be less of a consumer

I’ve started making my owns soaps and salt scrubs and now when I run out of shampoo or lotion I’m just going to make it myself! It’s less expensive and I get to pick and choose exactly what is going into my product! Plus it’s fun :)

mostly because this will help with my goal of eliminating my credit card debt. i have a fairly serious shopping addiction and sometimes when i go to the mall i will look for things to buy if i don’t have anything specific in mind.

i worked retail for several years and i know how they operate. when i worked for icing and sam goody we were told to add on add on add on and you can get in serious trouble if you don’t make those quotas. i always hated having to do that because when i walk into a store i don’t want people pressuring me to buy things i don’t want or need.

the baskets we handed out at icing were to make people forget how much they had in their hands so that they would buy more. the cashwrap is set up so that you can see smaller items that could be impulse buys (purchase with purchase). loyalty cards so that you won’t buy cd’s elsewhere because you get points if you buy them here. etc. etc.

everything is set up to get people to buy more regardless of what they actually NEED. and that is what i want to focus on. only buying things i actually NEED or really want.

so my plan is to pay off all my bills first the instant i get paid and budget what remains. from now on i won’t buy anything that is not on my shopping list. if i think about it for a two weeks and still really want it and think it’s worth it and have the money THEN i can buy it.