Wish Listing

I am trying to get everything ready to go since we will only be in Atlanta for another couple of weeks. Even though I didn't bring much, it seems like my stuff has multiplied--where it all came from I have no idea! So I am sending a bag of stuff back to Seattle with my sister-in-law who will be working there next week and I am also sending a box of clothes to a niece. Now I have to replenish my stuff and make it "Vegas appropriate" (most of the stuff I brought here was for lounging not for going out dancing!).

Of course my dilemma is the rather small amount of money I have for doing this. If I had a lot of money, it would be really easy to just hit the mall and start shopping but I have a super tight budget. Since I only use cash, there is no charging things and paying for it later. Since I want to save as much cash as possible, I need to stretch my meager funds as much as possible. In order to do this, I do what I call "wish listing".

I am a "listy" person anyway. If I don't write things down I will immediately forget it so it is just a habit to write down stuff I want, stuff I need to do, stuff I need to get at the grocery store, etc. With wish listing, I write down everything I want and need in my notebook. I add as much detail as possible to each item so I can have a clear picture in my mind of what I want. Then I prioritize my list by how much/how soon I need the item.

This is what my wish list looked like yesterday:

• Tennis shoes. Asics. (I like this brand but they are usually on the expensive side--$60-$100 a pair).



• A cute tote bag for carrying my netbook, small purse, and jacket. Coach. (I have a vision of a big Coach carry-all type of bag. I also have a vision of it being very expensive).

I have other things on the list like a book for my brother in law and a new battery for my netbook but these things can wait a week or so, and I have had some things on my wish list for ages but when it comes to prioritizing the items, they always end up at the bottom (for example, I would like a new North Face rain coat but I already have two perfectly good NF jackets so this isn't a priority). I also need some cute clothes but I figure I will pick these up as I see them come on sale. Plus, I want to check the Goodwill and Value Village for pants and shirts because while I like new, name brand shoes and bags, I don't mind buying used clothes (I even think they feel more comfortable than new clothes!).

So I headed to Ross and TJ Maxx yesterday hoping to find the purse and tennis shoes that I wanted but had no luck. Then I went to the mall not expecting to find much because it is usually way more expensive at the mall than Ross and TJ Maxx. At the last store that I checked at the mall, I found the perfect pair of pink Asics tennis shoes. They were on sale for $39.95 but when I went to the register they rang up for $34 so that was an extra little bonus.

I still didn't know what to do about the Coach bag. Did I really really want a new bag? Yes, of course. Did I think there was absolutely no way I could find the bag for under $200? Unfortunately, yes. So, even while I may have a specific bag on my wish list, sometimes reality takes over and then I have to consider a compromise. If I was to get the bag, that would leave me with much less money for the other things I need to get.

Fortunately, I came across a cute bag at H&M just as the hubby came to meet me at the mall (note: it saves me quite a bit of money shopping with the hubby trailing along behind me saying "you don't need that! Annoying, but money saving). He pointed out a lot of reasons why I should get this bag instead of spending a lot of money on the Coach bag that I wanted, namely, it only cost $25, I go through bags--name brand or not--with amazing speed (and then I either give them away or Ebay them), that if he wins in Vegas he will give me the cash to buy a new bag, that this way I would still have money left over for clothes instead of taking my old clothes with me to Vegas, and that this bag was the perfect size for what I needed it for and stylish too (the hubby knows more about designer purses and stylish clothes than I do!). So I bought the bag (above) and am happy with it.

The moral of the story is that my wish list worked just as it always does. I found the things I wanted, on sale no less, and with a little compromise, I am really happy with how this shopping trip turned out!