Tuesday, February 24, 2009

My shopping problem

So I have this thing when it comes to shopping. I walk into a store, look around and immediately I'm drawn to the most expensive thing. Especially when there are no price tags. Shoes, furniture, clothing- anything. This can make shopping hard.

After yesterday's post I decided to look at some outdoor furniture online. I started with the big box places, asked some coworkers, and went to main sites of manufacturers I liked from the first two. I have fallen in love with a piece for our front porch. When I showed Gameboy he instantly started oohhing and ahhhing. You can see that this is leading to a problem right? The outdoor love seat that would be incredibe for the front porch, plus cushions but minus shipping is almost $2200.

I'm sure it's high quality that will last forever. And I subscribe to the buying quality pieces that will last side of frugality. But that's more than half of what our appliances cost. For one (oh so beautiful) love seat.

So if you have any reccomendations for affordable outdoor furniture I am all ears.

4 comments:

JessicaW said...

Sarah,

I suggest opening a SmartyPig account and saving for the thing you really want. Call the store and ask how long they'll be carrying it and if there's a scheduled sale. Plan to buy it on a certian date, and schedule SmartyPig to do the saving for you. (on SmartyPig (dot) com). I'm doing that now with two big expenses and its working for me!

sara l said...

I think SmartyPig accounts are great, but when we save up we use a sub account on ING. The greater problem is I can't forsee a time in the next 8 years where we could justify spending more than $2K on 1 item for the front porch.

Anonymous said...

Yea I have a real problem buying things that cost a small fortune. If a family in a 3rd world country could live off the money for a few years, I would feel bad sitting on it on my front porch ;)
I would say check out tent/clearance sales and online listings like craigslist. (Adravage.com is the best way to search craigslist..amazing site)
Maybe someone else has already purchased the couch you love and needs to recoup the cost by selling it at a discount.

sara l said...

PFF- that's exactly it. Thanks for the AdRavage tip. I just set it up. I'm also anxiously awaiting the start of yard sale season.