The Hidden Story Beneath Confirmation Emails

What do you do with the email confirmations you get when you make an online purchase? Do you just delete them? This might be weird but, I just neatly filed them all away in a folder appropriately titled 'orders.' I thought..maybe I'd need them one day. 

And so, I pretty much have a virtual history of everything I've ever purchased online. It tells a story really - what I was interested in, where I was going, and who I was spending my time with and my money on. So here's pretty much the rundown I got of younger me from going through all my confirmation order emails (since Google told me I was running out of space).

2009 - This was my last year in high school, I had a purple customized ipod nano and made silly photo collages on photobucket. Spending total: $201.04. 

2010 - I wasn't yet working and I hadn't started college. I mostly spent money on retail and gifts for others during the holidays. I had a purple blackberry curve, wearing customized dogtags and LiveStrong braceletes were a thing,  and I took a trip with my family to Georgia. Spending total: $494.40. 

2011 - By this time I was in college full-time and working part-time at McDonalds. Besides getting Netflix, I spent most of my money on books, supplies for school, and clothes. My favorite places to shop were Forever21, Alloy, and Hollister. My silliest purchase was an unused couples massage. Spending total: $1,462.74. 

2012 - This is when I was fortunate enough to get financial aid to help pay for school. My grades got so much better once school was my main focus. I started shopping at Asos, Zara, and Sole Society, and wanting to be more 'adult', ventured into makeup with products from Elf Cosmetics. I had an HTC Amaze and I got an Ipad 2 for Christmas. I took a dance class at Alvin Ailey, saw the Bodies exhibit at South Street Seaport, visited the Top of the Rock and went to Thailand in the Summer. Spending total: $2,165.93

2013 - This year I was consumed with schoolwork. BookRenter.com was a great help in finding the textbooks I needed for affordable prices. The only things I really did to take my mind off school was occasionally have little shopping breaks, and watch YouTube videos. YouTube really was my best friend during all the late nights in the computer lab. It's where I learned about online stores like Misguided, SheInside, 10DollarMall, and DailyLook. I also started shopping at H&M and treated myself to my first watch for my birthday through CRB Watch Consulting (this post is all about that). Spending total: $1,735.30.

2014 - My final year in college I spent a pretty penny on presentation materials and props. I decided to treat myself to a super cute graduation jumper from BCBGMAXAZRIA. After I got my first job, I could finally re-join society. I wanted to dress like a professional of course, so I shopped a lot at Zara, J Crew and Steve Madden. This was when I got more into reading - kindle books on the train and audiobooks while I worked. I did a lot of traveling back and forth to California, took my first trip to Vegas and saw Mystere at Treasure Island. I did the Color Run and Paint Nite with friends. I decided to pass on the Ice Bucket Challenge and donated instead. Oh, and I had an HTC One M8. Spending total: $5,187.83.

When I started going through my orders folder, I thought 'why did I keep all this'? But it's been an interesting walk down memory lane. I can see the activities I did, the books I read, the technologies I used, the fashion trends I was into, and mentally note what's still around today and which were only for a season. I was transported back to different versions of me and I never have to ask where all my money went, because it was nicely documented: the hidden story beneath my confirmation emails.

~ Lisa Lou