My biggest resolution for January was such a resounding success, that I decided to carry it on for February. My consumption diet worked, and I have truly loved setting this bar high for myself. I was able to save an extra $500.00, all by not buying any consumer goods. I never knew that not shopping could be so much fun! I feel like I appreciate the things that I have more; and I also feel like I have more respect for the things that I do buy.
There were only two purchases that may not have qualified under the terms of the diet, but I think that there were good rationalizations behind them. The first, and most important for my hubby, was that I broke his coffee grinder. Needless to say, we went right out and bought a new one, as our marriage possibly would not have survived a caffeine withdrawal. Fortunately, I don’t consider this a failure, because I had a leftover Crate and Barrel gift card, so it wasn’t really us paying for it.
The other was my new old-fashioned sewing machine. I don’t count this because, a) it was used, and b) I used Christmas money from my grandparents, so it really was more of a present than a purchase. Part of the reason I started this endeavor was to minimize my environmental footprint, as well as save money, so buying secondhand seems like a great compromise.
Very few things (aside from coffee related paraphernalia) are as necessary as they seem when I buy them. If they were, I wouldn’t have such an outflow to Freecycle and Goodwill. I now feel more empowered to fully think before I buy. Often, I find myself realizing that I need a lot less than I think I do.
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This ends the New Year’s resolution season, but to read more on my resolutions this year check out:
I’d love to hear about all the things you didn’t buy… that added to the $500 savings. It might be an eye opener for someone (like me) that is struggling with wants vs. needs.
Also, I am wondering if your food spending went up, because you spent more recreation time cooking than previous.
I didn’t add them up, it was just at the end of the month, I had $500.00 that isn’t usually there. So my food bill must not have gone up too much either.
Really, I have no idea what I normally would have spent that $500, but it is amazing how quickly it adds up. Every time I go to Target or the mall, I end up buying more than the single item that I intended to, so avoiding stores really helped.
Looking back, I think that the consumption diet probably actually helped my food bill, because I was more aware of how things add up. I tried very hard not to eat out as much as well, which makes a huge difference. The real goal was not to do any mindless spending, which meant only going to restaurants on dates with hubby, not as an excuse not to cook. So the $500 probably includes those saving as well.
Over the past five years, as we went down to one income so that I could stay home, we have been cutting extra expenses out. The past few months, though, I have been extra conscious of our family’s consumerism. I have really cut out buying things just out of reflex and it is amazing what you really “need” and how much money and space all the extra stuff consumes. I haven’t really made any resolutions to curtail consuming, just made myself think about what we really need. I think buying less stuff proabably saves us more money than all the other things we cut out in those five years!
Lisa – I totally agree! It is amazing how we all get into the habit of buying things without thinking about them. Once you stop and think about it, very little of it seems that important.