Spendy Spenderson's in town!

Today I made the wrong wardrobe choice. And, in the end, I paid for it. Literally.

If you live in the GTA, you know that in the last few days we have welcomed the word humidex back into our vocabularies and started to sweat out some of the city toxins that built up over our long winter. Summer has arrived. Parts of it have been glorious, such as waking up early on Saturday morning and eating breakfast in my nightie on the balcony, or a late evening walk in the warm rain with the DP.

Other parts are not so good.

We do not have air conditioning. Actually, let me rephrase that: We have a brand new, unopened air conditioning unit sitting in one of our closets. It came as part of the apartment, but installation was not included. (A year later this still does not make sense to me.)

For many hot months last year we debated about which window it should go in and then made half-hearted attempts to find someone to install it. (We are not handy people.) Eventually fall arrived and we stopped being stinkin' hot. And as the leaves changed colour and we received our first hydro bill, we made a decision.

The air conditioner would live in the closet. Better for the environment. Better for our bank accounts. Better for our gorgeous, unspoiled view of the city.

And even as we've become reacquainted with the humidex, I've remained confident in that decision. Until this morning.

We had no choice but to close the windows almost all the way during last nights raging storm, to avoid it actually raining in our apartment, so we woke up in a little hot box. I proceeded to choose my new denim skirt (second wearing already, so the CPR factor is working its magic) and a cute little sleeveless top. Off I went into the blissfully fresh summer morning. Sure it was a tiny bit on the cool side, but after more than 12 hours of sweltering, it was perfect.

And extensive subway delays on a packed train meant that I was comfortable all the way to work.

But things took a turn for the worse as the morning progressed. Sitting at my desk I was chilly. Nothing my desk blanket couldn't cure! (Yes. I have a blanket at my desk. I do not enjoy excessive AC or wimpy heating.) But then lunchtime arrived.

Couldn't very well bring my desk blanket out into the world.

AND THE WORLD WAS FREEZING!!

I was so cold. Cold enough that I had to walk with my arms awkwardly crossed across my chest in a way that only other women can truly understand. Cold enough that I couldn't conceive of sitting at my desk for the rest of the afternoon or going out for my apres work coffee date with a former colleague!

Cold enough that there was only one solution: I needed to buy a sweater.

Clearly I've broken some sort of budgeting seal, because suddenly I find myself buying, buying, buying. Today it was a sweater. (I chose something basic and functional. It actually does fill a hole in my wardrobe and I was a lot more comfortable after putting it on.)

I'm not entirely sure how to break the bad new spending habit that I've acquired, except to follow Gail Vaz-Oxlade's advice: Live on cash. I think I need to take my debit card and credit card out of my wallet for a while, at least until I break this cycle.

And obviously I need to embrace the most important rule of dressing in this country: Layer! Layer! Layer!

Oy.

Total debt: $6600 and a bit
Spent today: $3.45 (Plus my $35 sweater!)