Spending Less

One of my college friends was here earlier this week for a quick visit. She is still single and childless, which is something that all mothers know is a thing to envy occasionally. During our visit we talked about jobs and money, as I often do with my friends. She pointed out that when she took her current job it was almost a $10,ooo pay cut, when you consider benefits etc. Although difficult she gets to live near her family and friends and has the opportunity to start her own business. For the first time I said out loud that we had taken a $28,000 pay cut when I quit my job in December of 2009. Holy bad words. That is a lot of money. No wonder we feel like we have no money, because compared to what we used to have it's a B-I-G cut. So as you can imagine, and if you are a stay at home parent you already know, much of my job is figuring out how to save us money, or more accurately to figure out how to not spend money we do not have.

When I was in college I worked at Big R, a Ranch and Home Supply store. We just happened to sell Lucky Jeans which of course I got at almost half price. So I helped all my friends get cheap Lucky jeans too. Then I fell in the love with them and didn't like any other jeans, great I have expensive taste in jeans. Next I worked at Macy's, they also sell Lucky jeans so again I got them for a good deal. Well, a good deal if you consider that I had to put it on my credit card to get the deal and quickly discovered how to get IN to credit card debt (fortunately I also learned fairly quickly how to get OUT). But now here I am with no job to give me a deal on Lucky jeans and the last pair I have are patched in the crotch and have a gaping hole in the knee. I'm not much for wearing holey jeans and after trying several different brands and styles with no luck I was ready to shell out the (gasp) $80 for my favorite pair of Lucky jeans. When my friend, who was here to visit, told me that after I helped her fall in love with expensive jeans she found she could buy them used on E-bay for a great deal. So I decided to check it out.

I just bought my favorite Lucky Jeans Sweet n Low with a flare leg for $16 (plus shipping so a total of $22.50) slightly used and looking great! I was able to save my family over $60 and I still get to have my favorite jeans, I am one happy Mom at this particular moment, hopefully they arrive in the mail soon! In the future I will definitely be using E-bay and other on-line sources to find my favorite clothes second hand and on the cheap!