I can’t remember
when I first began reading the Sunday paper, but I know the first section was
the comics. Both my parents would spend Sunday morning going through the paper,
reading and talking about a variety of topics. My mom liked football just as
much as my dad, so they even talked about the sports news.
Mom also went
through all the sale papers and noted what was on sale. She always had a very
tight budget so if at all possible, she would buy whatever we needed when it
was on sale. As I got older, I too, began to look through all those pages,
mostly to see the current or upcoming fashions even though I knew I’d never be
able to shop at The Bon Marche or Nordstrom. Still, all those pictures gave me
an idea of what kind of look to aim for. A boy I dated briefly after high
school told me that while he knew my clothes weren’t expensive I always looked
very well put together, so I guess I achieved my goal.
Once I had my own
money to spend, I continued to look in the paper for bargains and rarely paid
full price for anything. After marriage and the acquisition of a house that
actually echoed it was so empty, it was even more important to look for needed
items on sale. Over the course of my 45-year marriage, it was a rare event when
I actually paid full price for something we needed.
My family
increased with the birth of first one son and then a second ten years later.
The desire and need to count our pennies became even greater because neither my
husband nor I wanted to put our children in day care or have them become latch
key kids. Working for himself, my husband was able to do mornings and made sure
the kids were up, fed and out the door on time for school. He even spent one
year as the only father participating in a preschool program…he loved it.
I, on the other
hand, am not a morning person, so it was easier for me to get up, get ready and
leave the mornings to him. Instead, working part-time, I was able to be home in
the afternoons when they came home from school as well as be a room mother,
assist in classes and go on field trips. There were even a couple of times
other neighborhood parents relied on me to have their children after school.
As you must be
able to tell, a big fat paycheck or expensive trips were not at the top of our
must have list. Rather, we wanted our children to be able to rely on us
whenever they needed us. We did such a good job of this that it didn’t matter
who responded when one of them yelled for dad or mom…whoever showed up was fine
and able to deal with whatever was happening.
Of course, this
made reviewing all those sale papers extremely important. Yes, we wanted our sons to have the latest
fashions from the most popular stores and learned early we had created at least
one monster. He needed basketball shoes and my husband purchased them at
K-Mart. He refused to wear them while his cousin was delighted to receive a
brand new pair of shoes…we still laugh about this one. At the same time, this
child had one saving grace…he walked to the beat of his own drummer, so what
was highly fashionable wasn’t necessarily what he wanted.
Even so, reading those
sale pages for clothes, shoes, stuff for the house and food was essential in
order to make our budget stretch as far as possible. At one time, when I did
the weekly grocery shopping, I visited at least three neighborhood stores plus
one of those warehouses depending on what was on sale and on the list.
Over the years,
as the kids grew up and left home, I continued to read the sale pages, but
began to discontinue many because I knew there would be nothing in them that I
could possibly need. This morning I found myself wondering why I continued to
look at the few Sunday ads I still separate out from the paper. It really doesn’t
make any sense.
I am at a point
in my life where I have everything I need. Of course there are things I would
like to have only because they would be new and different and I would like them
better. Case in point: the everyday
dishes are Fiesta ware and I’ve had them for years. There are no missing or
broken pieces, but I would love to have a complete new service for 12 in the
neon colors now available. That’s all, just a change in colors, but certainly
not worth an investment of hundreds or thousands of dollars. The same can be
said for everything in the kitchen…they have such beautiful and colorful
appliances and cookware now, but what I’m currently using could, quite
possibly, continue to be used when I’m done with it.
The furniture
sale pages don’t even rate a peek and haven’t for a long time. When we bought
furniture, we bought quality, and while I’ve had new cushions made a couple of
times, solid oak is solid, so there’s no need for a new couch, end tables,
dining table, etc. Yes, it’s all a bit worn here and there, but still
comfortable and useable.
I guess what I’m
trying to say here is that I have everything I need to last me until I either
downsize or move on to the next unknown phase of life, at which point the sons
will have to decide what to do with this “old” stuff. So why bother to look at
the Sunday ads? Habit I guess more than anything, so perhaps it’s time to give
them all a pass every Sunday and use that time to celebrate the fact I've already got it "all."
No comments:
Post a Comment