Need vs. Want

I, like most women and gay men, sit and dream about decorating and shopping. I have learned through many years of being broke that dreaming is a lot safer then spending. So instead of getting a credit card and buying new chairs from Z Gallerie, I browse the super high web or flip through their catalog. I am safe as long as I do not actually go and physically visit the store. Case in point, I recently went to Anthropologie with my dear friend who is an Anthro manager in Arizona. Because I do not have any sense of style and I wear the same clothes from 10 years ago, I hoped that my friend would take some time, pick out some must haves from her store and I would end up walking out of there a happier, hipper woman. Well, to my utter surprise, my friend filled my dressing room with several pairs of pants, shirts, sweaters and other fantastic pieces for me to try. And so I stood there, in the large dressing room of Anthropologie high from all the new possibilities, trying on one outfit at a time. I loved everything, with very few exceptions, everything looked awesome and I felt like a new woman. The bonus was that at least 1/2 of the items she picked out were on sale. So I grabbed all the new swag, walked up to the cash register and with a smile on my face, I told her "I will take all of this"! It was so overwhelmingly exciting. Boy oh boy, the lady at the cash register looked equally happy. So she began ringing me up and about 1/3 of the way through with ringing up my purchases the lady said, "so, far we are at $530.00". HOLY SHIT! That was only for 4 items and there were easily 5 more items to go. So I stood there sweating...almost in tears due to embarrassment and requested that the lady start taking most of the items off of my pile. I felt so bad that I some how thought it wouldn't be that expensive. So I apologized emphatically and ended up walking out of there with 3 items.
All shopping sounds fun until you see the damage done to your bank account. The one piece of advice that my mother shared with me is that you should never buy anything that you do not have the money for already in the bank. She taught me that going into debt just to appease one's frantic sense of purchasing is never worth it. This advice has saved me and I hope it will save you. You do not need to have everything you want. Learn to identify a want versus a need and do not put want purchases on a credit card. You end up paying 3 times what it originally cost. I ended up buying pretty basic items at Anthropologie that day. Items that I can wear with many different outfits and passed on the clothes that really were not necessary.
I love the fact that I am passing on my parents sage advice in my 30's :) Who knew?