One Estee Launder tube of Perfectly Clean (r) face wash is $20. I never thought about it before when I would run out. I simply threw away the tube after squeezing the last glop and bought another.
It is a luxury these days for me to be able to buy another tube without thinking about the variables that will impact my decision to plunk down another $20, plus tax, plus shipping, for another tube. One, I have to make sure I have the money in my checking account, rather than charging it to my Amex (JetBlue points notwithstanding). Two, I consider that a $6 drugstore version is probably just as good as the stuff inside the luxury brand that I have used faithfully for many years so I will feel guilty about wasting $14 – worth a decent meal with a drink in my neighborhood. Three, to save on shipping, I have to buy $50 worth of Lauder stuff. That’s at least $6.
I am getting tired of having to think thrice about why I have to make a purchase for something I want. I miss the carefree days of… well, not thinking at all. But these days, and with only one of us earning a living, the thinking is a necessity of my reality. So to stretch my dollar, I cut the tube in half, and of course, I am amazed to see that I probably have another month’s worth of washes I can smootz out of this tube.
I try to tell myself, this frugality is a characteristic to be admired. In avoiding waste, I am saving the environment. Living creatively thrifty is the new chic. And not to mention how many blessings I should be grateful for, such as having a decent paying job, a husband who adores me albeit currently struggling with unemployment, and two healthy gainfully employed sons who think the world of me. Yes but…
As I dip my finger into the spliced tube and begin lathering my face, I don’t think about how clever I am for saving dollars. Sometimes. Just sometimes, being broke sucks.
