Difficult to resist new stuff that's cheaper than used stuff. #Kohls

Last week I purchased a several items for the offspring at Kohl's. He is seldom in the mood to shop and even less often agreeable to used stuff so a couple shirts and pairs of pants at good sale prices (and with a coupon and a discount) ended up being an efficient, affordable, much needed (really how many days in a row can you wear the same outfit before it walks away on its own?) shopping trip.

Of course the trouble with Kohl's is the Kohls Cash. I got a $30 certificate to use the next week. The offspring was no longer in the mood to shop and it was too early to shop for Christmas, so that left shopping for me. Another $10 coupon in my email had me heading to Kohl's. I do need jeans and they carry the jeans I like, which makes shopping fast and easy. I bought two pair for what ended up being $3 a pair...that's about half the price of jeans at Goodwill. I also ended up buying a very nice flag-themed t-shirt on clearance for $4...a little pricey, but I always feel bad when I don't have anything patriotic looking on the 4th of July. I know buying "new" defeats my recycling mission, but some bargains are offers I can't refuse.

Full disclosure: I got a new-new iphone 6 Plus...under duress

Well, within hours of my cell phone being stolen, a close family member was rushed to the hospital. I needed a phone, right away, and I was very distraught when I went in to purchase it. Still am. It was too difficult to focus on all the details. All I know is they managed to get me off my unlimited-data plan (they admitted my Internet access was automatically slowed after I reached 1 gig...and I had noticed and was frustrated by it). They claim my data won't be slowed on my new plan. I still have more data available than I actually ever use in a month. And my bill will be the same as it has been...perhaps a few dollars cheaper. I am committed for 30 months, but I wasn't planning on switching any old how. After 30 months, my bill will go down as my phone will be "paid off" (that's never happened before). I'm sure I could get the phone for a better deal if I had time to shop around, but I didn't. Coulda been worse...I coulda been buying a car under duress.

Full disclosure: had to buy a new dish strainer.

My old dish strainer was positively disgusting when it finally fell to pieces, so it's no surprise I couldn't find a nice used one. They had some fancy ones in the store upwards of $20, but since my kitchen is a disaster, I went with a cheap ($6) strainer to match. It even came with its own runoff base. It is all-plastic, so I don't think it will last too many years. However, I really should not have let my old strainer get so deplorable -- I figure built-in obsolesensce will keep me from letting things go too long.