Shopping hiatus, finished

The shopping hiatus is over, officially. We went a full 12 weeks this year, with only a few slip ups. I technically may have cheated right at the end, when D and I picked out two of Lily's amazing homestead paintings. BUT, we haven't paid for them yet and they won't be able to come live with us until the end of the exhibition. So that doesn't really count, right?

{this is our homestead pair - i feel like we adopted two new family members, photo by lily}

I'll be honest - this time wasn't as revelatory as last year. I was able to cruise through for the most part and I spent some time feeling disappointed by that, wondering if I'd made it too easy (should I have cut out thrift store purchases as well? should I have stopped buying flowers every week?).

Then I smacked myself a little and moved on. This was never meant to be an exercise in austerity. I allowed thrift store purchases because I'm comfortable with my thrifting and it doesn't contribute to demand for new items. I purchased flowers every week because they are one of my few indulgences, and the pleasure I get from them far outweighs the cost.

In the end, I think this year was easier partly because last year was so successful (read my thoughts about last year's hiatus here). I did manage to re-think my shopping habits after the last hiatus was over. If I look at my credit card statements, I can see that my frivolous spending is pretty sporadic already, so going a few months without any purchases at all isn't that difficult anymore. I know my trigger points (sales!) so I can more easily avoid them when I don't actually need anything.

This isn't to say that I'm going to stop purchasing stuff altogether, ever. I'm just going to keep focusing on maintaining a tightly edited and thought out list of what items I want/need at any given time. This works well for me because I can refer to the list when a sale hits. I'm not sure if I'll do the hiatus again next year (although I highly recommend this exercise if you haven't tried it before!). I think I'll revisit my spending habits regularly and decide if I'm in need of a refresher at some point.

Things I want to buy:

*Sunglasses (2 pairs - from Zenni - upgraded to SEVERE want, ordering now)

*Perfect workout tee shirts (must be thin cotton, loosely fitted, nice and long, v-neck - thank you to all of you who have given me such good recommendations - I'll be checking them out!)

*Serving pieces from the Heath summer collection (specifically, the summer appetizer set and possibly the serving and cutting board set - still want, D on board)

*Small rug for the my office (idly looking, not urgent)
*New clock for the kitchen area (specifically, this one which D and I are obsessed with - not going to pull the trigger yet, waiting) 
*A few casual dresses that I can wear both at work and at home
*Cardigans (cardigans are actually always on my mental list, because I wear them every. single. day)

On unmade beds and high expectations (+ week 11 of the shopping hiatus)

Sometimes things just don't work out. We're not talking huge catastrophic crises, just every day bummers.

I had a vision for the weekend. It involved a sparkly clean house and hours of productive work and tomato seedlings gently nestled in rich potting soil and tea on the balcony and arroz con pollo simmering on the stove. It involved restorative time alone with naps and reading. It involved me being relaxed and happy and welcoming D home (from a weekend away) with a pint of fancy, possibly outrageously priced, beer. We would catch up and laugh and sip and be generally charming and perfect.

The weekend was rather lovely and productive, but I ran out of time. Seedlings languish unplanted, slightly crispy from lack of water. There is no food in the fridge (I know, because I made a meal of stale crackers and olives late Saturday night) let alone fancy drinks. The thrifted glassware I bought last week is taking up all the counter space in my kitchen, waiting to be washed and put to use. I had to sew until 11 pm to finish up orders for this week. And when I finally went to collapse into bed I realized that I hadn't changed the sheets and made the bed, which I knew desperately needed to be done. And since I had planned to do it, the bed was particularly disastrous, complete with cracker crumb remnants of my Saturday night "meal" and blankets set seriously askew.

Sad. In a commonplace, every day sort of way. Made better because D cooked up some spaghetti as soon as he got home, thus saving me from finishing the jar of olives for dinner. And I did feel a bit awesome because I was able to produce a loaf of bread to go with the spaghetti, because I had some chilled dough in the fridge.

{one good thing}

Big sigh. Just a little reminder that no one's life is perfect, even if it looks that way sometimes (at least, this is what I tell myself, over and over again). Also, we just finished week eleven of the shopping hiatus (one week to go!) and we're rocking it. No slip ups at all.

Shopping hiatus, week ten

Major cheating last week. For the second week in a row. Sad.  Especially because we're in the home stretch.

{ikea cheats - 1, 2, 3, 4}

We kind of did it on purpose, too. I mean, I was resigned to the purchase of a new pillow (#2). But then a friend told us he had some extra tomato seedlings that needed a home and that meant we had to make a home (#3). We could have taken a terracotta pot from my mom's stash, but we wanted something sleeker. And I've been wanting my beloved mandarin quat to get a new outfit (#1). He's still living in the black plastic pot he came in, which is apparently not good for his roots. And, having already cheated, I threw caution to the winds and purchased 3 teeny tiny white ceramic pots that I've been eyeing for months now (#4). For tiny plants around the house, which will probably not survive my care.

D tried to excuse us by saying that it was all for the house and not really for us. I considered not telling you at all and hoping no one would notice. But I'm confessing after all.

As far as the pillow goes, the jury is still out. It really is a nice down, but I'm thinking I should have bought the "back sleeper" one, which has more volume. Ikea believes that stomach sleepers need a thin pillow, but I'm not sure I quite agree. I'm giving myself time to adjust.

Things I want to buy:

*Sunglasses (2 pairs - from Zenni - upgraded to SEVERE want)

*Pillow (purchased from Ikea)

*Perfect workout tee shirts (must be thin cotton, loosely fitted, nice and long, v-neck)

*Serving pieces from the Heath summer collection (specifically, the summer appetizer set and possibly the serving and cutting board set - still want, D on board)

*Small rug for the my office (STILL looking on Craigslist - no luck yet)
*New clock for the kitchen area (specifically, this one which D and I are obsessed with)

Shopping hiatus, week 9

Made a mistake last week...

{new fabric}

I was at the fabric store (for the shop, not for me) and I saw this outdoor fabric on insane sale ($3 per yard) and they had enough yardage for our outdoor furniture and I didn't even think about the hiatus. I just scooped it up. We found our outdoor furniture on Craigslist last year and we've been very happy with it, but the cushion covers have seen better days. I've never worked with outdoor fabric before, but I think with a heavy duty sewing needle I'll be good to go.

So, I slipped a bit, but I'm back on track and gearing up for the finish line.

Things I want to buy:

*Sunglasses (2 pairs - from Zenni - upgraded to SEVERE want)

*Pillow (meant to buy one last week, despite hiatus, couldn't make a decision)

*New sheets for summer (still want these, but recognize that I don't need them)

*Perfect workout tee shirts (must be thin cotton, loosely fitted, nice and long, v-neck)

*New TOMS in spring/summer color (I'm lying if I tell myself that I'll wear close toed shoes in summer)

*Serving pieces from the Heath summer collection (specifically, the summer appetizer set and possibly the serving and cutting board set - still want, D on board)

*Small rug for the my office (currently looking on Craigslist - no luck yet)
*New clock for the kitchen area (specifically, this one which D and I are obsessed with)

Shopping hiatus, week eight

Week eight went by fairly easily, except that I woke up one morning with a neck that felt entirely twisted out of joint. I've had a new pillow on my list for a while, and I think I'm going to go ahead and break the hiatus this week to invest in a better quality one. D swears by his funny shaped memory foam pillow, but I think I need something different and more downy.  Anyone have anything they love?

{unmade bed}

I've decided to keep a little running tally of my post-hiatus shopping list for the remainder of the hiatus. I'll update it each week, crossing things off if I decide I can live without them, adding things as the urge strikes.

Things I want to buy:

*Sunglasses (2 pairs - from Zenni)

*Pillow (will probably buy this week)

*New sheets for summer

*Perfect workout tee shirts (must be thin cotton, loosely fitted, nice and long, v-neck)

*New TOMS in spring/summer color

*Serving pieces from the Heath summer collection (specifically, the summer appetizer set and possibly the serving and cutting board set)

*Small rug for the my office (currently looking on Craigslist)

Shopping hiatus, week seven

No major temptations in week seven. I'm a bit itchy to buy some new tights, because we keep having cold snaps in between summer-like days. Tights are like tearaway velcro pants, but classier. Because I can potentially put them on under a dress and then if the weather goes crazy and warms up I can take them off (in a bathroom stall - not quite as dramatic as the tearaway pants, I'll admit) and shove them in my purse.

{chevron & floral tights from Modcloth}

Yesterday we had a little rainstorm and there was a girl on the bus wearing chevron tights like the ones above from Modcloth. So cute with her rainboots. If I were a bit bolder, I might go for the floral ones and pair them with a white dress. Way more spring-y. Although I'm not sure I could convince myself to spend $30 on a pair of tights, even if I weren't banned from shopping at the moment.

Shopping hiatus, week six

So, if you happen to be smack dab in the middle of a shopping hiatus, and you run out of toothpaste, please just go to the drugstore. Or maybe even order it online.

Do not go to Target, especially when you have spent the last few months studiously avoiding every ad and blog post where someone mentions the Liberty of London collaboration. Because they hide the toothpaste in the back of the store and put the Liberty pieces on every endcap of every aisle.

{liberty of london at target}

You start thinking that you might actually want kids, if only to put them in smocked floral dresses. And about how a ceramic canister (surprisingly good quality in person, btw) would really be very useful. And a summerweight scarf would be perfect, even if you are not really a person who ever remembers to wear a scarf unless you are freezing. And, in a truly sad show of desperation, you attempt to convince your boyfriend that he would really love wearing a floral tie. But you'll settle for him wearing the tie with cars on it. (I received an unequivocal no on both counts)

I did not purchase anything (except toothpaste). But I did go home and lovingly caress my actual Liberty fabrics, which are still waiting to be made into something special. I think loving Liberty prints is an individual thing - you are either obsessed or pretty indifferent. Clearly, you know which camp I fall into. It doesn't matter how overplayed they get, I'll always love them.

Shopping hiatus, week 5

Shopping hiatus continues as scheduled. Mild to moderate temptations have appeared - new super strappy green sandals from the amazingly cheap shoe outlet near my bus stop, lightweight skirts for spring weather, a grey duvet cover for the bed.

I've resisted all of them (although I'm still kind of thinking about those sandals - they're marked down to $9!) but I did have a couple of thrift store finds.

{enameled bangles}

These enameled bangles were $2 each and I'm in love with them. I don't wear a lot of jewelry on a daily basis, but simple bracelets and extra long necklaces are easy for me to throw on quickly without feeling fussy.

{thrifting}

The set of three dessert plates was marked down to 98 cents, somehow. They're beautiful English china and I haven't seen anything quite like this pattern. I have some ideas for using the chains - if anything works out I'll share.

Completely non-fun, non-personal shopping - shelves and storage bins for my Ikea closets in the workroom. Trying to do my taxes reminded me that I need a more organized system for storing and inventorying my fabric. I'd given myself four weeks to find an alternative on Craigslist or at the thrift store and I struck out. On the plus side, we managed to make it through Ikea without purchasing a single thing that wasn't on my short (boring) list. That's a test of will power.

Shopping hiatus, week four

Going strong. But I have to admit that I'm amassing a list of things I would like to buy when the hiatus is over.

Like new sunglasses. The sun arrived abruptly yesterday and I was reminded once again that new shades must be purchased. Easy, right? No, no, no. I wear glasses. Incredibly strong glasses with thick lenses because I pretty much only see vague blobs of color when I take them off. The last time I shelled out for prescription sunglasses (5 years ago) it cost me $400 and I haven't been willing to do it again, despite the fact that those glasses are now worn to shreds.

Until now. I think I could happily live with any of these options, even if they aren't necessarily meant to be sunglasses.

{1, 2, 3, 4, 5}

The best part is that they are all under $30, even when you throw in the tinting. Genius. I really do love Zenni Optical.* Just make sure that you ALWAYS click to see the larger image. Some pairs that look like solid colors in thumbnail view actually have crazy patterns on them.

If I were purchasing right now I'd probably get click happy and end up with all of them. Instead, I have until the end of the hiatus to mull over my options, and I'll probably end up selecting two pairs, so that I have a back up.

*Back in December my regular glasses broke, well before my insurance was willing to cough up for a new pair. Luckily, I remembered a post that Caroline had put up a few months earlier about Zenni Optical. I went to my optometrist, got a print out of my prescription and then jumped online and browsed. I ended up purchasing four pairs for less than I usually spend on one. They arrived within 2 weeks. It was fabulous.

The weekend, briefly

The weekend somehow managed to be incredibly quiet and furiously busy. It just sort of slipped right by and before I knew it I was sitting on the couch, still sewing up orders and it was Sunday at midnight and I had watched all of She's All That on TV even though I swore to Dustin that of course I was turning it off, or at least changing the channel and who did he think I was anyways, that I would watch a silly movie like that (when I've probably already seen it 5 times)?

Whew. But there were nice moments leading up to that.

I was glad to see a reappearance of afternoon light - my very favorite kind.

{quiet afternoon, jalousie window}

We had old friends over for dinner and I made a berry crostata for dessert (which is a fancy way of saying that I piled a bunch of berries on some pastry dough and folded the edges over).

{berry crostata}

I went shopping for spring fabrics (not breaking the hiatus, because everything is for the shop).

{spring fabrics}

And then I worked.

{work}

D amused himself in the kitchen, with great results (sundried tomato + prosciutto + burrata on baguette for lunch, Deb's tomato-butter sauce on pasta for dinner).

{fancy tomatoes}

And I snacked on an ungodly amount of pickles. It's a terrible addiction that I mostly fight by rarely purchasing pickles of any sort. This weekend I just gave up and gave in.

{pickles, jar}

Shopping hiatus, week three

We had a couple bumps this last week, but we pulled through.

Some could be justifiable. Dustin is in desperate need of a new wet suit, so an exception will probably be granted in that case. When you surf three mornings a week, a worn out wet suit is a serious inconvenience.

Sadly, no such exception could be granted to my main temptation this week - new yellow TOMS in spring-y linen.
I've found that during the first few weeks of the shopping hiatus, it's best to go cold turkey on the usual sources of temptation. Avoid stores, recycle catalogs immediately, and never, ever open a sale email. After you get over the shopping habit, I find that I can go back to looking at pictures for inspiration, without feeling the immediate need to purchase something.

Unfortunately, TOMS are sold in my local Whole Foods, so I have to face down a whole wall of them every time I need to pick up a carton of milk. I tell myself it's a good exercise in self restraint.

Shopping hiatus, week two

No major temptations this last week. I did see this book and I really wanted to buy it. I'm going to see if the library has it instead. It sounds like a nice mix of research and memoir.

As silly as it sounds, I do sometimes have to remind myself to slow down and make time for fun. It's easy for me to get stressed out and create huge, never ending lists of obligations and projects. One of my goals over the last few years has been to snap out of that mindset, at least occasionally.

Has anyone read The Happiness Project? Is it worth buying?

Shopping hiatus, week 1

Week 1 flew by with very few temptations. We did do a bit of thrifting over the weekend, looking for very specifically sized filing cabinets (struck out) and I couldn't resist this sugar bowl and creamer set.

{"new" sugar bowl and creamer}

They're English china and I love the simple design. They are thrifted, so they don't break my rules. At $7, they were also a pretty good deal.

Sadly, I was forced to buy something new. My nose stud lost its gemstone and I had to bite the bullet and order a new one. Despite the obvious fact that I can't purchase something like that used (ick), there is only one retailer who stocks appropriately subtle, thin gauge, solid gold nose studs (the only kind my nose will tolerate). Bummer.

We had a documentary viewing marathon on Sunday and many of them were relevant to the shopping hiatus.

What Would Jesus Buy? was not quite as amazing as I had hoped. I thought that it was an actual church, rather than a performance/activist protest group. It was still interesting.

Maxed Out was an excellent look at our country's increasing reliance on credit and it almost made me cry.

Surfwise was not technically about finances, but it was an amazing documentary that touched on earning money vs. living the life you want. It's about a couple who raise their nine (!) kids in a camper van and drive around the country surfing and living a really simple life. The beginning is hysterically funny and then it gets a bit sad. Highly recommend.

Not at all related to the hiatus, but awesome: we also watched Valentino: The Last Emperor. Full of lots of couture eye candy and a pack of adorable pugs.

Shopping hiatus, take two

Last year, when Joslyn announced her shopping hiatus, I happily jumped right in. I was thinking of the money I would save more than anything else.

It turned out to be so much more. I saved money, yes. But I saved more time. I honestly had no idea how much time I spent shopping, comparing items, deciding whether or not to buy things. I felt a bit calmer, less pressured. I am not a wild spender by any means, which might make it worse, because I will agonize over purchases and it's exhausting.

{random relaxing picture}

I'm thrilled that Jos is leading the hiatus again this year. I'm excited to dive in, a bit wiser. D decided to join me, possibly because his graduate student loans have just entered repayment. We're doing this for 12 weeks. We started Monday, officially.

My personal guidelines:

- No non-essential items - obviously, we will still be purchasing food and toiletries.

- A small amount of used shopping is permissible - I see my thrift store purchases as neutral, because they aren't new items and they're usually things we actually need.

- Exempt purchases - we have a small list of items that will need to be purchased soon, due to our move - we've spent hours looking over our floorplan and arranging our current furniture and figuring out how to purchase the least amount of stuff possible. Currently, we're searching Craigslist for the items but if we can't find them in a month or so we'll have to buy them.

- Business purchases - I'll still be buying supplies for the shop.

- Experiences are fair game - this isn't a spending freeze for us. We'll still go out to eat on occasion, we'll still pay for movies and concerts and things we want to do.

Missed the whole thing last year? Here is my summary of my experience with links to my weekly summaries.