I have done spending fasts in the past, but the one I’m doing during this Lent season has been a bit more eye opening. During the others, it’s been more about the money. How can I still shop but keep the expenses down? I did this by playing the coupon game. If you’ve ever done the whole extreme couponing thing, you know there’s a lot of buying going on. You have to buy the things that you can get for free (with coupons) or get money back on, in order to get the other things you want. The problem with this is you often end up buying a bunch of stuff you don’t need. And, for me anyway, it’s a gateway to buying other things I don’t need.
But this time, it’s been about not shopping. I’ve been grocery shopping a few times and have ventured into Target (dangerous territory for me) once, for things like eye drops and food. I’ve even done some online window-shopping, but no purchases! There have been a few things that I’ve come across that I’m sure I would have purchased if it weren’t for this fast. But I’ve noticed that once a few days pass, I’m not as interested in those items. Yes, there are a few things that I will probably purchase once Easter arrives, but I wait until then.
I think too often we make shopping our hobby. We buy things without intention. It’s a bit like gambling, there’s always something that we buy on a whim that becomes one of our favorite sweaters to wear or appliance to use. It’s those items that feed impulsive shopping. You never know when you’re going to stumble across that next great thing. But what if we wait a week? Does that item still hold our interest? The alternative question is will it still be available in a week? Maybe if it’s not, it just wasn’t meant to be.
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