This is Just How it Works. Part One.

So yesterday I made some silly post about how I am on hiatus and now I have something to write about because I am SO cool like that.

Quick insight: as I've mentioned before, Spencer and I seem to be getting a better and better handle on our finances ironically enough in this time of massive recession and economic collapse. Our first Christmas as a married couple looks as if there are going to be one or two more surprises than I originally anticipated and the prospect of buying a car is becoming more likely to happen sooner than I also originally anticipated (maybe even before winter is over? maybe...)

And we do this by budgeting, how else?
20% of our income goes into savings. We use them for Christmas gifts, saving up for a car, and funds for future vacationing... And that's basically it.
We do put 5% of our income into separate savings accounts, 5% each, that we are allowed to spend on anything we want, as long the other isn't absolutely against it.
I would like to set up even more strict budgets to help pay off debts faster, but as of right now, we are doing swell.
I know that we spend, on average about $450/month on groceries/food. Is that a lot? But other than bills and food and trax money, we don't often buy much else. Once in awhile we go out to eat or go to the movies, and rather than buying DVD's so often we'll instead utilize our county library and Netflix, or even just the internet for entertainment.

Spencer has saved up his allowance from the start, I think he's bought a video game with it, but whatever he's saving up for, I hope it's worth it. Or maybe he's just one of those lucky kids who doesn't feel like they need everything they see in a store to make them happy.

Just the opposite of me. Well, not really. Limitation broadens my mind. That is my motto. However, I have had the hardest time saving up my allowance past one consecutive deposit. Every time something is added, I somehow find something I need to get right away!

This time it is two things. This is the first.

One: A Clothing Rack.
The Toss Up: Wide and classically commercial? Or do I go for a updated, made-for-home model?
The contenders:
This above rack is $50. It's your standard commercial clothing rack. It's about as tall as me and its width ranges from about 50 inches to 70. Lovely.
Pros:
-$50, also available in stores (which is so nice as S&H is something like $16)
-quality rubber wheels
-adjustable width, goes really wide
-sturdy build (I use two of them in my store, and tons at the headquarters)

Cons:
-Space hog, even when extension bars are retracted
-No subtlety: everything hangs in the open (but hey, hanging up, on the floor, when are my clothes NOT in the open?!)

Now we have the competition:
This above rack is lovely as well.
Pros:
-Less of a space hog (I don't have THAT many clothes I need to find more space for)
-Top shelf can be a new home to my vintage hats and other accessories that just float from spot to spot in my room
-Bottom shelf can be home to my in-season shoes**
-Structure lends itself to sewing a curtain-like cover for the whole shebang. Yes, yes, I could buy the canvas cover for $30 more but you and I know I could whip up a much more attractive cover than that and with the yards and yards of fabric that plague my sewing dresser.

Cons:
-Steeper $70 price tag, PLUS it's not available in store so we're looking at a grand total of nearly $90. Jeez.
-Caster wheels look kinda crappy.

So that's my dilemma. Walmart and Amazon both have the first rack, and both are priced higher. Amazon doesn't have the second rack, and while Walmart does, it's only $5 cheaper, still not available in stores, and it's from Walmart.

I'm kind of leaning toward the second rack just because of the shelves and the curtain-making possibility. But for $40 more than the first? It's a hard decision to make. I'll probably end up going with it though, because in the long run, it has more of what I need.

**the whole point of getting this new rack is to efficiently separate my seasonal/special clothing and keep searching and tornado-ing at a minimum