IMAGE SOURCE~©MELANIE NEER~PERSONAL PHOTOS~Versace jeans I "won" at eBay
Originally published October 7, 2013 for Bubblews, a website that no longer exists
After witnessing how my mother was and her association with money, taught me how to be "frugal". My mother was one of those people who lived well beyond her means despite getting a good salary and she worked in a bank to boot. She never learned to save money but what was her fall from grace and mishandling money? Credit cards.
I suppose my mother was like most people who got caught up with the enticement of having credit cards. Let's face it, there is an attraction to them. Don't have the money to purchase something at full price right then and there, why charge it and pay in installments. But it's like an addiction and one can run into serious trouble over time, and that's exactly what happened with my mother. Eventually her credit card debts got so bad she had to declare bankruptcy to the tune of having a debt of $60,000. When her credit report no longer showed up the bankruptcy after seven years, what did she do? Yup, she got credit cards AGAIN! When she passed back in 2006 she owed over $25,000; thankfully I didn't and wasn't responsible to pay her credit card debts back. In fact, when a person dies, no family relation is responsible to pay such debts back unless of course it's some kind of joint account, this is a little known fact most people don't know about.
So from having watched how my money handled money, I learned to be frugal at an early age. And no, I'm by no means a cheapskate either, but I am a bargain hunter and if I can find a quality product of any kind, will hunt around for the best deal going. Ever since having a computer, hunting for bargains and buying on-line is so much easier, and ironically, often one can find something cheaper than if physically going to a store. I found this to be true in stocking up on cases of my cat's favorite cat food which is Fancy Feast To go to any of my local stores one can will cost me about $1.19 a can, while if I order a case of the cat food, will run about $0.59 a can and yes, even with the shipping charges.
For the past few months I've been saving money like crazy and I thought it was high time I did a tad of splurging on myself. I've never been a clothes fanatic, I never buy clothes that are the latest mode and in fashion, and thankfully, my clothes have held up and still look like new, despite that many of my tops and shirts are at least 30 years old…that's right, 30 years old. But here I was thinking to myself, girl, it's high time to do some clothes shopping.
Now one of my favorite styles of shirts are the "western" look and in years past (many years past I might add) I used to buy shirts over at the famous Western Wear place Shelper's. So I decided to go to their website and hunt around. My jaw dropped as I couldn't believe some of the prices and I swear I never paid that much for a shirt (on average now $79.99) in my life. I then went to other western wear websites and the same thing, the prices were way out of line. So what did I do? Went to eBay.
If EVER you're a die-hard bargain hunter and fugal, I highly recommend eBay for just about any of one's needs, and in auction items one can quite literally get things for a song and dance, meaning CHEAP. If it doesn't bother you to buy EUC clothes, (Excellent Used Condition) then go for it. Well I didn't come across any Western style shirts for auction/sale at eBay, at least not in my size, but I did come across gently used designer shirts and in boys sizes. I'm fortunate that being thin and petite I can get away with buying a Large-sized boys shirt (14-16) and fits me great. I even resorted to do some comparison and looked up several designer shirts and in boys's sizes and they were on average about $39.99…still too pricey for me. But then I came across several designer shirts for auction at eBay.
Now here's a trick for anyone hoping to get an auction item of any kind. Hit the "watch" button to put it on your watch list and be aware of when the auction of the item ends..DO NOT BID AT THAT TIME!! It never fails but often if one bids on an item even when there are no bids yet, somehow people come out of the woodwork and all of a sudden people are bidding on the item like crazy and often will go over one's planned limit of what one wants to pay for the item. When the auction is about to close, say the last five to ten minutes…THEN bid. It will often guarantee you that you will win the item and at a low, low price.
Well folks that's exactly what I did. I found three gently used Ralph Lauren boys' Large-sized shirts and there were no bids on any of them…yet. I carefully watched and waited until the last five minutes or so when the auction would end then placed a bid on each shirt. Bottom line? I won each one and each shirt cost me no more than $8.00 with shipping costs! Is that a bargain or what? I even managed to find a pair of gently used Calvin Klein women's jeans (size 4 which is my size) for auction and again won them and paid no more than $10.00.
So next time you need an item, from clothes, DVDs, electronics, do some on-line hunting around, and don't pass up eBay by any means. Even brand new items both for auction or buy it now can often be found on the cheap over at eBay and much cheaper than going to the store to buy the same exact thing. And don't be hesitant about buying used items especially clothing over there, as I have no complaint to the condition of the gently clothes I bought…they could pass for new.
Image source: A pair of Versace jeans I had won over at eBay
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