Friday, March 15, 2013

Courting Temptation

Anthropologie JPEG_cropped

{Screen shot from here}

I’ve had this page open on my computer all day, and all I can think to myself is, Darling, we are in deep trouble if you do this.

I actually didn’t mean to end up on the Anthropologie site.  I swear!  Up and down, I swear it.  I was reading this lovely piece on joy (courtesy of Holly’s Friday post—hi, Holly!) when I clinked on a link for “The anthropologist,” which I did not expect to lead me to a commercial site.  It just goes to show: be careful with your clicking, people.  And that’s how I landed here.  One click led to another, and before I knew it, I’d found three new dresses that would be perfect additions to my Texas closet.

Grand total of said dresses is probably in the $450-500 range.  No biggie!  Hee hee ho ho…um…

The thing is, I could buy those dresses.  I really could.  My frugality (or select frugality, perhaps) means that I have consistently lived below my means since I started graduate school, way back in the fall of 2003.  For me, part of living below my means was not engaging in what we might call “aspirational spending.”  As in, “I can’t really afford this dress, but I’m buying it anyway.  After all, I’ll have more money in the future to pay the bill!”

Cue the buzzer here: WRONG!  None of us really knows that we will have more money in the future.  After all, who saw the crash of 2008 coming?  (Apparently a lot of people saw it coming, but that’s another story.)  Did you see it coming?  I didn’t.  And I have yet to be a working adult without the cloud of a recession hanging over us.  On top of all that, I’m going to be unemployed soon, so how wise is it for me to be perusing the Anthropologie site?  I should probably stick to buying dresses from Target, no?  (More on that soon, dear readers.  Oh, Target.  It’s like their designers look in my brain to find ideas for their lovely clothing!)

On the other hand, life is short.  We get to decide how to spend our money, and if what we want is a pineapple-print frock, so be it.  (It’s cute, right?)

As you can see, I’m torn.  Why does being responsible usually mean doing the boring thing?  For $158, can’t I just be fun and whimsical for once?  (Never mind that I’m dating someone who is prone to the occasional rant about consumerism.  Does he know how much effort it can take for even us “low-maintenance” types to feel happy with our appearance?  It might, for example, require a pineapple-print frock.)  At any rate, I am saved by one simple fact: I have no idea what size I would wear in Anthropologie clothing.  I’m scared to find out because that might open the gate to all kinds of recklessness.  Also, here’s a tip that I remember Tania shared on her blog: sometimes you can snag a good deal at Anthro if you put the item in your cart and then wait for it to go on sale.  Does that still work?  Maybe you shouldn’t tell me—I might not be able to resist!

Tell me, dear readers: are there shopping situations that you avoid because the temptation is too great?  I’m usually pretty strong-willed about these things, but spring is in the air and I am ready for bare legs and pretty dresses.

2 comments:

Raquelita said...

I'm trying to stop shopping at Anthro even though I love their clothes because their owner and CEO (also of Urban Outfitters) gives lots of money to anti-equality interest groups. It helps that we don't have an Anthro here, but it doesn't help that they have such lovely whimsical clothing and there are the internets.

Rosiecat24 said...

Ah, it's a bummer to hear that. I'm not feeling as tempted by Anthro this week, perhaps because I got to wear a new-to-me sundress over the weekend (thanks to my sister Theresa for her kind closet donation!). It's hard to support businesses that support groups I don't like :-( I suppose we all just try to do the best we can in an imperfect world.