How not to shop

So Monday was appointed a shopping day, on this holiday of mine. Specifically, I had to buy boots and underwear and winter clothes this morning, then paint etc this afternoon.

Except one never expects the unexpected. My day started instead with a first-thing trip to the tyre guys to replace a buckled wheel rim, in the hope of stopping a horrible clonking jerking jumping when I put on brakes going downhill. I had the brilliant idea to simply swap my spare's rim with the faulty one, instead of forking out for a new or 2nd-hand one. Done. But one other tyre needed replacing, which put the cost up more than I had hoped for... Problem solved though? Seemed so.

From there to the mall, just as the shops were opening up. Wandered up and down, went into every jolly shop. Boots are lovely - don't fit. I have these big clodhopper type feet, not the delicate, narrow-toed kind that actually fit anything on the market. And I can't wear the high heels - it's bad enough skidding down the hill to work on flat shoes, without adding a couple more degrees of angle to fall off of! So scrap the boots.

Scrap the winter clothes too, it turned out. I was looking for a nice jersey or jacket. There are no jerseys anywhere, and the jackets are horribly thin. Fashionable, but thin. How does one survive the winter in something like that, unless indoors constantly? There is an option though - a rather pricey real leather jacket that I could apply a credit voucher toward. Still thinking about it. Leather's great and all, and it's a nice jacket - but it's still not particularly warm. Granted, there were a couple (3 to be exact) of warm jackets - huge things that would swallow me up and make me look like Marshmallow Man's wife.

And the underwear? After a whole morning looking for clothes, who feels like looking for underwear?

I DID go book my Friday pamper-session. A two hour indulgence, including exfoliation, body wrap, back and neck massage (and free glass of champagne). It's going to be worth every bloody cent.

Before heading home, I had the month's groceries to buy. There goes a few hundred bucks in a single go...

Plus a full tank for the car on the way back (lasts a month, lucky me).

And right after lunch it was off to DeLaRey for paint. Unfortunately, on the way there I discovered the wheel problem is not fixed. It's worse! Dunno what the heck is going on, but it certainly doesn't sound good.

I came up lucky on the paint. I found 5 litres of almost the exact shade I was looking for, the darker of two, at a very discounted price. Add a bit of white, and I have the lighter shade I need! If I run out, they'll mix me up some more. Cool. I managed to avoid most other things there, but did end up with a new air pump for the fishtank (the other one's basically blown), appliance spray (to fix a sparking microwave at a fifth of the price quoted by a company that does such things), and some harsh sandpaper rounds to strip my passage down to bare wood in order to refinish it this week.

And now I'm DONE with the shopping. Other than my pamper-session on Friday, I must not spend another cent. Not if we want to eat until next payday. There go the winter clothes, boots and underwear. I'll make do.

So the rest of today is going to be all about holiday. The painting will wait until tomorrow (can spend the whole day on it!), as will the microwave and floor. Now I get to sit a bit, relax. Just what my tired feet need.

Best of all, it's free.