Smart and practical

Dear reader,

Have made a nest for myself on the sofa with throws, tissues, menthol rub and tablets.
After 4 days of wearing pj's and being curled up like a hamster I am now felling better.
I have been doing a lot of reading online, blogs, news and the like.

I read with interest the article in Daily Mail online about the crops that are not harvested and the vegetables that are discarded as they are not the right size, shape or colour. Not beautiful enough!
Frugal Queen is rightly furious as well as I saw on her blog.
It got me to thinking about looks and how some people judge on looks alone.

I had a conversation with an old friend the other evening. She is very label conscious. Channel handbags as £2500 a go, specific face cream which I think is about £100 plus a go, you get the picture.
I was at her house one evening some years ago and had on a cheap top. She asked where it was from and to test her i said it was Karen Millen. She loved it and wanted to try it on.....when I laughed and confessed it was from some cheap top she totally went off it.
Now I am all for enjoying your money but to disregard something because the name is not right is just pathetic. I suppose these sort of people feel better when they say, "Oh this bag is by (insert some designer name with £2k price).
Does it make me a failure if I am not sporting the latest bag, trainers, shoes or car?
Do people look at you differently if you wear designer stuff?

When I told her that big man and I had bought a nice house in a nice place(too rural for her) she sounded a bit miffed and asked if we had won the lottery.
No, we don't do the lottery for a start. We saved and saved. We went without. No meals out, no holidays, no booze, no new clothes. We lived on a budget and we did free things on our days off.
We went for walks and went exploring. We got really lost one day and had to walk for miles to get home. It was fun though and it was free fun.
She didn't sound that happy my old friend and that hurt. We were friends in an old life and we haven't seen each other for over a year. I guess we are on different paths now and that's fine.

I don't mind spending money on quality that will last. I bought some black leather winter boots in 2008 for about £300 because I knew they would last and they have. I wear them loads and they will last another 5 years at least. They are not high fashion just smart and practical.

That's a good description for us frugalies, we are not interested in whether its beautiful enough or who it's made by as long as it does the job.

SMART and PRACTICAL

Have a good day

Sarah. X