You better shop around

As I was walking home from the subway today, I saw this very stylish girl loaded down with shopping bags. A big GAP bag over her shoulder, a La Senza bag in one hand and another kind of bag in the other.

And I missed that feeling.

Now, even if I did go to the mall today and do all sorts of shopping, you wouldn't see me loaded down with store bags. If I didn't have my reusable enviro-bag, I'd put as much as possible in my purse. And then if I did have to resort to a store bag, I put everything else I bought in that same bag, because the whole plastic bag thing is out of control. I can't even wrap my head around how many hundreds of years after we all die that those bags will all be hanging around!

But, bags aside, I love a really good shopping excursion. The kind that requires two extra hours when you get home, trying all the new stuff on together and then creating combinations with all the things you already own, which you were totally sick of until you paired it with something new.

I remember my first spree. It was the end of August 1988. I was just about to start grade 8 and for the first time I was allowed to go school shopping on my own. I believe my total cash allowance was $100 and I took the bus to the big mall in downtown Ottawa with a friend. It was exhilarating! (And I believe a knee-length, three-tiered black acid wash skirt was one of my purchases.)

Anyway, I hope that the girl with all the bags didn't charge it all on credit. And I hope she went home and felt lucky for all her new stuff. And I really hope she realized that she could have fit it all in one bag.

One day I will spree again!

Total debt: $9315 (Tomorrow is payday, so this is the last time that number will be in the $9000s!)
Spent today: $5.17 (Foodstuffs. Hard habit to break.)
Weekly total: $147.80 (Not including credit. Yikes!!)