Making the Internet My Accountability Partner

June was a spending and acquiring heavy month. To balance I’m trying to revert back to a low buy/minimalist approach. For the month of July I’m tracking what I buy and what I resist. So far this week I have bought three items. Two were impulse buys.

My partner and I stopped into a GameStop, just to look (a very dangerous thing when you want to minimize you’re shopping). I bought a Harry Potter Bitty Pop game for $15. I’m glad my curiosity was satisfied but I really don’t think we’ll play it more than once so there’s a level of regret there. I also don’t feel great about supporting JKR and that really should be the priority not my childhood nostalgia.

My partner and I checked out a summer craft fair and I impulsively bought some earrings after telling myself and my partner that I want to keep my earring collection manageable. They were $10 and I know I’m going to get a lot of use out of them. Plus I always feel good about supporting small local businesses. I am concerned about how I approach these types of temptations and rebuilding ways to be considerate of my purchases.

The last things I bought this week was a much needed thing that idk if I should really count but I will. I have owned 3 Displate metal posters for over a year. Since I moved I have not been able to rehang them because I need a new wall mount/magnet set up. I hate that the set up pieces are not reusable mostly because of how expensive they are. As a side note, I really do not recommend Displate posters. They’re fine but genuinely nothing special and something of an expensive hassle. I had one of the posters sitting on the ground for the previous year because a few days after mounting the wall piece lost adherence and it fell. I did not feel like ordering another three pack for what ended up being $30 with shipping and taxes (no there isn’t any smaller options for the wall mounts).

The things I didn’t buy were overall more expensive, which probably played into why I didn’t buy them. The first thing I had wanted was a new linen shirt. I noticed that my current one has rips near the wrists and my first thought was to replace it. I found cotton shirts for $80 that I liked but then realized that cotton wouldn’t have the feel I wanted in that style of shirt. I’ve decided to first mend the shirt and see how long it lasts.

The second thing I talked myself out of was a expansion pack for my planner. I would have spent $25 on it, but then realized I could just copy the blank sheets I have and add them. I technically will still need the month dividers (the planner I bought only came with three months). I am not 100% sure how I’m going to go about that without buying something, so towards the end of august I may need at least the dividers.

For the coming week, my wish list will include two poster frames and potentially some yoga blocks. I as of right now do not feel like I need any more physical non-essential items. But I know I have a tendency to under plan for the future. I look forward to checking in next week to see what I actually bought.