Shame and Spending

So, I begin this post not with my usual list of prices and purchases--although Lord knows there should be around 50 items listed here, probably to the bottom of the page. I'm ashamed to say that I avoided my blogging duties for the past few weeks, shirking the experiment I laid upon myself in aggressively evaluating the way I spend. A lot of this stemmed from my reluctance to relate my (relatively) recent trip to northern Michigan with my boyfriend, where I was in charge of paying for food and fun. There were a lot of receipts to go through after I returned to Ohio and so I delayed the inevitable. Now, even more weeks have passed--repeated and shameless swipes of my credit card--and yet it is now that I am shamed into returning to my experiment again.

I am shamed by a few second-hand wearing hippies out in San Francisco. I know, it all seems rather prosaic but it's true. A group who calls their environmental spurning of consumerism "the Compact," this group actively avoids making not only unnecessary purchases but ALL purchases except for necessities. They live on the barter system and canned plums from their backyard. They attend "Really Really Free Markets" in downtown SF, where a mohawked biker trades free haircuts for tote bags made out of old chip bags. Ok, some aren't that bad but you get the concept. Anyway, I haven't been exactly shamed into joining them but it did make me think about my own consumeristic habits--particularly how bad they are. Now, I'm a frugal person. My mother says I'm positively spartan in a lot of respects, particularly for my age group and the peers with which I surround myself (spoiled, upper-middle-class, white kids at a relatively expensive midwestern college). I don't engage in a lot of the frivolities of my fellow college students, which can include blowing $100 in shots any given week night. I also tend to avoid the obsession with "expensive chic." I'm happy to say that I actively avoid all Apple products except for my 3-year-old iPod, and frankly don't care about wearing $20 jeans. I think I carry myself well in the world of privilege, despite my limited economic status, proving that it's more than easy to fake your way through even the most materialistic culture.

However, the Compact group touched on items that even I take for granted. I wasn't raised to be brand-obsessed, but is it wrong that I enjoy Dove shampoo and conditioner? Am I just a tad too consumeristic when I swear by an elite line of specialized lotions from Bath & Body Works? What about the make-up I picked up last night at Target? It was just bronzer and Lord knows I don't need it, but it's a product that helps me feel good about myself. In a way, products like these DO define us. It's easy to laugh at the girl who carries a $150 purse, or the Apple-devoted who think nothing of dropping $2000 on a laptop. In a way, these people deserve to be laughed at because of their devotion to "trend." But, what about our daily necessities? The things we believe we need, as opposed to the products we actually do need to survive (food, shelter, etc).

Anyway, I felt a tad bad about the whole thing. However, since I can't see myself giving up my shampoo too soon, I was at least shamed back to this blog. I'm not going to list my purchases, like I've done in the past, but I will try my best to recall the myriad of spending that has occured over the past few weeks.

About a week after my boyfriend's birthday, I tried to swear off spending--didn't work. If the "staycation" is this year's hot travel buzzword for the budget minded, for the petit-ami and I, it was the mini-vacation. I left on a Friday afternoon, driving up the Interstate to Detroit. I of course topped off my gas tank the night before, as well as stocked up on snacks for the drive and hotel room. I also stopped at McDonalds so that I would have at least one "real" meal during the 5-hour drive, but immediately regretted that needless expense as simply disgusting. My boyfriend found us a room at a local Mariott (and quite a fancy one if I may say so myself) for $50 a night, a bargain considering the room usually went for $350. Thank you, Priceline.com. We had a delicious seafood dinner at a nice (expensive) restaurant nearby, which included some fruity drinks and an appetizer to commemorate the festive occasion. We then saw Wall-E--which was totally worth the $18 price of admission for both of us. The next morning, we set off for northern Michigan, my boyfriend at the wheel of his car (thank goodness). It was another 4-hour drive north through breathtaking scenery, only to take us to the western shore near Glen Arbor and Sleeping Bear Dunes State Park. We first stopped off at Glen Arbor, a sleepy little tourist town that comes alive in the summer due to the impeccably blue waters of its inland lake. It's also the home of the Cherry Republic, a long-awaited destination for my cherry-loving boyfriend. We spent time and money there (although I did use cash), buying cherry trailmix and candies. I also spent about $40 of my parents' money on gifts for them. We ate lunch at the Republic as well, which was relatively affordable and delicious.

We then left Glen Arbor for the nearby Sleeping Bear Dunes, which cost about $10 for an all-day parking pass. There were no fees for climbing the sand dunes, nor the driving tour which took us right to the banks of Lake Michigan. Around 4:30, we left the coast for Traverse City, a smaller city located about 30 minues from the coast but right on Traverse Bay. We then ate at one of the best restaurants in town, meticulously picked out beforehand, for more seafood. Then, it was back to the Marriott where we promptly passed out from exhaustion. After lunch at Panera the next morning, I left around 1 and was back home that afternoon.

My boyfriend and I split the cost of our psuedo-two-day escape from reality. He paid for the hotel and all the gas, and I paid for the food (at restaurants and on the road) and the movie. It was an almost a 50/50 split, and probably cost us around $200 each. Not bad, and completely worth it.

Upon coming back to reality, I went out shopping for a friend's wedding present. Speaking of which, my boyfriend still owes me $20 for his half. I also bought a dress for the wedding, some jewelry, and a sweater that I fell in love with through a store window. I also rented the last two DVDs of the second season of Big Love, which I had decided upon watching straight through this summer and had left off midway through due to the high cost of DVD rentals. Of course, I have bought gas more than a few times, although I was happy to fill my tank on $3.50 a gallon a few times. Thank goodness for falling crude prices. I have also paid the interest on my student loans, about $180-worth. Of course, I have made my car payment for August (another $180) and am soon to make my insurance payment. I have bought barbeque at a local street festival and bought a stack of books at Ohio Bookstore in downtown Cincinnati (you can't help but buy something if only keep such a tradition alive). Last night, I purchased a slip-cover for my futon, the only reason being I'm tired of its "redness" loudly overwhelming my dorm room. I bought face wipes, absolutely imperative for removing make-up and oil at the end of the day (see what I mean about "necessary" purchases?) I have also purchased, borrowed or collected roughly three-quarters of the novels I need for my classes this semester (all used). As luck would have it, I joyfully discovered I already owned a $40 anthology of sixteenth and seventeenth century literature, saving me precious dollars. I also bought the appropriate wrappings for my said friend's wedding present. I ordered a $50 parking pass for the semester, although that will have to be paid back to my parents later. I bought around $15 in iTunes, making a mix CD so that I would have something new to listen to on the way to Detroit. And I finally got a haircut--$30 that I have been putting off all summer long.

Now, there probably were a few more purchases in there that I have already forgotten. But this is the best representation I can give you right now. I've stuck close with my family this summer, letting them handle most of the expenses I can guilt-trip them into. Of course, I've gotten paid during this time, so I'm not simply a human ATM machine. I still have many more expenses to address until school, but rest assured, you will be the first to know of it.