Ellsbury, we salute you.

Sometimes you see something and you just clap your hands. This happened awhile ago, but since Ellsbury now holds the Red Sox single season record, I revisited it. Yankees suck.

Shopping for clothes

Apparently Maiden China has a monopoly on goods sold in the good ol’ USA. Just disturbing. I needed new dress shirts for work, so I went to TJ Maxx. Forever frugal, I find good deals on quality clothing at places like TJ Maxx, Marshals and their ilk. Between these stores and tag sales/flea markets, there is no reason to pay full price for quality gear. The problem is finding something that is not stamped by the Maiden. It was a bittersweet experience as I would find something great, then check the tag and put it back.  Admittedly this kept me from spending too much money on frivolous items, like a new backpack for school with plenty of pockets for equipment. I no longer attend school, but enjoy the usefulness of a good backpack… or three.

Once you adopt the NO MAIDEN CHINA rule, it easily cuts your spending by nearly 90 %. You like it, you check it, you put it back, sticking to your convictions like a man. Finally, I ended up with four nice shirts -

1. Van Heusen – Made in India, a democracy.

2. Calvin Klein – Bangladesh , a democracy.

3. Van Heusen – Honduras , a somewhat democracy.

4. Joseph Abboud – another Bangladesh, and a mighty fine shirt indeed. I may wear it to bed tonight.

5. Calvin Klein undershirts – Made in Egypt, a democracy… sort of.

I know these countries are not saintly in the least, but they also do not have the good ol’ USA by the kiwis either. Furthermore, calling their politics into question when our own democratic system has revealed its seedier side in the last decade seems hypocritical. At least they are not outright communists running kids over with tanks.

I also picked up two soccer balls on clearance for $3 each, made in India. You just can’t beat that. If you think soccer is a fairy sport, let’s see you run for 90 minutes, ***.

Overall, with patience and perseverance, you can get good stuff at reasonable prices without supporting Red China, and I mean that in a derogatory way, Maiden. Next step, get the stuff Made in the USA. Wolverines!

Save your money

Money tight all the time? lack a budget? Can’t stop spending? Thinking about having a tag sale to raise some dough? Good luck selling anything you have “collected”. Yes, I did hold a tag sale,  and I could barely give the stuff away. It is depressing to see stuff you spent hard earned money on being given away just so you don’t have to store it again. I tried selling some original coke cans – $1 for 28 of them. No takers. Idiots, they were worth $1.40 in deposits, that is a 40% return on your money. Still ended up recycling them. I spent a whole day trying to lose money on stuff I bought over the years that sat in storage and only made a hundred bucks. No one needs crap. I still have a bunch of comic book and Harley Davidson trading cards I was going to sell, but what for? It would cost me more in time and aggravation to try and ebay them. So I have been running stuff to the dump just get rid of it and move on, which bothers me because now I am clogging up the environment with my garbage that I actually paid for. Thinking on this really changes your spending habits, at least it should if you do think once in a while. As a result I have adopted the following method to when deciding to spend money. It combats impulsive shopping, the worst money siphon there is, and ensures that if I have something, it for the better good – mine.

1. I first check to see if what I want is made in China. If so, no go. Since when do we do business with Communists with a record of human rights violations? The Chinese are taking over the world and we are aiding them! Just try to buy something not made in China. This alone will cut your spending by 75%.

2. Next I ask will I really use it or will I end up throwing it away (and my money with it) because in the end I will be unable to even give it away? This is a tricky one because you wouldn’t be buying it if you did not really need it, right? Wrong! Look at all the useless stuff you are storing and decide if one more piece needs to be added to your life and the environment. Then imagine all of the cheap-donkey Walmart China products people in your neighborhood are buying and throwing away each day. Just check the sidewalks on trash day – see all of that crappola? That is just your neighborhood! Skip it if you really do not need it, and believe me, you don’t really need it.

3. Can I rent it or borrow it? This goes more for big purchases, like tools, equipment, but even laptops, cameras, etc. Are you going to consistently use the item, eventually wearing it out so you feel good about discarding it? Can you borrow it (and make sure you compensate the person as well. Be a good borrower, not a wanker)? Is this a one time project or can I really make the investment worthwhile?

4. Made it this far? Then wait a week or so, and if you still need it, wait another week before you buy it. Again, this does not count for emergencies, but we are talking about discretionary spending here. This will eliminate almost all remaining unnecessary spending.

5. Finally, when you do make the purchase, buy the best you can and pay cash – that way it takes a while to afford it and you really think about parting with your dough. This accomplishes many things – you are buying quality that will hold its value, last longer, and will probably be repairable instead of disposable, maximizing your investment. Furthermore, you will get more enjoyment out of it because it works the way it is supposed to instead of breaking after 3-4 uses. You will be hard pressed to say “what a piece of trash” if you bought something made with quality.

It is that easy, just try it. It takes some time to get use to checking for China, but you will see it becomes second nature. Well, that is fine and dandy, but that takes the joy out of shopping. I want to have stuff and feel good and laugh and shopping for pre-packed poo does that for me. Okay, dimwit, I see you are an American Idol connoisseur and really of no use to civilized communities. I hope you find the same joy in being broke, pissing your money away, cluttering up the world, and speaking Chinese. Loser.