2 months down, 4 to go

Two months of my shopping ban are officially done! I’ve honestly proven a lot to myself in the last few weeks- at the start of this I’d say that I was optimistic I could do it, but now I really believe that I can.

As a reminder here is my approved shopping list:

-Essentials: groceries, gas, toiletries

-Replacement for something broken or un-useable (only after assessing if it’s really needed)

-One book at a time on my Kindle if I’ve finished the last one

-One candle at a time, only after I’ve used up all the other candles I already have

-Gifts for others

Month 2 has gone well, but brought some different challenges. I definitely feel “settled” into the shopping ban. I don’t think about it as much, and now it just feels like it’s a part of my normal life.

I’ve also found I’ve become a lot more resourceful with the items I do have. Knowing I need to make what I have work, makes you look at your items with a lot more gratitude.

I’ve also continued on my decluttering spree! That’s a whole separate topic- but in summary, I decluttered ALL of my paper documents spanning the last 10 years. Scanned them into my computer, backed them up to the cloud, and threw them all away! It felt so freaking good.  

I also decluttered the rest of my kitchen because someone in my neighborhood Buy Nothing group had a  woman in desperate need of kitchen items. That felt awesome to know my extra stuff was going to help someone in need.

But…in the midst of all this…I had some things break. My hair brush I’ve had for most of my adult life- broke in half. Then, my essential oil diffuser broke. I’d start it and then it would shut off…or I couldn’t even get it to start. Normal Mary would have been on Amazon immediately and ordered replacements. Shopping ban Mary thought about this for DAYS. I knew I needed to replace the hair brush asap but I was so back and forth on if I really needed to replace the diffuser. It is certainly not essential (no pun intended.) But I ended up deciding I would wait until I saw a really good deal.

Lo and behold, I was at Aldi for my weekly grocery trip and they had a diffuser there! I thought it was fate- so I went ahead and got it. I also picked up a hair brush at the pharmacy as well. Buying these two items literally felt like I had spent a fortune (and it was probably a total of $25)! It was a crazy feeling when I brought them home and it made me realize my whole mindset has completely shifted.

I will say, I do regret both of those decisions though. I should have shopped longer for the diffuser I wanted- because the Aldi’s version isn’t great. And the hair brush-it’s ok, but I could have bought better if this is going to be the hair brush I use for a long time.

I think it taught me a valuable lesson about conscious spending. Not only do I need to weigh if I actually need an item- I also need to weigh the value of the item I’m about to purchase! I could have put a lot more time into researching which diffuser I really wanted and been a lot happier with my replacement purchase.

Lesson learned.

On to month 3!