Shopping Siren scrimped, saved and enjoyed a fabulous Florida vacation. Sun. Laughs. Too many pints of butterbeer.

Bag Lady made it to the discount bread outlet, er, maybe three times.

We’re here to report a mixed bag of 2010 New Year’s resolutions and barrel headlong into 2011 with an ambitious slate of new ones. Which we’ll totally live up to. Honest.

SS’s official tally is 1-2. She kept her promise to save more … and then blow it all (OK, some) on a trip to Florida. In lieu of new winter boots, a spring purse and other I-want-it-but-don’t-need-it purchases, she got to enjoy a chocolate frog and a mug of frozen butterbeer in the shadow of Hogwarts Castle at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Huzzah! However, those fewer purchases did not mean substantially fewer kitty toys, as vowed. Nor were the purchases that were made in any way better or of a quality higher than the set of cheap bookshelves she got after college. Also vowed. But, hey, the commemorative Harry Potter mug is very cool.

BL stands at 2-1. This year she succeeded in vows to ease off the dog toy buying (because they’re spoiled and because too many were littering the house — toys and dogs) and in not buying Mr. Bag Lady any belts (because ones she bought were always dashed to drawer purgatory.) So, right on. Definite savings there. The downfall came in not hustling buns over to the Nissen, Freilhofer’s and Country Kitchen outlets each month for discount carbs. There’s no excuse beyond, “It wasn’t horribly handy.” Boo, hiss.

Once again we polled shopping pals to see how they fared and see what sort of promise of betterment or advice they’d like to offer up for 2011.

Tires aren’t bling. Really.

Last year, I vowed to stay out of motorcycle stores so I’d stop buying bling for my beloved Suzuki DR650. I did that. I stopped buying bling. And started buying tires, instead. I ride on both the street and in the deep, dark woods so I go through tires pretty fast. Over the summer, I went through two tires for the front and two for the rear. I regret nothing. The good news: My wife, Corey, and I mastered the art of changing the rubber (tires, that is) ourselves, so that saves $30 a pop right there. And now that I think of it, we also bought Corey a dual sport similar to mine. Again, regret nothing.

In the coming year, if I have any dough left after buying more tires, I’m going to really get into the ebook thing. I resisted for a while because I love paperbacks so much, but I’m in. Getting all my books in one device and the ability to shop for them on the fly? Irresistible. And with that in mind, I’ve also dropped the price of my Amazon Kindle books to $2.99. That’s more than 80 percent off the price of the paperbacks.

— Mark LaFlamme

A resolute bottom line

I will try hard to stick to our budget. This Christmas I did not. In my defense, it really gets hard when you have grandbabies. Now, we have a set of twins on the way!

— Bonnie Washuk

When in doubt, go quality

Remember that cheap and inexpensive are not the same thing. Sometimes, paying for quality is the absolute best way to go.

— Coupon Cutie

And our resolutions:

For Bag Lady

* A one-in, one-out closet policy. Hanging onto clothes from four sizes ago is silly, and in my rational mind I realize that, but when it comes time to grab that hanger and pitch it into the Goodwill bag, my fingers … can’t … quite … let … go. No more. One item purchased means one has to leave.

* More shoes! Too scuffed, tight, cracked, impractical — my footwear needs a major quality makeover. This one I look forward to.

* Getting out and shaking a leg. At least three bouts of yoga, walking the dogs or step-exercises in front of the TV once a week. A ridiculously low bar to reach; I’ll be horrified if I have to admit this time next year that I couldn’t even bring myself to Agnistambhasana with any regularity. (Um, that’s the fire log pose.)

For Shopping Siren

* Organize the basement. This isn’t a shopping resolution, per se, except that I know I’ve bought things I don’t need because their duplicates are sitting in my basement, buried in boxes or hiding behind plastic totes, unseen and forgotten. It’s sad, really. 

* Buy less, buy better. Cheap doesn’t always equal a good deal; quality should be a factor. Let’s try this again, shall we?

* Find another savings goal. Florida was fantastic last year, but what about 2011? Maybe I’ll save up for another trip, maybe a big-ticket item, maybe various small but important items (kitchen gadgets, dark chocolate, kitchen gadgets that allow me to make dark chocolate). Saving is good for saving’s sake, definitely. But for motivation, I need something shiny.

Bag Lady and Shopping Siren’s true identities are protected by a pair of stylish, sweater-wearing Doberman pinschers (who live with no regrets, and not much introspection, either) and the Customer Service counter at the Sun Journal. You can reach them at baglady@sunjournal.com and shoppingsiren@sunjournal.com.

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