Short term goal - No buy until July 1

[TMC]

Day 1

I just had a discussion with my husband and have decided to set a personal goal for myself, no purchases for me through July 1. No clothing, no shoes, no purses, no jewelry period.

I have been thinking about this lately and realized that I have been spending more money than I want to in this area of my life. After being a stay at home mom for years, and wearing maternity pants well past the stage of being pregnant, I eventually went back to work. I have been back to work for 8 years and earn a very good salary. Somewhere along the line I developed an, I'm entitled to it attitude that I am not happy with.

I know that I can't go a whole year, but DH who I adore, challenged me to a three month challenge. My agreed exception with him is some thin white socks to wear with sneakers for the summer as mine are woefully falling apart.

Does anyone want to join me? I would love some company. By the end of three months I should find a little more padding in my bank account :D.

We all have our vices, (as she bows her head in shame) mine is cute shoes and clothes.

[Madsen]

Nuthin' like a good challenge! Congrats! :)
What's your plan for after July? Figure a 'set amount' each month for those kind of purchases?

[TMC]

Thanks, hmmmm what to do after July. I think right now I have simply developed a bad habit and my short term goal is to stop it. DH and I had discussed that after July we would set up a realistic budget for me.

For me I have few vices, I don't drink or smoke, I don't need fancy new cars or expensive nights out on the town, I decorated my house once 8 years ago and aside from regular maintenance I feel no need to change the curtains and the throw pillows. However my weakness is clothes and shoes and the occasional adorable purse.

So what I do know is that my budget when I set it up will have to be a realistic budget to allow the occasional splurge. Baby steps.

Today I threw away the Jcrew catalog that came in the mail without opening the cover. :cool:

I will also say that I promised my husband that I will do this, that was hard to do because it will force me to stick to it, I would never break a promise to my husband.

[Kat]

Awesome, TMC! I would love to join you, but I know that I will have some maternity needs in the next few months (baby is due in August). I've been trying to make do with hand-me-downs, but there are some gaps that will need to be filled in.

You can count on me for support and encouragement, though. I love threads like this! :-)

[TMC]

Awesome, TMC! I would love to join you, but I know that I will have some maternity needs in the next few months (baby is due in August). I've been trying to make do with hand-me-downs, but there are some gaps that will need to be filled in.

You can count on me for support and encouragement, though. I love threads like this! :-)

Congratulations on the little one! If you are anything like me you will be wearing your maternity clothes as long as I did....it's so much more fun to dress a new baby!

[TMC]

So by last night I had received 14 e-mails from various stores telling me all about the good sales I was missing. 30% off here, throw in a free shipping there. It's like they are actually paying me to take the clothes off their hands. Please Tanya, please take our cute shoes, you must wear them. They will make you feel taller, slimmer, more confident and just darn happy.

So I have learned the painful facts about the "unsubscribe" button. It may very well take me months to get off of all of these e-mail lists. Stores know a good buyer when they see one and for a couple of years I have been a good buyer. If rewards points to mall based stores were frequent flyer miles I could circle the globe multiple times, I'm guessing.

So today I begin by unsubscribing...let's see if my good store friends actually "unsunbscribe" me like I asked or if they act like a lovesick High School boyfriend....are you sure you want to leave.....hmmmmm. :laff:

[Kat]

Good for you for sticking to your guns! The "unsubscribe" button does work, but it can take a little time to kick in. As far as paper catalogs go, have you ever used catalogchoice.org? It is a free service, and you can request to be removed from whatever company mailing lists you like. That way, you won't be tempted when you pick up your mail!

[TMC]

Another new day. Yesterday I went grocery shopping and found myself in the clothing aisle at SAMs holding up cotton t-shirts. Honestly what is with me? I didn't buy anything but still.....

Shopping can't be avoided completely my kids expect to eat everyday. I am starting to think this isn't just about clothes......

[iris lily]

I like your idea, it will work! You are chainging your habit and attitdue, and a 3 month period will do that. Good luck! KEep reporting back here with your progress.

[loosechickens]

Well, you said it yourself, "Please Tina, please take our cute shoes, you must wear them. They will make you feel taller, slimmer, more confident and just darn happy."

Somewhere along the line (probably after the period of maternity pants, when you felt like you had been released from clothing prison), you developed that "shopping", especially for your weakness, cute clothes and shoes, etc., would do something for you other than cover your body and keep you warm or cool as needed. You get addicted to that little "high" that comes with purchasing something, and the expectation that the purchase will somehow improve your life, your mood, etc.

You deal with it the same way you deal with any other addictive behavior, you root around for the underlying causes, the things you expect that the behavior can achieve for you (which it almost NEVER does, or does for only a few, fleeting minutes), you learn coping skills (staying out of the mall, unsubscribing, not opening the ads or emails offering deals, deals, deals), and you do what you're doing, taking it one day at a time, sometimes one minute at a time.

I don't have the "clothing addiction" for sure, but my whole life I've had a real addiction to books, so I really DO understand. I've had to deal with the book addiction AS an addiction, and have clearly isolated addictive behaviors in my relationship to them.

There are worse addictions to have than shopping.....at least with shopping, you end up with some nice clothes....guess you could be grateful it's not meth, where you end up, first with ugly, crumbling teeth, and then, often, dead.

Good luck. It sounds like you are doing well and are steady in your determination and your promise to your sweetie. I'd bet on you being successful, and ending up with a healthy relationship toward shopping. ;-)

[TMC]

Why,oh why do I buy so many nice clothes and than find myself wearing the same thing every day. Today cargo pants, a long sleeved t-shirt and a very old cardigan. I work at home and the dogs don't really care what I have on.>

DH and I have an anniversary coming up next week and decided to meet for a nice lunch out to celebrate. This way we don't have to worry about having someone watch the kids and we get a nice meal, of course lunch is less expensive, and I will get to dress up. What good is having fancy knickers if you don't ever wear them?

[TMC]

Been so busy, too busy to shop......winter doldrums to blame?