What's the Opposite...

...of "dressed to the nines?" Whatever it is, it's me. Currently I am wearing a skirt that I bought my freshman year of college (which, trust me, fit me MUCH better back then). And a pink v-neck cotton top...one of the sleeves has the hem worn out of it, but I fold it under and hope no one notices. And yes, I DID wear this to work today. With a pair of black sandals that look fit for someone who is decades older than me. I've finally reached the age when comfort trumps style when it comes to shoes. At least during the school day.

So why am I dressed so shabbily, you may ask? My only answer is that I have more important things to buy than clothes.

Things like pumpkin scented candles, little trinkets and pictures to hang on my walls, a classroom full of supplies and decorations, junk from garage sales, a hamburger from Hot Dog Shoppe, movies rented at Family Video. Need I go on?

Okay, so that stuff is not more important than clothes. But those are the things I've been unwisely spending all of my splurge money on lately. Luke and I both have our own splurge money to spend each week. It's a set amount that remains constant and is to be spent on things like: entertainment, restaurants, books, movies, things for the house, any other misc. fun items, and clothes. Honestly, I think our system is a little flawed. I really think we need a separate clothes budget. If you could see what I'm wearing right now, you would think so, too.

I have one pair of black dress-pants, and one pair of gray dress-pants. That is the extent of my "work pants" at the moment. I've either ripped, ruined, or grown out of all my other ones. And jeans...I have three pairs that could actually be worn out into a public place (ie, they don't have holes in them or a non-working zipper or anything like that). Of those three pairs, one pair is somewhat nice. the other two are frayed at the bottom, and I'm pretty sure if you hold one pair up to the light, you can pretty much see through the whole butt area of the jeans because they're so worn. Basically they're about 2 uses from ripping. Apparently your jeans don't grow with your butt. Luckily I have some shorts, capris, and (old) skirts to substitute for my lack of dress pants and jeans.

As far as tops go, I have lots. But a lot of them are a little past their prime, we'll say. And some are getting a little snug.

As if that is not enough, our water is filled with rust. Trust me when I say this is the #1 reason that I can't WAIT to move out of this house in a few years. Not only does it quickly turn my sink, toilet, and bathtub orange, it also gives all of our white clothes a nasty, yellowish, orangish, brownish tint. I even have little orange smudges on some things. I think this whole rust issue deserves a whole rant post of its own...but anyway, it has made all of my white camis and shirts almost unwearable. *sigh*

So all that to say, I think I need to stop buying so much useless junk, and start spending a bigger portion of my splurge money on clothes! Luke and I are going shopping tonight, and my first order of business is to find a nice pair of dressy jeans (it would be dress pants, but tomorrow is jeans day, and I really don't think any of my 3 wearable pairs are quite nice enough for work. I could wear the denim skirt again that I wore last week, but I don't think I could take another day of not being able to BREATHE. So dress pants will just have to wait until next week, when I have a whole new stash of splurge money).

In high school I was soo into clothes. I loved shopping...it was my favorite activity. But I think most of that stemmed from the fact that my mom was often footing the bill, and I had, like, 2% body fat back then :-P I looked a lot better in clothes, and it was a lot easier to find clothes that fit me!

But I'm sucking it up and spending my money on clothes, instead of fun things like fall decorations, school supplies, or that fabulous plate form World Market that I just HAVE to hang on my kitchen wall ;-) I'm certainly not promising that I won't stop at B&B Works for a sweet cinnamon pumpkin candle or at Starbucks for a Pumpkin Spice Latte. I think I've mentioned those two particular items in every post for about a week ;-) And to be completely honest, the whole reason we are taking a shopping trip tonight is because I texted Luke at work asking him, "Do you have any reason to go to Boardman tonight? Because I'm just dying for another Pumpkin Spice Latte." (The closest Starbucks to us is about 45 mintues away).

Maybe I should just try to rework the budget and find out what we could cut out in order to instill a "clothes budget." I really think that's the only thing that will really solve this problem. If I didn't have to buy clothes with my splurge money, just think of all the wonderful things I could buy instead!!! Kirklands Home, Pier One, and World Market's stock would probably go up a few points immediately.