In August, I challenged myself to not have any needless spending. I set out to only spend money on things we absolutely needed (food, gas, bills). If you take a strict view at the month, I failed. I failed because I had about 4 purchases I absolutely did not need, but bought anyways. BUT, I am looking at it as a win because I significantly decreased the amount of stuff I bought AND really put thought into the cost of the items I did purchase.
What broke my streak was a birthday present to myself. The damn Williams and Sonoma email advertisement got me, and I bought a pumpkin waffle maker for my birthday. Now, to my credit, I found it on Amazon with a $3 coupon, so this was a below $10 purchase. And I freaking love it!
My next purchase were some bath toys for my child. Total amount was <$6. I’ll make the required excuses here: he just started school and needed a reward, he caught a cold his first week and I wanted something to make him feel better, he is just too darn cute and I wanted to buy him toys. Really, he has used the same 2 bath toys for awhile and I wanted to make some kind of rotation of toys so he doesn’t get bored and I don’t have to keep buying new toys.
Instagram got me on my 3rd purchase. Cozy fall Halloween sweaters. I’m a sucker for oversized sweaters, and Halloween is my favorite season. And the fact the my husband wanted one too did not help. I am definitely not mad at this purchase and cannot wait for it to get in!
My last purchase came at the tailend of the month. I had bought a window bird feeder a couple of months ago (I love it so much) and we noticed little raccoon paw prints on the window. I did what any sane person would do and immediately bought a trail camera so I can watch the attempted burglars in action. But seriously, the window bird feeder is a favorite, I can see it from my desk and just stare at it when I should be doing work. I’m excited to set up the trail camera.
So that’s it. 4 purchases that were semi impulse buys. Not a 100% for the month, but a large reduction in buying crap. I also did sell some stuff on Mercari, so I think it balanced out. I heard (read?) Nina Dobrev said that when she adds something to her closet, she has to remove something. I’m going to try to use that mindset for my whole house. Wish me luck.
Engineering My Style 