A Frugal Girl tries to spend money | Month #2

You may remember that last month, I bought a variety of things, but I did not spend my entire $100 budget.

part of my fun money purchases last month!

And I rolled the extra $26 over into October’s fun money budget. 

Well, this month, I spent the entire budget in one single place. 😉 

Now that I have completed RN school and am free from the piercing restrictions we have to abide by during clinical rotations, I thought it would be fun to get a second earlobe piercing. 

Apparently, going to Claire’s in the mall and getting pierced with a piercing gun is less than ideal (news to all of us who grew up in the 1980s!!)

My original Claire’s ear piercings from the 1980s

In case you were also in the dark about why:

• piercing guns can’t be properly sterilized
• they cause more trauma to the tissue than a needle
• the earrings used in them are not sharp enough to make a clean puncture
• the butterfly backs used for piercing gun earrings are not as good for healing as the flat backs
• piercing gun studs come in one length, but with a needle piercing, the piercer can choose the appropriate length for your particular ear, also allowing room for post-piercing swelling 

(You can read some details on all of that here.)

All that said, my first earlobe piercing was done at Claire’s, and it went just fine. So, I dunno; it might have been ok to go there again.

But as a whole adult, I decided to pay more and get the proper experience. There was a great guy that my girls have gone to before (and he is also the one I went to for help fixing the botched mall nose piercing I got.) He was the dedicated piercer at the tattoo studio he owned, but he recently retired. BOO. 

from 2016, right before my nose surgery. My goodness, that’s almost ten years ago!!

I considered going to Rowan, which is a chain of stores that employs nurses to do to the piercings, presumably ensure the process is sterile.

But for a pair of tiny plain gold ball studs, Rowan wanted $78, plus $58 for the needle piercing, plus whatever you tip.

So, I went to a little tattoo parlor with a stellar reputation.

On my way to get my ears pierced. Coat from eBay, inspired by Elisabeth of Optimistic Musings

The piercer there was obviously quite experienced, and she took a lot of time figuring out the right placement and the right stud length for each earlobe.

It’s been a very long time since I got pierced with a piercing gun, so I can’t make a great comparison, but I will say that the needle-piercing process is only mildly painful.

With the tip added in, I used up my entire $126 October budget. So, it wasn’t a whole lot cheaper than going to Rowan.

But I do like that my fun money went entirely to a local business instead of to a chain of stores.

Verdict: Yay for agency! 

I feel quite satisfied with the level of happiness this purchase brought me. Some of this joy is from the sense of agency I felt in the choice; in the past, I have gotten a piercing not because I wanted one, but because I caved to unrelenting pressure from someone else. 

But this piercing was my own decision; I got these earrings because I wanted them. 🙂

And that feels much better.

Now it’s a new month, and I’m starting off with a fresh $100. Maybe I won’t spend it all in one place this time! 

Tell me: who else had their first ear piercing done at Claire’s? 

P.S. Based on a quick Google search, it looks like you can get a job as a nurse at Rowan and get paid about what I get paid at the hospital. This would be tempting if you just needed a less physically demanding job, but to me, it seems like very boring nurse work. I think I prefer the unpredictability of the hospital!