Making it all come together...

Who's to say you can't get some tremendous deals, on fabulous furniture, on a tight budget? Well no one, I guess. But when you're bouncing from one second-hand store to the next it’s hard to find the needle in the haystack, the grain of sugar in the salt shaker, the bathroom in the mall... I must admit that I have visited the majority of good will stores--also one Salvation Army thrift store and a newly opened thrift store on dyer and rushing--in the last week, desperately looking for anything to fill up the void that will be my new abode. My haul? 3 white dining room chairs in need of a craft-makeover, a small tabletop lamp, a wall picture, memo board, fixings for the bathroom and a bruised wallet.

Over the course of my savings spree this year I haven't shelled out money like I have recently. Biggest ticket items have always been paying off my debt, car, cell phone... erm an unpleasant habit of the “on-fire” nature... but this? This is madness. I buy on sale, in clearance, at thrift/salvage/outlet stores. I plan, I list, I bargain... I come out with still over twenty dollars worth of merchandise in nearly every store, something I haven't done since Christmas. Does it feel good? Well of course I enjoy knowing that my home will feel like my home. Does it really feel good? No. I don't want to look at the $1.50 brown towels hanging in my bathroom and think to myself that in the end it actually cost me $10,000.

So I'm eating my medicine and prioritizing my purchases. Things I need in order to survive on my own vs. things I would like to have... or rather things I desperately would love to have. Washer and Dryer? Well... I'd enjoy it so much if I did, but I just can't justify purchasing something that grandeur now and my budget will be very tight for the months to come. I'll have to stick to stopping by Mom's as she's offered and doing my laundry there and most likely make a Sunday night ritual of it. I'm sure dinner would be involved... two birds with one stone.

To help me sort out my obvious dilemma, I went on a quest. It started with attempting to remember what I had in my old apartment... cookware, tableware, linens, decor... It was all a fleeting memory. What if I moved into my new apartment, had an emergency, reached for the solution to my problem and realized it wasn't there and ended up in a bind? (Good examples: flashlight if the power goes out, basic tool kit if the faucet explodes, toilet plunger for... plungey situations)

Unable to rely on my memory I turned to my second brain, google.com. Luckily after a few different search strings I was able to pull something up. My First Apartment.com.
Their checklists are fabulous! I am now filled with confidence when I create my lists, knowing what stores I’m going into and what I would like to come out with. Of course, doing research before hand, making sure I’m getting the best deal, helps me make even more confident decisions.

So as I go at this trek, this new quest to my life’s adventure, I am able to say that it’s okay to spend money. No self-help book will direct you to never make a single purchase again in your life. Just make sure you are informed and confident, that you are disciplined, but most of all that you aren’t creating stress where stress isn’t due. I’m getting adjusted to this one, maybe I’ll be able to take off my stress hat here real soon…