This is Part 9 of my 90-Day “Not Buying It” Challenge.  Inspired by Judith Levine’s book Not Buying It.
You can read my previous posts here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8.
Here are my rules for the 90 days:
* No shopping except food and essential items
* No new books, clothes, or music
* No eating in restaurants or buying take-out
* Try to use up food items that are already in the house
* I’m still allowed to pay for dance and yoga
Last week I said I would do two things, see if I could skip a week of grocery shopping (because I tend to over-shop and have way too much food in the house), and make a list of stupid things I’ve spent my money on and later regretted…
Day 57: I didn’t totally skip buying groceries, but I spent less than $50. A big improvement from the more than $200 I usually spend!
Day 58: Remember how I paid off my car loan a couple weeks ago? Well the $400 autopayment went through anyway!! Thank goodness for overdraft protection. I hope it’s a mistake and I’ll get a refund.
Day 59: Regret #1 – Last year I gave away my perfectly good juicer, and bought a fancier $400 juicer.  I hated it.  It’s sitting in my closet and I ended up buying another one similar to my old one (at least I got it second hand for $80.)  #2 – Well, I don’t really regret this, but it’s an embarrassing example of impulse shopping: last year I went to Origins to buy natural foundation, and I ended up spending $140 on products.  I think even the sales woman felt guilty that I bought everything she showed me.
Day 60:  Regret #3 – I once bought a home exercise program called “The Firm”.  It was about $200.  It came with multiple DVDs, a step, and weights.  I’m sure it’s a great program! But I didn’t enjoy it all, so I never used it.  There are so many forms of exercise and activity that I love, so why torture myself?!?  I haven’t been able to bring myself to get rid of it because I haven’t gotten my money’s worth… The good news is I just took the step out of my closet and I think I can use it for my PT exercises for my knee.
Day 61: Sprint overcharged me on my autopayment.  What the heck?? It’s supposed to be about $75, and it went through at  more than $140!  I looked at my online bill to see where the extra charges were coming from, and the bill said $425 and had SIXTEEN new iPhone leases…  Ummm… No, I didn’t lease 16 new phones last month.  They seem to have fixed that part of the bill, but we’re still working on the mysterious $140 charge.
Day 62:  Payday!!  I pay off my credit card in full.  And I put another $600 towards my student loan. It’s now under $2,000! The end is in sight!
I get paid every two weeks, which usually means I get two paychecks a month.  BUT, this month I’m getting three paychecks!!  On the 3rd, the 17th, and 31st.  Yay!!
Day 63:  My friend is visiting from out of town.  We spent the day wandering around town.  She wanted to go someplace for lunch, and I felt kind of silly, but I told her we could go, but either she was buying, or I would wait and eat at home (this blog keeps me honest!!)  We went a Tibetan restaurant, she offered to treat, and it was delicious!!!  I felt bad that she paid for me, but I think I redeemed myself by cooking her Senegalese peanut stew for dinner 🙂

I also made fresh juice.  I used up almost all the fruits and veggies in the house so nothing went bad.  My refrigerator rarely looks this cleared out!!
One of my friends is helping a refugee family who just arrived from Somalia.  They have ten kids!  They haven’t even been able to go outside because they don’t have any winter clothes. I got together three bags of clothes and shoes, including two winter coats, sweaters, long johns, and some hats.  It was inspiring knowing it would all be going to a specific family in need, rather than anonymously dumping it in a bin.  And it felt good to get rid of some stuff!!