Inspired by this blog post by Nancy Ray, i decided to quit shopping for three months. Yes, 3 full months!
I already made this decision last week, at the end of March, and have been following through since then.
And you would not believe how many pretty items i have seen in the last few days. Just yesterday at TK Maxx: a super cute bird sculpture, a scrapbook paper pack, a chevron dinner plate, and an adorable three-tier cake stand printed with birds and flowers.
But i did not buy any of these. Did i want them? Sure. Do i need them? No. Not at all.
There are a few exceptions to my "no-shop" rule though:
- food and beverages ( obviously, we don't want to starve)
- expenses connected with our upcoming trip to Marseille ( again, food and beverages, as well as taxi, postcards and a little souvenir)
- the first flea market of the season at the end of this month. I don't intend to buy anything, but i might. However, 10€ are the maximum i allow myself to spend.
- gifts for birthdays and other special occasions.
Aside from those exceptions, I not only want to stop buying, but also having; in other words hoarding.
I have so many things in abundance, it just isn't necessary to purchase another item just for decoration, or a third set of dinnerware just because i like the pattern ( when i can simply paint the white plates i already own).
This almost desperate "want-to-have" and "keep-it-all" behaviour surely is a result of the year 2011 and the first half of 2012, when money was so extremely tight that we could not afford anything- we barely had enough to buy food.
I kept every tiny snippet of everything. Eventually, this was the only way to be able to create items for my shop, and it surely was a good thing back then.
But now that we are better off, there simply is no need for keeping empty jars, tin cans and bottles, or every single scrap of paper, twine, washi tape or fabric. Now i can afford to buy a new sheet, or spool, or roll or fat quarter ( if necessary (!) to fulfill a custom order).
That does not mean that i am giving up recycling items and reusing them. But i am not hoarding anymore, i am suppressing this "must keep" compulsion. Can i reuse certain items? Sure. Do i actually reuse them? Rarely. And so they just contribute to clutter up our precious little space.
Now, this "keep less but don't buy either" might sound a bit contradicting, but it does indeed make sense. This action is not only about spending less money. It is also about having less in general.
Let me quote Lara Casey: All we need is LESS. Less "me me me" and less "bigger, faster, smarter".
Lara said these words in a different context, yet they still match perfectly. I want to have less. Less stuff, and more space to breathe and live. Finding joy in the small and non-material things.
So, no more hoarding, and even more important, no more shopping just for fun until the end of June.
In addition to that, i finally convinced MisterT that it makes sense to have a joint household fund, to which we both now contribute in equal parts. Until now, my husband has paid most of the groceries, whereas i spent my money on supplies for my shop, other items i thought we might need ( home decoration and such), but most of my money is mainly used towards paying off my debt as fast as possible. I'm excited to see how we are going to manage our finances from now on. I'll keep you updated.
But for now, who wants to join my "no-shop" rule? Anyone brave enough?