Goal 3: Spending

My third mindfulness goal in the series has to do with Spending. Mainly monetary spending.

In my house we are savers. No, my  spouse is a saver. And I follow along and benefit from his fiscal organization and budgeting skills.

And when we look over this years budget at the end of the year, when we look at earnings and spending, we wonder why in the world we are not able to save more? and then we look at our "miscilaneous" and "retail" categories and they are way out of whack.

Luckily when I do shop, I love to find good deals.  Like under $10 esp for clothes if possible. And designer goods for ridiculous prices. I have True religion jeans, and I will proudly tell you that I got a pair for 1/6th or so of the normal price. I love love love to buy clothes. And shoes. And baby stuff. And a cup of coffee. But all of this adds up. And if you can afford it, Jenna, you ask, what's the big deal?

I know in my heart of hearts that I like to buy things for a reason. There is some little void, emptiness, that gets momentarily filled when I can buy something or find that good deal. A mini-addiction if you will. And what am I missing that I am covering for?

And so, I am planning on being mindful of my spending. Where does my money go. What is happening when I want to go shop for things. What am I feeling, thinking.
And mostly, can I still be "happy" and not have that thing. (of course I can!)

I am planning on not purchasing anything I do not absolutely need until my birthday in March. "Need" is subjective, I know. And well, I love me some birthdays.

In the meantime, I have to stop and think, "do I need this" and "why do I want to buy this?"

And for now, I am reserving this for any retail purchases. I'm having a hard time not buying a coffee. Even with a Keurig at home. And maybe guilt will consume me and bleed into these purchases as well. And I may say that giftcards and points (such as my Amazon points) are ok seeing as i am not actually technically spending any budgety money. we'll see. (I did buy a weathershield for my stroller off of Amazon today, but consider it a necessity to help me reach "health" goal so I can run with Ben during the week.- this kind of logic I have to think through. and it works. all 12 days in)

So no clothes, shoes, new Ben baby clothes or toys(he has soo much, esp thank to Chrsitmas). Accessories. I have a crap load of book already waiting on my Kindle. No gadgets or kitcheny stuff.  Or anything else "retail" that is not necessary.

As for what happens after March, I am not going to pretend I can go the rest of 2013 without buying anything else. But 2.5 months is some good thinking time, me thinks.