Half Full & Empty Cart Friday

A tell-all of what I resisted and impulsively bought this week.


Things I wanted but ignored:

• New summer bedding- 100% cotton, breathable, light, and for a full/queen. Price: $75
• Chanel lipstick. Gah. Entirely unnecessary, but on "sale" for $32
• A new work-appropriate dress. I've lost a considerable amount of weight in the past 2.5 months and everything is getting baggy on me. I'm not going to complain about that. Also, I haven't reached my weight loss goal yet so there's no need to rush this one. I can accessorize with a belt I already have for awhile longer. It was on sale for $40.
• New facial moisturizer. I've been loyal for years to a particular brand but it has been irritating my skin lately. The problem is I'm a believer in buying quality for certain products, like cosmetics and for personal hygiene, so this new buy is a bit expensive if I want to do it right. Duo set: $45
• Oversized St. Patrick's Day novelty glasses in the shape of shamrocks. Don't judge. They were awesome. $3.
• Total "Saved": $195.00. Not like I had the cash to spare. Extras add up.

Things I wanted but convinced myself was a need:

• Back to buying quality. My hair is past my shoulders, thick, and difficult to manage. Usually I kill it with styling mousse and let it air dry because my attempts at blowing it out are often laughable. Lately, it's felt brittle and dry, and has simply been a frizzy, tangled nightmare. Sometimes, switching up haircare products can help, so I bought new shampoo and conditioner. $10 for 20 oz. combined compared with the $7 (for 56 oz!) brand my husband buys. To be fair, we would split each bottle so that would really make it $3.50 for 28 oz. Oh, this was painful on the wallet. My hair feels so soft (even with harsh hair styling products in it) and smells like ripe oranges. I regret nothing. It won't be a regular purchase.
• An organic fruit & veggie subscription box my sister begged and pleaded me to join (that will go unnamed). I got a significant discount (more than 50%) for trying it out. I can get further discounts if friends sign up. Pyramid scheme much? To make it more worthwhile I substituted some items to get things I would normally buy along with a few of the "dirty dozen". I threw in a small marinated duck breast too. We get that once or twice a year. The subscription price is going to jump back up though with the next delivery, so I'm canceling this bad boy. Setback: $20. Savings from this week's shopping (butternut squash, apples, potatoes, pears, celery, carrots, a cucumber): roughly $11. Total really spent on extras (meat): $9.
• Burt's Bees lipstick in Sunset Cruise, to console myself for not buying the Chanel. This color reminds me of cherry blossoms and summer, plus it's made with much healthier ingredients. It's moisturizing, but can be a bit patchy. $9
• Sephora Favorites 'Paint it Pink' set:  To any makeup fanatic it's a steal because the prestige brands are expensive on their own and the items included are rarely offered in deluxe sample sizes like these (along with a full-sized beautyblender- a glorified sponge). $40. A shimmery, fun ouch.
• A new Apple iPod Touch 6th generation. What? Apple still sells iPods? Yes! I don't have a smartphone so I don't spend money each month on a data plan. Don't worry fair readers- I didn't pay full price. That would be uncharacteristic. I traded in my old iPod Touch; it was falling apart at the seams, literally (10% discount on a new one). They also took back my iPad 2 for a cool $60; it was slowing down and had half the storage of my new shiny baby. I could have sold it online for more, but didn't want to deal with a buyer, going to the post office, etc. Cost: $180 with tax. The first thing I did was set Siri to a British accent.
• Total spent: $248. 

Reaction: I unsubscribed from a handful of store email lists to avoid seeing any deals. I still feel like I came out on top though because I rejected buying things I wouldn't normally anyway, and I planned and coveted the iPod upgrade for the past few months without going over budget for the month.