The Habits That Break A Shopping Ban

February 8, 2019

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A few things to think about when you’re participating in a no shopping challenge.

Imposing a shopping ban is a popular endeavor, especially if you’re struggling with shopping too often and owing too many clothes that you do not wear. Participating in a period of “no shopping” may even enable you to change your shopping mindset.

However, no shopping challenges can be fraught with obstacles that interfere with your success. I’ve participated in numerous shopping challenges over the years, and today I’m going to discuss some of the factors that I’ve noticed can wreak havoc with a person’s non-shopping goals, and how to overcome them.

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January No Spend Challenge — Four Week Check-In

January 28, 2019

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Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

I’m heading into the fourth and final week of the January No Spend Challenge, where for the month of January I’m trying to only shop for the essentials and nothing else. For the rules of the challenge, check out this post.

Week three was rather uneventful, in fact, I didn’t even do a check-in because nothing happened. But now that I’m at the home stretch, and have only a few days left until I can shop, the temptation to do so is stronger than ever. Everywhere I look I feel like there’s something on sale that I want to buy.

The things I did in week three worked very well and I plan to continue these activities to get me through week four:

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January No Spend Challenge — Two Week Check-In

January 18, 2019

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I’m on week 2 of the January No Spend Challenge, where for the month of January I’m trying to only shop for the essentials and nothing else. For the rules of the challenge, check out this post.

I’m happy to report that for week 2, I did not shop for anything that was non-essential. However, I have noticed that my desire to shop, has increased quite a bit. It’s the middle of January, and my area is in the heart of the winter season, which means it is also the middle of sweater weather, my favorite time of year. With the stores clearing out their winter collections, sweaters are on sale, sometimes at deep, deep discounts, which makes resisting the urge to shop, that much harder to do.

Thankfully, I have a quick and easy way to stop this urge before it can manifest and wreck my participation in the no spend challenge.

What did I do?

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January No Spend Challenge — One Week Check-In

January 9, 2019

For the month of January I’m doing a no spend challenge. For the entire month, I’m trying to only shop for the essentials and nothing else. For the rules of the challenge, check out this post.

Here’s how I did for the first week.

I’ve mostly been able to stick to my goal of only shopping for the essentials, except for last Saturday when I got my hair done. I’d actually forgotten about the appointment until the salon called to confirm, and I almost canceled it, because haircuts don’t fit under the rules of the challenge.

But I didn’t.

Why?

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January No Spend Challenge

January 2, 2019

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Image from: pixabay.com

Now that the holiday season is over and the new year is here, January is the perfect time to embark on a no-spend challenge. By allowing yourself to take a break from shopping and spending, you give both your wallet and your impulse drives a chance to reset themselves. Not shopping for one month forces you to use what you have, instead of focusing on what you want to buy.

The rules for a no-spend challenge are very simple. For one month (a mere 31-days for the month of January) you simply don’t buy anything that isn’t necessary for you to live.

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Merry Shop-mas Or Merry Christ-mas?

December 21, 2018

“Unique gift ideas.”

“Personalized gift ideas.”

“Thoughtful gift ideas.”

With Christmas only a few days away, both stores and bloggers are pushing their last minute gift ideas with a feverish passion.

In turn, the pressure to buy the perfect gift can send one’s stress levels skyrocketing to the top.

Especially if you’re a last minute shopper.

The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas is an old one. Depending on whom you ask, you may hear that is first began with pagan rituals held during the winter, or during the winter solstice in ancient Rome, or from the the Christianity custom associated with the day of Jesus’s birth.

Regardless of why you exchange gifts during the holiday season, it’s important to remember one thing above all else.

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One Top For 3 Types Of Holiday Parties

December 5, 2018

Red Lace Top

Gibson Glam Squad Shaeffer Lace Top

The holiday season is the perfect time of year for dressing up in something a little extra special. Three of the most common holiday parties I attend during the holiday season are for work, for friends, and for family, and each party has its own dress code.

While 3 different holiday parties is a great excuse to buy 3 different holiday outfits, I prefer to stretch my dollar further and buy only ONE top that I remix 3 different ways.

Shine, sparkle, and lace are all stylish options that look festive for the holiday season and can be remixed into different outfits. Here’s the 1 top I’m planning to style 3 different ways for the holidays.

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Holiday Shopping Tips To Keep You On Budget

November 23, 2018

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Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is often considered the start of the Christmas shopping season. It can be easy to become overwhelmed, with what to buy, when the stores are shouting “sale, sale, sale” everyday from now til December 25.

Here are a few tips to help keep you focused and on budget when shopping this holiday season:

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The Cost Of A Fall Capsule Wardrobe

November 15, 2018

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A capsule wardrobe is when you take a select portion of your wardrobe and wear only those pieces for a specific length of time. For myself, my daily outfits are picked out from a seasonal capsule wardrobe and, since I live in a four season state, I sport my capsule wardrobe for 3 months before switching to a new capsule wardrobe.

Our fall season this year has included a wide range of temperatures, daytime highs have been has warm as ~70F and as cool as 32F. With such dramatic swings in temperatures, I’ve had to be careful to ensure that my fall capsule wardrobe included pieces that would work well for both cool and warm days.

Here’s everything included in my fall capsule wardrobe for 2018:

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Stop Impulse Shopping Fast — 4 Questions To Ask Yourself, Before You Buy

October 25, 2018

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Making unplanned purchases—impulse shopping—is one of the areas that a shopaholic struggles to contain every single day. It’s also the apple in the eye of business owners and marketers.

Impulse buying is an important sales driver of businesses and they spend a lot of time and money to make sure consumers that enter their brick and mortar stores, or online websites, do exactly that. Free shipping, sales and promotions, well designed websites, and mobile optimization are all methods employed to encourage consumers to buy something.

With so many methods carefully crafted to get you to buy, buy, buy, how do you stop yourself from making an impulse purchase when you are in the heat of the moment?

Here are 4 questions to ask yourself:

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