The cheapskate turns a new leaf

I am a cheapskate, but this fact has never bothered me. I'm not really someone who loves shopping for bargains; rather, I hate going shopping at all. I think part of it is because I've never had a ton of money, so shopping usually just depresses me. This also extends to other areas of life. I keep our house cold in the winter and warm in the summer. When my husband complains that it's freezing, I tell him what my dad always used to tell me: "Go put on a sweater."

Being a tightwad, I've never bought myself a diaper bag. When S was born, my mother gave me a very nice Land's End bag. I think it died around the time H was a few years old. So, I pulled out one of the free ones from the hospital and used that. Went through a few of those until they died as well. When the twins were born, somehow we missed the giveaways from the hospital. I was SO mad about this but by the time I realized it, it was the next day and how was I going to prove to the nurses that they hadn't given me the free stuff already? I didn't really want all of the baby magazines, but the free formula and diaper bags would definitely have come in handy.

So, I wiped down the old free bag and started using it again. With two babies, you can imagine it was rather full--like, I could never close it, it was so full. I hated digging for stuff all throughout the bag and never having what I needed right away. But I would have never suggested buying a new one. Cheapskates just don't do things like that.

For Christmas, lovely family members gave us cash (because A and I couldn't think of anything to ask for). Having cash that I *have* to use for fun is both a blessing and a burden. It's fun to buy things and not worry (or worry less) about how much they cost, but I usually have trouble spending the money. My husband will combine cash gifts on a big item like a new backpack for camping, or new hiking shoes, and be done in a day or so. I'll hold on to cash for months. This time around, though, I actually got a few nice things--cute shirts, jeans from a store other than Wal-mart, and a nice skirt.

One day A said to me, "You really should think about getting a real diaper bag." I almost answered back with my usual, "I don't need it; this one is just fine." But then I thought, "Hey--I have money to use, and that would actually be a great purchase." I did some research and really liked the looks (and consumer reviews) of Skip Hop bags. I almost got the Skip Hop Duo Deluxe but really liked the extra compartments in the Skip Hop Duo Double Deluxe (I know, could these names be any longer?). The $80 price tag gave me a lot of pause, but I finally did it. Behold, my first real diaper bag:
I almost got it in black, but I'm glad I went with "Uptown Stripe" instead. Yes, it's a big bag, but remember how I have five children? I needed a big bag. I feel like a new woman already.