On Still Being Me…and Buying Nothing

From reading my blog, it may seem as though being pregnant has somewhat taken over my body, brain, and life – I promise it hasn’t! I am still very much me and I still very much have desires, goals, and values independent of the baby I’m now home to. I don’t say this to remind you of this; I need to remind myself. Pregnancy is very much an all-consuming state of life – I am physically reminded daily with small aches and pains, my growing belly, and the kicker that is growing inside of me. It would be easy to focus only on this part of my life, but I would lose a bit of myself if I neglected my other passions during these nine months – not to mention how all-consuming parenthood itself will be!

On that note, I’ve become a bit disappointed with my spending habits lately. I’ve gotten a wee bit loose with my money – indulging in a few too many lattes and trips to Target. In an effort to nip this in the bud before it snowballs, I’ve decided to BUY NOTHING from April 15 until May 15. What does this mean exactly?

I can buy:
– Groceries and food.
– Any bills that I have. Of course.
– Supplies FOR my Etsy business (only purchased with business account).

No to:
– Food that comes in disposable containers (i.e. Lattes without my reusable mug and most to-go food).
– Clothes.
– Shoes.
– Baby things (I haven’t actually bought ANYTHING for the baby yet, and I don’t need to start for a while.)
– Anything else that I might want to purchase.

I did this once before (idea from here) and it was a powerful reminder that I get the urge to buy far more than I was aware. I like to think that am far less of a consumer than the average American, but I know I can do better. After a recent interview I did, I felt a bit guilty not taking my own advice to not purchase things I didn’t truly need. I need to get more fit – financially and environmentally – I’ve been a bit lazy lately.

And I need to get in shape. Let’s do this.