No-Buy July

Welcome! First of all, this is a big post for me, because as of last week, I'm halfway through the year's Take It or Leave It challenge! (If you're new here or need a refresher, I'm adding something new to my life or taking something away each week and then deciding if it is worth a longer-term commitment.) The Take Its are leading the Leave Its 16-10, which means my days are filling up with all kinds of random activities that would make my husband raise an eyebrow if he didn't know me so well.

As for this week...

I don't identify as much of a shopper. I detest malls and don't think I've ever uttered the words "Let's go shopping!" I am, however, an impulse spender. When I'm already on an errand--usually Target or the grocery store--I often come home with things that weren't on my list. Not huge things--no "look, honey, I bought a new sofa/espresso-maker/Rottweiler" moments. Just little things that add up.

Since July tends to be pretty mellow for me, with a lack of spendy holidays, family birthdays, and anniversaries, I thought I'd try going the entire month without buying anything that's not a necessity. Piece of cake, right? I mean, in the heat of summer, I can hardly even muster up the enthusiasm to go to the grocery store. Which is why my family will probably be eating mayonnaise on saltine crackers for dinner tonight. (Ugh. No they won't. That sounds disgusting.)

So confident was I that seven days didn't sound like nearly enough of a challenge. Bring on the entire month. I got this.

What I didn't realize is that apparently everything is discounted during July. And I really, really love a bargain. Clothing, shoes, bedding plants, kitchen gadgets, decor for outside and in...somehow all of these things have already tempted me despite my barely leaving the house other than for work. And don't even get me started on those sidewalk sales.

As I try and resist this temptation, I can feel the wheels of justification whirring in my head. But I need  clothes for my vacation to Florida later this summer. 50% off annuals is a great deal, and I have some more pots that need planting. Why not just cruise the clearance aisle and see if there's anything interesting?

Long story short, July is going to be more of a challenge than I thought. Just today, I received a 30% off coupon from Kohl's. (Damn you, Kohl's. *shakes fist at sky*) I am going to try stick to my guns in the face of temptation and make this week a Take It. But no promises after August 1st.

Only the necessities, right?

It's a Bling Thing

Not mine

I'm sure it's no secret by now that I am a creature of habit. I have habits I need to make, habits I need to break, and habits that are just sort of run-of-the-mill--nothing amazing either way, but they are part of what makes me who I am.

This week's challenge addressed one of those ordinary habits. I tend to wear the same jewelry every day: sterling silver and abalone shell earrings, my wedding ring, and some kind of beaded stretchy bracelet on my left wrist. Not exactly Barbara Bush and her iconic necklace...or Marge Simpson and hers, for that matter.

Ditto

Even though I don't often buy jewelry for myself, I have amassed quite a collection of it in the form of gifts from my husband, my sister, my sons. It's not the fancy stuff--no Tiffany here--but most of it is fun or cool or unique. The only problem being, it never gets worn.

Until last week, that is, when I succeeded in wearing at least one piece of jewelry per day that I hadn't taken out of the box in a long time. Not only was it fun to mix things up, but it was a surprisingly sentimental journey. In looking through my collection, I was reminded that I have jewelry given to me by two very dear women: my mother, who is still living, and my mother-in-law, who is not. I stumbled across wearable art projects (admittedly a generous term) made by my sons in elementary school. I found earrings my husband gave me before we were married, back when we had lousy jobs and little money. I even reevaluated some pieces I made when I took a class and (briefly) thought I might want to pursue jewelry-making as a creative endeavor. Age hasn't improved them much, but hey, I tried.

Lest you think it was all a skip down memory lane, I also came across quite a few bits I can easily live without--clearance items I knew I'd probably never wear, holiday gift exchanges that aren't quite me, and stuff that makes my overly-sensitive skin itch. It was good to weed those out and focus on the things that have a deeper value. In fact, the only downside was that I spent so much time poking through jewelry that I was nearly late leaving for work most days.

This was a fun one for me and resulted in another Take It on my ever-growing list.

See you next week!

A Penny Saved

A very happy April to you! The first quarter of 2019 is in the books, so I thought I'd start with a Take It or Leave It update. So far, I've tried making twelve small changes in my life and decided to keep most of them, which is great...but the flip side is that I started losing track of what I'm supposed to be doing and when. So I set up a spreadsheet to organize what I need to do every day, every other day, or a few times a week. I think that's going to help, and hopefully I won't have a hot mess on my hands by mid-year.

April is also the month for Blogging A to Z. I'm not doing that this time around but will be visiting as many blogs as I can. I really like seeing the fun, smart, wise, and poignant themes people come up with. And I met a wonderful group of bloggers last year, whose blogs I still very much enjoy.

All right, back to Take It or Leave It...

I love a bargain and always feel good when I can save a bit of money, so one might assume I'm a whiz with coupons. I'm not. For years, my MO was to cut them out and then find them crumpled in the bottom of my purse three weeks later. These days, I'm inundated with coupons and "special offers" from all sides, so I thought I'd devote a week to trying to maximize my savings potential.

Digital coupons are much easier to use than paper ones and do not result in purse trash, so those were my go-tos at the grocery store. Before I went to shop, I scrolled through the store's app and clicked on the coupons I thought I might use. This took some time and patience and honestly didn't result in much savings over and above the store's sale prices. Ditto for Target. Maybe I didn't buy enough, or didn't buy the right things, but it really didn't seem worth my while.

Kohl's is a different story. Even my sons, who are not shoppers, know not to ever pay full price for anything at Kohl's. My 20% off mail coupon was digitally upgraded to 30% off, plus an additional $10 savings. That's all very well and good, but the thing about coupons is that I often end up buying things I don't need, from a box of crackers to a polka-dotted jacket. Stores know this, of course, which kind of makes me resent the whole process. Plus, having to download all the various apps, each which requires setting up a separate account so I can receive dozens of emails I don't want, drives me nuts.

I didn't do as much shopping this week as I thought I might, but, hey, not buying something is like saving 100%, so I no doubt came out ahead. Going forward, I will still look for a good deal for big ticket items, clothing, and admission fees to theme parks and the like. For routine purchases, however, I just don't have the commitment to make the coupon lifestyle pay off, so this one is a Leave It.