(Sh)opportunities

I’m about to take a little trip to the Eddie Bauer Outlet for what Brian would call a shopportunity. A shopportunity as defined according to Brian is: 

Shop-por-tun-ity: Noun. A chance that women (namely Ashley) take whenever the opportunity arises to shop for clothes, shoes, accesories, housewares etc.

This particular adventure is built around Brian’s winter wardrobe. I think (he does not, but that is irrelevant) that he needs a couple warm and durable long sleeve button ups. I want them to suitable for work, dates, and church. I have already made a scouting trip (see footnote for explanation) to see which shirt at said outlet fits this description.

It’s important when talking about shopportunities to differentiate between impulse buys. I do not, under any circumstance, make impulse purchases. I am about to offend some people here, but if you make impulse buys often (not occasionally but often) you need to work on some self-control issues. I’m not hatin’. I’m just sayin’.

The difference is this: An impulse buy is characterized not by how you buy something so much as what you buy. If you buy something you absolutely did not need or know you had need of previous to making the purchase, that is an impulse buy. A shopportunity is characterized by buying something you needed/planned to get eventually but the opportunity had not previously presented itself.

Oh, and there’s another factor that makes a shopportunity different from an impulse buy. You have the money for it in your budget. Brian and I have some Dave Ramsey (a Christian finance guru) action going on at our place. It’s commonly referred to as the “envelope system.” 

Here’s how it works: You have envelopes for your expenditures like food, gas, clothing, date night, hair cuts, etc. You get the picture. And when you buy something that falls into an envelope category you put the receipt in the envelope.

This was not easy for me at first because I hate receipts. But Brian is better with balancing the budget than I am so I tuck them in my wallet dutifully and bring them home to their envelope. This helps us know at any point during a given month if we are over or under budget. So today, I double checked the clothing envelope to make sure my shopportunity was permissible. And it is so I’m going to jump on it before school lets out and the teenagers take over the mall.

*A Scouting Trip is the trip before the shopportunity where you stalk (i.e. look at, touch, maybe even try on) your desired purchase to gauge how much or if at all you really need the item.