Curse of the Big Footed Shopper

Like any sassy lady, I love shoes! I don't care if I'm 5'11", I want to wear heels and I want to look fantastic.

My size 11 feet poses interesting challenges--finding shoes that fit, and not buying every shoe that does fit. When I actually find shoes that fit, I buy them as long as they look halfway decent.

So, my closet floor filled up with crazy shoes.

As part of my recent purge, I isolated some shoes that might make a little money at Buffalo Exchange. Instead, I approached another tall gal at my workplace and asked about her shoe size. An odd question, yes, but for us tallies it's quite normal (there are really not that many of us).

Anyway, she jumped at the opportunity for some out-on-the-town hand me downs and I remembered to bring them in today.

Here's what my fellow tall cube mate got from me:
Red Mary Jane heels
Bone-colored Strappy heels
Silver & Gold Sandal/Cork Wedges
Black Mary Jane Wedges
Patent Leather "F*!$ me" Pumps

Walk into the night...


Alas, there was one pair I decided to keep. Last night while drifting to sleep I had a vision of myself in these heels, so I kept them.

Oh yes, I still have that damned dress he gave me too.

Adventures in Yard Saling: North Austin

I woke up at 5:30am on Saturday to a slight downpour. It let up by the time I drove to Rena's, though, and we decided to go ahead with it.

The rain storm left us with cloud cover throughout the morning and made a quite comfortable day for yardsaling.

Rena lives near Parmer/Mopac in a great little suburban neigborhood. We caught a lot of foot/car traffic with very little advertising.

So, overall we did quite well. We each made a little money, we got the kids involved, we had free stuff (which surpirisingly no one took),and I moved a lot of clutter out of my life.

To make it better next time we'll need more furniture, a better display for the clothes, and more items priced.

It was a great day, meeting lots of great folks and hearing their stories, telling my own stories about all the stuff I was selling, etc. I'm still not used to the haggling, but I'm getting there...

We'll be having a follow-up later this summer.

Breaking News: Thrifty Bitches host yard sale

Rena (fellow thrifty bitch) and I are hosting a yard sale this Saturday, June 16 from 8:30 am to 2pm.


Come on up to N. Austin for some great bargains...

4602 Adelphi (off Parmer Lane)
Austin, TX 78727
Sat. 8:30am.

Featured items:
-King Sized head board with built-in shelves(light brown stain, needs refinished)
-old maple (light orangey-brown)colored full-size head board (I think from the 50's or 60's)
-Small kitchen appliances (Foreman Grill, Coffee maker, Blender, Mixer, etc.)
-Decorations
-Clothes (Ladies sz.4-6, Girls, size 6-8)
-Decorative book shelf
-Games
-Misc.

Plus--lemonade!

And--meet yours truly, Miss Thrifty!

Oh yeah, and I'll be selling that Damned Dress He Gave Me (see below).

The High Cost of Being a Wannabe Stereotypical Rockstar

May was particularly expensive for me. I flew to Baltimore for a wedding and bought a new dress and a new pair of shoes for the big event.

I must have also partied like a rock star. In my first weeks of tracking every single expense (as a step toward financial independence), I found that I spent over $300 on alcohol in the last three weeks of May.

$300 is almost as much as my rent. $300 is almost as much as my car payment. $300 is a big part of my income. $300 is what I put into savings each month. $300 is more than my credit card payment!

Of course, this doesn't even consider the damage to my body, my mind, and my spiritual health. Talk about clutter! Alcohol might be the biggest obstacle to becoming financially independent and to seeing and fully realizing my purpose in life.

So far this month, I've spent $62 on 2 handles of Jim Beam. I have drank most of this already, but to be fair, I was at the Kerrville Folk Festival for the first 10 days of June. I've decided that this is all I'll spend on alcohol for the rest of the month. July, $50.

That Damned Dress He Gave Me.

10 years I've been carrying around this dress, closet to closet. I always put it in the back with the suit jackets and bridesmaid dresses I never wear either.

This one hurts to look at, though.

He bought it as a birthday present, so I could wear it to the big festival. I've never worn it since. My roommate wore it to a New Year's party one year. I haven't. I won't.

Still, I couldn't put it in the clothes to goodwill. I couldn't put it in the bag for Buffalo Exchange because they wouldn't give me any money for it. I don't want to sell it at a yardsale. It needs a good home with loving parents.

My friend said, "if you don't have it in your closet will you miss it?"

"No," I said.

Looking deeper into the closet, I found all sorts of artifacts-- a few pair of men's boxers (from all different men), a shirt given as a souvenir from Mexico I wore only once. A white t-shirt with pit stains. A newly acquired Ramones t-shirt. All past lovers. Past. The past.

The physical manifestation of emotional clutter. Hoarding clothes and underwear to constantly remind myself of unsuccessful and disappointing relationships--the weight of these things seen in my overpacked car when I move, and seen in my heavy heart.

But this dress! I shone in this dress. Still, I will not miss it, it won't cross my mind. It won't show up the next time I move. It won't be there when I go to the back of my closet. I'll only see it in those old pictures looking back.

Goodbye!

A new purpose

This blog started as a forum for promoting thrift and sustainability through yardsaling and recycling.

I've taken a break from yardsaling, simply because I have enough stuff. I found the dresser I wanted. I found a few decorations. My apartment is full. My apartment is overlowing.

My last post discusses the satisfaction I got from purging. How fitting that I'm drawn to post again after another purge that resulted in 4 trashbags for donation, a lot of trash thrown away, and a much emptier and cleaner closet.

A few weeks ago I started a class on financial independence. In the next few posts, I'll discuss the premise of this class, but it has brought my financial, spiritual, and personal goals more into focus.

Which brought me back to my blog. Good ol' Thrifty Bitch. Where did she go? She got a little too comfortable in her 9-5. She wants to quit real soon and work for herself, but doesn't know how. She is a slave to her debt. She is a slave to all of this clutter that owns her. And she's still buying more.

Let's start again, shall we?

Thrifty Bitch will now chronicle my road to financial independence. We'll have a lot to talk about as I free myself from the weight of debt, emotional and physical clutter, and eventually my job!!!