day 16, post 2

oh yay!

day 16

a DVR.



Cable is one of those things I have a hard time paying for based on principle, not affordability. We have limited HD service and there are lots of channels and the picture is pretty and I've come to terms with what it costs. But I still think it's a lot of money for television. (Although I do really like television.)

But we were all set to take our current cable box back this morning and trade it in for a shiny new cable box/DVR. All my friends said that we would love it. It would change the way we watch tv. I would never again miss an episode of ___. I could set it to find "Jacques Pepin" and the DVR is smart! it will find every instance of Jacques Pepin and record it for me.

That sounds nice.

Then, as I was paying bills yesterday I noticed that our friendly (ahem) cable company had included a 2010 pricing guide in our January bill. And DVR service is $16 a month. And I balked. Not because I can't scratch together $16 a month, but because I don't want to. I can find Jacques Pepin all by myself.

day fourteen

I don't know what to say about Haiti, a place to which I was blessed to travel on a youth mission trip in 1984. Thankfully, President Clinton does.

So does the editor of The Root.

I also don't know what to do. In the meantime...

Indie Fixx Haiti Relief Fund Silent Auction
Yele Haiti

day eleven, post 2

The first fruits of my hiatus have paid off! I received my credit card bill from my very favorite store (I put all of my purchases from this store and its sister companies on this credit card solely for the rewards) and it has a zero balance! Yay!

day eleven

Email advertisements confuse me. Each day I receive a number of emails attempting to lure me to the company's website where I will be able to take advantage of an advertised deal. I sort of understand the emails that I receive from companies with whom I am a frequent shopper, but the one that confuses me is from a food company I think I've bought from once. Each day - I started keeping track just before Christmas - the subject line advertises increasingly tempting deals and they tend to be paired with a time limit "50% off sitewide - for 48 hours only!"

What algorithm is this company using to determine that I'm a likely return customer? I should show up as extremely unactive in their database. Is that it email blasts are so cheap it doesn't matter if I never buy from them?

day seven

Today I learned from my friend C that there is a 21-day shopping hiatus that's being advocated as a good way to start the year. It sounds great. It's more extreme than mine (no eating in the office cafeteria, for instance), but not spending at all would greatly increase the focus I would put on every single purchase. It's worth considering. Still, though, I think that 21 days isn't enough time to actually change behavior and become more discriminating with every purchase.

And in spite of spending $4 on a turkey burger today I haven't replaced my desire for clothes, shoes and bags with any other thing. So I should have more money this month than last month. Of course, the boy did sign up for drivers ed.

btw, I googled "21 day shopping cleanse" and found results that were very, very far from what I intended. Just so you know.

day five

Every store I've ever bought something from has sent me an email with some amazing offer in the last 12 hours. These emails tend to arrive overnight, so in the morning I find myself clicking and deleting multiple emails at once. In the past (like, more than 5 days ago) I was very tempted by some of these - one compelling subject line this morning was "60% off clearance items." Yay, a sale! I deleted it. But I'd hesitated.

Then, I found today's email from my very favorite store. Offering my very favorite thing - gift free with purchase. But it's this:



A nylon tote. For what I can only imagine are groceries. Certainly they don't expect their shoppers to bring this tote to the store and fill it up with new suits. I thought it was a strange choice.

Anyway, I deleted the email.