The hardest part for me was determining what I equate with an essential and what I equate with a want. Sadly, 80% of the stuff being brought into my home is want stuff, and not needed stuff. Add it all up, and no wonder we are drowning in junk. I'm tired of shopping for it, I'm tired of storing it, I'm tired of marking it for garage sales. Enough is enough.
Through the end of the year, I am not buying myself one more thing.
The key word in that sentence is 'myself'. I don't need one more tee shirt, one more skein of yarn, one more scrapbook anything. I have enough stuff to craft 24/7 for a long time. There are 3 other people in my household, however, and I don't impose my ban upon them.
I know it's only been three weeks so far into my resolution, but it has been very freeing. No more wandering the aisles of Target for an hour = more time to read or knit or surf blogs! I have gotten my shopping fixes from little trips I have made to the store, and buying things for others. There is always a birthday/anniversary/holiday on the horizion. I just don't throw an extra something in the cart for my time.
The benefits of this are twofold-
less money spent & less stuff in my house.
To me, the less stuff in my house is the most important and gratifying reason to stop shopping. The less I have to take care of, the happier I am. It's going to take awhile for the effects of the ban to be noticeable to others, but I know I am being faithful to my goal.
In the interest of full disclosure, I have bought a few things. 2 knitting patterns. Some new music. I downloaded a movie. But not one of these things takes up physical space in my house. They are all contained within my computer. While I considered not spending the money at all, I paid for them without regret. I may have bent the rules, but I didn't break them.
In my life music & entertainment are very important. They are my essential. Downloading a song here and there makes me happy. It takes no physical space. It's all good. I have been making lists of books I'd like to read, and then checking them out from the library. We have been doing Netflix for years-I love it. We watch all the tv shows /movies we want for one monthly fee and nothing comes to live permanently in my house!
I'm sure there will be times when I am tempted to have something. For these things, I will make a list. If I still want them in 6 months (and I can afford it), then I will treat myself.
I'll keep you posted on my success!
Happy Wednesday :)
2 comments:
Good for you Sue! Good luck I know you can do it.
Great idea, I really like that post.
I've also given up most of my spending, but it's cause I'm broke :)
I have such a backlog of stuff, yikes.
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