Shopping Nirvana

I would not classify myself as a "shopper". I don't enjoy going to malls or major department stores, and when I am shopping I don't take my time looking over the merchandise waiting for something to catch my eye. I'm fairly certain my aversion to shopping is directly tied to the number of digits in my back account at any given moment, as I do often find myself thinking what an amazing fashionista I could be if I was independently wealthy... Alas... That is not the case.

I do however pride myself on being a bargain hunter, fiscally responsible, mature with my finances... Or as some may view it... cheap. My stores of choice are Ross & Marshall's for Clothes and Shoes, I'm a member of every deal of the day websites; Woot, Groupon, One Deal a day, etc.. and I am totally infatuated with Craig's list.... Despite Kevin's concern that, in his words, "One of these days a Craig's List psycho is going to eat you with a fork".... I'll keep an eye out for that one!

I tend to envision these two opposite ideals, the shopper at the malls/department stores vs. the bargain hunter sifting for sales, as a venn diagram (think way back to those old math days... the two intersecting circles...) and the portion in the middle is the shopping 'Holy Grail'. When you can find that pair of "Seven for All Mankind" jeans, which retailed for over $100, and you can walk out with them for $35, which went perfectly with your "Nine West" patent red leather heals, that only cost YOU $25 instead of retails $65...

You see, its not that I don't enjoy the finer things in life... Yes, of course I want the Bentley... I just want it at the Buick's price! When I know that if I'm patient and keep my eye open for the sale I can get exactly what I want at a fraction of the price, I don't see the point in paying full price.

I recently just topped my all time best... courtesy of my great friends on Craig's List... Scoring a "Chariot Cougar: Double", with all the attachments... Bike, Running, Infant position-er, etc... en-total would have retailed for ~$900, and I scooped up the amazing deal for a cool $100. In the month that we've owned it, I've been stopped on the street more than 10 times asking questions about it and wanting to look at it! I LOVE IT!!! To be honest, before I found it, I had no previous knowledge of the "Chariot" brand... but the people stopping me are apparently well aware of it, and understand the high cost, so its THAT much more fun when they ask if it was worth it, and without missing a step I can say, "Well I got this for $100 on Craig's List, so yes, its been worth every penny." Ahhhh... what a feeling!

The kicker in all this is, after we outgrow this bad boy, it will likely find itself back on Craig's List and will probably end up paying for itself! Now THAT'S what I call shopping nirvana, making your purchase make you money!