Shopping Freeze

Before I start...isn't my new background cute?  I checked out the site "Cutest Blog on the Block", which has free backgrounds and there were so many to choose from!  I will probably be changing it alot now!

I have had a few people ask me if I made a new year's resolution this year.  Most people make resolutions about improving their health or losing weight.  I usually don't make a formal resolution but instead just try to streamline my life to match the serenity that comes with the month of January.  I usually clean out my closet and donate unworn clothes and rearrange my picture frames and other decor after putting the Christmas decorations away. 

This year I have enjoyed the after Christmas clearance sales and have purchased several new items for my already bloated wardrobe.  These included a sweatshirt, a scarf, a few sweaters, a tank top with little sequins on it, a plaid button up shirt and. . . I think that's all of it...I have actually lost track of it all.  I find clearance shopping, especially the seasonal mass clearances after Christmas and at the end of summer, to be an true recreational activity to share with (female) family members and friends.  It's always worth it to wait until after Christmas to buy an appealing sweater or coat!

This year I feel as though I have gone too far and so I am turning to my favorite "stop shopping" measure.  I tell everyone I am banning myself from shopping for a certain amount of time and then do it.  It doesn't matter if it is the best bargain I have ever seen.  I can't buy it!  I can't buy clothes, shoes, accessories or cosmetics.  Things I can buy include necessities (such as food, toothpaste, soap, cleaning supplies, etc.) and gifts for other people.  I guess I will also allow myself to buy items for projects such as sewing or scrapbooks because getting projects done is a good thing to do when starting the new year! 

I have successfully completed two shopping freezes in the past, each lasting one month.  During my second year of law school I did one (I had appendicitis during that time, however, and didn't leave my couch for a week so I felt like it was a bit too easy!) and the first one happened during the summer of 2004.  During that summer, I was working for school credits at unpaid internship types of jobs so I shouldn't have been shopping at all anyway! 

The Shopping Freeze of 2011 starts. . .NOW!  I am going to start taking routes that steer me away from TJ Maxx!