My husband the shopaholic...

Most men don't like to shop. My hubby, however is the exception. It's my fault really, because the bargain hunter in me really woke up something in him. At first, he was too busy with his buddies to go shopping. Then we moved back to my hometown here in Maine.

That, my folks, is when the shopping began. I made the mistake of introducing him to a discount store called Marden's. (which actually has several stores throughout the state)It is a kind of surplus type of store-let's say your favorite mall is hit by a tornado. Buyers from Marden's rush to the scene and make a bid on the goods. So basically, it is a surplus and salvage type store.

The man can actually spend HOURS walking around in Marden's looking at things. From tools, to furniture, to everything in between-he is never bored. Considering the inventory is constantly changing, that probably is a good thing. On payday he will go to cash his check. Several hours later, he will appear. A smile on his face, and a bag from Marden's in his hot little hands. Their motto is "You should have bought it when you saw it at Mardens." A couple of times, hubby waited a few weeks for something he really wanted. It was a wonderful display of will power on his part. Unfortunately said items were no longer available, and hubby now buys it when he sees it at Mardens. Doesn't matter that he may not need it.

Like the 155 pairs of women's shoes he bought by the bagful for $1 a bag. Great deal, the shoes were out on the sidewalk sale and quite ugly by my standards but with designer names and in the $50 price range each he had eager clerks scouring those shelves for him and filling bag after bag. Probably about $30 spent. Lucky for him, he has sisters. That pallet of machetes... sure, it was a great deal for about 20 bucks. Currently they are sitting in my back yard, rusting after the winter snow and spring rains had penetrated through the boxes. It seemed like a great idea at the time... or so he thought.

Then there was the JC Penney super spree. I've never seen anything like it. They had marked clothing down to .97 and hubby was scooping up racks of clothing and bringing it to the checkout. (that was one time I cursed them for not having carts) Finally, after he decided he'd had enough, we brought the rest of the purchases to the counter. The registers at JCP are notoriously slow for updating and putting in the sale prices. Especially with the volume of clothing he'd gotten. I felt bad for the clerk, I really did. By then, a crowd of women had assembled and were watching with interest. Either they thought I was a very lucky woman with a whole new wardrobe, or they were just astonished to see a man enjoy shopping.

It took her about an hour to check us out, and another 15 minutes of waiting for the register to finally catch up with the total. I held my breath. Hubby waited, JCP card in hand. The clerk bent down and began slowly folding up the receipt. The total of the merchandise was a little over $400.00. I groaned, thinking about the upcoming bill we'd have to pay. Then the clerk announced to the waiting crowd that this gentleman had just saved over three thousand dollars by buying all of these items on clearance. Someone started clapping and then the whole group joined in. A man patted hubby on the back and praised him for a good job. Hubby looked like the cat who just swallowed a canary, a smug look on his face. I just rolled my eyes and told him we needed to get the heck out of there, lest strange women start following us home eager to get a piece of the action. (not that action, but a free outfit or something lol)

Sigh...yesterday was payday. He went to Marden's alone. He still hadn't picked up our daughter from childcare and I was getting worried. Today, he buttered me up with a Subway breakfast sandwich. I knew what was coming. A trip to Marden's was in my future. Sure enough, he popped the question. We headed to Marden's and I told him I'd wait in the car. Lucky for me, he was quick-he made his purchase and got the heck out. As he got into the car, I heard him humming the catchy Marden's tune. Today, he bought it when he saw it... at Marden's. That should tide him over just fine... until about this time next week.

(for those interested, today the Shopping King bought a wired Xbox 360 game controller)