Shopping "Ally" style...

I have amazing kick arse shopping skills. Please take notes. I am going to teach you how to shop the right calm way. I will take you to through the steps of research, calculations and decision making so you make sure the next time you are faced with a big purchase, you wont regret it.

Let me explain my recent purchase so you can have an idea..

I have wanted a macbook for a long long time. For the last 6 yrs or so. When I got a laptop I wanted a mac but it wasnt in the funds, so I got an hp but continued on searching, drooling and admiring macs. I read all about them, their reviews, their specs, everything that I could get my hands on but the funds were never available so I continued on living with my laptop that drove me absolutely insane, frustrated me, and made me cry on a couple of occasions.

Finally a couple months ago stupid laptop started having a problem with the charging cord, this is the 3rd one by way. Enough was enough, I was going to get a mac. I allocated the funds to the checking account revised my search and decided I was going to go with a Macbook Pro and was all ready and set to go. Hubby asked me to wait until he got home. He is the computer nerd, he loves anything computer related and wanted to be there for the special occasion. No biggie.

I waited until he got home. Well he got home, we took a trip, he upgraded our TV (Oprah head looks humungous on a 47' ;) ) , he also got a blu ray player (to his dismay I dont really see the difference between a regular TV with a regular dvd player compared to an HD with blu ray. I mean its a bit lighter but all I see is $$$'s signs and I dont know if its worth it) and a wii. He was happy very happy and all I could see was our savings account dwindling and dreams of one day having enough to buy a house, fading.

So one night he reminded me that we still hadnt gotten my computer and the next day we were going to make a trip to the apple store. I freaked. No way can I spend that much on myself. Words were exchanged mainly him saying I never buy myself anything and that I deserve it (right there is the reason I still keep him around ;)) and me whimpering is too much money. After a while he gave up. I am very very stubborn.

He went back to sand land and I went back to dealing with my piece of shit laptop. Not only did I have to be plugged in all the time, it had to be at a specific angle and if I sneezed, moved, or even breathed too hard, it would stop charging and it would go to sleep. Also it took forever to do anything I wanted to do it. Since I am the most patient person in the world, that really wasnt a problem!!!

Finally 2 days ago, I went to use my computer and no amount of wiggling, playing with it, pulling it, was doing the trick. The laptop was not going to charge. I called best buy and they quoted me $100 to fix it. I thought about it and enough was enough. I was going to go the Apple store and get a new laptop.

Again funds were moved from savings to checking without even a second breath. I had reached my limit. I packed up Juliet, ran to the car (because it was raining) and drove to the Apple store. I sat outside for about 30 minutes. I calculated and calculated and calculated even more. We can spend 1k on a new computer for me, we just have to make sure we dont splurge anytime soon on anything else and we will be right on track to saving for a house in sept. Financially we were okay, mentally I was a wreck. I couldnt go back to the stupid laptop and I couldnt go foward. What to do what to do??

Finally I got the guts and went inside. The mob was crazy. Over 70 people were there. I looked around, found someone that could help me and from there we went. I told him I was just looking and wasnt going to buy anything but that I was interested in the pro, he asked me what I used a computer for , and after explaining that is basic stuff, he told me if I went with the Pro it was like buying a minubus when I only have one child. Not necessary. So we talked some more, he talked and talked and talked, and I tried to absorb as much as possible. I explained my fears about the mousepad he explained the new glass trackpad. I explained my 100 fears and he patiently explained them all. I am such a sucker for customer service I told him I wanted it. He told me not to make an impulse purchase and think about it for a bit. Gosh I love good customer service...lol.

I explained to him my last 6 yrs with my pos laptop and he laughed and said this was no impulse. I was more than ready.

He set up the warranty for me, my email showed me the basics and assured me for the millionth time that if I didnt love it I could bring it back and get my money back. Feeling secure with my decision, I paid for my purchase and home I went.

Through the whole drive home, regret started setting in. How could I spend that much money on something for myself when we need.......?????? Wait a minute, we dont need anything, the kids wardrobe is full of summer clothes, there is plenty of food in the pantry, we are completely out of credit card debt, and its not even the end of the month and all bills are paid for and short of a major tragic emergency that would cause us to drop more than a couple grand on something, we were okay. Gosh what an exiting feeling. So my plans of returning the next day to return it started to fade.

I got home, Ju went to bed and I went to play with it. Fear started to set in. Connecting to our router will be a pain, I will have to download the driver, find the cd find the password. Urgh!!! Well I got home opened it and it automatically found our router and I was connected to the internet.OMG this thing is awesome. I did delete my applications folder shortcut and it took me a while to find it, sometimes I will click on the screen and nothing happen and then I realize I am clicking wrong but asides from that everything has been a breeze. This thing is so smart and so simple, if I am not figuring something out is because I am trying to make it more complicated.



I love it and plans to return it?? Yeah I dont freaking thing so. This is not going anywhere. You might think that this is a rebound since my divorce from my pc was so recent, and therefore this is a rebound, short summer romance and it wont last. Well you are wrong.

I have met my soulmate and he is not going anywhere. It was love at first sight ;)

So there you are, if you confused on any of the steps of this guide on how to reach a decision, please let me know. Just remember, calmness is everything ;)

ps...Hubby is irritated with me because I didn't do it while he was home but after I apologized profoundly, told him I regret not doing it 6 yrs ago even if it involved auctioning a kidney on a blackmarket to get the funds for it, he has kind of forgiven me.

Love A