My shopping this month started out reasonably enough. Replacement booties, nail polish remover, a nail polish color identical to one I'd had to toss... nothing too crazy.
And then I started LIVIN IT UP. Two pairs of Valentine's leggings! A Rebecca Minkoff bag! Do I need these things? Not especially, but they're so fun! 💸💸💸
- Zoya Remove+ Nail Polish Remover (Ulta): $11
- Zoya Pixie Dust Nail Polish in "Tilly" (Amazon): $11
- LuLaRoe black heart leggings (eBay): $24
- LuLaRoe infinity heart leggings (eBay): $18
- Rebecca Minkoff Mac Crossbody (eBay): $30
- Susina Reid Suede Wedge Bootie (Nordstrom Rack and sold out now, boo): $24
Not pictured:
- Laneige Water Bank Serum sample (eBay): $6
TOTAL: $124
Y'all already know my love of the Susina booties (aka the Beyonce booties), and I'm loving the Mac too. That purchase was fueled by my rediscovery of my Minkoff MAM. I had wanted a Mac off and on for awhile, but I wasn't sure that I'd like it--would it be too heavy? Would it hold enough stuff? Considering it retails at, oh, $295, I needed an inexpensive secondhand one to test the waters, and the one I got did not disappoint! It's in really good shape and can hold quite a bit! 🙌🙌
I still came in well under my $170 monthly shopping budget, but I had gotten so much better at limiting impulse purchases that this sudden spate of unnecessary spending felt weird. Like, is something else going on here? kind of weird. And most of these unnecessary purchases did come after therapy appointments...
Hmm...
Therapy has been sort of intense this month, and I know that I need to make some changes in my life, but I totally don't want to do that--so finding other "problems" that need "solving" via shopping (like the lack of heart-covered leggings in my life) is way better! This plan works extra well because spending my money frivolously gives me a very legitimate excuse for not doing bigger and better things--I simply can't afford it! I just can't afford more therapy! Or yoga! Or traveling! You can't argue with a bank balance. I can just stay home in my safe little cocoon and do nothing (except shop online). PERFECT.
Except not. But you knew that, and the responsible adult part of me knows that too. So I need to look out for the sudden impulse to spend spend spend, as it might be driven by the desire to buckle myself securely into my comfort zone. I can address those feelings in therapy, but they don't need to derail my budgeting progress in the meantime, you know?
How do you stop yourself when you're feeling extra grabby (perhaps emotionally so) and want all the things?
Linking up with Fran's Budgeting Bloggers!