Breaking Out- sort of

Many of you have gone through this- a phase where you shift from buying or receiving for free other people's "stuff" (I'll refrain from saying junk). Their stuff is still good, it's still serviceable, functional, it's just always used and maybe it falls apart a little or maybe it doesn't have all the features you would like or is not what you really wanted, but when you are buying or taking for free second hand, you just can't be too picky. I like a lot of things about this "getting used stuff" phase. I like finding "deals", I like the hunt, the chase, the find. I like feeling that there are people out there who are nice enough to give away their old stuff, it renews my faith in people. But you get to a point where you want something new that works well- and not Walmart new, I mean quality new. I have had this discussion with friends before. Do you buy the $20 phone at Walmart 4 times because it keeps breaking or spend $75 on a better quality phone that will last?
Yesterday I had a "breakout" moment. I finally got something I wanted, that was NEW and QUALITY. I got the jogger stroller I really wanted. Ok, it's not the $600 "jaguar" jogger stroller that maybe I would really want, but I don't even look at the specifications on those strollers, so I couldn't say. I just won't even consider it, so it doesn't count. So, of the "affordable" jogging strollers, this is the one I really wanted! And I wanted it new because frankly, we tried buying a used stroller off craigslist and it fell apart within 2 weeks. JUNK! So Stephen convinced me to just search out this brand on Craigslist anyway(even though I told him that I had checked every day and no one sells this brand second hand), and lo and behold, a media company was selling a brand new one for less than 2/3 the actual price. Turns out they take pictures of stuff and then don't need it afterward. What luck, what kismet, what fate. It was still in the box, the company didn't even end up using it, we had to put it together! So now I have something new and real and what I wanted in the first place, not something I settled for because it was what was being sold. Small step, I know. Not sure I will ever pay retail for something new, but that is ok. I just get warm all over when I push that stroller around. Breaking out of the getting junk phase- one baby step at a time. Hmmm, I just took an old high chair off someone's hands today because we needed one short term. Oh well, it's a slow transition.