Adventure #11 -- Spending well

How often do you buy something that is "totally worth it"?

For me, the things that are worth it are some of the most random purchases. And some of the things I think will be the best EVAR are complete flops.

I recently turned 29, and I was going to get an iphone for my birthday. There are a few things you should know about me: I'm extremely cheap, I've never had a smartphone, and I've never had a phone contract. I pay $30 a month for unlimited talk and text for a piece of crap burner blackberry knockoff that is clunky and terribly unhip. I mean, it's totally fine. But I wanted an iphone. In preparation for the purchase, we started looking around online, and it turns out if you are actually going to buy an iphone (and of course you *have* to get the 5) and you don't have a parent to pay for it, it's going to run you over $2,500 over the course of two years. Yeah, no. I completely freaked out.

You know what I can do for $2,500? Fly to Venice for a few days and then take a cruise of the Greek isles for a week. Or I could get a really amazing rug. And a gorgeous antique sideboard. Would I give that up to have siri in my pocket? Unlikely. On the other hand, a friend from work told me the iphone changed her life almost as much as having her twin children. For her, it's worth it.

For me, it's a shot in the dark. Will I eventually have Siri, a rug, furniture, and exotic vacations? I sure hope so. But for now I have to prioritize. Which got me thinking about things I've spent money on.

Here in no particular order, and for no particular reason, are things in my life that are totally "worth it":



1. Good knives-- we spent a ton of our wedding money on a set of ridiculously nice Wusthof knives and have never looked back. The santoku in particular has been a tremendous workhorse.

2. Stainless steel cookware-- after living with a hodgepodge of bachelor pots and pans and scratched up nonstick (yum, tastes like cancer!), we got this awesome set off of amazon for a steal a few years ago. I think it was on special sale for $99. We use at least one piece from the set daily, and unlike nonstick, it's not going to end up in a landfill in 6 months. It's also still really shiny, which does it for me, quite frankly.



3. Glass tupperware-- I'm scared of how plastic always turns orange. What IS THAT? Glass is the bomb. It's also deeply cathartic to throw all of the mismatched warped orange plastic crap in the recycling bin.

4. The living room rug-- not to sound like a freak, but [begin npr voice] it really brought the room together. It was the first grown up house purchase JJ and I made together, and all of a sudden we realized our house could look like more than a dorm room. We then both promptly went back to school and were totally broke for years, but the rug is awesome.

5. Expensive makeup-- and by "expensive" I mean "a step up from drugstore". This is me we're talking about, people. There is no Chanel or Guerlain on my face. Yet. I finally broke down and bought the exorbitantly expensive YSL concealer. But no one has told me I look tired since I bought it, so hah! I just love fancy makeup. I became bitterly jealous of the person who stole my credit card number and spent $3,000 at Sephora in France. Whoever invented foundation primer was a genius, and whoever invented eyelid primer is an even bigger genius, and I will pay them handsomely for their genius.

6. Expensive face wash-- Bare Minerals purifying facial cleanser, to be precise. Loveth. Doesn't mess with my incredibly sensitive skin. A bottle lasts forever and it smells so nice.

7. Gray pants/any wardrobe basic ever-- I hate buying wardrobe basics, I hate spending money for wardrobe basics, but I have NEVER regretted buying them once the initial cheapskate pain has subsided. If I ever whine about spending $70 on a pair of charcoal grey pants, slap me and remind me that I will wear them so often I'll be scared to dry clean them because it would mean being apart from them for too long.

8. A giant bed and amazing mattress-- REVOLUTIONIZED MY LIFE. After spending 5 years of marriage in a full size bed with with 6'3 husband and a cat, the king sized bed and giant pillowtop mattress have changed my life. I can turn over without waking up. JJ can turn over without me waking up. We can spin around like rotisserie chickens without disturbing each other. Magnificence.

9. A leather jacket-- impulse purchase in 2005 back when the noog mall still had a Wilson's Leather. My aunt sent me a $100 check for Christmas, and they were having a $99 sale on leather jackets. I got a white one with a white rabbit fur collar. It currently looks like gaping butt, but it served me very well for many many years.



10. The "rolly box"-- I bought a $35 box for my cats to crap in. But instead of scooping it, I roll it. Changed my life almost as much as the king sized bed.

Stay tuned for the exciting sequel: Spending poorly