Actually that's not right at all I'm a wonderful consumer, I'm just terrible at abstaining from consumerism.
I have seriously toned it down a lot.
Mostly from necessity, now that I have a growing child and an aging house I no longer have the luxury of shopping all the time. Also I live in an area now with no downtown crossing and cheap knock off stores.
I have become much more practical.
I utter phrases like, "will I wear this more than ten times this season?" and "will this skirt go with at least one pair of shoes I own already and three tops?".
It has really gotten sad. Gone are the days of "this canary yellow wicker purse and magenta sequins top really don't match anything I own but, I must have them because if I don't get them I'll be sad and dream about them and when I return after much distress they will be SOLD to some other cool chickadee with more sense than me."
Now you will see how much I have really changed for better or worse.
Recently the family went to Target in search of a few "needed" items. I made a list. Lydia needed some supplies for camp. A backpack, water bottle and towel were on the list. She got to pick them out and thank god we walked away with Hello Kitty and not the Bratz. I also wanted to pick up a set of sheets and a few other household items. I got the new David Sedaris book, also on list but not a necessity. I bought a t-shirt and a dress, (impulse buys yes, but averaged into list because I knew there would be something I couldn't live without). All in all a pretty successful trip. I didn't buy storage bins, something I usually always feel the need to get because we have so much clutter.
This is where it gets messy. As we are walking toward the register the child is grabbing everything and anything she can get her hands on. She already has a bunch of cool stuff that she picked out! But she wants more. MORE! Veruca Salt would be proud!
Steven ended up getting her a pair of maryjane's for "school" in the fall. And she was crying as we left the store with a ton of stuff for her.
It's gotten out of hand. I have turned our child into a total consumer also. I love to buy things for her. There have been more times than I can count that I have gone out specifically looking for an item for myself such as rain boots and returned with a sundress or purse for my child. I have created this situation.
Case in point today we went into Verde looking for a much needed sunhat for me, we walked out with a little chipmunk puppet for Lydia. This might not seem like a big deal but it is a constant occurrence.
So I have decided as of today July 2, 2008, I will not buy anything, not a thing for myself or Lydia that we don't need, for one month. That means sunscreen = yes, little cute sundress with embroidered cherries = no.
I feel like one of the many who have stopped eating all carbs in order get their eating habits in control.
It seems easy now but wait till the hot pizza/ cute sandels are under our nose, I know it won't be easy.
I'll keep you posted.
1 comment:
Stay strong, sister!
A good tip for this that I read somewhere is when you really REALLY want something but don't need it, take the money you would have spent and put it under your bed, in savings, whatever. Then at the end of the moth you'll have a wad of cash that you can decide what to do with. Like go back and buy all that stuff you wanted.
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