hair cut: postponing the purchase of my salon-brand shampoo and conditioner and opting for a cheap knock-off brand to tide me over until April, at which point all budget lines would be replenished and I could blow the thirty dollars with a clear conscience.

(Yes, I realize how selfish I am for hoarding our miscellaneous dollars for frivolous indulgences, but Luke made out like a bandit for his birthday last month, and I have already directed the appropriate prayers to God asking for guidance in being a better wife. Together, the three of us have it covered.)

So, there they were, my two choices, each one threatening equally horrific consequences. Do I restock my ISO products and forfeit the chance to add to my sorely lacking Sex collection when I know damn well the next big sale might not be 'til I'm thirty-eight years old, or do I subject my hair to the pooptasticness of Garnier Fructis so I can spend my free time picking apart Charlotte's first husband?

It's unfair for any woman to find herself in the throes of such polarizing circumstances, and I hope it never happens to you, Internet ladies, because either way, such a woman is going to suffer.

But I know I made the right choice.

Sarah Jessica Parker would be so proud.

Of course it was all for naught, because when I came home and examined March's budget I found that seventy-one dollars and ninety-one cents had been unaccounted for. So I hopped over to Beauty First and bought the ISO refills after all.

(J/K, peeps. Totally waiting for April.)

While I had the camera out and about, for some reason I felt it necessary to document proof that I really am trying to be more budget conscious.

See that compact? I bought a new one last October, at a point when I thought this puppy was days away from crapping out on me, so imagine my surprise that the powder is still holding its own as I rub my cotton ball in circles over the metal face for ten minutes, determined to squeeze every last drop from a foundation that costs twenty-one fifty. If I wore make-up more often, it would've been retired to the garbage can around Christmas, but as I fight with various dermatological products to finally get my acne under control and weep over the massive afro poof that has become my hair, I haven't really been in the mood to subject myself to further prettification. I'm counting on you, Brenda, is all I'm saying.

Comments

[takin' chances]

You SO made the right decision!!! I have the entire show on DVD and watch it religiously..and by that I mean every single day!!!

[Jessi]

Love the shirt! :)

[Erika]

You only bought one season?? I say that is AWESOMELY budget-conscious!!

I made my own Spreadsheet this weekend...consisting of 6 linked worksheets...and I'm getting way too much enjoyment out of filling in the amounts. I have to say, it's only day 5 and I'm already thinking twice before purchasing: "which category would I have to put this in?"

[Rachel]

Good decision making, sistah!! Is that mushroom on the shirt the mushroom from Super Mario Brothers? I loved that game, lol.

[Silly Hily aka The Hilarazzi]

Proof. Here it is, proof that we are long lost twins. My Clinique compact? I've actually scraped the sides so it all crumbles in the middle. That's how bad mine is.
While reading this post, I was all but yelling SATC, SATC, pick SATC! I actually JUST completed my collection. I also saw each season marked down to $20 at Target (which we all know is a fabulous deal). I already had Seasons 1, 2, and 3. The only other seasons they had were Season 6, Part 1 and 2. So, I bought those. Still lacking Season 4 and 5. Last week, I was at Sam's with the hubby and spotted Season 4 and 5 for $17.88. $17.88!!!!! I threw them in the basket before my Discover Card could say cha-ching.

[Isabel]

I love this. I totally watched Sex and the City via the edited version on TBS. I'm not sure if I really missed anything!! :-)

And good for you for getting the DVD and trying a cheaper hair product. I'm thinking it won't be all that bad!!

[Brittany]

Why did I just waste five minutes of my life staring at the computer screen wondering where you got a Mario Brothers compact? Because I'm too stupid to recognize a mirror when I see one. That's why.

Enjoy your new DVDs!

[VirginiaGal]

Call me weird, I never had the desire to watch Sex and the City. I also refuse (and it's now become the principle of the thing) to ever watch any part of "Titanic."

I do love Clinique though. So that must have some redemptive quality.

[VirginiaGal]

Oh, and I'd love to have curly hair instead of this half straight, half wavy crap that always looks like I just rolled out of the trailer park. Wanna trade?

[Lainey-Paney]

You are soooo funny.

Good job on even paying attention to a budget!

[takin chances]

OMG!!! Britney's comment about the Super Mario Brothers compact was hilarious!!!!

[Art Nerd]

LOL I just threw out my MAC Studio Fix compact that had much more product in that. The sole reason being that I bought a new one in DECEMBER, and my husband would probably tease me if he recalled the urgency of that trip to the mall.

Powder is like contact solution and deodorant- there's pretty much always more in that container.

[Molly]

Holy crap!! You cracked me up so bad! I don't know which was funnier - the way in which you described your undying devoted love for SATC on sale (which, I think I have watched maybe two episodes of in my entire life please don't stop being my friend) or your $50 dilemma with the shampoo. I was thinking, just buy a bottle of Pantene! But again, I wear Cover Girl makeup and dye my hair from a $17 bottle. (Which, I should know better to ever admit to in public forum. Ahem, Internet, it was all a joke and I would never wear makeup that I grabbed while running through Walmart on my way to the dog food aisle. Go about your business.)

I love you Bree.

;O)

[Stacey]

Totally the right decision.

[TasterSpoon]

Ugh, how do you people not, within 10 days of purchase, drop your compacts on the bathroom floor, shattering the precious powder into cracks and crumbs that you gather up and spend the next month tapping a cotton ball into ever so gently so as not to reduce the remainder to dust?

I thought I was going all high-end, really treating myself, a few weeks ago when I upgraded myself from Maybelline to Prescriptives (Long's was having a sale) - and damned if I didn't immediately bring it home and drop it on the floor.

And you know if I spend $3 on Wet n Wild it'll last a year and a half.