I have been very motivated this week! I laid out all of my APPROVED and BANNED lists of items. I unfollowed all businesses on Instagram and Facebook, unsubscribed to business emails, and have begun writing down EVERY time money went in or came out of my bank account and credit cards. I tried to cancel Prime (no shopping, no Amazon), but found out that I will be paying to be a member until September, 2024.
| Approved | Banned |
| Groceries Eat Out (1-2x/week) Gym Membership ($38 biweekly) Electricity Cell phone Cable/Internet Monthly Church Donation Monthly Pet Emergency Fund Monthly RRSP contribution Rent Renter’s Insurance Car Insurance Life Insurance (2x/year) Car payment Gas Prescriptions Dog food & grooming Gifts for family for birthday & Christmas Haircut (6x/year) Massage & Chiro (1/month each) Once run out of: shampoo, soap, laundry soap, razers, dog balls for fetch, tissues, TP, paper towel | Any new or used clothes Any new or used footwear Hair stuff Kitchen stuff dog toys books LULULEMON Amazon anything Canadian Tire purchases Prime, Disney+ after 3 mos trial |
WEEK !
| MONEY SAVED: 26% | MONEY SPENT: 74% |
| I have transferred money two times this week into my new Shopping Ban Account: 1) $100 for a Kate Spade purse I had wanted to buy; I have 6-7 purses, all in fine working order, so no need for a new one. 2)$22 for a grid page Moleskine I wanted for this project (but I decided I could use one of my 4-5 empty journals instead; teachers always get journals as gifts from students) I also transfer $50/month into my Pet Emergency Fund, in lieu of pet insurance. Alfie is now almost 3 years old, and there is over $1800 in his emergency account. | The money spent this week was for groceries; one visit to McDonald’s; bills: electric, cell phone, cable/internet, Netflix, Paramount Plus, Disney +, Prime, and Crave; gym membership; courses at University of Calgary; and a monthly donation to our community church in PEI (I started this when my dad passed, as he was a big supporter of the New London Presbyterian Church). I have no Line of Credit balance to pay back or any balances on credit cards. |
As I continue on this journey, I will be making changes to my monthly and weekly spending habits. I have realized that I need to de-clutter in my home because I have more things than any one person will ever need.
I have had health issues since I was about 6-7 years old. I think my “excessive” habit started young, as I would get myself a treat if I had an uncomfortable/painful/invasive medical procedure/surgery. I thought I deserved it, even if I had to put my treat on a credit card. That led to years of credit card balances that I figured I’d always have. They just became a normal part of my monthly bills. I paid the minimum for years. I wouldn’t even want to add up the interest I have paid! I think I also became an emotional shopper, buying myself things I wanted when I was sad or lonely. Some people eat, smoke, do drugs to self-medicate. I indulged with shopping.
I finished university with $72,000 in debt. So what was another $4,000 in credit card debt? 21% interest on credit cards was the problem…. My first move was to pay off my Sears and Hudson Bay cards, as they had the highest interest. I could always justify buying anything. I could have been a lawyer in a courtroom with how well I could defend a purchase. I never spent large amount at one time, but $50 here and there over many weeks, months, and years is A LOT of money! I was the type of person that didn’t have 3 pairs of footwear. I had 14 types of shoes, for every singe type of weather and any event. I also have the most coats and jackets of anyone I know.
I just finished reading Cait Flander’s book, “A Year of Less”. I had gone through my condo two years ago and de-cluttered, after I’d read Marie Kondo’s book, “The Art of Tidying Up”. I got rid of (donated, consigned, or threw out) 24 big green garbage bags of stuff. Since then, I have lost 25lbs by lifting weights in the gym. I was having bad knee, hip, and back pain, and my sister and her husband suggested that I join a gym to work on the areas of weakness in my body. Our family members have had many knee and hip replacement surgeries, and I am trying dearly to avoid that. Thankfully, my pain is very rare now, as I have worked on mobility and stability first. (However, I sort of wish I had kept some of the clothes I couldn’t fit in two years ago, as now I would fit them! But, hindsight…) I decided to declutter again, but by also starting a shopping ban, I can prevent the condo from ever getting cluttered again, while focusing on less material things in life. I am taking some writing classes through University of Calgary, and came across a video of Mihaly Czikszentmihalyi. He did a Ted Talk where he talks about happiness, and found that income had very little impact on happiness. I had heard, earlier in my life, that money can’t make you happy. I think I always believed that material things could make me happy. But the older I get, the less true that has become for me. Follow my journey as I re-focus my priorities, and work to spend a lot less, save a lot more, and find happiness in the process!
