lay-by is your friend

Oh lay-by. You're an under-hyped marvel of life.

I put this bag on lay-by when I was at the height of my Christmas-ridiculous-hours-induced-wealth, but was unable to justify the purchase of a $500 handbag when I'd bought another in the same price range a day ago on eBay (another friend, although a more demanding one.)

Arguably I should not have put it on lay-by at all, since it might seem somewhat excessive to buy two expensive black handbags in a single week. As usual, however, I'm able to justify this excess: I'd just had to retire two equally pricey bags purchased several years earlier that were now showing the signs of daily use and lack of leather treatment cream. Rather than wear them to death, I prefer to retire accessories I love so they don't get destroyed and can still be brought out for special occasions. The retirement necessitated a new round of recruits - and fortunately MimCo was happy to oblige.

I love the zip top styles they make - not the button range though, I won't even get started on that one except for that one snide comment - because they're big and tough and have lovely leather and lovely lining. Previously I'd only seen this style in the rose gold finish, which doesn't really do it for me. So I walked past this at David Jones and had a minor moment of ecstacy, then panic when I realised I had no money due to the other bag-shaped purchase of a few days earlier.

The solution? Lay-by! It makes expensive investment pieces affordable even if you're as awful with your money as I am. It also helps shopping crushes turn into shopping love - I swear when you have to wait you appreciate it a whole lot more.

It's gone out of fashion lately - I suspect because the major department stores now have their own credit cards so they want you to rack up interest repayments and fees instead of slowly putting in the money in your unprofitable savings account. Both David Jones and Myer both charge fairly exorbitant fees for lay-by - I think about $10 - which seems like a poor justification for "service fee" when none of the floor staff know how to put a payment through, and it takes them about 20 minutes to retrieve your parcel.

Anyway, I've decided it will experience a rebirth in my life as one way towards fiscally-responsible fashion.