happy living Design

the spending hiatus #2: weeks 1 and 2

So, yea.  Uh.  I was doing a second spending hiatus.  Really.  I am.  Really.

Week one: Was just ok.  I did buy a Drika B bag after literally drooling all over myself about it for like a year.  I put the money I made on ebay towards it but still had to put out some cash.  I have not received it yet and doubt very much that I will feel at all guilty about it when it arrives.  These things are like that.

 

And I am awaiting the arrival of two books that I purchased just before the SH#2, Nourishing Traditions and Healing Our Children.  But I have been using our public library A LOT.  I was there twice last week and am planning on going tomorrow to pick up another book.  I have a healthy stack of books next to my bed.  Remember, you can see what I am reading on Goodreads.com.

Week two: Yesterday I was MIA from the world in general.  It was just one of those days.  I ended up driving and an hour north-east of West Chester to pick up two end tables that I decided to buy that morning off of craigslist.  We have been planning on making this purchase for awhile, I have just been waiting to find the right tables at the right price.

 

The thought of not using the tray tables as end tables anymore makes want to cry with joy.  Seriously.  But now it is really down to business.  We are in the middle of refinancing the house we live in, trying to rent the house we used to live in but still own and are getting ready to start a rehab project at a 5-unit building in the city that my husband owns and that we hope to rent out, plus planning for a baby hopefully sometime in the not-so-distant future.  To say we have some financial planning and plotting to do would be an understatement.  During my last spending hiatus my goals were being more thoughtful about purchases, bringing less into the house and purging some of the unused items we already had.  Those are still important things to me but this time around SAVING COLD HARD CASH (and keeping it in the bank) is my main priority.

So that's where I'm at. :)

Paula, Elizabeth and LobotoME are also doing their own spending hiatuses.

spending hiatus #2

Starting today I am on Spending Hiatus #2.  This time around I am not following anyone like I did last time. I am trying it out on my own.  We will see how that works.  If any of you did not participate last time and want to  this time feel free to do so and let me know so I can follow you.  Either way I will do the same as last time and post each Monday (or Tuesday!) and re-cap.

So far I have a few exclusions such as two toilets, one refrigerator, paint and some other building supplies for our bedroom make-over.

I am committed to three months of this: June, July and August.

For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the spending hiatus exercise, I am committing to not buy anything that would be deemed non-essential for three months.  For me non-essentials means clothing and accessories, home and decorating items, specialty personal care items (it is amazing how much money I can spend in one trip to Walgreens), magazines that I don't already have a subscription to, books (thank goodness for the library), electronics and itunes music.  This list is not exhaustive and I think it would be different for everyone.

Like last time I am going to use the next three months to do some more de-cluttering and organizing my two favorite activities.

Wish me luck.

I am thankful...

...that you keep coming back.  It has been 13 days since I last posted.  I have been a bit under the weather lately.  So thanks for hanging in there with me and 'hello' to some of the new people who have stopped by in mini absence.

I never officially posted about the spending hiatus wrap-up.  I feel like I am in spending hiatus 'lite' mode.  I have purchased a few things but nothing that could be considered a clear-cut non-essential.  So much gray area there!  We have a couple of circumstances that have come up since the official end of TSH so TSH 'lite' will probably continue for the foreseeable future and I feel ok with it.  Maybe TSH 'lite' isn't really a spending hiatus at all.  Maybe it's my new perspective.

I did some spring cleaning of my closet over the past couple of weeks and have a few things that I might list on ebay.  I will let you know when they are up.  We have an SUV load of stuff to go to the Salvation Army.  And probably more that should! 

Our bedroom has been without trim (baseboard and door casing) for over a year.  So we are gearing up to finish the overhaul of that room in late spring.  I finally picked colors too.

I really enjoyed reading each of your comments about spring cleaning.  So many good ideas and thoughts.  I plan to go back and read them again!

the spending hiatus : week 11 update

I can't believe I only posted once between updates.  Oh well.  Work is unexpectedly busy (we never did go to the 4-day work week which was very disappointing).  I am also studying for my real estate exam.  Sorry for the slowness.

Full disclosure:  I put a deposit down on a Nintendo DSi which is due to come out this week.  I have been wanting one for awhile and am looking forward to getting it.  I have to admit that I don't feel as comfortable as I used to about spending that amount of money.  I don't think it will be a regrettable purchase.  It's just a 'big' one now, whereas before I probably would not have thought twice.  Interesting.

A small victory for myself:  I was able to save enough money over the past few months that I paid off the balance on my computer saving over $300 in finance charges.  I am looking forward to my savings account going back up now.

Thinking ahead:  Joslyn had some good ideas last week about re-entry.  I think staying out of stores will be at the top of my list.  I am sure that I do more mindless shopping in stores than I do online.  Even beyond just the shopping, I have just recently started thinking about my lifestyle overall and if there are things that I have convinced myself that I need but really don't.  I don't live lavishly by any means, but now might be a good time to reevaluate. 

the spending hiatus : week 10 update (and other stuff)

"Finding creative ways to buy things" is what this blog post title should be.  I bought two sweaters from Banana Republic this week, deeply discounted, and I offset the costs with a gift card and a few books that I recently sold on Amazon.

I had a color epiphany after helping a client out at her house on Thursday and ordered some paint samples for our bedroom.  I just have to wait until tax season is over to disrupt the bedroom with a big paint project.  But I am READY!  Or at least getting there.  I consider this an 'in between' purchase, not essential but not non-essential.

I also ordered new cabinet pulls for the kitchen.  I am hoping that will help me 'love' my kitchen a bit more.  This is also an 'in between' purchase.

We're still not on a budget as far as home decorating and renovating spending goes.  Well, we're still not on a budget for anything.  But I am gearing up for it, I swear.  Because life after hiatus I imagine might be a tiny bit like getting out of rehab and trying to re-enter the world.  (This is in no way meant to make light of addiction of any kind.)  I need to find my/our balance between the spending hiatus and where I was before.

One thing I can say is that after these 10 weeks of supposedly denying myself lots of stuff, I don't feel ANY LESS FULFILLED as a person than I did before.  I have the same ups and down in my days or weeks as I did before.  I am just as happy.  I am just as stressed (at times).  And there are times when I feel like I have even gotten away from feeling as though I am being denied anything and more like I have somewhat separated myself emotionally from shopping and am just being A LOT more thoughtful about the purchases I do make.  Do I REALLY want that grain sack pillow?  Where will it go and how will it go with everything else I currently have?  Will I still love it years from now?  Trust me, there are still days when I'd like to run blindfolded through Target, running my hands along the shelves, emptying lots of yummy stuff into my cart.  There are just less of those days.

the spending hiatus : week 9 update

Not much to report.  I did buy a book, but it is for a new business venture so I felt it was justified.

I have so many things on my list to buy for the house that I don't know where to start.  It is hard to prioritize that stuff because no matter how I look at it, it is all non-essential.  But our living room looks like a college dorm living space and it is driving me nuts! 

Even after 4/15 (my last day) I am not sure how I will approach decorating and renovating in my new outlook on spending.  I worked on my decorating budget worksheets this weekend.  They are almost ready for me to share them with you, if you'd like.

Here is a good link for the home stretch: Defeating Temptation: 10 Questions to Ask Yourself When You're Tempted to Buy

It's been quiet around here.  My allergies lately are getting the best of me.  I am doing everything I can to hang on and just make it to work.  I am hoping to feel less 'clouded' soon.  Thanks for hanging in there.

I am off to the dentist!  Eck.

the spending hiatus : week 8 update

I don't know what is more amazing 1. that two months has gone by since the spending hiatus started or 2. that it has been two months since I have done any boredom-, happiness-, sadness-, or inadequacy- induced shopping.  I am by no means giving myself a pat on the back.  I have a long way to go to having a better perspective on money in general and I can say that the state of uncertainty in the world today gives me all the more motivation to try to stay on track.

I've been keeping myself busy too.  That helps.  During 'tax season', Carl works on Saturdays.  I had found that although I had lots I could do at home, I was sometimes listless and bored and wound up at Target or some other store buying stuff I didn't really need.  This season has been better.  We have a few rental properties so I have had to spend time getting our home filing system in order to try to keep better track of everything coming in and going out.  Aack.  The paperwork.  What a nightmare.  But I feel less stressed about it now that I know where everything is.  This past Saturday I had a really nice breakfast with my mom, dad and brother and we spent a little time at my grandmother's house afterwards sopping up some yummy sticky buns.  Spending quality time with people is a nice way to pass the time.

With all that said, I am lusting (and I don't often use that word unless it is in reference to my husband) after the clothes in the latest jcrew catalog. 

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, I am in no position to be buying any clothing as I have approached maximum density.  Now that I am not feeling so anxious about the spending hiatus I am going to focus a lot of my energy on losing weight.  There is no other way to say it.  I don't like to concentrate on weight loss because I believe in looking at nutrition from all of the angles, not just how much one weighs, but for me right now there is no way around this.  So there is it.  Or there I am.

be well, friends.

   

the spending hiatus : week 7 update

I bought two pairs of shoes on Sunday.  And you know what, I have no guilt or regret about it.  I realized that shopping can be satisfying when you are buying something you actually need, find something you love and get it at an amazing price.  And just in time for my new shoes, we got a nor'easter.

Back on the wagon again.  My goal this week is to be better about bringing lunch instead of buying.

I am getting a lot more reading done lately.  It is amazing what one can do when one is not thinking about shopping.

That's all the brain power I can muster up right now. ;)

my clock.

the spending hiatus : week 6 update

I forget how many days they say it takes to make something a habit (or get out of a habit).  It is 21?  That seams to stick in my mind.  Here we are 42 days into it and I can honestly say I think each week it gets a bit easier.  A wrench could have been thrown into the whole mix last week though.  I had (have) fallen into that winter blues melancholy, missing my husband because he's working 70 hours a week melancholy, wondering what is going to happen to all of us at work melancholy.  Bleh.  And that's when I like to shop.  But I didn't.  I hibernated.  Which is why you didn't hear from me much last week.  I am not completely out of it, but it is sunny today and I plan to take a walk during lunch.

I went to Target on Saturday and I went with a list.

• baby gift for a friend who is due this week,
• two toilet seats (seriously.),
• makeup - I am trying out drugstore foundation instead of Bare Escentuals to save money
• an over-the-door shoe organizer - I have whittled my shoe collection down to a manageable amount but our closets still suck and my shoes are found scattered about the bedroom.
• some other toiletries
• cereal and milk

I stuck to the list except for the Orla Kiely brown pear mug that I bought to keep at the office. ;)  I spent the rest of my Saturday doing a year's worth of filing in the boy's office (instead of shopping).  Not fun.  But it feels great to have it done and have everything organized in one place.

the spending hiatus : week 5 update

I got a deep-tissue massage on Saturday morning and as I commented on Joslyn's recent update, it was worth EVERY non-essential dollar. 

I had to buy contact lenses and it has really been bothering me; I have been so restrained in my spending for the most part and when I have to spend ALL THAT MONEY it had to be on contact lenses.  There is certainly no gratification in that. 

We just paid our credit card bill from January which included our trip to Utah.  That was a bit disappointing but I am hoping for a reward next month of a much lower bill as a result of the hiatus.

Hell has frozen over:  I have started to use coupons.  Wait, did I mention this before?  No, I don't think I did.  Yes.  I have succumbed.  And I almost had a coniption yesterday when I opened the Sunday paper and there were NO COUPONS.  Daily Local News = Daily Lacka News = Daily Crapa News.

I am still working on our budget that will start on March 1st.  Once I figure out a good system I will be happy to share it with you if you'd like.  Two blogs that I have been reading lately are Get Rich Slowly and I Will Teach You To Be Rich.  Both sites have a ton of helpful advice and hints on how to save money and be more frugal. 

I've mentioned this before that one of my biggest concerns is how to project and budget expenditures on house stuff (i.e. furnishings and home improvement): determining how much we can afford, prioritizing projects big and small, phasing work and deciding where projects begin and end because we all know things snowball from a little paint to a major overhaul very quickly and being efficient so that we are not undoing recent work to complete the next project.  I hope that as I work through some of that, I come out with some helpful tips that you can all use.

That's all I have to say about that.  ;)