Stupid Purchases in Recent Memory

Approx. 100 pieces of miscellaneous restaurant china (I won an ebay auction of like 4 pieces and pretty much bought all the extras they had) (It should be known that I already had at least 5 full sets of dishes, possible more that are packed away somewhere.)

A full set of 50s Aztec-y print dishes I have yet to unwrap

Another two (smaller) lots of restaurant ware

A Y2K canned good stockpile that filled 3 30-gallon Rubbermaid bins

And at least 20 gallons of water

Two and three each of several dresses from Delia's that are really too tight for me to wear, on the presumption that I will get into shape & they're so cute, practical, and cheap that I'd better stock up

A kiddie G.I. Joe sleeping bag

An average of one pair every 3 months of shoes that don't actually fit me but that I won't admit don't fit me and which I never wear more than once

Dozens of tins of really grody tasting cookies, purchased for the funny pictures on the tins

Two packages of tiny dolly heads and hands:

20 packages of chopsticks with various irresistible designs on them

40 packages of Charmin Ultra (although recently, I learned that I use an average of 4 rolls a week--!--so it's less than a year's supply)

14 of those vacuum storage bags, although I only had enough stuff to fill 4

5 each of 4 different action figures I don't actually collect,
because they were on sale

10 each of several different Xena action figures, because they were $3 each

4 or 5 leopard print sheets that are the wrong size for my bed

10 different yoga videos, 7 or which I've never actually used

Three wildly expensive baskets & liners, although I have no need for or interest in baskets,
simply because I was at a basket party & I'm crazy about the kooky party sales pitches

Five 2- and 3-year subscriptions to magazines I neither want nor read (Jane, Paper, etc.), because the kid came to my door and wouldn't shut up..

12 Cooking.com Christmas stockings filled with utensils and fancy candy, which is at least partially responsible for my current swollen state (I'll actually use the stockings, which are very plush, this Christmas), because they were on clearance

(Put pretty much anything on clearance and I'll buy it.)

An extra service for 8 of flatware

$40 of canning supplies and accessories,
although I haven't canned anything in two years and didn't even plant a garden this year

Paper dolls of LBJ & family, JFK & family, Ronald Reagan, the Clintons, and the Nixons.

10 different Kong-type rubber goodie toys that the dogs don't even really like

50 cans of plum tomatoes

12 packages of invitations to a luau I will never have

6 bikinis I've never worn (last summer was a good year for bikini-buying--they all still have their tags)

6 packages of 24 chocolate dessert shells I still haven't used

Dozens and dozens of bottles of nail polish. I only paint my toenails,
and even those only about every couple weeks max.

20 boxes of tampons. I'll certainly use them eventually, but really.

About 20 landscape plants a year
that I either don't actually plant or that I plant too late; either way, they die

50 life-size fake doves

14 metal shelves from IKEA I've yet to put up a year later

23 containers of glitter

57 packages of rickrack, and more recently, 14 rolls of oversized pink chenille rickrack

4 complete sets of those cute vintage Tupperware flip-top creamers & sugars

Pretty much anything that's ever been offered as a FREEbate from Walgreens, Eckerds, or Office Max

34 refrigerator dishes, half of which I don't have room to display

And let's not even get into all the stuff I bought several years ago
when Mike and I decided we were going to open an online junk store
(although if we ever actual do, it'll be rad)

Okay, that's all I'm willing to admit to from the past.

But while I'm at it, I just have to point out that I've never purchased anything from the Franklin Mint, and the only time I ever bought anything from the Home Shopping Channel was a leopard print fake fur purse/muff combination that was totally cute and which I traded to my mom when I got tired of it.

--and that Suzanne, who is the most fiscally responsible person I know, bought a $500 Monopoly set from the Franklin Mint when she was working as either a bartender or a bookkeeper & was totally broke. So even the loftiest may fall.