Day 3 & 4 of the spending freeze
Days 3 & 4 of the spending freeze were easy. It was my friend Meri’s 40th birthday party, and my husband Steve and I got to spend it seeing all of our friends.
We went out to Lake Saint Claire, and we were able to watch boats come and go, and ate some burgers.
I didn’t think about buying a single thing when I was spending time laughing, eating, and talking to friends on the water.
Our friend’s Zach and Corina came up from Oregon to the birthday party to flee from the mass amount of forest fires down in Oregon.
Over breakfast, we started talking about the spending freeze that I had started. They were very supportive of it.
Zach said, “I am on a permanent spending freeze. The only things I buy are collectibles and things that I know I can re-sell. I don’t like to waste money on things that will one day be worthless, depreciate in value, or that I’ll just have to throw or give away.”
Looking around my closet after breakfast, I saw a pile of clothes laying on my floor.
I realized, I buy a lot of clothes, shoes, and jackets, and then I don’t even take the time to hang them all up in the closet.
Why do I have a closet full of stuff I don’t use?
Why am I not staring at a closet full of stuff I love and respect and have all neatly hung up.
Then I started asking myself, why do I have a closet full of stuff I don’t use, and half of the clothes I don’t care about. One fuzzy white coat, I got as a Christmas present, and although it was a $300 present, I have worn it once.
In an effort to keep up with some of my husband’s friends, in a very consumeristic culture, I had bought a closet full of clothes that I had worn once to post a photo on Instagram with or to go out with his friends, and then never again.
I realized, I don’t need to do any of that anymore, and really looking at my closet and talking to Zach today, just really reinforced my need for a spending freeze.
No more non-essentials. No more buying things unless I totally need them, even if they are name brand and would make such a cute Instagram picture.
Reflection Questions:
What do you walk into your closet and love?
What if you kept all the loves and got rid of all the extra? Would it be difficult to do?
What would life be like if we only bought things we thought we could re-sell again?
Financial Day Dreamer 