Floral Print + report on last month’s spending freeze

Skirt and shirt: Fabrik, Shoes: Target, Bracelet: by Jenna

Do you all remember this post about my goal to give up shopping for a month?  Well, I thought I’d give you a brief update on how that went and my thoughts on all of it, for any of you who may be interested in doing the same. 

In short, I did, indeed, give up shopping for the month of March.  I didn’t buy myself one darn thing. Not nailpolish. Not a single piece of cheap jewelry. Not a crappy pair of $1.85 sunglasses from Forever 21. Nothing!   It’s funny, I even tried to cheat one time—I found an inexpensive dress online that I HAD to have, and since I’d given myself an allowance in case such a circumstance arose, I decided to buy it.  It was towards the end of March, but still within the month.

So I made that purchase and never looked back, but then guess what happened? I got an email from the company two days later saying how sorry they were but someone had purchased the last dress in my size just seconds before I did, and their computers didn’t catch it. CURSES! They even offered me a discount code in case I wanted a different item, but I considered it all an ill-omen and made it through the rest of the month without cheating. 

And honestly, it felt good. Freeing up that part of my mind that I spend focusing on my next purchase was an interesting exercise, as was working with the items already in my closet.    I realized that I absolutely do not need to shop to be happy, and in fact, I dare say I was even happier with that option taken off the table, because I saw the money I make being saved instead of spent, and I realized that there’s nothing I really need.  Sometimes I think I convince myself that I need things, but a month of surviving and thriving without making a single unnecessary purchase really helped me to see otherwise. 

Now, this is just my story. I realize that everyone is in a different position and some folks can’t afford to shop much at all.  Some might call me materialistic for even devoting this much attention to the topic, but hey.  This is the story of my life, and I happen to have a love affair with shopping and a bit of disposable income (sort of).   I just like to write about things I experience for those who can relate and possibly benefit from it. 

Anywho, hope you fine people have a great Wednesday!  Let’s meet again tomorrow, shall we? Same time, same place? :)