Comparisons & Deals

Had a $10 Target gift card, so hubby and I did a mall walk (it was smoky from some brushfires outside anyway...) and I thought I had gotten a tunic which was about $10 off the sale price with the gift card - which made it about $10 - and hubby found $2.99 pillows (elsewhere they had been $7 on sale), so we got 2 new ones- BUT the filmy tunic never made it into the pillow bag - and we never got it! Called Target - luckily we have the receipt - and they say they will make good.  We will see....

Found some more thrift shop yarn, and a nice pair of pants for $3.  But my odd coup was to make a ring out of a $.25 hoop earring with a dragon fly on it - it was made of silver wire, so I bent it around my finger & broke off the part that goes in your ear.  Very cute.  And it fits on the middle finger where I want to wear it... Gee, the plastic rings like the one I got at one of my Oriental cheapie bargain stores for $1 cost TEN DOLLARS at Target!!??  And the silver-toned long chain necklace I bought for $2 at the thriftshop cost almost $20 at Target, too - and mine is of a better quality. (But another silver wire ring flipped away when I took it off my finger last night before knitting, and I CAN'T FIND it!  I did find my blue plastic watch I had gotten for $1 - similar ones in Target were $12.)

Another find - a woolen/acrylic blend sweater on a dollar rack.  It was pilled - and I had to take off the the furry tufts, but for $1???  It's in fashion with a hood to wear as a sweater jacket, too.  And a great fall color.I think I will be wearing it A LOT.  Funny how that goes....

Hubby steered me into a Ben Franklin for more yarn....I showed him the prices even with some off - so he would realize why I grab at bargain yarn wherever I find it! (I got a ball at a thrift shop for $.25!)  And now I have some accent colors so I can continue to make my scarves.  Heaven knows how many I have by now.  HOW do people pay $80 just for YARN for a sweater?

Oh, the pink/grey sweater from another dollar rack I thought I was going to rip up for yarn turned out to be a cape of sorts - so I am opening the seam in front (it's just thread) and will actually wear it.  Another fashion item.  I am also taking out my grey sweater coat from the closet.  

I have boots to wear - but it's never really COLD enough in So. Cal.  The Hollywood sylphs wear them - I don't know how they manage....

Received the package of 3 "shape/underwear" garments from www.graveyardmall.com yesterday.  A great buy.  I pick up those sort of things when I see them, because otherwise they are dreadfully expensive...but at $3 each, not so bad....

Unexpectedly found a couple of nice new hardback books at the Dollar Tree of all places!  Bought 4. They will make nice Xmas presents, along with the scarves, of course.  And my brother's birthday is in December, too....(By the way, I saw a sign at the checkout that they will have vintage clothing??? I will check it out at their website, now that I think of it....)

Did I mention that I mended my knee length jeans?  one pair was good enough to wear to that audition and I forgot all about the mending....

My weakness is that I can't seem to manage a "one in, one out" policy for my clothes - so I continue to accumulate.  A buddy says he will have time to help me out next month after getting through a move.  I watched a TV program about hoarders the other night, and hubby made some knowing wisecracks - but my accumulations are MUCH better organized than those undifferentiated PILES.  And they have HOUSES, too - not just a one bedroom apartment! But the emotional aspect hit home for me.  There is a strong emotional attachment to things, which some of us have....and the fact that you probably can't do it without HELP - if you haven't been able to tackle it - & you know, that's OK.  The women seemed really so sad somehow. And therapy is almost always in order.   

I have the added justification of my checkerboard life as an actress besides everything else.  I could use a closet the size of my bedroom, like the stars have! I read an article about having only 30 outfits of quality - but that's for a business woman - it would never work for me. I have jeans/tshirts/sweatshirts, etc. for home and writing and computer work.  Then upgrades for going out - and costumes for auditions (I save old ugly clothes I wouldn't wear otherwise!) And clothes to wear up at the boat where it's beachy....

Still haven't started the yoga classes, yet.  Found my mat,though...

Can't believe rich women pay their dermatologists for regular skin care. (I was looking at book about being classy.) I would only go with a bad rash! It's not that hard to tend to your own skin if you pay attention.  My skin used to be oily, but has dried out - so, I change my regimen...And even then there is leeway for climate, etc.  There is so much info out there on the net - there really is no excuse for ignorance.  And so many great drugstore brands, too.  

For some reason my nails are like rocks nowadays, and I can't figure out WHY, as they have always been weak.  The COQ10 I have been taking?  The glucosamine for my joints?  I really don't know, but I have nails for the first time in my LIFE.

Checked up on a letter we got from Blue Cross about my psych's bill - turns out we don't owe anyone anything, so I don't know WHY they even SENT it.  But perhaps the phone # will help me find a practitioner within the system, as I can't afford my outside therapist anymore....

Still nervous about getting my Social Security early.  I am going to get some $ by the end of October - I had no idea it would be so fast, as I had read that it would take 3 months! But, you know, we really need the money - and I am practically retired anyway.  You can't call writing $4 articles for Associated Content WORK, really - it's just pin money.  But it does go on my Paypal Mastercard, so I can use it to order things on the net.....

Had an audition for a FRENCH commercial.  Americans throwing snowballs in the summer -  for France? - Would be nice $, though. But you are warned to file paperwork with the French government or they will take 33.33% off in taxes.  (And the teabag folks complain here!)  But that includes one's healthcare, so it's probably a deal in the long run....As for me, I try to stay as healthy as possible.

So that's the news from not-so-Lake Woebegon! (No lake, though....except Lake Casitis which we drive past every once in a while....) Ha! I saw a 1950's scifi flick on TCM and they were using the beach at Zuma Beach N. of L.A. for Chesapeake Bay?? and they blew up L.A. buildings that were supposed to be Washington, D.C., too. I had forgotten that there was an actor in it I met in the 70's - he had become a writer to support the family, but still missed performing...Me? I chose to starve, I guess - and pennypinch!

0 Comments

It comes in, but what goes out?