When I pulled out my credit card the other day, I seem to have broken some sort of seal... Let me explain.

During my run on the treadmill today, I could not ignore the bit of pain I was feeling in one of my knees, plus my back. A sure sign, my friends, that it's time for new sneakers. I've been wearing my current ones for just over a year now, which is really far too long. But since I haven't been doing a lot of running, but more cross-training with classes and things, I wasn't too worried. Besides, they still felt okay, despite the fact that they were not my normal Asics, but rather a pair of New Balance that I picked up really cheap in New York City last January.

(In a foolish attempt to pack lightly, I went to NYC with nary a pair of running shoes in sight. The blisters after my first full day of walking in my boots forced me to find a Footlocker. And fast!)

So I took a trip downtown to scope out some on-sale kicks. (This is what the "kids" call them, don't cha know.) Again, since I'm not running extensively, I was determined not to get sucked into the Running Room, but rather get a decent pair for a decent price.

Did you know that there aren't that many places to buy athletic shoes in the Eaton Centre? The department stores only seem to carry about five styles each, most of which are more suited to old lady stability than looking cool at the gym. Weird, for such a big mall.

While I did see some Reeboks and Sauconys in the $40-$60 range, I can't shake the feeling that that isn't expensive enough for a good pair of running shoes. Is that weird? Does anyone else feel that way? Or do you think we're just programmed to feel that way by greedy corporations? In the end I opted for a pair of my trusty Asics on sale from $129.99 to $89.99, bringing the total to $101.69. That went on the credit card. The credit card which is suddenly getting closer to $200...

Never mind, I do have that extra paycheck this coming week. And even after I pay off the credit card, plus make a loan payment to the boyfriend and put aside food money, I'll still be able to make a sizable extra payment on the big loan. Although, less than I had originally hoped for.

There were various other spendy moments in my day, starting with $4.52 for a VDay card for the boyfriend (When did cards become so pricey?), $8.39 at the drugstore for unavoidable womanly supplies (Not the good kind of supplies, either. Just the necessary. Ladies, don't you think we should get some sort of tax break from the government for tampons?) and two splurges: $6.09 for a dvd and $3.51 for a chai latte at Starbucks. Sigh. A fairly pricey day in the end. I'm going to have to have a few "spend nothing" days this week in order to make up for it.

Total debt: $10,500 and a bit more
Spent today: $22.51 (and the $101.69 on credit)