Ringing in the New Year - Here We Go!!!!

Happy Sunday, my lovely readers! This post is going to be a mish-mash of topics, bear with me.

First off, I've completed my first task of cleaning up my inbox. I no longer receive any daily emails enticing me to spend unnecessarily. Gone are the deals, the sales, the would-be treasures I am no longer able to dream about purchasing. It's lonely where I'm sitting, I'll be honest with you. A few short days ago, I'd wake up to 40+ emails anxiously awaiting my perusal. Now, pretty much nothing. I feel left out. So what do I do with this? I suppose I need to redirect my energies to something else. Rather than looking forward to my inbox, I'll need to find something else to look forward to. But I don't want to force it. I'm not going to officiate that allotted time to, say, meditating or yoga, although now that I mention it, yoga does sound awfully nice. :-) For now, I just want to focus on my feelings and how this is affecting me. No more emails = I feel lonely and left out. There.

Next, today is the day before New Year's Eve. I have this crazy desire to go to Target and stock up on all things unnecessary before the new year begins. I'm TERRIFIED. How am I going to make it a whole year without a new shade of Burt's Bee's, a pair of pj bottoms with hearts all over them, a book that I've really wanted and now it's finally in paperback? Also, I recently purchased (go figure) a sewing machine, so that whatever needs mending this year can be mended (yes, by me....I have no idea how to use said sewing machine, but I'm going to learn - something else I could get at Target today!! A book teaching me the sewing basics!!). I'll need thread, needles, bobbins....but these things really fall into the category of necessity, so they certainly wouldn't be off limits in the new year. But what if I want a 50 shade variety of thread? That would probably fall into the category of unnecessary. See where my brain goes? Nothing thrilling about buying some thread, but a big, beautiful well-displayed container of every color imaginable? Even to this non-sewer, that sounds exciting and I'm getting a jolt just thinking about it. Man, I'm in trouble.

Last, I made a commitment to myself and to my readers to follow this project through for the year, no matter what curve-balls may be thrown my way. I've already had one, but more on that in the future. My point here, is, I'm doing this. So, on your mark, get set, GO!!!!!!

Happy New Year and See You on the Flip Side,
Linda

Cleaning up the junk mail!!

I subscribe to SOOOOOOOO much junk mail. Well, it wasn't junk mail until now, lol. I realized this morning that the first thing I need to do to have success on my spend-free year journey, is to get unsubscribed from all the emails I receive each day. From discount sites like Groupon, LivingSocial, Crowd Cuts, Scoutmob, Eversave and Mama Source, to online stores like Athleta (take an extra 20% off today!!), Banana Republic (TODAY ONLY!! 40% off), Piperlime (up to 50% off select merchandise!), Sephora, etc. I have a FULL inbox each morning filled with companies wanting to save me money. I've got a sneaky suspicion once I stop receiving and perusing said emails, I will save even more money. I've actually already begun to weed them out. And I've also already begun trying to talk myself out of unsubscribing. Seriously. This is a conversation I had with myself today:

Me: I need to stop receiving these Groupon emails each day. They are too tempting.
Ego: Well, what if I miss out on a really good Groupon deal for a restaurant we frequent? Maybe I should stay on Groupon.
Me: Yeah, but the temptation for the cashmere scarf 78% off is just too great.
Ego: But you might miss out on a deal for that juice cleanse you love so much, and that would be HEALTH FOOD, not something you've decided to give up this year. Why pay full price for something that there might be a Groupon for?
Me: Well, you do have a good point.

So I'm still signed up for Groupon for now. But Banana has got to go - I don't even like their clothes anyway. I think I may just take the rest of the week to get this done. And don't think for one second that I didn't spend at least a 1/2 hour today on the Athleta site, filling up my cart with sale items that will be an extra 20% off with code TAKE20. But even though we're still in 2012, I went through and deleted all the items when I was done shopping. I really couldn't justify any of it.

Signing off for now to go snuggle up on the couch with my wee one and watch a movie on this cold and rainy day.

Welcome!

Today is Monday, December 24, 2012. I would like to share with you the gist of this blogging idea, but I'm not really sure where it began. I suppose it began a couple months ago when I realized we (I) were spending too much money. I got to thinking about WHY I spend so much money and I came to the conclusion that buying things makes me, well, happy. Whether it's a latte or a new pair of boots, I love to spend money. I love grocery shopping, online shopping, even going to the mall with both of my small children in tow.

Don't get me wrong. I mostly stay within budget. I'm no Carrie Bradshaw. My favorite stores are Athleta, Anthropologie, Target, and Costco. I'm not shopping on 5th Avenue or Rodeo Drive. But am I buying things we don't absolutely need? YES. Why? Because it makes me happy.

So, the next step in this thought process was, man, I really need to stop buying things this family doesn't need. We are in a recession, we should be saving as much as possible, not buying a third pair of brown boots or more children's books when we have a bazillion already. I mean, the boots are high quality, and I'll wear them for years to come. And you can never go wrong with books for kids. Really, this is not about my spending crazy amounts of money on crazy things. This is about WHY I spend money here and there - because it makes me happy.

Is it right that spending money makes me happy? I don't know. I'd say I'm not alone here, though. Ask any woman, and I'm willing to bet 4 out of 5 AT LEASE will admit to finding happiness at the almighty mall.

In the efforts to save more and to allow my husband to update his wardrobe this year with our clothing budget instead of my burning through it with things for me and the boys, I decided to spend ZERO dollars on myself in 2013. I am going to go one whole year without buying a single item for myself. No clothes, accessories, books (I currently have over 300 unread books on my shelves), magazines, froo froo lotions, etc.

I do have a few exceptions to this rule, however. I'm a runner and will need a new pair of running shoes sometime this year. Also, I will need to replace some of my "unmentionables." And any skin-regiment products I am currently using I may replenish as they run out. But no new eye shadow shades just for fun, no yummy smelling lotions that I simply cannot live without. You get the picture.

Deciding to do this has been a really big decision for me. It means taking away a regular source of happiness. So that's where the blogging idea was born. What happens when I stop buying? How do I find that missing happiness? How easy or difficult will this end up being? What kind of growth will take place within (if any)? Where else will I unexpectedly find happiness?

I look forward to the journey and hope I gather a few followers who will celebrate my successes and maybe we will all learn a little bit about ourselves along the way.

Happy Holidays everyone!