@abasket WTG, making your current phone belt work with your new phone! Maybe you can wear the current belt out before getting a new one?
In the spirit of this thread, I started to make a list of things I’ll need to purchase for a hiking trip in August. I’m positive I’ll buy less IF I give it careful thought ahead of time, use the trip’s short packing list as a guide, and make a list on my phone.
No swinging by REI “just to look”.
@abasket , I think you would be ok to get it on my plan! Ha! I think buying something that you are going to actually use is different. It’s not like you have one, and just want another with bells and whistles, or a different color. I think mindful purchasing doesn’t mean denying yourself everything. For instance, I have plenty of nice clothing to wear the rest of the season, some I have only wore a couple times. I don’t need to spend money for more clothing, or makeup, or Jewelry. I have them.
It sounds like you are a runner. You don’t have a belt for your new phone. Yes, sounds like you have a makeshift one, but
It’s amazing how much we’ve been trained to buy things even when we don’t need anything.
I remember that in one of the Little House on the Prairie books, Laura and her sister Mary had to share a tin cup. For Christmas, Santa brought each of them her own. Laura thought it was the height of luxury.
Well I did buy it. It is important to have a phone belt that works for when I exercise and I use one 3 or 4 times a week. Also because of that I feel it’s ok to have a back up one - so I’ll keep my other one as well - or maybe leave it at our cottage so I don’t have to transport one everywhere.
I feel ok with that. It wasn’t a whim - it was something I had been researching and thinking about.
I DID NOT buy the headband even though I really liked it - maybe it will still be there in March…
I guess we’re all interpreting this “February spending freeze” differently ( I did just buy a washer/dryer this morning!), but IMO it doesn’t count if you just postpone your discretionary shopping until March. I think we should aim to do without rather than defer the purchase. Besides, if you don’t buy it now, you probably don’t really need it.
Of course there’s nothing wrong with buying discretionary things, assuming you can afford them. But I don’t think that’s the spirit of the challenge.
The purpose for me is to step back for one month (28 days) from buying “stuff”. I am hoping that after doing that I will have detoxed from that instant gratification and to think about what I really need.
For me, I am going to try and not make purchases other than the usual necessities (groceries and such) for the month of February. That way I can really think about, do I really need it or do I want it? Can I find something that I already have that would serve that purpose? If I find I really need it, I will buy it, in March. The exception is if something breaks and that will be replaced.
This is what I plan on doing. But like I keep saying, everyone gets to decide what works for them. Because the objective is to be more mindful of what we are purchasing.
Not everyone needs to “detox”. I think I do. Also know, that I will probably not be perfect, because this is honestly very hard for me.
Y’all are helping so so much. Very appreciated.
I’m the same mind as you @deb922 . It’s truly a detox thing, which I started involuntarily in January. They say it takes 30 days to start a new habit, and I’m hoping my habit will be to not spend needlessly. “Needlessly” is subjective for everyone. It’s fun to see what that is for all of you.
Mine are clothes, shoes, jewelry, makeup. I’m going to try to buy groceries, then use them! I swear I could eat a week with stuff just in my pantry.
I won’t give up going out with my friends, but I will have a budget and stick to it.
As a couple, we started eating out way, way too much. We’d come home after 90 minutes and anywhere between $60 to $100 poorer, and it just didn’t seem to be worth it. So, now we’ve decided to try to just go out when we are with friends, or our kids. Limit just the two of us to once in awhile. The problem is that Friday night, DH is in the mood to go out!
^one entire year H and I only went to happy hours in order for D to graduate without us or her owing anything.
it became a fun thing to find different brew pubs and we were successful.
I can’t join you guys…I barely have enough of anything as I hate buying clothes. I counted my spring/summer sweaters and I have 2. One thing I do that I could try to stop is if and when I do find something that I like, especially shoes, I buy multiples as I am so hard to fit. So I have a shoe I love and have it in multiple colors and have 6 pairs. They cost $30 each :D.
We have 3 bathrooms and 4 tubes of toothpaste. I have one bottle of shampoo.
and so on…
My splurge is food…H and I love good food and I love to cook. Our food bill is way too high and
just today I found an Asian store that has wonderful produce with the cheapest prices I have
ever see. $1.99 a lb for an item we usually pay $5.99 a lb.
My only splurge in forever was a $20 cute set of porcupine dishes.
All of this said, I am no saint. I spend money aplenty on others and on food and on really nice
hotels. I also just spent on a Roomba --and thankfully adore it. Just wish he would talk to me.
From the Depression era:
I love it.
My February freeze does not include donations. I choose to assist those HS and college students raising money for good causes. Nothing ends up in my house but a few GS cookies from my 4 different recipients. I hope all of them learn much from their endeavors.
Another great reason to rein in consumerism - it’s better for our planet. 
Last night, I noticed the pile of dirty clothes I had left on the floor. I thought, “Hmm…I need one of those small mesh pop-up laundry hampers”. Next thing you know, I’m on my iPad looking at hampers.
I thought of this thread and stopped myself! No, in reality, life will go on just fine without a new laundry hamper.
Thus far all I have purchased is food and sick bed supplies (my D came home to spend her flu-time with us), except for replacing the daily facial moisturizer I ran out of this weekend. I have been deleting all the “sale” emails that flood my inbox daily because, really, i don’t need any of that stuff.
I went ahead and ordered chain sharpeners for Mr.'s chainsaws and a couple of pairs of rose gloves. Sure I can go after blackberry vines in just my regular gloves but plucking thorns out of my fingers is no fun, and blackberries are not going to wait until March to start growing. So those were necessary buys.
An old friend used to say, “What the eyes do not see, the heart does not long for.” I used to browse in shops more, but have mostly stopped doing that.
I was so inspired by the Ann Patchett article linked in post #7 that I made it my New Year’s resolution to try and go a year without buying. I tweaked Patchett’s rules to better suit my situation. She allowed herself to buy books and her gifts to others were books. I am not buying books because I have so many around that I haven’t read, and I am allowing myself to buy gifts for others as usual. I jumped on the buy local bandwagon some time ago, and that is my only restriction on gift buying. I am also allowing myself any experience purchases: eating out, event tickets, vacations - just not stuff. I got through the month of January, but that was probably the easiest since the newness of Christmas gifts hadn’t worn off. Hopefully this thread will help with February.
I was motivated by a couple of other things. I really want to downsize in the next year and I have become very aware of how much stuff we have. I need to get rid of things rather than acquire more things. The other reason is what doschicos said, “… it’s better for our planet.” We have friends and family across the country who have been deeply affected by natural disasters in the last year, mostly drought caused wildfire. We were personally affected by wildfires two years ago. I think our society’s material excess directly contributes to global warming, so my resolution is something in the vein of even if I can’t do much, but I can do something.
Helping my parents get ready to move (a downsize) is really driving home “I don’t need stuff” because they have SO MUCH STUFF and they are by no means hoarders (but their house has tons of storage…).
I wound up bringing stuff into my house this weekend because it is easier for them to give me something than donate it or throw it away, but we still packed a LOT of stuff.
I’ve been good. This is helping me be accountable and that’s really been successful.
There hasn’t been anything that I’ve needed to buy either.
What will you do with the things they “gave” you? I had to be extra-vigilant about not allowing my ILs to hoard by proxy. SIL would sometimes accept things and drop them off at the landfill on the way home.
But going through that does make me want to spend a lot of time on the Bag a Week thread. I have been in a no-purchase mood for a few months now, and my pile of donations to the annual rummage sale continues to grow.
I turned down a lot, so nothing big, mostly consumables and ironically, a few storage/organization items. I also took a giant car load to Goodwill.
I moved myself about 3 years ago and will never allow the accumulation of stuff I had when I did it 
I have some bags sitting here of clothing to go right now, actually…