Looking Back

Fall is my favorite season. Hands down.

I love the crispness that suddenly appears in the air + seeing leaves change colors, or at least pictures of them changing lol. There’s just a feeling of renewal. While September officially kicks off fall, we rarely see fall where I live until well into October/early November 🙄

Fall also tends to be a time that people look back over the year thus far; to refocus on finishing the year strong, maybe to accomplish goals they set in January.

One thing you need to know about me is that I am a HUGE goal setter. But I have had to learn, somewhat stubbornly, that it’s okay if I don’t meet all the goals I set in a year.

Overall, my goal achieving for the year is going pretty great! However, the last 9 months have had plenty of challenges. One goal I had was a no shopping ban for the last 6 months. You can read all about this latest shopping ban in a blog titled “Shopping Ban“.

Since I finished the shopping ban on September 1st I thought it would be a good time to recap + share with you how I felt it went.

Basics of the Ban

Before we dive in to how I feel the no shopping ban went, let’s recap what it included.

I created a list of essential things I deemed worthy to purchase, a list of nonessential that I was not permitted to spend money on, as well as a list of acceptable things that weren’t essential but that I could spend on (gifts, dinner/coffee with friends/family, etc.).

The ban was six months long, from April to September. I also chose to pull in several people close to me to help hold me accountable; especially when I was out + about. The purpose of the ban was to decrease my spending + increase my saving, particularly for retirement + a home purchase.

How it went

When I made the ultimate decision to do yet another shopping ban for six months I had no idea that my depression would also become active during that same time.

Now, don’t hear me say the shopping ban triggered anything because I know it didn’t. These two things just happened to coincide at the same time.

Overall, I feel I did pretty well in sticking to my list of items I wasn’t purchasing. There were several categories of things I had listed as “nonessential” that I never even bothered to look at or considered purchasing; home decor, books, candles.

However, in the first few months I had to purchase a top for a costume as Nancy Drew at school. August was a little more challenging. I’ve been snagging some great clothing deals at local thrift shops for work appropriate outfits. I feel like what broke me is that I needed some yeses + I finally relented.

The home purchase is on pause for now but I was able to increase my saving for that when the time comes!

Moving Forward

There are 3.5ish months left in 2021; how is this even a sentence I can be typing already 😩😳 While the shopping ban has ended, there are still aspects from it I want to take into these last few months of the year + further.

• I want to focus more on saving + less spending, especially cash purchases.
• I want to focus on purchasing quality items, even if they are thrifted.
• I want to really question whether I need the item I’m considering purchasing before I make the purchase.
• I want those closest to me to keep holding me accountable on purchases I decide to make.
• I want to keep decreasing my impulse purchases.

Shopping bans are a great way to refocus where you want your money to go. Remember it works for you, not the other way around 😉

Photo by Aiden Frazier on Unsplash