A penny saved…

Okay, we all have spending weaknesses. For some people, it’s techno-gadgets, others it’s cell phone accessories. For me, purses could very well be the number one area. Not just evening purses but bags, satchels, totes - if it’s a bag, I may have interest in it.

I say may because my taste is very specific. And once I’m smitten with a purse, I fall hard. Denying that intense urge to buy is a challenge. And my eclectic taste always seems to gravitate towards items that cost more than I want to spend.

Skelanimals are a sort-of animish design line from the brain of Mitchell … and I love the boldness of the mostly monochromatic designs and they have a purse that I thought would be perfect. While the $55 price isn’t unreasonable, it is more than I budgeted for my latest purse indulgence.

Hence the Che Guevara bag which I found on sale for about $10. It has all the boldness of design that I was looking for and it speaks to my revolutionary heart.

While I know that I’ll long for the Skelanimals bag a little while longer, I’m already using Che and the newness soothes the loss of the purse dream. The one thing I’ve been relearning throughout this frugal process is that things don’t make your life. You don’t become any more interesting or intriguing long term via osmosis from neat stuff.

You, the choices you make and the person you decide to be, that is what’s inherently cool. You also last along longer than a cheapish bag made in China.

By the way, anyone know of any North America manufacturers (who still make stuff here) of cool products? I love to buy local where I can.