Fashion

[KonaKat]

Good morning, shopping friends. I've been outside in the sunny morning temperatures working. I can testify that the Insta-Gone stuff works. I used it on some of the vinyl around the windows, etc. that needed to see the green stuff disappear. It has been here for about a month but with all the rain, my running around, medical appointments and recovery, this is the first time I've really felt like tackling it. What motivated this? I saw a presentation of it this morning which reminded me that it was waiting for me to use it.

So far, no shopping this month. All that has posted from the Q has been the easy payments on some prior purchases. I haven't purchased anything from any other stores except Walmart where I got groceries and the drugstore for meds.

I've been recording all my purchases and other expenses on a spreadsheet so it will be interesting to see how long I maintain this. It is a handy thing to refer to when thinking of a purchase to see it the appropriate category and total spent for the month permits a "want" to be purchased.

I just landed on HSN while surfing and spotted the former Ojon rep pushing the Today's Special, something called Tweak-d. It certainly is less than most of the Q TSVs.

Have a great day. If you shop, shop wisely.

[Bird mama]

Hi Jean, thanks for getting us started. 

A few years ago, when we still had access to our 2008 order history (the year I started shopping with the Q), I developed a spreadsheet of QVC purchases.  I have a tab for each year 2008 through 2015 and I logged in my purchase information (order #, item #, item description/color and when applicable, size and price).

The final column has three values -  returned, waste, favorite.

My shopping habits here greatly decreased after I tabulated the cost of the WASTE items.  Waste for me equates to I don't have it any more because I gave it away, donated it, never used/wore it etc.

I must have been really bored that weekend because I went as far as to calculate percentage of total purchase that was waste.

Sobering indeed.  My values in that column now are Favorite or Returned.  I don't ever want to WASTE again :-(

[KonaKat]

Bernie--It is amazing what tracking money can reveal. Often it isn't the big purchases, but the small ones that we forgot...and those can really add up. We wonder where the money went but don't recall those little purchases that must have meant something at the time but weren't great enough to trigger a memory. A dollar a day saved from buying cheap coffee from a drive thru is $30 a month or $365 a year. What's just  a dollar? All those little expenditures can really add up if you track them for a month. Look at the amount and determine if it is something that can be cut. 

I'm also one of those who never uses change to pay for something. If it is a small purchase, I'll use a bill and then take the change home and put it in my little coin collector. Later, I'll take it to the bank when it gets over $100 and put the corresponding cash into my vacation kitty at home.

[twinny70]

Jean, it sounds like you are having a productive morning with nice temps & feeling up to the task. I did see the Ojon man on HSN last night too. I have done some shopping but nothing expensive. Not needs either but some nice items that I wanted to buy just for the fun of it I guess. You are so right as a dollar a week does add up. Bird mama, My shopping habits with QVC are much less too. I remember when I first found QVC while laying on the hide-a-bed & surf channeling I came upon it 14 years ago when October arrives.. I was sick, lost a lot of weight & it was so easy to call & order with everything coming to our home. Now through the Mercy of God I am able to get out & do some shopping which I still don't like to do. I have never done a spread sheet like you & Jean do, but I know mostly where my $$$ has gone. Yes, I have been foolish but it was a lesson learned for me. I am really enjoying the windows open & the A/C off. This will soon end though. I did read the posts last night but was too tired to respond to all of you. My friend came at 2:00 to enjoy the hot tub with me & my DH came down and asked us when we were planning to get out. It was 5:30. I guess he was hungry for supper. Linda R, It is good that you found the leak early without a lot of damage. Hopefully the plumbing bill will be not too high. We had a terrible mess 3 years ago when we returned from a three week vacation. The pipe under the kitchen started leaking & probably leaked for almost three weeks. I was totally horrified as the water covered the entire open concept area. Luckily the water didn't go through the floors into our finished basement. Thank goodness for good home insurance the $22,000+ bill only cost us $500 for the deductible. It was a very hard 3 months but all is good now. Our home that was only 17 years old had to be completely done in the kitchen/dining rm/living rm. cerb, I am enjoying the trip that your DC are taking. I am glad that Marijane explained to you what OOB is. It is too bad about your fraud event. Scary for sure. We went through something similar with our checking acct. a month ago, but all is well now. Dental work is never fun. DH was eating a SF gel candy &soft one too) yesterday when something hard ended up in the candy. I took one look & said call the dentist. He apparently had had a root canal done many years ago & a crown. It all came out. Our dentist is up in Canada fishing so he can't get in until the first week of August. He doesn't even remember getting a root canal etc. so it has been many years ago. We are going to our county fair rodeo tonight. The weather will only be in the low 80's today so manageable for me. We will eat supper there so I will have an easy day. It seems like all I have done this week is cook & bake. I am blueberried out for sure. It will be getting hot & humid tomorrow & going into next week. RC, I am sorry that you feel uncomfortable taking this new job, but hopefully things will work out well for you & your DH.

[KonaKat]

Twinny--Having gone through a period in which your health kept you confined, I know you now especially appreciate being able to get out and about. Many take that for granted until they experience being "trapped" and dependent upon others.  Everyone I know who has a hot tub talks about how relaxing they are. I know you enjoy yours and it is a treat after doing chores, etc. Like you, I am enjoy the travels of Charlene's DC. What an adventure and opportunity at their young age!

It looks as if subbing is definitely in the future for me. How much is unknown as the school system is really having a budget crisis.The State has a knack of requiring certain things but they willl not fund them. If the local people don't want to support a levy for these things, then it is rough for a small rural system to find the means to cover all expenses. They cut several things last year, so it will be interesting to see what develops this year.

[twinny70]

Today my computer was super speedy, but I just realized that it didn't come up in paragraphs like I had put in. Sorry. When I been posting from my tablet, it has been very speedy but no paragraphs. Now my computer is doing the same thing. I am about to go out & trim my tomato plants. It is supposed to make much larger plants & produce more tomatoes. We will see as the plants look very good to me. Now, I will see if I have paragraphs this time or not. My computer is still faster than my fingers.

[LindaLatte]

Good Morning/Afternoon!  Thanks for getting us started Jean.  Glad you are being so careful with your spending this month since I know that it makes you feel good.  I think it is Suze Orman who says that it is good to get to the point that saving money makes you as happy as spending it.  I'm trying, but not easy.  

I have been recording my expenditures in Everydollar.com this month, and I'm not sure I'll stick with it in future months.  But, it is good to know where your money is going "real time".  I play games with myself sometimes -- postpone things until next month just to make my budget look better.  Hopefully, I will decide things aren't worth buying by the time the next month comes around.  For example, I have my eye on a Fiestaware dinner plate right now, definitely not a need, but the color is great.  

I am not familiar with that product you used, Jean.  Glad that it worked for you.  One thing that I always used to buy from Q was cleaning items for the house.  It was an eye-opener for me when I moved -- lots of unopened cleaning products.  I try to be more discriminating these days.

That was certainly a good system for evaluating your purchases, Bernie.  I have been shopping with Q since 1992, and I'm sure I have made many, many more mistakes than you have ("waste" purchases).  I have learned from my mistakes, but there is still plenty of room for improvement.

You certainly spent a lot of time in the hot tub with your friend, twinny.   Good for you.  Enjoy your country fair rodeo tonight -- sounds like fun.

Waves to Kathleen (praying for the best for you and your DH), Arlene, Marijane, Charlene, snicks, pinky ann, Barbara, Rosa, Susan, LindaR (hope all is well with your plumbing today), Gayle, Karen, and all of our posters and readers.

DH and I had a nice walk early today, and I have my personal training session this morning.  I received an e-mail invitation to go to an open house of another gym in town.  They are trying to attract former Curves members, and I think some of the Curves coaches will be there.  I could join the gym through my insurance plan, and pay $25 a month like I did for Curves.  But, I'm not at all sure that I'll do so.  I think that the gym is similar to our fitness center which DH and I belong through through or recreation association.  The recreation association costs us about $500 a year, and we don't have the option to leave.  In addition to the fitness centers, there are pools, and many other outlets.  So, paying an extra $300 a year for the other gym may not be the best use of my money.  Decisions, decisions..... I know that it is great that I have such options and my health.  My volunteer buddy at the senior lunch program was telling me that one of her friends (my age) is dying from cancer and starting hospice care.  Those sorts of stories always make me so thankful for my blessings.

Hope everyone has a nice day!

Hugs,

Linda

[KonaKat]

Linda--I've been with the Q since the CVN days when it and the Q merged. Mary Beth was a host on CVN as were a couple of hosts who went to HSN following the merger. I've seen a lot of changes. 

I really don't think I could reach the Suze Orman goal of being as happy saving money as I do spending it. Yes it is a sense of accomplishment but there is also fun connected with shopping...too much fun at times as I discovered when I was going through a bad period and shoppig became a great substitute for whatever I was missing.

One of the things that is significantly different is my evaluating more carefully before buying as well as returning something if I don't love it right out of the box. I likely would have bought that Denim & Co. jacket yesterday if I did not have to enter the cost into the spreadsheet and seeing the result.

[Bird mama]

Twinny, I discovered QVC when I was recovering from a major surgery at the end of 2007.   After 3 hours in a hot tub, I would have been loose as a goose and needing help to get out of it :-)  It's been my experience that I've done more damage (like cracking a tooth) on a piece of bread than if I was eating a milk dud or something chewy.  I've always told my dentists that my favorite candies are milk duds, hot tamales, taffy.  If they can send someone to the moon, you should be able to find a glue that will keep a crown in my mouth (lol).  Have fun at your county fair tonight.

LindaL - I'm sorry that your DH is having issues putting his socks on.  I don't know what to say about this or have any suggestions for you.  It could be the types of fibers (trying so hard not to say fabrication lol).

Kathleen - congratulations on the new job.  I know it's probably not what you want right now, but you never know, it could lead to something better :-)

LindaR - I'm glad the leak was found and fixed in record time.

When it comes to shopping, I still get my 'oofdah' moments and slap my forehead (and not because I could have had a V8).  I really debate ordering or buying things and if my husband was alive he'd be having fits over it.  It drove him crazy that I was quicker to buy for other people than myself.

I'm really old-fashioned - the American dream for me is to own a home.  I know there are life experiences from my childhood that helped to shape this.  I won't bore you with them :-).  The house I am living in is the first house I've ever bought.  DH and I weren't married yet.  Because he's 18 years my senior, it probably wasn't as big a woo to him as it was me.  Also, because of the way he set up his retirement - he was single and marriage to me was not really visible on the horizon at the time - his pension was set up to have a beneficiary if he died within the first 10 years of collecting it.  There's probably a term for it - I don't understand stuff like that.  Anyways,  I did receive what was left of the 10 year period after he passed.

I started throwing money as extra principal on my house.  I bought the house when I was 38 and didn't want to still be paying on a 30 year mortage when I hit my 60's.  So, in 2012, when I was psychologically in a better place to re-fi at a much lower interest rate, I went for it.  I knew a re-fi meant re-buy and his name would come off the title - hence the anxiety.  I took a 15 year mortgage with the express desire to pay it off in 7 years - by the time I was 57. 

My hard wired dream to have a piece of the planet that is mine and paid for is what drives many of my shopping decisions. I am also saving for big ticket things for the house prior to retirement like new furnace/AC, fingers crossed new windows, money for a roof (even though mine is just 12 years old). 

I may not be the life of the party (lol) and I sure am not a social butterfly.  This is what matters to me at the soul level and it makes me happy albeit a little boring :-)

[LindaLatte]

I just saw that you will be subbing this year, Jean -- that is good news.  Sorry about your school system issues.   I am afraid that isn't uncommon these days.  Apparently, teachers are leaving Arizona in droves due to the issues with pay, etc.  Although I don't have any Arizona students in the family, it makes me extremely sad.  I really value public education, and to me it is very important.  Off the soapbox now.

It is good that you have your "eyes on the prize" Bernie.  What is right for you is right for you.  I agree that it is a good idea to not have a mortgage when you retire.  It is so sad seeing people in our mostly retirement community who lose their homes since they can't pay the mortgage.  I understand that the house sort of catacorner behind us will be auctioned off since the owner, who passed away, had a reverse mortgage and the house is now worth less than what she got out of the mortgage   I don't understand how that is possible, but.....

Quite understandable about Q shopping when you couldn't get out of the house, twinny.  My worst period (unwise shopping) was when I was separating/divorcing after my long first marriage.  I kept buying things to keep up my spirits.  Of course, that did not work.  

 The personal training session was great.