Friday, January 15, 2010

My First Purchase

Last night marked my first purchase of this project. It included edible items that I can not puchase on Etsy. Don't worry it is coming. My purchase last night was for my husband. He is in PA school right now and was required to join the students association. Cost $25. I got the money from the ATM and also got him some study junk food. He is particularly fond of Monster energy drinks. However due to there lack of good nutrition and the cost, he only gets them on Mondays. We call them Monster Mondays. They were on sale, so I bought 2. I also bought him some doughnuts to bring to class and share for the early morning test that was scheduled. Total cost including cash, $36.48.

This purchase included
  1. requirements that are not available on Etsy, association dues
  2. pre-budgeted monsters 
  3. doughnuts
   While evaluating my purchase, I feel like I could have gotten some kind of doughnut item on Etsy instead of the store. They were Krispey Kreme, and therefore made in the USA. That is kinda good, because they would not have been shipped more than about 3000 miles.

Upon further research, I found some vegan marshmallows from Greencraftersforest. Although not doughnuts, they would have sufficed for my purpose for product and comparable price.
  • Cost for 8 doughnuts: $5.50 
  • Cost for 15 vegan marshmallows including eco friendly shipping: $11.00


They also would have required me to plan ahead. In her description she kindly announces the processing time of her wonderful treats. Therefore if I planned ahead, I would have been fine. Of course my doughnut purchase was a spur of the moment spending. But isn't that the point? To buy on Etsy means to stop quick purchases, and think about what your doing. So shame on me! As a result of this stumble, I have discovered a wide range of awesome snack/student food on Etsy. I will try to budget these in and replace my store bought studying/snack foods with Etsy ones.

The price is $5.50 higher. However, here is how I justify it. I will be saving quite a bit, by not buying spur of the moment items. However, I will always have to look ahead on the calender.  I feel like instead of buying 2 pieces of junk, I am buying one nice item.

In order to justify make up for my rookie behavior, I will purchase these marshmallows for my husband to take to class for his next test.

3 comments:

  1. Great blog idea, Jen! Many of the Christmas presents I bought this year were on Etsy, and they were wonderful! I know this will be a great experience for you and your family.

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  2. I think what you are doing is awesome and I am going to follow this site this year! I have actually thought of this myself, but having five kids, it seems almost impossible! You go girl!

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  3. I think what you are doing is great. I can see that with the proper planning this could also help keep the budget in check.

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