With Your Own Money

Do you remember your first clothing purchase? The very first article of clothing that you ever bought “with your own money”? I do!

I remember that it was 1977 and I was working at a small variety store in our little town called Cornets. Remember that store? It was what Wal-Mart or Target is now, a place where you could find anything from baby clothes to candy, patterns and fabric to rakes and brooms, women’s underwear and motor oil!

I was working there part-time while I attended Bakersfield College where I was earning my Associates Degree in accounting even though I am the worst mathematical mind in the history of numbers…but that is another story for another time!

There was a small clothing store in Shafter, right on main street, called Johnson’s Department Store. It was a very fancy store in my eyes and I would go in there often with my mom and just look around. One day I saw a sweater and I fell in love. This sweater, it was no big deal, nothing unusual or fabulous about it, the only reason it stood out for me is that it was pink and I loved pink and I had never owned anything of my own that was pink (my mom’s fav color was red, so my closet abounded with red clothing).



The Sweater was almost identical to this one.



The sweater was $34.99…a fortune in those days. I tried it on and swooned when I caught my reflection in the mirror and saw how drop dead gorgeous I was in pink! But I knew my parents couldn’t afford it so I told my mom that it didn’t fit or I didn’t like it…some excuse, I don’t remember now. But I dreamed of that sweater off and on for weeks. I was drawn to it every time that I went back to the store. Obviously I was the only one enamored of this sweater since week after week it was still there!

One day while visiting and lovingly fondling my sweater I saw a sign that said “ASK US ABOUT OUR FREE LAY-AWAY PLAN”. So I asked and was amazed to realize that for a mere $5.00 I could have them place the sweater in their lay-away bin and I could come back each week on payday and give them another $5.00 and once the balance was paid I would own my sweater! I was beyond happy to know that finally my beloved sweater would be mine, so I put that puppy on lay-away!

Every Friday I faithfully went in and paid the $5.00 and in just a few short weeks, about 8 of them, that sweater belonged to me. I was so proud of myself and so happy to have something so gorgeous hanging in my closet there amongst all the red clothing my mom had bought for me!

I went back to Johnson’s Department Store after that and continued to put clothes on lay-away for a few years until I switched jobs to a Montgomery Wards Store and they gave me a credit card…it was all downhill from there, you know how it is once you get into credit card debt! But I always remember how proud I was of myself for being able to buy my own clothes and not having to rely on my parents, it was a great feeling! Do you remember the first thing you ever bought “with your own money”? How did it make you feel