Go a whole month only buying food and other necessities

Most notably, the latest upgrade for Dreamweaver. I downloaded the trial version, though, so I could start using it and not pay for it until June. heh! I definitely saved some money this month, so it’s been well worth it. :)

I’m doing this again. I loved being able to put extra money in savings after the last month I did this, so here we go again… :)

I did very well with this. I’m leaving it on my open list, though, because I want to do it again in a future month.

I saved a significant amount of money, and then as a karmic reward, I got a windfall that I wasn’t expecting on March 1. I’m also getting a $600 refund on my taxes. Whoot!

I bought a new computer yesterday and spent way less than I was expecting because of a sale, so that was a good thing, too.

The biggest thing I got out of this is that I can tell I’m still being mindful of my purchases. I didn’t rush to buy those Weepies songs I wanted when the calendar turned, either, although I’ll be buying those soon.

Thanks for playing along with me. I got real busy in February at work and wasn’t able to post a lot of entries or comments on this, but I read all of the team’s posts. It was fun doing this as a team!!

I’ve been so busy at work (and bringing work home with me) that I haven’t had time to spend. I don’t really even have time to write this entry, but I thought I’d better check in. Back to work now…

The Weepies

I heard the song “World Spins Madly On” on “Grey’s Anatomy” this week. I want it. In March…

I bought an a/v cable to hook my VCR up to my TV yesterday. This is my first defiant act in this goal. I probably have one somewhere in my house, but I couldn’t find it in the obvious places, and I didn’t feel like tearing the house up to find it. I felt I “needed” one yesterday because I wanted to work on a project. I’m not trying to justify the slip… just confessing.

Today was grocery day, and I overcame a small temptation. Just a small temptation, but a big victory for not giving in.

I used to have a little paper holder. A girl at work always commented how much she liked it. She got a new job, and I decided to give it to her as a going-away/good luck gift. Since then, I’ve wanted another one, but haven’t seen one.

Today, I finally saw one at the grocery store. I reached for it, but then remembered this goal. It’s not a necessity. I tried to justify it by telling myself, “It’s only $5!” I didn’t give in, though. I’ll wait until March. :)

My internal backup drive died this morning. It’s not a tragedy because it’s just backed up stuff. But there are other things wrong with my computer, and I really want to buy a new computer now. I won’t do it this month, though!! This will be a HUGE test for me, and exactly the reason I wanted to do this goal—to see if I can wait a full month before I jump on a major purchase like this.

I also ran out of my raspberry body cream this morning. I still have raspberry lotion and raspberry body butter and 3 other fragrances of body cream, so I definitely don’t *need* more raspberry body cream. Plus if I went to buy some, I’d end up with 3 other things because they always have a “Buy 3 get 1 free” sale. I will not falter with this goal!!! :D

I’ve been thinking about this goal the last couple weeks, and I’ve already started in the mindset of not buying things I don’t need. I went to Target on Saturday and restricted myself to only buying on the things I went for. That’s probably the first time I’ve been to Target without buying extra stuff.

I’m pursuing this goal as a way to learn restraint as opposed to saving money for a month. The savings will come as a natural consequence of the restraint, and, hopefully, a habit will be formed that will help me continue to save in the future. :)

Good luck to everyone else on the team!

I plan on going all of February only buying food and other necessities. :) I get to define “necessities” for myself, though. heh!

If anyone wants to join me and make this a team thing, let me know, and I’ll send an invitation.