The Chronic Consumer

I picked up a couple of gossip magazines today while I was out grocery shopping. I usually don’t allow myself to buy these types of products, but since it’s been a long time since I last indulged, I decided to just go for it.

There was nothing out of the ordinary in either of the tabloids I bought. Just the usual stuff about Brad and Angelina having twins, speculation about who’s dating whom, hints about certain celebs that might need drug rehab, and lots of ads for beauty products and clothes that are supposed to make us regular people feel like stars.

Frankly, this was all stuff that I could have read on the Internet a long time ago, so I should have just saved my money!

I have a two-year-old Gateway laptop that doesn’t really deliver top-notch performance. I guess I can’t complain about that though, as I knew that spending less than $500 on a product like this wouldn’t get me very much. I didn’t mind back when I bought the computer because I didn’t need very much in the way of performance then. But things are different now, which is why I’m looking at making a few upgrades.

The first thing I want to do is increase my laptop memory by buying a new RAM card. I’m not sure what I’ve got right now, but my computer is s.l.o.w.

The next thing I want to buy is a better video card. My husband uses the laptop for gaming, and needs a video card that’s substantially better than what we have now.

And finally, I want to see if it would be worthwhile to upgrade the processor. I’ve heard that this can get expensive and might not be worth the cost in the end, but I still want to check it out.

Hopefully, these upgrades won’t set me back too much money. If they can improve my laptop and make it usable for a couple more years, then I’ll be satisfied!

If TV shows like Sex and the City are to be believed, every woman out there must have a passion for shoes. Wrong! I own fewer than five pairs of shoes at any given time, and I usually don’t care what brand they are. Admittedly, I bought leather Prada loafers on two different occasions, but that was back when I was working in an office job and needed to look presentable.

I need a new pair of shoes now, so I was checking some out this morning. Did you know that Prada makes sneakers?? I know this probably isn’t a new thing, but I’ve never really seen them before. I saw them on Amazon.com of all places, and was shocked to see that they’re on sale for $165.89 (down from a list price of $255.22).

First of all, who would pay that much for a pair of sneakers? I know from watching Entourage that certain brands of “kicks” by famous artists can go for several hundred dollars, but Prada certainly isn’t one of those sought after names. I think these are aimed at the real OC housewives or whatever, because I don’t know who else would want to wear them.

Take a look. Would you pay $165 for these things? I wouldn’t!