I lost my job this past year, and we are knee-deep in debt. So I'm on a self-imposed spending holiday for 2012, which means NEEDS only. If we can live without it, we aren't buying it!
Being a red-blooded American, of course I am already seeing things and thinking I'd like to have them... they would improve my life, my health, my organization, home, efficiency... etc.
So I've decided to add a page to my notebook. I'm going to list all the things I want, or consider buying. I'll add the date, and the cost if I know it. Then of course I won't buy it! Then I can look back over the list as the year goes on. My guess is that, when I look back, many of the items will seem frivolous and unnecessary, and my life will have marched along just fine without them. I'll have saved money and have less clutter, just my list :rollsmile
Entry #1 will be the automatic air freshener I saw the ad for last night. You walk past and it spritzes out some freshener. We had them at work (yes, the job that I lost) and they were great; how wonderful my home would be if smelled nice all the time! hahaha. (Then I remembered... "oh yeah, I'm not buying stuff".)
This is a great idea. My DH and I both lost our jobs last year. DH has found another one but I have not. Luckily, I did not inherit yjr "buy everything you see an infomercial for" gene from my mom. but I still need to control grocery spending and no more eating out atm all.
I actually did that last year. I wrote down a page of wants and a page of needs in the back of my date book (those NOTES pages at the back). As the year went on, I would look over the list, add to it, take it off (say if I got it as a gift for a birthday or used/free). Some things I found I just lost the desire to even have before they were acquired. Once acquired, I'd mark a line through it with the date it was received/purchased. It was also a quick reference for if someone asked me what I wanted for a birthday, house-warming, or Christmas gift. There were big items and small items on it. That is something that worked REALLY well for me, and I've already earmarked new pages in my date book for the same "game." Obviously there were quite a few items I never received or bought, so they are just now listed in the new year's date book. I hope your list goes well and you get lots and lots of your needs (and wants) met in the coming year.
The deal with me is I do have a $250 a month allowance which allows me to buy all the crud I want until I run out of funds. I eat out, buy clothes(almost always name label used from Hopes Closet)purses are my downfall so I have a $40 limit. If it's over $40 I can NOT have it. Where would I put all of them if I didn't reel myself in?????
I also buy my craft stuff. I quilt, sew, knit and crochet,scrapbook and also make jewelry and sometimes paint(not for a while) so they are all expensive hobbies that take up massive amounts of space.
I lost my room when dd moved back in where I kept all my hobbies and the 1 year stockpile so it all had to be corraled. Now I use WHAT I HAVE and avoid buying any new hobby supplies. Where would I put it all? I always shop the sales and stock even with hobbies so that had to come to an end.
The stockpile had to be eaten. Now I am amassing a 4 month of food and a 1 year HBA and household and finding creative storage solutions lol! I may have to stop before my goals depending on space but we'll see.
My wardrobe really is complete, hobbies I have out the wazoo, stocking is in the budget.
I have nothing to buy lol!
I do want an ASUS tablet with separate keyboard so that'll run me about $500 so I could just sit and wait and save for it.
I'm with you here..........and I have a really expensive house improvement NEED coming up......it should take the "buying wind" out of my sails.............have been using up my stockpile instead of adding to it.
MH---if I can get my roof done for that amount I will be smiling........think it will be a killer.......and I am thinking about
new gutters, and siding (not much area, mostly brick) all at the same time since I HATE having workers around!!! Get them here............and get them out!!
We're definitely curbing as much extraneous spending as possible this year. With being in debt and a savings plan in effect, it's hard to justify much of anything.
Yesterday, I bought an ironing board and it is something I have been needing the last ten years.
I don't need any clothes or anything else. The boys are all set with what they have. DH is set with what he has. There really isn't anything that we would want to have around the house. (Heck, I even got an oscillating heater this year for Christmas so that helps.)
The boys know that bills and such always come first and if they really want something, that's what birthdays are for.
I hear that. For me it was a broom and pot holders.
My broom was 11 years old and awful and I just could not bring myself to spend the money on a new one. Finally I found a really nice one at Fred's that was a great price and bit the bullet and just did it.
The pot holders. What can I say. Stained, gunky that no washing would cure and ones that I had no idea where they came from. One was a cat with a hanging down TAIL.....:shrug2:
I found some at Thanksgiving on sale. Got 4, wow out of control lol!
I also got 8 new kitchen towels to boot.:chef2:
I figure if I can't keep a want in my head then it really wasn't a want. I just let it slip away unnoticed. Then it feels like I get everything I want as all the other passing ones are forgotten.
I could see writing it down if you wanted to see how much you were saving how much will power you were having at passing up your wants.
This looks like a job for Pinterest!! Create a board "things I will buy when I'm out of debt" and start pinning things you are craving.
I used to write things down but it wasn't very satisfying to me. Pinterest has become my "I want it but I wont get it" fix. Not recommended if you have difficulty resisting buying stuff online. For some reason I just don't tend to shop online to buy, its more to peruse instead of leaving the house.
Hugs to you, sometimes it feels like using a baby spoon to dig a trench but in the end it will be worth it.
great idea and what a terrific way to have a written history of supporting yourself!! Good luck - shall be checking back - for support (both ways) and interest of course!!
This is a great idea! I just added a "Things that I will buy when I am rich" board to my Pinterest.
My problem is that the things I really WANT are all big-ticket. I couldn't care less for purses and knick-knacks. I want a new deck, a propane-powered refrigerator, to replace all the carpets with hardwood....
Sometimes, when I price those things out, I think I'll never get them, because I have a really hard time coughing up thousands of dollars for stuff that is really a want, not a need. Even the new roof, which was absolutely a need, and which cost about $3,000, was not easy for me. I was depressed for about a week afterward, thinking of all the FUN stuff I could have done with that money!
I have trouble with this as well. I just had to shell out $323 for tires for my van. I was GRIEVING that stupid money but it came out of my emergency fund. It was NOT spending money in the first place, I am not in a position to be spending $323 on anything but a credit card payback or an emergency but I still grieved, ha ha!!
I am very surprised Pinterest is helping me with this, (spending urges) but it is. Most of the time I don't follow the links to the original site if I'm re-pinning because I don't want to know how much that amazing fireplace next to a hot tub costs, I just want to say "hey I love it!" and dream about it then move on.
~Awesome idea! I used to do something similar in a round about way. I kept a list of things I wanted to buy then I put off buying them as long as possible. As I added new items to the list it was always gratifying to see that my urge for that book, craft supply or jacket had completely vanished by waiting it out.
I'm an out-of-sight, out-of-mind person so I couldn't do the Pinterest thing. It has to be simple words on paper, not the idealistic beauty of pretty photos. Too tempting!
It really isn't depressing Deer. It's a high-five every time you can cross out something on your list. Not because you bought it, but because you actually don't want it anymore. Of course, some things remain on that list, and that's what pocket money is for. I get to spend that however I want. ~
I think this is interesting.. I always keep a list of things I need of the house and family... I think for me the list would be a running stockpile list. for example if I have 14 toothpaste I may have enough.... It maybe a money thing I know what is and what isn't in my budget...
I keep an amazon wish list with every little or big thing I crave (I have a separate amazon shopping list for stuff we actually need for the house) then I periodically look at it and delete the nonsense. It used to be 4 pages now it's only 2. I've definitely been thinking more about needs vs wants in the last couple years
I do this also! It really works - I can delete stuff I no longer need, or use it for "what would you like for Christmas responses" (if appropriate), or think about how, if I really decided needed something, I could obtain it more economically or find a better substitute. The list gets things out of my head and "on paper."
I do a version of this too as far as writing it down. I make a list of wants that I will either think about for 30 days before I committ to purchasing or that eventually get moved to a wish list of sorts that is longer term....things that I might receive for a birthday or holiday or else will purchase myself if I am still wanting after thinking it over for many days.
I'm sitting here with DH reading over my shoulder and say all excited, 'I'm going to start a list of all the things I WANT!' I open a word document and type "Broom!" He thought that was hysterical... but apparently my wants have become fairly simple... our broom is so old! ;-)
Pfft-broom is on my list too.
-new filter for the air cleaner
-a new vehicle
-a new furnace
-a new water heater
-a new mattress
no luxeries. Just want to survive w/ a modecum of comfort.
Yep, I see the point here. I'm using my old broom for a while longer :tay:
I'm trying to put off buying everything I can, not just the frivolous stuff. Because if I leave any gray area, I can come up with a way to justify anything.
I wasted money last year buying things to save me money. Like a $50 Wonderwash that I never use. With the possibility of being debt free this year, there will be NO purchases out outside of the budget for any reason, even if it's to save money in the long run!
I'm happy to see that I'm not the only person who won't buy a much-needed broom. My corn-broom now looks like a paint-brush with a very long handle. I saw one on sale in the Home Hardware flyer for $5.99, but when I got there, the sharpie clerk tried to con me, upping the price by $3, pretending it wasn't the same one as in the flyer picture. So I didn't buy it, and that was 2 years ago, when I felt I really needed to get a new broom.
Other things I need: duct tape, parcel tape, postage stamps, and I'm trying to hold out a little longer...a little longer.
My stockpile of H&B and foodstuffs is pretty good, and I don't need to add to it, except for exceptional food-sale purchases; so right now, not spending the money is more important.
I need shoes, winter boots and a summer coat. I can alter a good coat I bought at the Thrift Shop, but I'm scrounging my closet for shoes & boots to wear, adding insoles, stretching shoes with the shoe-stretchers, trying to keep from buying another pair. They are so expensive.
I'm really glad for FV; we talk the same language, and you people understand.
It IS refreshing to have a place to talk about these things without feelings like you are nuts. My friends and family think I have gone overboard with being frugal; yet when I log on to FV, I am reminded that I still have so much to learn!
When I sold my house I made the big splurge for something I had wanted for over a decade. I bought a brand new computerized sewing machine that did automatic button holes and all of these fancy stitches...
I haven't used it once.
I've used my old Montgomery Ward zig zag machine and it's solid and tough and dependable.
I'm afraid that the new one will break, LOL!
But honestly, the only thing I think of most of the time is getting stocked up for hard times ahead. So, if it isn't something that will help us make it through hard times, it doesn't get on the list. AT ALL!
I don't have time to keep a list of the stuff I'm not buying.
Well, I'll have to cross 'broom' off my list now, because I finally bought one. However, I didn't buy it at Home Hardware, where it's priced well over $10; I bought it at Zeller's for $8.95, received excellent service, and also got points on my club-card. And I'm making a little cover to slide down tightly over the top-half of the bristle-top, so the bristles don't fall out so soon.
:cheer4:
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