Remember back in August when I announced that I wouldn’t be shopping for anything unnecessary or frivolous for the entire month? (If you don’t, feel free to read the blog post about it here.)
I am happy to say that I was able to go an entire month without shopping. I’m sure some of you are reading this and thinking, “That’s ridiculously easy to do”, but for this girl, it is a BIG FEAT!
It was surprisingly not that hard for me, but I had to take some definite precautions and learned a LOT about myself.
Here are some of the highlights:
1. I shop when I’m bored/tired/stressed.
When I am driving out and about by myself (which is a rare occurrence), I love to stop by a thrift store and see what goodies I can find. It helps to take my mind off of life for a short, valuable time and is my “happy” place to escape to. To keep myself from buying anything, I avoided stores completely (the key ones being Plato’s Closet, Goodwill and Target) and let me tell you, I missed them like a dear friend. It’s sad, but it’s the truth.
2. My biggest weakness was the online coupons.
Okay, make sure you’re sitting down before you read this…
I unsubscribed myself from 28!!! groupon-like or shopping related (GAP, etc.) emails!!!
These are right in front of me all day long taunting me with their pretty pictures and sensational “deals” that I can only get “THAT” day (so you actually end up spending more money in the long run)! I realized the best way to avoid buying something from these sites was to remove myself from them completely. My inbox is emptier and I feel a whole lot cleaner.
3. I own A LOT and am blessed with many things.
I took a good, long look at the things that I DO own and found other ways to use them. I made outfits out of clothes that I haven’t worn in a long time and overall, changed my attitude to be thankful for all of the blessings that I do have, material and non-material.
I found a very interesting article about a woman who didn’t buy anything new for five years. While I don’t think I could do that, I applaud her effort. Read her story here.
I’ll leave you with her mantra:
“use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”. 🙂