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1.07.2012

{ limiting my options }

As I’ve mentioned, one of the ways I want to simplify this year is to cut back on shopping & buying unnecessary items. I’m Mennonite, born and bred, and it’s so hard for me to pass up a good deal. Nothing feels so awesome as scoring something 50 or 70% off, it’s like a high! But I’ve come to realize (much to my hubby’s delight, I’m sure) that no matter how good a deal it is, if you don’t need it, it’s wasted money. Not to mention a waste of space, something we don’t have a lot of in our 1300 square foot house with 5 (soon 6) people!

One of the first steps I took was to pare down my emails. Sure Old Navy has great deals every couple of weeks, but when we have all the clothing we need and more, do I really need to buy more $5 fleece pants for Sawyer? Dealfind, Groupon, LivingSocial and many more… they have incredible bargains, often up to 70 or even 90% off, but I found I was purchasing stuff I could’ve lived very happily without, until I saw the deal. So by unsubscribing to EVERY SINGLE mailing list that offered me sales or bargains, I simply erased the temptation.

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Image source.

I’m looking forward to reaping the benefits from these changes… maybe we can save up a little extra for that sofa we need… or maybe a nice family vacation next summer?

Let me know your biggest “frugal” challenge and how you beat it. I love hearing from you guys!

3 responses:

Anonymous said...

Great idea, I'm going to do that too! I have so many emails for rubbish that I don't really need, and I just end up deleting them anyway!

Anonymous said...

Well said!
Often I read about "frugality" in regards to how to buy things, or even make things for cheaper... but not to the point of daring to do without something! I read of one lady, who before she brought anything (other than food etc.) new, she 1) gave herself a month or so to see if she REALLY needed it, and 2) had to remove something of similar size from her house, for everything new she brought in... interesting. I could actually go on and on about this topic... haha...
Katie V

Cheyenne said...

Oh mercy, yes, I think the best is to press DELETE to those e-mails, and stay away from the mall in general. Who really just likes to window shop! ? :)