Oh, the Desire to Spend!

Most women encounter the temptation to spend when they see a dazzling pair of shoes or a trendy outfit. Not me. My closet will attest to the fact that I am overly frugal when it comes to my appearance. But let me walk into a office supply or stationary store and—look out! My wallet seems to jump into my hands and beg me to open it wide.
 
Today I salivated over the zip-up binders that hold a legal pad and oh, so much more. Do you know what these things run? I was thinking $10 or $15. Boy, was I wrong! One cute red leather one even had handles so it looked like a purse. And don’t even get me started on the computer bags!
 
But it isn’t just the higher end items that get me going. I could try a new pen every week. Or stapler. Or file folders. Highlighters. Post-it notes. Cute paper to print out all those holiday letters I never get around to writing. The list goes on and on.
 
This is not new, of course. I remember when I was a young mom and our MOPS leadership group, of which I was a part, had a retreat. We were given a “get to know you” sheet to fill out. One of the questions was “Where is your favorite place to shop?” Now this MOPS group met at a large church in a very affluent part of town, so answers mostly centered around the upscale malls. My answer? Half-price books. Ok, so that’s not “office supplies,” but books fall into the “paper” category. Paper and bags and all that go with them would, I guess, be a more accurate description of my fetish. So I’ll never be a fashion plate, but if my file folders match my computer bag, I’ll be happy.