I'm noticing two things about my no shopping challenge.
The first is that I'm quicker to spend money on experiences. In the last week I have gone to yoga twice, attended my first New Jersey Young Professionals happy hour, gone out to lunch with a coworker even though I had packed a lunch, and participated in a Wine and Design painting party.
This has made me realize that I wasn't clear on my goals for this challenge going into it. Did I want to save money or did I want to shift my focus from things to experiences? I'm still not sure, even now. I do know that I'm feeling happier overall. That'll do for me.
The second thing I've noticed is that my knitting has helped me be successful thus far. I am knitting a simple sweater for myself. By actively working towards a new piece of clothing that I know will fit me the way I want it to when it's all done (even if I have to unravel it multiple times - see photo above), I'm staving off that need for novelty in my outfits. When I get the urge to shop, I either pick up my needles or turn to Ravelry for future inspiration. I like the idea of making my own clothes. It's such a pain to find clothes that fit right, fill a need, and are the right price. By knitting them myself, I'm saving myself a lot of frustration.
How do you fight the urge to buy?
I've found myself participating in "no extra spending" month, too, even though it wasn't something I had planned to do beforehand. So far, and aside from bills, I've only spent money on food - though we're seriously meal planning now - and one incidental (that is actually necessary).
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I've been stockpiling ideas for purchases and working them into a bigger loan repayment and savings plan for the year. It's helped me realize how much I actually have and makes a vacation seem doable while still paying off debt :)