Buy PodPillows!
Categories
Archives
Is $70.04 OK?
This is the question the little credit card slider box in front of the glossy LCD screen at the somewhat posh, but nearest grocery store asked me tonight. You’d think that for $70.04 (and if I could capitalize numbers in rage, I would), you’d get more than 3 medium-sized eco-friendly reusable grocery bags full of food. Now mind you, I made two mistakes: I bought toothpaste, which is known to have, oh, 500% markup everywhere and about 800% markup at grocery stores rather than the drugstore or Target. And I bought two tubes (but still, they were on sale, 2/$5). The second mistake was probably going to the somewhat posh store to begin with, where most things are pricier. Oh wait! Three mistakes: I choose the posh store because they have my favorite brand of German pickles ($6 for a small “barrel”), which I bought, knowing that right now I am in a pickle phase. (And no, not pregnant. If you knew these pickles, you’d be in a pickle phase, too!)
(I. Love. These. Pickles. They are worth every of the 600 pennies.)
But seriously. My purchases were only one or two nights’ and one or two lunch’s worth of food, and it’s a little absurd how expensive food is these days (even without the pickles and Crest) . Most trips to this particular store end with me in some sort of grocery-induced rage. I should know better.
On the bright side, one of the grocery bags I mistakenly brought with me is a adorable pint-sized wine bag, complete with 6 petite compartments for wine bottles, into which the bagger decided to put the two tubes of aforementioned overpriced toothpaste (each in a separate compartment, of course), the black olives, the can of corn, the salsa, and a block of cheese. Can you almost taste a dinner of burritos in my future? Yum. It was priceless. See?
So cute! But not worth $70.04.
Anyway, the real reason this annoys me so much? Because I came home, unpacked my groceries and proceeded to putz around on the computer, where upon I found a blog post on True Up about an Amy Butler sale ($7/yard! Wow!) at a store called the Virginia Quilter. I then, without much thinking, budgeting, or rationalizing proceeded to drop an amount all-too-similar to $70.04 on some lovely Amy Butler Midwest Modern fabric that I’ve been covetting. I feel simultaneously guilty and thrilled. Mostly guilty. (I’m pretty sure I don’t get to be filled with rage about the price of food when I do stuff like this, yet, it persists.) On the other hand (begin rationalization phase), I know this fabric will fill me with more hours of joy than the food, and that the things I make will be lasting and useful. Right?
Still, I’m having a case of buyer’s remorse. I know there are other Amy addicts out there. Anyone want to help me rationalize away my fabric-buying guilt?
Posted by robyn on July 1st, 2008 under crafts11 Responses to “Is $70.04 OK?”
Leave a Comment
Handmade High Tech
I'm Robyn. Thanks for stopping by! This is my craft blog.
Contact me at robyn [at] dognamedbanjo [dot] com.
July 1st, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Fabric prices haven’t gone up like food and gas 🙂 And how often do you see AB go on sale? NEVER. My local quilt shop had a sale where tons of stuff was $4.50 and I walked out with $60-70 less in my pocket…
Kristines last blog post..Checkbook Giveaway Winner!
July 2nd, 2008 at 6:07 am
Hmmm, how to rationalize? I’m the wrong person to ask… I am currently contemplating selling a pile of things I made last year, just so I can afford the fabric necessary to replace everything in that pile. The fabric addiction is an irrational beast 😉
Lisa Clarkes last blog post..Bestsellers for June
July 2nd, 2008 at 1:11 pm
I can help you – I live in the UK! I recently worked out that while petrol (gas) is £1.20 a litre here, it’s about 70p a litre in the US, so your drive there was half the price mine would have been. To buy Amy Butler over here the cheapest I’ve seen is £8.50, as opposed to the £3.50 you just paid. I absolve you of any guilt – buy it in my stead and be happy!
July 4th, 2008 at 6:36 am
@Kristine:
I like to know I’m not alone in my AB binges. 4.50 a yard sounds *way* too hard to resist!
July 4th, 2008 at 6:38 am
@Lisa Clarke:
You’re right about the beast part 🙂 I think the fabric addiction for me stems from me never feeling like I have the right combinations. Bags seem to operate in threes – I always need three perfect fabrics that go together. Maybe I’ll have 1 or 2, but that elusive 3rd is not there and makes me go buy more!
July 4th, 2008 at 6:40 am
@Jo:
Eek! That is not cheap. I was in the London airport a few weeks back on my way home from India and realized just how weak the dollar is and how not-weak the pound is. I would go broke in a day! Thanks for your absolution of fabric-buying guilt. I wish it wasn’t at the expense of your own wallet!
July 7th, 2008 at 10:25 am
These pickles seem really hard to find! I can find lots of *empty* jars … but one still containing pickles? Tricky!
July 10th, 2008 at 5:08 am
Sometimes money *can* buy happiness … (at least $70.04 worth).
Doris last blog post..1
July 11th, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Too funny. We are also in a pickle phase thanks to a one gallon barrel we picked up on a whim. Ryan, if you weren’t so far away, we’d share our pickles with you.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
If you wanted to save a bit on pickles, you might try to purchase cheaper store brand pickles and add those pickles without their juice to the juice and spices left in your German pickle jar after the contents of that “barrel” have been eaten. Just a thought.
July 12th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
@Anne:
Hi Anne,
A very clever idea! I got a pickle crock for Christmas this year (a big container that you can pickle things in) and aspire to make my own pickles that taste this good. I will certainly be using the juice from these jars to help me figure out the right recipe. In the meantime, maybe I can also use it for other pickles and veggies. -Robyn