It has been 33 days since I made the promise to give up “pleasure shopping” for one year. I recently slipped and fell prey to the shopping gods at Value Village and spent a whopping $13.00 for a cute Channel inspired jacket (cost was $6.99), a hand knit toque ($1.99) and hand knit mittens ($2.99). Did I feel dissonance for my shopping blunder, are you kidding me? These items are like new, and the hand knit goods were made with love by some mother or granny, whose ungrateful offspring decided to give away such a labor of love to charity.
It was a blistering cold Thursday, January 15, 2015, when I went with a friend to look for the DVD “Dune”, which we did find, and I did not bring a hat with me and my thin gloves were not keeping my hands warm, regardless, excuses… One can always reason with him or herself to purchase something which is not truly needed. So, yes, I cracked at Value Village, and reminded myself of the commitment to abstain from “pleasure” shopping.
The only other item I bought which wasn’t a grocery product was a corrugated cardboard replacement scratching pad for my feline friend Gershwin. It is a necessary evil or he will pick the furniture without mercy.
How do I feel so far? Well, I feel fine. Avoiding stores is my strategy for now, much like an alcoholic or food-aholic , the best way to not do something is to stay away from temptation. Often I have to pass by stores on my way to the gym which boast signs saying 70% off, or buy one and get one half price, or Tax Free Today Only!, and so forth. I did feel a slight pang when walking by the Body Shop and saw that my favorite body wash was on sale and you could buy a tote bag chalk full of Body Shop’s top sellers for $30 (I think) with a value of over $150 or something along those lines, but I remembered I already have a full container of Satsuma body wash, along with seven other body washes I need to use! Previously, I was a sucker for a sale, but I know better now about the allure of retail shops trying to catch you in the snares of their sales traps. Especially after Christmas, it seems like everything is on sale! Yet, if you are truly trying to reduce what you have in your cupboards and save some money, nine times out of ten if you ask yourself “Do I really need this?” the answer is going to be “Nope!”.
I must admit I am pretty proud of myself thus far in keeping with the thrift savvy ways of life, but it is a bit of a letdown to have a shopping blunder in less than a month, but I am not giving up and I plan to continue this one year journey of no “pleasure shopping”.
Till next time, shop wisely and within your means!
You Know Jacques! 