My ex wife
was notorious for buying things that were "just like (fill in the blank) but half the price." Still is, actually...

Anyway, when I was in forestry school I used to like to wear chamois cloth shirts- basically cotton flannel, but far thicker and more durable. (As it gets really fucking cold when you're in the woods for four to six hours at a shot, that's important.) I wanted a couple of Woolrich shirts that would have been about $35 at the time, but the Bagwitch saw the price on them and her eyes bulged and her sphincters clenched. We had a terrible row, and I ended up not getting them.

Two days later she comes home from Ames Department Store (think K-Mart, minus the quality) with three chamois shirts that were only $15 each, with tags that read "Frost-Pruf". They were thinner than George Bush's excuses for war, didn't fit particularly well, and were rather odd colors- but to keep the Bagwitch happy, I wore them. Within two months all three had the elbows wear out and the seams start coming apart. I pointed this out to her, as well as the fact that the Woolrich shirt I had had for eight years at that point was only beginning to fray a little around the collar, and that at that rate we would be spending $90/year on shirts instead of a single time of spending $105 and having shirts that would last a decade. Cue another major row.

Did she learn her lesson? Well, put it this way- her new car is a Chrysler.

Twat.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 14:36, 11 replies)

Let it go.....
Bitter and twisted doesn't suit you.
( girlinthehole, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 14:39, closed)

Oh, I'm over it.
I just find it amazing how much money she wastes trying to save money. Fortunately my kids follow my logic and laugh at her too.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 14:41, closed)

You are obviously quite right...
Spending a little (and sometimes a LOT) more up front can often save you money in the long run. It takes a special lack of common sense to grasp this notion.

My mum suffers slightly from the syndrome and in the past, with gritted teeth I've grinned my way through some shocking purchases she's made on my behalf.

The moral as far as I can see is always buy your own stuff. If you are being vetoed, leave the veto-er at home when you go shopping.
(pfer, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 15:00, closed)

Oh, and I forgot to mention...
I had a similar argument with her over a heavy canvas shirt that I wanted for when I was having to go through heavy underbrush- I wanted to spend $40 for it and she started to make fizzing noises, but I bought it anyway amid much snarling and snarking. That was in 1987. I still have that shirt and it's only now getting a bit worn out.

Yes indeed, a very special lack of sense on her part. *shaking head*
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 15:12, closed)

What possessed you
to let somebody else have control over your money? I mean, I assume she wasn't the only one earning.

I'm right alongside the idea of a joint account for bill paying, but I'm having a seperate one for shopping :p
( Kroney, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 15:16, closed)

Simple- we were living on her paycheck.
I was in college at the time and had no job. She was a nurse at the local hospital. Ergo, the finances were mainly hers.
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 15:18, closed)

oh well
fair enough then, I guess. Was she as tight-fisted about buying stuff for herself?
( Kroney, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 15:19, closed)

My mum is getting a bit like this
she'll happily drive for miles to find petrol a teeny bit cheaper. I've tried to point out that she's using more petrol to get there, but ...
(TheWeeWitch hasn't been here much recently .., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 15:22, closed)

More irony
She'll do all of these strange things, then find fault with her mother for doing the exact same screwy things.

And then she spends $85 a shot to get her hair permed so many times that it all ends up breaking and has to be cut short due to excessive dye and hair dryer usage.

Seriously- she's a true mentalist. I really don't understand her at all. *shrug*
( The Resident Loon Not a demographic. Do not measure., Fri 4 Jan 2008, 15:28, closed)

Er
Her name isn't Patricia is it ?
(bluetuba has a special friend in Blue Label Smirnoff, Fri 4 Jan 2008, 22:52, closed)

Erm..
I don't understand most of the words you used.
( gareth_alien will be human again at, Tue 8 Jan 2008, 14:59, closed)