Why We Do What We Do

‘We’ being Me and my creative team – Myself and I.

Tip Of The Day: Not only will you hear the fateful tale of what I bought last week, but also why. Not why I bought what I bought, but why I recap it once a week for your reading pleasure. Also? Eye Candy – which needs no explanation.

Tip For Tomorrow: We’re shaking things up around here – up is down, left is right, and the Hump Day Opinion Poll will actually be posted on a Tuesday. I’m on the Fox 9 Morning Buzz on Wednesday this week (please oh please tune in), and I want to post the companion piece to my segment on the day I’m on the air. Make sense? Good.

Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal: Lately, I’ve been having some new visitors to The Cheap Chick Empire, and all are welcome in this space (especially Oprah! Hi Oprah! Please put me on your show!). However, if you’ve wended your way here from other parts – the Fox 9 pages, Facebook, Google – you may not understand why each Monday I post what I’ve spent the week before.

Let me explain (insert obligatory Princess Bride quote here), no, let me sum up. In 2007, I started a year-long shopping experiment in which I could only spend $20 or less on everything single thing I bought. I also started a blog about said experiment, where I wrote about what I bought, what I couldn’t buy, what was going on in the Empire, and life in general.

In 2008, that experiment came to a glorious end and I started a new one – 3 Reasons Why To Buy, where I’d have to have three reasons or justifications for every single thing I bought. That got very boring (to write about, let alone to read) very quickly. So in April of 2009, I switched over to my current year-long challenge, the Weekly Spending Recap.

Once a week, every week, I have to recap exactly what I bought during the previous week. Every roll of toilet paper, every stick of gum, every EVERYTHING. Why? I’m glad you asked, grasshopper.

Have you ever sat down and really looked at what you’ve spent in any given week? And if yes, you have, have you tracked it for more than one week? A month? A year? Several things come to light when you keep close tabs on your spending.

One, of course, is just how much you spend in a week. Two, and just as important, is what your spending weaknesses are. For me, it’s multiple trips to Target and fast food (BTW, this week was a bad week for my diet and check book.). With any luck, this new knowledge will help you cut down on the unnecessary expenditures, and reevaluate where your money is going.

But let’s say you take it a step further, and share with the world (or whomever will listen) what you’re spending each week. Then, not only do YOU know what you’ve spent, and on what, but everyone else does, too. And that’s where the most powerful Stop Wasting Money motivator in the world comes into play – shame.

Example 1: “I can’t go to Taco Bell again – everyone will know I ate there 3 times in a week, and spent over $15 alone on fast food. GAH! I think I’ll go home and have an apple.”

Example 2: “Yes, I really want those $200 pair of boots, but everyone knows how many pairs of boots I already own, and they’ll mock my lack of frugality for buying more.”

In short, my Weekly Spending Recap acts the same as a food journal for a dieter – it helps me keep track and cut back. Sometimes it works, other times (like this week’s fast food bacchanal) it fails utterly. But either way, it allows me to share my experiences with you, and maybe you’ll learn something from my mistakes. And if not, you can at least mock my pain and feel better about yourselves in the process. Everyone wins!

Weekly Spending Recap, The “Let’s Get To The Point” Edition:

Monday, November 9

Rainbow Foods, life-giving Maxwell House coffee, $3.35

Taco Bell, first of many trips to eat fast food, $3.62

Tuesday, November 10

North Suburban BP, gas for the guzzler, $20.01

Rainbow Foods (again! I know.), beans and ‘matos and CANDY, $2.74

Clean’n’Press, dry’n’cleaning, $15.08

Wednesday, November 11

Walgreens, more CANDY, $3.22

McDonalds, dinner because I was running late and didn’t have time to cook, $5.14

Wench Posse Gathering, toy guns from the lovely MamaRox, $1.00

Thursday, November 12

Apparently nothing! Yay, me.

Friday, November 13

Target (my own and only trip!), treats for the gathering at my house and other groceries, $39.00

Cub Discount Liquor, booze for said gathering, $20.24

Saturday, November 14

SuperAmerica, still more gas, $15.02

JoAnn Fabrics, almost everything else I need for costuming except RitDye, $19.22

Sunday, November 15

McDonalds, yes again and leave me alone, $3.76

Total For The Week: $151.40. Average. Basic. Fair. I’m not going to beat myself over this week’s total, but I’m not jumping for joy, either. This is an utterly middle-of-the-road showing, and next week (which started today), I will try harder. That means NO FAST FOOD. I hope.

Moving on! Let’s get to the good stuff and my reward for revealing all my bad behavior – a nice, sweet treat to please every palette. This week’s finger-licking good Eye Candy is a blast from the past and one of my favorite actors. We are kickin’ it old school with:

Bruce Willis. Oh God, I forgot how hot he was with hair. But wait! He’s still hot when he’s nearly bald and sporting a crazy dye-job:

Mmm… The Fifth Element. One of the best bad movies ever made, primarily because he is soooooo gorgeous in it. He’s even gorgeous without any hair whatsoever: