iSpend

My parents are perfect opposites when it comes to money. 

My dad – always the spendthrift – loves to save a penny wherever possible.  In the grocery store, he has an unhumanlike radar to detect the best bargains.  With him at the helm of the shopping cart, we’ll always go home with the cheapest toilet paper (on a per unit basis of course), 5 extra jars of honey-roasted peanuts because they’re on sale, and that delightfully cheap box of fudge cookies that my mom will inevitability kill him for bringing home and tempting her with.  In case the market really tanks (he, like me, works in the financial markets), I think he could have a future on Extreme Couponing. 

He also has an affinity to stretch the life of any item that doesn’t absolutely NEED to be replaced.  Instead he utilizes duct tape to keep these items in commission – as mentioned in my introductory post, the front seat of his suburban is held together by the magical grey tape while the mattress I had growing up got swaddled in the special adhesive when, getting out of bed one morning, I cut my leg on the sharp metal springs that had been poking out of its side for the past few years.  He learned these penny-wise skills from his fabulous parents, especially his mother (my Nana) who is known to return anything she doesn’t end up using (even a 39 cent disposable tin pie pan).

My mother, on the other hand, loves nice things.  Really nice things.  When grocery shopping with her, you can always slip in the expensive brand of granola bars or the extra soft type of toilet paper without being noticed.  (She is likely slipping in the good stuff too.)  The sales ladies at Tory burch, Kate Spade, Diane Von Furstenberg, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Neiman Marcus all know her by name (and thankfully have Gretters and my current addresses stored in their systems - thanks Mom!).  That’s not to say she can’t spot a good bargain here and there.  She once snapped up a budget room at the Four Seasons in Palm Beach.

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Only $500 a night. Not including tax and parking.  And that amazing dinner we had at their restaurant.  J

Thankfully, I’ve really become the PERFECT combination of the two of them.  I know how to save (thanks Dad!), but I also know how to spend (thanks Mom!).  It just so happens that I choose to do the latter most of the time.

The one place where my dad’s voice outshined my mom’s just enough was with my mobile device.  Despite all the hype and superior apps of the iPhone, I stuck to my same old Blackberry Bold for close to 3 years.  I loved my little berry and had really become an expert typer with its little keys, particularly when ellipticalling at incline 10 on level 9 at 6am in the morning at Crunch.  Yep, that's right – all those times you’ve gotten an email from me extra early in the morning and have been super impressed with my early bird status at the office, I’ve really just been at the gym.  I've just let you think I was working.

Unfortunately, my berry had a calamitous incident in a movie theater bathroom stall on September 18, 2011.  (Yes, I admit it: I also send emails from the toilet.  And I’m not going to stop.  Now you’ll never know where I sent that email from – could be the elliptical machine, could be my desk, could be the can.)  On this particular occasion, when going for the flush I suddenly lost hold of my baby, and while my quick arm swat averted him from landing in the unflushed latrine, it propelled him to the floor at precisely the wrong angle.  His screen was left permanently scarred. 

(While the majority of my days with my berry these last few weeks have been spent with a completely white screen, when I went to take this picture, he of course pulled it together and showed a bit of his face.  Amazing what the limelight will do for people.  And things.)

Despite my efforts to resurrect him, his fate was terminal.  After a brief mourning period, I hopped onto the ATT website to check my upgrade eligibility.  Serendipitously, I was due for a new upgrade on October 7th - the first pre-order day for the iPhone 4S.  Free new iPhone?  I think that still fell into the spendthrift category, so I decided to make an exception and order the new guy.

He arrived on October 14th and we have been in love every since.

I even bought him a cute little jacket to keep him warm (and protect him from incidents such as the one with my previous baby).  His coat is from Kate Spade - aren't you proud, Mom?

xoxo

KK