D.E.A.R.

SHOPPING BAN: DAY 14

TOTAL CREDIT CARD DEBT: $8,345

Hello to all!
First off, I apologize for not having written since my first post (as I'm sure you were all losing sleep over it, anxiously awaiting my updates). Life was getting in the way...AND I've been busy reading. No, I haven't gone to my all-time favorite store Barnes and Noble and spent a small fortune on books, as I would have done pre-shopping ban. I've done something that I haven't really done since middle school-gone to the library.

That's right-the library.

At first I was a little grossed out. After all, who knows how many snot-nosed kids have come through and wiped their boogers all over the books. But I got over it (mostly...still use the hand sanitizer after reading them). And now I've rediscovered a long-forgotten treasure! I currently have about 8 books checked out. And now, instead of meandering aimlessly around the mall, I come home and read!

Now if only I could get back into the habit of exercising...oh well. I'll work on that.

As far as not shopping goes, I haven't had "the urge" as strongly as I thought I would. I was a little pissed the other day when I opened my makeup bag and pulled out my mascara only to find it smeared in black stuff. Turns out I had left my black eyeliner pencil unopened and it had smeared all over everything, thus ruining the bag.

I appealed to my friend Amanda to allow me to buy another one, but of course my urgent request was denied. "Just use one of the other 10 you probably have under your bathroom sink," she said.

Oh yeah. Guess I'll have to come up with a better excuse next time!

Until then,

Shannon Elizabeth

Shopping Ban 2009

So I was doing a fair job of it-keeping my spending under control, that is. I had reduced my $12,000 in credit card debt (wince) down to $8000-thanks in part to Dave Ramsey and his Total Money Makeover. But as the weather started getting nicer and my winter clothes were getting heavier and heavier, I shed my newfound philosophy along with my bulky clothing and went in search of the latest summer sales.

And here I am-four months later and my debt back up to $8500. I knew it was time for a change when I couldn't even leave the house without stopping at a store to buy something. So I've decided to do what any sane person (who has gone a little insane) would do in this position-go cold turkey on shopping.

Originally I had decided on a 6-month ban, but my friend Amanda pointed out that as I don't want to fail at this little experiment perhaps I should start out slowly and try 3 months. Good plan.

So it's Day 3 (the official start date was August 7th) and so far I don't have too much of a withdrawal sensation. I did have a strong urge to go to Target. O00h Target-they had an ad for the cutest ballet shoes in the paper today...(argh-see why I had to do this??). Anway, I wanted to buy some leave-in conditioner for my post-pool hair. I justified it as a necessity because my hair was a mess and I needed this to get it back into shape, right?

Wrong. I consulted with my friend and co-worker Meghan (aka my shopping support buddy) and she gave the whole thing the ax. It is, after all, a beauty product. (And it's not like I don't have multiple similar hair products-Frederick Fekkai glossing cream, for one. And some strawberry-smelling stuff that I don't know the name of but works amazingly well...but cost $28. YIKES!).

ANy-hoo, let's hope that I can reign myself in, pay off some debt and learn something in the process. My goal in these posts is to be as honest with myself as possible, so in my continued blogs I am going to list everything I buy along with my ongoing amount of debt to keep myself accountable. Feel free to post any comments or uplifting words of advice (as I will need them), but try to refrain from the "you materialistic shopaholic sk**nk" remarks. Believe you me, I have berated myself enough up to this point! :)

Until next time,
Shannon Elizabeth