Day 172

I am learning a few things the hard way during The Simple Year.  One very important lesson is that even if something is inexpensive, second hand or a REALLY GOOD DEAL; it’s not always a good idea to buy it.

Take exhibit A below:

Exhibit A

Those beauties are angel wings made out of actual feathers and were at one time on display amidst hundreds of glamorous foundational garments. Although, I think they used geese instead of actual angels to supply the feathers, probably because the executives at Victoria’s Secret didn’t want to be smote  or something like that.

Fortunately, I had my nine-year old, Kayla with me when we ran across these one-of-a-kind items.  Maybe it was residual buying narcotic left over from the store, but I wanted those wings. OK, they really don’t use buying narcotic at the mall, there is no such thing.

I don’t think.

I said, “Kayla, wouldn’t these be great as part of your Egyptian goddess costume for Halloween?”

She looked skeptical.

I then handed her the wings.  She staggered slightly under the weight and said, “Well, they are kinda heavy, and how would I get them attached to my back?”

And then she delivered the final blow, “And mom, they are still $20.”

Oh, right… I was roused out of my buying delirium by my practical child.

As the months pass, I am definitely getting better at not buying resale items that I don’t need just because they are either a smoking deal or I MIGHT need them in the future.    I recently ran across a list of shopping “rules” written by the woman who founded The Great American Apparel Diet.  The first rule was don’t buy it because it is on sale. Don’t buy anything you wouldn’t pay full price for.   I thought that was pretty sage advice, even for resale items.  So, I have actually been asking myself, “Would I pay full price for this?”  And if the answer is no, I put it back.  Well, most of the time.