Oct 25, 2011

Working on my home instead of shopping

These last few weeks, I've been feeling reluctant about going shopping, even when the deals are good. I finally realized that I didn't like the idea of bringing more stuff into the house, even when it's stuff that I know we will use, when I feel like there's too much stuff in the house already.

So I've been concentrating on getting my house in order and I feel better for it. In the last week, I've filed three months and shredded three bags worth of papers. I've thrown out stuff we don't use. I've scrubbed my foyer floor and gotten it cleaner than it's been in years.

I keep looking around for more stuff to get rid of, but a lot of what I see is stuff that needs to be used up. So that's part of what's keeping me from wanting to shop too - we already have so much, and even a rock bottom price isn't enough to lure me into a store. Pretty much all the shopping that I've been doing has been for perishables, or to replace things that we've used up.

I don't know if this is a cyclical thing or if I'm going to feel this way long term now. Either way, though, I'm okay with it, even if it does end up costing us a little more money in the long run. I'll always have some extra stuff around, and maybe once I've gotten rid of stuff, I'll find that I have a greater storage capacity.

The important thing, though, is that I want my home to be a peaceful haven. And if that means not stocking a lot of extra stuff, then I'll keep my shopping to a minimum.

5 comments:

Camille said...

Sometimes I feel like all I do is spend money! And it's just normal stuff we need. I will often skip a sale just because I'm tired of consuming. :-) It gives me peace of mind to just buy it full price later when I need it.

adrienne said...

We must be getting messages from the same satellite. I've been trying to clear out and clean up lately.

It's a rare item that will improve my house by entering it. It's already overflowing with stuff, and my heart leaps to see the surplus heading out the door.

Chief Family Officer said...

I'm adopting that as my test for buying: "will this improve my house if I let it in?" :D

Christina @ Northern Cheapskate said...

I often find myself going through cycles of not wanting to look at a coupon insert or shop a good sale. Fortunately, I usually have a good stockpile going that allows me to take a little break from the deals every once in awhile.

I recently took an afternoon and cleaned our closets of coats, hats, boots and mittens that no longer fit and donated them all. I know I could have sold them on consignment or at a garage sale, but it felt so good to give them away and to clear out that clutter.

CJ said...

I do this occasionally too. Recently I've not even been buying things that would be free if I'd end up having to pay tax on the item. Now I'm focusing on using up my sample/travel sized items. I didnt realize how much I had until I starting putting them all in one place.