I think this new phase I’m on (if you remember I wanted to pare down Christmas gifts and now my spending freeze) is because my sil had to help her parents downsize this year.
My mom throws away everything and my mil self limits what she keeps also. But sil’s parents hadn’t thrown away anything for years. They had multiples of everything and no ability to donate or throw things away. It was so painful for sil. How many brooms do people need? And why wouldn’t you throw away clothes you hadn’t worn in a decade or more? Why would you buy multiples of every shirt and shoes you had, just to have a backup?
I found how people are ruled by “things” and how had it gets. How it becomes so easy to accumulate way too much
The worst part was that sil’s parents decided to have an estate sale for all the things they couldn’t move into their new condo. But no one wanted most of their stuff and the sale was a bit of a bust. They had no plan for what to do with the leftovers. A company did the sale and had someone to cleanup but the cleanup person gave them basically nothing for their treasures. Instead of making arrangements to donate the leftovers, their stuff was not sitting at an outdoor flea market.
They were devastated, it was hard to see.
Then I decided I need to change. To try to not be ruled by stuff and not accumulate so much.
So there’s my reasons. Besides I figure I can find better places to use the money.
Yesterday, I went shopping at WalMart, Sam’s and another store. I bought a bottle of vitamins we needed and a small wedding gift to go with the check we are gifting the couple. That was all but we got lots of steps in from all the walking.
I did look at the Walmart crafts section but realized it would be there when I needed it and I did NOT need anything from there now.
Late to the party, but I love this idea. I do a lot of online shopping and a lot of returning. It’s like a game, a very tiring, time-consuming one. I need to give up amazon, talbots and a few other sites. It’s almost embarrassing. I often wonder what I’m missing in my life that requires me to fill that empty space with useless stuff. I spend a lot of time returning, taking things to the Goodwill, finding room in my home etc. I know I would be so much happier buying and accumulating less.
This thread made me seriously question a $1 purchase of green tea at Aldi today I did buy the tea, though. Groceries are OK, I said when I began. But I deferred a lot of other items that I generally stock but don’t really need right now.
I had been hanging on to something I bought a few weeks ago that wasn’t quite right. I thought that perhaps I could use it somewhere else. Today I realized that if I have to think that hard about where to put it, I don’t really need it. Back it went!
I sat and looked at my living room and dining room trying to guess what my kids would want. I couldn’t come up with anything definite and only a half dozen possibles (and that includes their own photographs).
Perhaps a corollary to this thread might be to track the value of each month’s non-purchases and put that money into some form of savings/investment so you get the dual benefit of not accumulating what you don’t need and interest on those redirected funds. Given the recent market performance, I smell a buying opportunity…
I’ve been waffling whether I should buy this or not. I’ve wanted it for a couple months now. Angie from HotandFlashy uses it and swears by it. It helps that creepy skin as we get older on our bodies…(do not use on the face). It takes several months, so I need to start now. Oh, what to Do?
@conmama I would ask myself a couple of questions. First being do I already have a skin lotion product? If yes wait and buy it when you finish what you already have. Do you find yourself trying a lot of different skin products searching for the perfect one and have multiple skin products in your cabinet. If you answer yes to those I wouldn’t buy it.
If you use lotion on your body and you have run out or are near the end of your present bottle I don’t see buying it as an indulgence.
Though my honest reaction would be it’s only $21 so what do I have to lose by trying it. Which is the thinking that got me here.
Thanks @mom60 . Actually it’s not just a lotion. After several months of daily usage, it is supposed to smooth out the crepey wrinkles we have on our skin. I’ve never used anything like it.
Yeah. The other question to ask is should I really believe an online endorsement from someone who benefits from touting products and gets us to buy them?
If you are going to count down the days until March to buy it…then buy it now. Simply postponing a needed purchase does not fall into the category of eliminating frivolous purchases.
I did buy the tea, though. Groceries are OK, I said when I began. But I deferred a lot of other items that I generally stock but don’t really need right now.