Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Yet another resolution I won't be making ...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070103/ap_on_re_us/shopping_sabbatical

As much as I admire the intent of this idea, I just don't think I've got the willpower - or the time - to do it. I'm sorry, but I don't want to spend hours on freecycle trying to find a used waterproof mattress pad for my daughter's bed ... ewwwww. And the timing is a little funky, especially since I've got three auctions for spring Hanna Andersson clothes for my daughter ending tonight ... oh, yes, those red capri cargo pants WILL be mine ... er, HERS. And Jason's birthday is coming up, and I don't have squat for him yet.

It's an interesting concept, though. I wonder if I could pull it off for a month? Kid clothes excepted, of course, because now IS the time to get good deals on last year's stuff on eBay. Anyone interested in joining me if I decide to do this, in, say, February? I could open up the comments section so that we could discuss our progress/setbacks/complete lack of dedication to the plan. Might be a fun group project, especially now that I'm actually getting some traffic on the site from people who aren't already known to me (I know you're there, person signing in from a server in Washington state! I just don't know who you are!). Talk amongst yourselves ... and I'd better see someone in addition to K's mom and MLF doing the talking!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I really like the idea but with a wedding in 86 days??? I don't know that I want to start it just yet. Although goodness knows I am trying to be careful I don't want to cut myself off from new stuff completely!

Anonymous said...

Let's try non-shopping Saturdays.

Admittedly, it is a softer variation on the concept. Consider doing absolutely no shopping on Saturday. This is a baby step, but one that we might actually accomplish. With our Saturday's open, we would discover the bike trails and the parks.

I like the concept of non-shopping Saturdays because I dislike spending the time trolling through used stores that the absolute ban would require. I'd suggest Saturdays as a non-shopping day because stores don't open until late on Sunday.

Thoughts?
- MLF

Gretchen said...

Saturdays probably wouldn't work for us, since I hardly ever shop then anyway. I tend to drag my daughter along during the week, when it's not so crowded.

I think you could manage a month without shopping used stores ... I mean, unless you're planning a major spring makeover for your wardrobe or home, aren't most of your weekly purchases something that could be put off for a month? Especially if you have three weeks to stock up before you start? :)

Kimberly said...

Isn't it cheating to stock up before you start?

I think it sounds like a good thing to try. I know I feel like we spend way too much money on things because they are new - especially knowing that it will be used the second after it arrives home.

I'm with you if you decide to do it.

Anonymous said...

Gretchen & Kimberly, I'm with you.

I think that a month-long moritorium could be very useful. I bet that waiting a month would mean that I wouldn't buy half of the stuff that I had been wanting.

Waiting would allow the wanting to wane.

- MLF

Kimberly said...

I talked with Michael about this and he's game too. :) We've actually already started. So, here I am after a 30 minute stop at the local Salvation Army. I spent a total of $4. on about 8 new shirts and 3 pair of pants.