Goals are Changing, One Month In.

I just realized that it’s been a whole month since I decided to stop shopping. It hasn’t been as hard as I thought it was going to be. It’s remarkable how all it takes is a single thought in reaction to the impulse. I never thought to not act on the shopping impulse before.

Should I go to Macy’s today? No. Maybe I can run into TJ Maxx really quickly… No. My eighth pair of sandals broke, I should go to DSW. No (my 7 other pairs are just fine).

I have to admit that I’m struggling with the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. It’s a different kind of sale, because they list Fall items for a sale price now, and the price will increase again after the sale. And I’m in the market for some Fall pieces. I am holding off because I need to see tangible evidence that our total spending has reduced. Unfortunately, our two-week vacation made up for my lack of personal spending.

In addition to taming the impulse, I’ve realized that my goals have changed. A few weeks ago when I first decided to stop spending, I had a specific goal in mind: a designer handbag. If I stopped spending hundreds of frivolous dollars each month, I could get a luxury bag or wallet that would last forever. My husband agreed with my plan, which of course opened the floodgates: maybe I wanted a small collection of bags. Why stop at a wallet? I started a wishlist of the designer items I wanted. For each bag, it would only take a couple of months of non-spending.

And then I would spend it. On an item that I don’t need.

Some time over the past couple of weeks I realized that I wasn’t thinking about those designer bags anymore. They’re no longer a priority, and no longer my goal. I don’t even enjoy the online purse forum anymore.

It’s been over a week since I started using financial software to track our spending, and I unconsciously developed a new goal: see how little I can spend. Me! The non-frugal, non-saver, spendaholic. I didn’t think I’d get to this point, ever!

It’s pretty cool.

One thought on “Goals are Changing, One Month In.

  1. maa says:

    very exciting!

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