Growing Up

Yesterday I took my weekly trip to Target (yes Target is the highlight of my weekend these days) and while I s browsing through the linen section in search of the awesomeness that is microfiber sheets, I came across a duvet cover that was on clearance. Anyone who knows me knows I LOVE a sale. The problem was, that I had no idea what in the world a duvet cover was. I asked an associate in the store and she gave me a puzzled look, so I went to my next option: I asked Siri. All Siri could offer was it was used to protect your duvet and should be laundered when you launder your sheets. Since the price was so good, I grabbed it and figured I would just try it out and see what happened. When I arrived home, I did some more research and learned that duvet is a fancy word for comforter. Duvet covers are like slipcovers for your comforter. My daughter and I put my comforter in the cover and voila, I had a brand new comforter! The set also came with pillow shams (fancy word for pillow case), so it was like I got a brand new set for 15 dollars. Do you know that I throw away my comforters every year when I get a new one? I could have saved so much money by just buying a duvet cover instead of throwing away perfectly good comforter. After that seemingly grown up purchase, I realized I still live like a 21 year old with their first place. Do you know I do not own a colander? I use the old school method of draining my pasta with the lid. This is also the first year I have ever owned a coffee table and I have been on my own since 2001. I also just started getting coffee mugs and I don't have "nice dishes" for when company comes over. Most of this stems from the fact I am cheap when it comes to certain things. It is my belief that certain things should cost a certain amount. For instance, I think five dollars is too much for a bathroom trash can. I think a bathroom trash can should cost two dollars at the most. Kitchen trashcans? Five dollars is my threshold. It's a trashcan. It holds trash. It really shouldn't cost more than that. I think it absurd J owns a 50 dollar trashcan. Fifty dollars for a trashcan? What is it going to do? Take itself out? I remember last year on my quest for running shoes I set a limit of twenty dollars. Yes, you read that right. I was only willing to spend twenty dollars on my running shoes. I had to give that up when my sister explained to me how I could end up injuring myself in cheap shoes, so I acquiesced, and bout forty dollar running shoes. One of my goals this year is to get a more realistic concept of the cost of items and stop living as if I lived through the Great Depression.