Saturday, December 29, 2012

Not shopping, giving

I think about this once in a while...not shopping and seeing if I can save some $$$.  I have so many things and too much stuff in some areas of my life.  But there is such an allure of shopping, choosing, purchasing.  So here's what I'll try to do.

1.  All catalogs go straight to the recycle bin.  (I have already opted out of them but they show up when I buy something.)
2,  Email shopping goes straight to the junk folder.
3.  Credit cards will be less accessible.
4.  If I have to, I will put things on a wish list and not into the shopping basket.
5.  At the end of 1 month, I will examine my wish list and choose 1 thing if any at all.
6.  I will use the money I save to put away for future big things (car) or things for others (gifts, charitable contributions).
7.  I will blog about any emotions, struggles I have with this in hopes that it will help others as well as help me.

1 comment:

Erica Kain said...

I totally agree with you -- I go through the same thing periodically, with many of the same strategies.

It also helps for me to have something that is SIMILAR to online shopping but free. In our case, we can order books to be put aside for us at our library. So when I feel that "itch" to shop, I can sometimes "scratch" it with a big "order" of books from the library. So I'll find books from our Amazon wishlist and request them from the library.

Also, SELLING things on eBay was surprisingly effective in "scratching" that itch as well. The same kind of connection and correspondence, except we got rid of things.

I'm totally with you sister! Thank you for this excellent reminder of anti-shopping strategies.