A New Housing Bubble? Or Is It Just Here?

I wrote a little while ago about helping Frugal Son buy a house. We are not experts on the process, having bought just one house. We still love the house, but--neophytes that we were--we were manipulated by everyone involved. A horrible experience, with many shady operators.

An acquaintance--the former head of the public library here--brought over her friend and neighbor, a very nice guy. I guess he will do as well as anyone. We haven't actually looked at anything. That is because the houses we are interested in seem to be selling in a matter of days. DAYS. So the agent calls the listing agent--and the house is already under contract.

Is this a new bubble brewing? Any advice on how to keep our heads would be much appreciated.

Declutter Progress

This is probably the first and last time I'm doing this, but....I packed away a bunch of Frugal Son's stuff. His apartment is tiny and has no storage space, so I don't mind doing this for a while. I now have a shelf on which to to "stage" things.

What I staged: stuff for Buffalo Exchange, stuff for fancy on-line consignment store, books for Amazon credit.

Buffalo Exchange: This is a bit of a game for Miss Em and me. She loves getting credit.
Rodeo Drive Resale: Where I send a few pieces of St John stuff I never got around to wearing.
Amazon: Hey, even $2-$3 adds up when you have a bunch!

I also donated three more bags to the Food Bank Thrift. According to Feng Shui--at least the popularized version whose popularity seems to have faded somewhat--getting rid of stuff will unleash energy through your home. I haven't felt it yet, so I suppose that means I need to get rid of MORE. Off to mail the boxes to Rodeo and to Amazon. Uh oh: I mail from Office Depot, which is right across the street from Goodwill. Wish me strength.

Don't Be Jealous!: Appeasing the Thrift Store Gods

A few readers expressed a wee bit of jealousy over my thrift store finds of last Thursday. It was--as they say in the blog shopping world--quite a haul. One day, I might muse on WHY the thrift store pickings are so good in my little town (pop 8500), not to mention cheap. But, believe me, readers it is a mixed blessing. HAUL is the operative word, especially for one who lives in a smallish house, circa 1910, with little closet space.

Three of our four family members are disorganized clutterbugs. I realized this anew when I was trying to clean out Frugal Son's former closet (now general use, though with some of his stuff remaining). I won't go into the not-too-safe item I found or the family memento I thought I lost--at least not now. But I made a panicky call to Miss Em (the organized one) and she said "I am really getting sick of these constant emergencies. I will help you when I get home."

SO the clutter: that is why good and cheap thrift stores are a mixed blessing. There is always something else...and it is always cheap enough to buy.

SO I will appease the thrift store gods. After all, I have to admit I still want to find nice stuff. But the outgo basket needs to be a lot bigger than it has been.

SO yesterday, before the emergency that precipitated my call to Miss Em, I donated several biggish bags to the Food Bank Thrift--called All Saints. Today, I will make a return visit with some more bags.

If I were an organized blogger-type, I would make a vow to declutter and post my progress. That's not going to happen: wish me luck anyway. Facing the scorn of Miss Em is a scary prospect. Ask me how I know.

"You're a Minimalist": The Dangers of Thrift Shops

Last night, we had a free downtown concert: a pretty great group called Bonerama. I ran into an acquaintance who is a financial adviser. She was telling me about a client who is going to have to sell her house because of massive debt, result of student debt and the vagaries of shopaholism. Her profession: physician. (And she went to LSU med school, which is reasonably priced, so it's not all tuition-related debt.). I said: Oh, how I wish I could coach these people through frugality. To which: Oh, but you're a minimalist.

You've got to be kidding. I stopped by Goodwill yesterday for some stress relief from a difficult Wednesday at work. I came out with the following: a bulky knit men's cardi from Banana Republic (dated 2012 inside), a somewhat vintage-y camel cashmere men's cardi from N. Peal of Scotland, a vintage men's Pendleton wool shirt jac (love these!). These were all for Mr FS. For me, I found a FLAX linen set: beige loose pants and a matching top. Oops. Almost forgot: men's Eddie Bauer down vest. Total: $18.00.

And I left behind a bunch of other stuff. You can see the problem. Do that once a week and over 200 items enter my abode.

Maybe the good doctor mentioned above faces financial ruin because of shopaholism (btw, she is in her 30s and so has time to recover from her disease). I think I may have thrift shopaholism.

Another Eileen Fisher Sale: Sorry!

I might have to change my blog name. Let's see: Someone Who Needs to Stop Obsessing About Everything and Buy More Things For Herself in Places other than Thrift Shops. That's it! Can I find a community in the blogosphere?

This morning, I bought two more Eileen Fisher tops. This is a test. I am afraid that it will be like falling off a cliff--like the blog tales of women who buy ONE Hermes bag and then accumulate another ten. That would be dangerous for me: I am but a teacher, with a teacher's salary. I still can't buy (or bring myself to buy) EF at retail. So I take an occasional spin through the Nordstrom site and the Eileen Fisher site.

Today, Eileen is having a 40% off sale on a few basic items. It goes through tomorrow night. I tried to order my tops and the site was having difficulties. I called up my frugal mojo and put in a call to Nordstrom, where the nice rep was happy to price match for me. We were commiserating about the high price of EF and how hard it is to find on sale. She said it flies out the door when on sale.

The Loneliness of the Frugal Neophyte

Not what you think. Not the typical lament of the newly frugal: My friends go out all the time and I don't want to spend the money. This is the opposite: I have saved enough to do something neat this week, but my friends don't have any money.

I am speaking of 20-something Frugal Son, with his worthy, but low-paying job. All his friends have equally low-paying jobs. Some are worthy; some are merely interim jobs before the next step. Frugal Son has developed his frugal chops, thanks to Mr FS and me. I do like to think that.

He does go out and about with friends. Lately, however, he has had to do some things solo, because none of his friends can afford to go with him.

Hence: a ticket to Cirque de Soleil.
Hence: a solo lunch at Galatoire's.
And even this.

$25 off and free shipping at Eileen Fisher, TODAY ONLY

This is a good enough deal to rouse me from my blogging slumber (aka overwork). If you read between the lines here, you know that I crave some of the Eileen Fisher basics, which elicit raves from various blogging luminaries. But self-knowledge (I am a spiller and ruin-er of things, occasional misplacer also) and extreme frugality ($100 plus for a rayon tank top!!!!) make me pause. It may just be that frugality is a nice word for extreme CHEEPITUDE.

For some reason (perhaps karmic forces in the universe?), I checked into the Eileen Fisher website last night. There I discovered that EF is having (today, March 23, is the last day) 30% off some pieces PLUS free shipping!!! Further research yielded a code--531900--for $25.00 off any purchase over $50. Today, March 23 ONLY. How's that for harmonic convergence?

So, readers, I found a tank top in the sale section. Baby steps. How about you?

If you are interested, get thee to EF.