Week Two: First Target Trip

So, I ended up with a Target gift card this week.  I am like every bad mom at Target joke: I can't buy just one thing, I can't stick to my list, I have basically never spent less than 100 bucks.  However, I did have a few things I could really use, and I had the gift card.  I hadn't really addressed rules about gift cards.  Unlike physical gifts, they encourage the kind of impulsive shopping that I am trying to avoid.  However, I decided that if I made a clear plan to purchase practical items that I needed, I could use them.  So, I made a four item list: shower gel, a to-go coffee mug, toddler socks, and coffee filters.  YOU GUYS....I DID IT!  I bought those four things at Target.  And I even picked a very practical, on sale coffee mug which I have already used.  I know that this might seem like a small thing, but I picked up like 90 other things while I was in there, and I didn't buy any of them.  Plus, I didn't even spend the whole gift card.  

I have been feeling more hopeful generally about my ability to complete this challenge.  Although I have no illusions that I will be perfect, I can feel how not thinking about shopping is starting to free up some of my mental space.

Items Purchased:  Toddler socks and a to-go cup with my gift card.  Photo prints to work on my kiddo's baby books (on approved list).

Temptations:  I am really tempted by new clothes.  I have unfollowed an online boutique that I frequently buy things from, but I am still visiting the page and resisting leaving the group entirely.

Emotions:  Hopeful and excited.

Resources and actions:  I have been deleting some shopping apps from my phone and continuing to leave or unfollow email subscriptions and Facebook b/s/t groups.  It is kind of amazing how often I am confronted with opportunities and temptations to shop on the daily.  Also, I started a wishlist for things that are practical, that might even be considered "needs," but that I don't want to purchase right away.  That way, even if I do end up purchasing them eventually, they weren't impulses.  Also, I can direct people to the list to purchase gifts for me or the kids.  That list is here.