What would you have done?...........

With all of my spare time, I have a new addiction...The Television show WHAT NOT TO WEAR. When this show first came on I hated it. Maybe I wasn't ready to face the truth about my wardrobe. Now that none of my old clothes fit me (YES! I have finally lost that much weight) I am faced with the notion of having to purchase clothes. YUCK!

Anyway, I have been watching the old re-runs at noon while I feed one of my resident's her lunch, picking up some style tips along the way. Last Sunday, while out running errands, I stopped to check out the clearance at Macy's, just to see how I was doing with learning the rules. I found the perfect jacket (a MUST HAVE according to W.N.T.W.), marked down to one hundred and twenty-five dollars from two hundred and fifty. Way expensive still, but maybe worth the price for all the wear I would get out of it. After trying it on, I was hanging it back up when I noticed that the clearance sign stated, "additional fifteen percent off if you use your Macy's card." Them there's fighting words to me. The poor clerk at customer service that had to listen to my speel about how my cash is at LEAST as good as their plastic, and why shouldn't I be rewarded to spend my hard earned cash with an extra fifteen percent off? Why was I being penalized because I am responsible and don't buy things that I can't pay for immediately, and could they please give me a coupon for an additional fifteen percent off clearance? I know they have them, because I have gotten them in the past when requesting one. Not this day (the moral of the story is STILL, "it never hurts to ask, all they can say is no, and sometimes they will say yes"). So I calmly shared with them that they would not be getting any of my cash today and left the store.

This might be the end of the story, but talking with my oldest later that day, she offered to let me use her Macy's card to get the added discount. I have to confess that I was really tempted to do so. Even figured out what the price would be with the discount, and looked at the monthly budget. In the end, I decided that doing this would be going against the stand that I have taken against not using credit. I would be playing the game their way, even if I puchased the item and went immediately to customer service and payed off the card. I have choosen not to play with credit cards anymore, and this has to include everything. If I start pimping out my values to save fifteen percent, think about what I might do for fifty percent?

What do you think about my crazy notion? What would you have done in this situation?

Like the fifty dollar sale sandels, the jacket will either be there the next time I shop (with a bigger discount)or it won't. Either way I feel good about my non-purchase because I remain true to myself, my budget, and my moral ethics. The fact that I don't feel so good about the way my current clothes look on me will have to wait for another day, right along with the other weeds of life.