Who can afford to shop retail??

Yesterday I want to Jcpennys to spend some of my gift card. I was in need of panties! Of course being me I headed straight to clearance sections and didn't give the 'sale' racks a second glance. I ended up finding 9 pairs I liked. I spent $22.31 on 9 pairs. Full price total was $69!!!! Oh my! Who can afford to blow $69 on a little more then a weeks worth of underwear? At the same time I found 2 clearance bras for $11.19 each or $22.38 total. Full price for the bras are $28 or $56 total! If I had paid full price for 2 bras, and 9 pairs of panties I would have paid $125! That's a lot of money for underwear!

After I picked out the undergarments I headed to the ladies clothing racks. I found a beautiful white cardigan for $15.99 very thick and warm normally $44. I also found 2 wrap around long sleeve shirts for $7.99 each normally $22 each. Had I spent retail for all of my purchases it would have cost me $213. That's my monthly grocery budget! I cant believe how expensive everything is getting. Even on sale for 50% off (which is a rare sale) everything would have been $106.50. I paid $76.60.

Jcpenny is a department store I would consider moderate, cheaper then Macys and more expensive then Target. But it seems like their prices are getting to be outrageous. Maybe its not that the department store prices are going up? Maybe I'm just so used to buying used/deeply discounted that pure retail is totally shocking? I love quality clothing, but there is no way I can afford to spend $213 on 2 shirts, a cardigan, 2 bras, and 9 pairs of panties. Its a good thing I have an eye for clearance, since I'm not about to buy second hand panties!