Day 121: Clothing

Posted on | December 31, 2007 |

I actually didn’t spend a penny today.  But The Daughter went shopping with my mom and she ended up finding a number of items she’d been wanting to find — and some good bargains to boot.  Since her clothing allowance comes in the form of a budget category instead of cold hard cash, I did technically spend money even though I wasn’t there doing the shopping.

Some of these purchases will come out of her monthly clothing allowance.  Others she paid for herself using gift cards.  The remainder of it will be paid for in trade — I offered to pay cash value for some Gap gift cards she has.  She rarely shops at Gap preferring Old Navy because the prices are lower and the stores are closer and more accessible.  I can use the Gap cards when I shop for The Son.

T.J. Maxx — $21.51
The Daughter found a terrific pair of American Eagle jeans — her all-time favorite brand — on sale for $19.99.  These are normally about $50 per pair and they do fit her nicely.  There were a great find.

T.J. Maxx — $5.92
I’m not sure why this purchase was separate from the jeans — probably a case of my mom still shopping after The Daughter had checked out so she looked around more and found something else.  This time she found a two-pack of tights that she’ll be able to wear under her skirts and dresses when she needs to dress up for school on game days.  Again, a nice price for a needed item.

Old Navy — $61.60
She bought a navy blue wool toggle peacoat that is, I must admit, pretty cute on her for $39.

We bought her a beautiful full-length peacoat last year just before Christmas and she does wear it but it feels too dressy to her to wear over casual clothes.  She also has a nice Columbia 3-in-1 jacket that we bought about two years ago but that’s too sporty for her to even consider wearing except for the most sporty occasions  ;-)  The short peacoat she found today is what she’s been wanting for school on those days when the long peacoat is too dressy but she doesn’t want to feel like she’d totally slumming in her Columbia.  It’s a vanity purchase, in my mind, but it was 50% off and I can respect her position.  It’s coming out of her allowance and if it turns out to be a mistake purchase, well at least she’ll have learned that lesson now.  If it turns out to be a great purchase and a garment she gets a lot of wear out of, then she’ll have that experience too.

She also purchased a pair of dark brown chinos for $18.25.  This is the purchase she’s the least confident about.  She’s going to go through her wardrobe tomorrow to see how many garments she has that will coordinate with the pants — plus decide what shoes she can wear with them and whether or not she likes them with the new peacoat.  She may end up taking them back.

DWS — 29.00 ??
The one item The Daughter went shopping for specifically today was a pair of shoes suitable for wearing to school on snowy days.  She has clogs — but they’re not great in 1.5 feet of snow.  She has boots, too, but they are apparently too tall and bulky to fit comfortably over jeans and the jeans are too flared to fit comfortably inside the boots.  So she wanted something that was high enough to keep out the snow but low enough to work under jeans.  [Please don't ask me to explain it any better than that -- I'm one of those apparently rare women who does not have a pair of shoes for every occasion.  Shoes simply are not my thing.]  Anyway, she found a cute pair of black shoes that she loves and finds comfortable.  She forgot to turn in that receipt so I’ll have to fill in the correct amount tomorrow.

Overall it was a successful shopping trip and I’m pleased with the purchases she made.  It did, however, raise issues because my mom, the shop-a-holic, was involved.  My daughter was clearly distressed because she knew she’d gone over her remaining December clothing budget.  My mom kept trying to point out that she’d be getting more money in her allowance tomorrow.  Her argument was that the clothes were on sale, The Daughter knew she’d have more money coming in soon, so The Daughter should just buy them.  I had to pull my mom aside and ask her to please stay out of it.  I made it very clear that The Daughter was absolutely not allowed to spend money she did not have — even if it was due to come in just a few hours later.

I was proud of how The Daughter handled herself — she loves shopping with my mom because she’s a clothes-horse and fun to shop with.  But, on the other hand, The Daughter knows how much debt my mom is in and has seen, first-hand, how irresponsible she is with money and how she simply cannot deny herself something she wants even when she clearly cannot afford it.

Related Posts for Further Reading

• $$: Just Another Sunday in the ‘Burbs
• $$: Food & Clothes
• $$: Church & the Mall
• $$: Surrogate Spending & Lessons Learned by a 16-yo
• $$: The Day’s Expenses plus Swim Meet Tips
• $$: Chocolate Milk, Chocolate Candy & Snow Pants, etc.

Comments