&*^$!

I know this is a debt blog and not a boot quest blog, but given I've detailed said quest here in the context of my shopping and charging (for example, here and here), I had to come back to comment on the latest development.

So I mentioned that I'd finally found a pair of boots. The right color, the right heel, the right heel height -- and all for the low, low price of 40 bucks.

Imagine my surprise when today I went to show them to a friend only to discover that the &*^$%#@ zipper was broken. This is the fifth pair of boots -- the fourth pair in two weeks -- that I have bought and have had to return. Really, when you count the second pair of Lucchese boots last year, it makes six.

On the plus size, my credit card will be credited the 40 bucks plus tax. And until I find the perfect pair of boots, I give up.

The Great Black Boot Quest

Finding a perfect pair of black boots has become as hard as finding a pair of jeans that fit me off the rack.

Earlier this year, I decided to give up my quest for black heeled boots and just go for a pair of cowboy boots. Yeah. Um ... that didn't work out so well. So this year I'm back to just trying to find a decent pair of basic black heeled boots that aren't too high, not too pointy, and still manage to look kinda hot with a skirt. I found a pair at TJ Maxx yesterday, but they were pull-on. I hate pull-on boots because they're such a pain in the ass to take off, but these fit so well and were the right height. So I brought 'em home thinking that maybe, just maybe, it would be easier to pull them off if I had on some trouser socks underneath. Nope. If anything, it was even harder. I don't need something that hard to come off after a long day at work.

So I took them back today. But before I headed home, I stopped at DSW. I never have luck at DSW, but there they were -- a decent pair of black heeled boots. They look so H-O-T on! They fit, but I wanted to walk around in them for a while to see if they'd work. So I bought them, brought them home, and put 'em on. Walked around on the carpet for a half-hour or so.

I'm taking them back tomorrow.

They're an inch too high, and too much pressure is forced on the ball of my foot. I know that if I were to wear them, by the end of the day, it wouldn't be pretty.

They're going back tomorrow before I go to work.

Shopping Bulimia Strikes Again

A couple posts ago, I detailed the slippery slope I'd started sliding down. One of the items I bought was a little cotton knit dress. It was the color that got me -- this beautiful, rich fuchsia. The color of raspberry sorbet. I could see myself in it, and in my vision, I looked fabulous.

And then it came today. Yeah, not so fabulous. Nope. Not. At. All. It's basically not much more than a long T-shirt, and a flimsy one at that. Any thinner and you'd be able to see through it.

I spent 70 bucks on it, too. That's the worst part of the whole thing.

So tomorrow I have to start the process of doing all the crap one has to go through to send back a package.

When will I learn? Why can't I stop? And what makes me think that these things I order are going to transform me (and thus my life) into whatever it is I think I should be? OK, OK ... that's beyond the scope of a debt blog, but you get my point.

Anyway, the dress is going back.

The Bulimia Continues

You know those boots I ordered last week? The ones that I charged? Well, they arrived today and guess what? I'm sending them back. They're faux leather -- or as I like to say, pleather -- and there was something about how they were cut that bothered me. They were comfortable, but they just did not look good.

And as they said tonight on Project Runway, life is too short to wear a bad outfit.

And as always happens when I buy something I shouldn't have bought, bad shit always happens. Well, not bad-bad-can't-be-fixed bad, but bad-inconvenient-that'll-teach-you-not-to-order-shit bad. After I tried on the boots and decided that no, I do not love them and want to return them, I realized that there was no receipt included in the shipment. This meant I had to log in to my e-mail and find the order so I could get the phone number for customer service. I then spent 30 minutes on hold waiting to talk to someone. Yes, a half-hour.

So I explained that I had no receipt/invoice and therefore wasn't sure how to return the crappy boots. The lack of a receipt is how they're doing stuff now. Something to do with their relocation. (WTF??) I was instructed to print a return form from their Web site and was told they'd e-mail me the shipping label. Um ... OK.

So I have my package ready to go. Just waiting for a label. Yeah. I foresee another e-mail or phone call from me about that label.

The good news is that I will be getting a bit over seventy bucks credited back to my credit card (which shouldn't have been used to begin with). Any money credited on my credit card is a good thing. The bad news is that once again, I will have spent unnecessarily (and irresponsibly) on shipping costs.

In other news, I found a debt calculator to help me determine how long it'll take me to pay off my cards by paying certain amounts. If I maintain what I'm paying now, it'll take three years and eight months. (Basically, four years.) Another $100 a month takes me down to three years. I'm not pleased with either -- I want it paid off yesterday -- but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right?

Shopping Bulimia

So ... remember that black cashmere cardigan purchase that I justified? Well, I'm sending it back. Tomorrow. I have only to swing it by the FedEx Kinko's to drop it off.

Why am I sending it back, you ask? Well, I realized this morning that my inability to face my purchase -- I had been hiding the box in a separate closet -- was probably a sign that I shouldn't have bought it in the first place. Oh -- the tummy ache I got when I saw the box this morning was another pretty strong indication.

So, I'm sending it back. And while I won't get the full amount back (shipping is nonrefundable), at least $110 will get credited back on my credit card. This is a good thing.

The fact of the matter is that I never should've ordered the damn thing in the first place. But I can't stop trying to fill this void I have in myself. I don't know what makes me think that buying various items is the cure. It's not.

It's so not.

Anyway, I have to be better about recognizing this behavior and keeping it in check before I spend the money.

Good night.