Deep in Debt to Debt-Free: It’s A Crystal Affair

I am writing this next part of our story as it still involves my experience with attempting to be the perfect new housewife with the perfect new home.

We left you in our story of us getting deeper in debt – we had arrived home and in the first three weeks of our marriage, we were already up to $21,700 in debt, with really no thought of what on earth we were doing.

Last we left you, we also told you about our attempt to furnish our apartment with what we thought we needed NOW and NEW.

Well the story did not end with a few thousand dollars in new furniture and a $1,200 Target bill for miscellaneous stuff! No, I sat in our apartment at the end of that third week still trying to figure out what we were missing.

And then I figured it out – we were missing our remaining crystal! By my own selfish admission, I had dreamed of having a case filled with fine crystal and seeing these crystal pieces entertain and delight guests and make for quite a crystal affair! Oh what a dream….. and that is how it should have stayed! In fact, we registered for a set of crystal – enough for 8 people.

Before we dive into the crystal story fully, let me take you back to our honeymoon! Do you remember it?  Well, I certainly do! I remember the lovely walks up and down the beach boardwalks of the Oregon Coast, as we walked and talked and dreamed about our new life together, when all of the sudden, what did my wandering eyes see?! A beautiful Swavorski crystal rose lighting up a boardwalk shop window!

It is so sweet to receive a single rose from someone you love, but even sweeter to receive a single crystal rose! Al jumped to the occasion by the excitement springing from my step and my gaze. He rushed into this little shop and  purchased that single crystal rose.

In fact, it is a perfect replica of the one you see below.  I chuckle because we were told it was a collector’s item that would gain value – funny that its selling for just a few dollars more ($210) than we paid over 11 years ago.  What a fine investment as well as one of the reasons we needed that loan on our honeymoon.  It was a romantic gesture and especially one that really made me fond of crystal.

So three weeks later, I sat at home wondering what it would take to complete that crystal glass set that we most certainly needed if we were going to be any sort of decent host. We had received around half of the 8-person crystal sets (we had received around 24 of the total 48 pieces needed for 8 people), which would have been enough for 4 guests. But my mind wandered asking myself those important questions – what if we were hosting a party for 6, 7 or even 8 total people?  Surely it would be so rude to not serve everyone with the same exact crystal piece (and guess how many times we have actually used this set? Well…not hardly any in 11 years, we don’t want to risk them breaking – they just sit in their pretty glass case :0)!

So off we scooted to The Bon Marche’ (now Macey’s) to find out what it would take to finish this set.

The sales ladies could see us coming from several miles away.  Al wasn’t yet convinced it was a necessary purchase, but with the help of those sales ladies, we would convince him otherwise!

In fact they were so good at convincing – they pulled out that registry and proceeded to make a list of other “necessary” items that were still on our registry.  How?  Well, first they let us know of a special “gift” they give newlyweds!  For that one day, we would get a 20% discount if we ordered any remaining items off our registry. Ooooooo – a sale!  I just couldn’t pass up the idea that I could complete my home AND save money at the same time!

So, at the top of that list was the remaining pieces to the crystal set.  The sales ladies explained with such charm and caring tones just how important it was to finish our set now (don’t forget they are on sale!) as these sets were limited edition and our specific design would be gone forever if we didn’t buy them now.  Interestingly enough, from just a few quick searches online I was able to find sales on our “limited edition”, never-to-be-found again crystal sets.

But I bet you couldn’t guess that I was convinced! We needed all of this stuff now: we would get a discount and we would be able to complete the crystal set for 8 people before the design was gone forever. “It was a wise investment” I convinced myself and Al into thinking. The sales ladies were confident and assured us we were making a very wise decision as well.

So add to the tab the rest of the crystal set at an average of $15 a piece for around 24 pieces = $360 and approximately another $380 in more bathroom towels, rugs, accessories and other household items equaling $740.  BUT please, don’t think we were unwise – you would have unless you forgot about our 20% discount which left us only spending another $600 more in “stuff” while making our house into a home – umm, err, increasing our debt load to $22,300.

If only we had stopped there…

If you’re new to the series or just want to catch up, we encourage you to check out our whole Deep in Debt to Debt Free series! Here’s those articles!

• Part I: The Newly Unthrifty Couple
• Turning Our Apartment Into an Unthrifty Home
• It’s A Crystal Affair
• The Show Me Just How Much Debt We Can Get Into State
• The Most Insane Way to Buy a Car
• Our Seven Debtly Sins of Eating Out
• One Year Later and Our First House
• Will This Business Get Us Out of Trouble?
• Why Didn’t This Couple Realize What They Were Doing?
• The Baby that Saved Us Financially

• The Unsuccessful Coupon Couple

• You Want Us to Eat What?