Day 40: Awesome Spending

’Tis the season when financial constraints tend to be thrown out with the old year … that is until the new year comes around and with it the bills for our frivolous spending.

Let’s face it … the commercial enterprise that is Christmas has infiltrated our very being so that we’ve all been conditioned to celebrate the season by maxing out our credit cards. And no matter how much we talk about “the reason for the season” and getting back to our spiritual side, in the end if there aren’t enough gifts under the tree and we haven’t stuffed the stockings full to bursting, we just feel inadequate.

It’s not hard to overspend even on the “little things” – like food. Years ago I gave up dining out on New Year’s Eve because there was too much cost for too little food and too horrible service. The same meal purchased on December 31 miraculously halved in price on January 2. I guess the hope was that by the time the bill came, you’d have had enough of the free sub-par champagne not to notice.

Because I do all my Christmas shopping early (I’m one of those annoying people who likes to have it done by Halloween), I’ve already received most of my credit card bills by now and have paid them down. So I enjoy hitting the stores the week AFTER Christmas to see what goodies I can find on the markdown racks. Here are the results of my awesome post-Christmas spending:

Thanks to the blizzard (named Adrianne – who knew?) I was forced to delay the start of my shopping spree, although we did manage to get to the mall Monday afternoon to see a movie. No awesome spending there. One needs to have the deed to one’s home as a bargaining chip just to purchase popcorn.

But I made up for it Tuesday when I bought an elliptical trainer. It is something that has been on my list for about 10 years. We ended up getting a great bargain, totally by accident, since no one had remembered to remove the “sale” sign on 12/26 when the special ended. Lucky me! I’m pretty sure the marketing strategy is to raise the price the week after Christmas and slam all the people who will make a New Year’s resolution to lose weight, then use the equipment as a clothing rack by February.

Feeling buzzed by the endorphin high, I suggested to my husband that we continue shopping. Unfortunately, he has an “off” switch (mine broke years ago) so he put the brakes on the spending after a quick trip to Trader Joe’s, which netted me six filets mignon for New Year’s Eve at $15.99 a pound. Not exactly a bargain, but they really looked good! Undeterred, I resumed decluttering the kitchen, list nearby to jot down other items I needed to replace during the week.

The following day, I really went to hell with myself and headed to Bed, Bath & Beyond where I picked up a couple of Yankee Candles for next Christmas, a runner to protect the kitchen floor from tracked-in snow and ice, and a toilet brush. Gotta admit that last item did not give me quite the same endorphin rush I received from the elliptical. Then I hit CVS for two half-priced boxes of Christmas cards.

My Thursday was a little slow, although I did manage to find a snowman candle holder for 50% off at the Black Swan (the store in Newtown, not the recently released film).

After Friday’s New Year’s Eve festivities, I woke up early on New Year’s Day to head up to the Westbrook Outlets. Alone on the road and at the stores while most revelers nursed their hangovers, we found some amazing bargains and stocked up on many needed (and of course unneeded) items.

Having soothed the savage shopping beast with a week of retail therapy, I contentedly prepared to return to work so I could earn the money to pay for my awesome spending.

Happy New Year!