Maternity Fashions for a Cheapskate

Ladies of the world, it's tough enough to create human life from nothing, but to do it while dressing stylishly on a budget was one of the biggest challenges of my bargainista life.

Problem 1: Maternity clothing is even worse than non-preggo clothing when it comes to variety for different body shapes. I'm starting to think that designers think that by slapping an elastic waist/belly panel on a pair of pants that makes it a universal fit for every pregnant lady out there. Not the case, I'm afraid. Finding pants was difficult enough when I was not with child due to my rather large and curvy boo-tay. That aforementioned boo-tay did not get any less curvy with the bun is in the oven. Unfortunately many of the baby-oven pants I tried were not proportioned for my ample behind.  Also can someone please explain to me why 90% of non-solid tops are horizontal stripes of varying widths?  Talk about putting an equator around you when perhaps you'd rather not!

The only way around this one is to look everywhere and frequently.  I found one excellent second hand store in my area that carries maternity clothing and I found many excellent items there to fit my office wardrobe and my cozy wardrobe alike.  The Target clearance rack was also a decent source for my maternity needs.  I was able to find some good items for my office wardrobe that also carried over to my nursing wardrobe.  (The nursing wardrobe is another story altogether!)

Problem 2: Short ladies have babies, too! And not all of us want to wear tops that come down to our knees and pants that pool around the feet.  Yet another problem with maternity clothing is proportions. A petite lady doesn't just have short legs, our proportions are shorter from shoulder to bust (we'll get to the bra situation later!), bust to waist, waist to hips, hips to feet. It was challenging to find tops that showcased the bump, were long enough to cover the stretch panel on my preggo pants, but not so long that my leg line is completely lost under the top.

The solution to this was simply trying on nearly everything before purchase, and that meant a lot of time in a dressing room.  I recommend setting aside a few hours of time, a couple of times during pregnancy so you can cope with belly size as it increases.  Once each trimester is probably a good number of times to shop for maternity wear.  Beware of online buying for tops and bottoms.  Every brand is a little different in cut and size, particularly pants.

Problem 3: Bras. This is a gripe I have in my non-preggo life as well. There just aren't enough supportive AND cute bras for us ladies that are bigger than a c-cup. During this baby oven adventure I've grown beyond the capacity of the bra I've been loyal to for the past years - Body by Victoria. Finding a new breast-friend was difficult. I did manage to find something supportive with a fairly good fit after a massive search at a few large department stores. Much to my bargainista dismay the bras that worked for me were $65 EACH!  But I have learned that sometimes paying full price is worth it for a good quality undergarment.

The solution here?  Suck it up and get what your girls need.  I have to admit that the more expensive bras are worth it for me.  I'm an F-cup so my choices are far more restricted that ladies that fall into the marketed "normal" sizes for busts.  In the nursing bra department I've found that Anita style 5068 is my favorite and will be sticking with this until this season of mothering is done.  The band has a nice triple hook, the shoulder straps cinch up to petite proportions, it's very comfortable and easy to maneuver for feeding baby.

Last advice...never be afraid to ask for a handout!  I had a few wonderful girlfriends pass on their wonderful maternity items to me.  Nothing like some free clothing!  I managed to make it through this pregnancy only investing about $300 in maternity clothing to wear to the office and for comfort wear.  It's possible to be fabulous and frugal.  

Road Rage Rant

Hey people, you know those things on your car on the side of each of your lights that blink to indicate which direction your crazy ass is going next? Those are called TURN SIGNALS and they exist for a reason. That reason is to let the rest of us on the road know where you are going next so that we don't have an accident on the road. The car manufacturers place these conveniently by the steering wheel of the car (where our hands should always be!) so that we can reach them when the time comes to change lanes or slow down to make a turn. USE THE FUCKING THINGS!

Also, stop signs are not a suggestion, they are the law. So come to a fucking stop and take your fucking turn ass napkins. Is 5 seconds really going to make a difference?

Credit Cards are the Devil

To everyone listening...please quit using credit cards! Credit cards and high interest debt are ruining the middle class in America. Please everyone think about what is really important and if you don't have enough cash to buy something consider if it is really something you NEED. Carrying a balance to any credit cards completely inhibits the ability to build real wealth. Spending only what you have to spend is a very liberating feeling.

A Plea to Victoria's Secret

Last week temperatures in my area were at record lows. In the negatives in the mornings and single digits during the day. But despite this killer cold and school closings and poor road conditions, there was one thing that could be counted on - the US Postal Service.

I arrived home from work that day and checked the mail as usual to discover not one, not two, not even a mere three, but FOUR, yes FOUR DIFFERENT Victoria's Secret catalogs waiting for me. It's bad enough that I typically receive two or three catalogs from VS each week (all of which end up in the garbage anyway), but getting four in the same day has convinced me that VS is being run by wasteful morons that also have no sympathy for the diligent postal worker. That poor guy had to be outside walking from house to house in sub-zero temperatures, no doubt delivering very important correspondence to other folks, but not my house, no, the only items delivered to my house that day were those four catalogs and some other wasteful marketing materials. Not one bit of remotely necessary mail was delivered that day. I felt terrible for the postman.

Victoria's Secret - Please stop sending all these catalogs! They are a waste of paper and the human energy required to produce them. One catalog a month would be more than sufficient for this consumer. And I'm sure the postman would appreciate the load of crap off of his back.

Why I Love Ann Taylor Loft

Ann Taylor Loft is my favorite store ever and here's why:

1. Every time I walk in a Loft store I'm verbally greeted by a pleasant sales associate that's usually doing actual work, like folding knits or straightening up in general. I shop a LOT. I mean, it's like a sport to me, so I encounter a lot of sales people in a variety of different retail flavors, but ladies apparel is what I'm typically on the hunt for. In other stores I frequent (that shall for the time being remain nameless) there are usually sales associates visible, but it's rare that anyone approaches you to offer assistance, and if a sales associate is not around and you have to track someone down, rarely do they seem enthused about assisting you. From offering to locate a different size when I'm in the fitting room, to locating items at other stores I've always found the sales associates at the Loft to be cheerful and helpful.
2. Shopping online is as easy as shopping in the store. In the past I've been hesitant to order clothing online because it can be difficult to return for whatever reason. I tend to try on anything before I buy it. This most important shopping rule saves me a LOT of time and a LOT of money. Now that I am very familiar with the cuts and fits of Loft's clothing I've started checking out their web store. Often there is an internet deal out there, so it can be even better value than hitting the store. Shipping charges are quite reasonable, and since you can return items to the brick & mortar stores, returning is simple and efficient.
3. Loft has clothing that fits women with real bodies. I never understood why when the average woman in America (that means a big market segment clothing designers!) is size 14 (likely indicating that we've got some curves and are not built like planks)and 5 foot 4 inches tall, much of the clothing available in stores is made for stick women that are 6 feet tall. God bless you if you are built like that, but the fact is that most women aren't and we'd like to have stylish clothing too! I'm a huge fan of Loft petite sizes. Being a curvy girl that is exactly average at the present moment, I cannot tell you how difficult it has been to find pants that are correctly proportioned.
4. Excellent Value and Quality. I'm a cheapskate. In the past 5 years I can only recall two instances of paying full price for an apparel item in a non-discount type of store. Growing up, my mother was a manager of a discount retail clothing store so I was trained to shop on sale racks and in discount stores for designer duds. Loft's retail prices are quite reasonable, and the sales are fantastic! One of my favorite promotions are those $25 savings cards - it's a brilliant promotion that always brings me back for more shopping. Every piece of clothing I've purchased from the Loft has held up wonderfully wash after wash, wear after wear.

What is it with Dry Cleaners??

Why is it that no dry cleaner in the world (except those one price for every piece ones) can provide customers with a price list for services? I've been searching for a dry cleaner in my area that has reliable alteration services and NO ONE can give me any price list for different services! How do I know that they are charging me the same as the guy behind me in line? Am I crazy to want to know what I'm going to pay when I pick up my garments?!?!

Laundry Steaming Magic

Most people don't know that I am a freak when it comes to only one household chore - the laundry. I love doing the laundry. Sorting, washing, drying, hanging, folding, ironing...all of these things are my favorite domestic chores. If I could make a really good living by doing other people's laundry I'd seriously consider it as a career. I know, nuts, right?

About a month ago the wild idea entered my mind to purchase a clothing steamer. I'd used them when I worked in a clothing store and LOVED the way a steamer makes wrinkles fall out of clothing; always wanted one of my own. Irons are great and my iron is wonderful and I love it, but with delicate fabrics like silks and fine knits an iron can do more harm than good. After much online research and brand/model comparison I chose a Jiffy Steamer. There were a few reasons that Jiffy won out over the other brands: 1- Made in the USA, 2- Lots of positive feedback from various customer review websites, and 3- lots of product information available on the Jiffy's website including the manual for the steamer.

It was a little like torture waiting for the steamer to arrive, but thanks to Amazon.com the wait was short. (I think it only took 2 days!) It was SUPER easy to assemble and get started steaming right away. I'd been saving up clothes from the last batch of laundry so there was plenty to test it out with. It heated up in around 90 seconds and steam spewed forth as advertised and I made my way through several tops steaming away. I love my new steamer and would recommend a Jiffy steamer to anyone in the market for a better way to care for their launrdy!

I Hate Proflowers.com

I love a good boycott. The fact is that businesses will never change bad customer service practices as long as the business is still making a profit. So here's my first official Nightmare Consumer Boycott - Proflowers.com! Decide for yourself, feel free to join me.

I recently had the happy opportunity to send flowers to some friends to celebrate a joyous occasion. After hearing many many Proflowers.com commercials on Sirius radio I thought I'd check it out. Went to the site, found that ordering was fairly standard, prices were fair, so I placed my order. Let the spamming begin.

Here's the trouble - I must have received at least a dozen spam emails from Proflowers.com since my order! I didn't get any special discounts when I ordered, everything was paid for, I didn't opt in to any sort of marketing offers! Why are these guys sending me emails day after day???

So for anyone out there that finds themselves in need of floral delivery services, if you want your inbox clogged with spam from Proflowers.com, try them out. For my future flower needs, I'll be sticking with 1800flowers.com.

I Love Robots

A brief introduction to myself: I'm a horrible housekeeper. There are certain chores I enjoy, but the down and dirty work of keeping a house is like torture for me. I've been this way my entire life, and it isn't going to change. When I was a little girl and my bedroom was super messy and my mother would get to the end of her rope and ask me "What are you going to do when you grow up and have to keep an whole house clean!?!?!?" I would answer her "I'll have a maid!". She would get even more frustrated at that answer. Luckily that little prediction of mine did come true and I'm forever grateful for the various housekeepers that have helped keep my house clean and sanitary over the years. There are a few things I don't expect my housekeepers to do and that includes mopping floors. There were many months that the tile floors in my home were neglected.

And then I met Scooba.

Scooba is a robot that mops your floors! Scooba was introduced to me by my husband. He showed me an online video demonstration of the Scooba in action. At first it looked way too good to be true. A robot that vacuums, scrubs, and dries the floor. Could it really work as well as it is advertised? Always the skeptic, I had to do a little more research. Turns out that iRobot not only makes robots that perform dreaded household chores, they also make robots for the military! Robots that cab detect mines, bombs, and perform other dangerous tasks in place of a human. I thought if the military trusts iRobots enough to use them to help save soldiers' lives, I can certainly give them a try to keep my floors clean!

So I placed my order. In addition to the robot I went ahead and ordered some extra parts and a case of the special cleaning fluid. The robot arrived a few days later and the fun began!

It was very easy to get started with Scooba. The instructions are very well written and the robot is very user friendly. I was able to set Scooba to work within an hour of being unpacked. It was amazing to watch it go around my ceramic tile kitchen floor scrubbing away. About 45 minutes later Scooba was finished and my floors were amazingly brighter. I couldn't believe it! When I emptied the tank of dirty water what came out was nothing short of disgusting. Thanks Scooba for cleaning all of that up!

Scooba has been cleaning my floors for over 2 years at this point. It's required very little maintenance and is probably my favorite housekeeping purchase ever. If you are looking for a floor mopping solution I highly recommend iRobot's Scooba line of floor cleaning robots.