Tuesday, April 24, 2018

One Month Down - a shopping ban check-in

Within the first 2 days of starting my shopping ban I really noticed how many of the sites I visit daily are recommending purchases for me. And I think that's on me. I enjoy online shopping and over time have gravitated to blogs that recommend clothes and decor and books that are up my alley. But it did represent the first question to how my online shopping ban was going to work.  Do I allow myself to "virtual" shop without purchasing?

So far I haven't set a hard fast rule on that. I've tried to really notice when blog reading turns into shopping and I haven't been checking flash sale sites daily like I did pre-ban, but I have followed a few links to cute clothes and I did view the entire Target Opalhouse collection online.  Oops.  But no purchases so I'm calling it a win. It did inspire a trip to Target because I really liked a quilt I saw online, but I didn't like it in person. No damage done.

So far in the first month I had 2 fails, both Kindle books that I read immediately - not impulse purchases because of sales. I've also downloaded the nine free Kindle books for World Book Day so my unread Kindle book number isn't going down anytime soon.

Overall, I'm calling month one a win. I have gone actual shopping a bit more, but it hasn't lead to purchases just higher daily step counts and I'm definitely feeling much more aware of my spending.  Onto month two!