Cheater

Back in the hazy light of January, I pledged to not buy myself anything for 2015.  So how’s that going? 

Uhhhhhhhhh…..…..ermmmmm……ehhhhhhhhhhh….….ahhhhhhhhhhh……..mhgmmmm………………

As it turns out, I sometimes cheat at personal challenges and can justify a lot of things.  Like when my sunglasses were scratched all across the eyeballs, I could have looked around and probably found a pair of sunglasses to wear, a pair of Trent’s or an extra pair at my parents’ beach house.  My dad is forever finding sunglasses on the beach.  That would be the appropriate response to the challenge, make do.  I just bought a new pair.

I have also purchased some summer clothes.  Before I purchased anything I did go through my whole closet, cleaned out things I don’t wear, and made a list of the things I actually needed and matched the spirit of my style icon, Betty Rizzo.  The list included details like Do Not Buy Any More Blue Shirts.  The first thing I purchased was a blue shirt.  Back in January, someone asked, “But what if you find something awesome at a thrift store [like a fabulous white and silver skirt for $3]?”  We know know the answer:  I will buy it.

Some parts are going a little better, no craft purchases so far.  I’m making progress on my sampler and have looked at the yards of spring fabric I bought last summer, just looked at it.  It’s a little hard to believe that I was able to sew so many dresses for Holly when she was a baby; where was all that free time?  How was I so motivated in the heat?

I have yet to buy myself a coke or coffee or whatever when I’m not with friends.  Except for recently, when I drove through McDonalds for lunch on the way to the park.  And today when I bought a diet coke and popcorn at Target.  That was a double cheat because yesterday I also made a list of three goals for the week and #2 was Stop Drinking Diet Coke Every Day.  I’m pretty sure it’s Tuesday.

The best part so far is the rarely eating out as a family bit.  It seems like fast food would be cheaper than a nice meal, but that is not the case.  On Saturdays we’ve purchased stuff for sandwiches, fancy cheese, and blueberries for lunch at the grocery store and it still totals less than we would have spent picking something up.  The prep/clean up time at home is a factor, but if you count waiting in a drive through line or the whole process of eating at a restaurant, it probably averages out.  The quality of our eating has gone up while the cost has gone down.

So it’s not going 100% great, but it’s going kind of great.  Some of the success has to be measured in what I haven’t purchased, like a DVD of Jurassic Park, a green gingham oxford shirt that I tried on today (I do kind of regret that), a scarf with nautical knots on it, any stationary, any throw pillows, and quite a few Diet Dr. B’s- a lot of Diet Dr. B’s.  It hasn’t been perfect, but I’ll keep trying.