Ah, another challenge I should join! @lifejoy, put me down for craft supplies - I have so many non-house projects I could work on. (I don't deserve a Jan star, either - but February should be better!)
Added! :)
Oh dammit. I don’t check in with the thread for a few days and totally miss the introduction of stars. It’s a great idea!
I’m not allowed one for January though :-( Very nearly made it but didn’t take enough food to work with me yesterday and ended up buying a packet of crisps (i.e., chips for the non-Brits). Hey-ho, I’m back on the wagon for February. At least with just 28 days it’s a slightly shorter month.
@lifejoy I totally love the energy you’re bring to the challenge; it’s like we’ve got a personal cheerleader.
Star power!!!!! I'm almost certain they've done studies that show tracking goals with visual rewards (stars!) leads to greater success. Haha Duchess I love your logic - February is going to be a breeze with it's shorter amount of days! Hurrah! And I'm super glad you're enjoying my cheerleading. I have to be honest, though - I'm doing it just as much for myself as for you guys. I need to keep this thread active in order to keep myself accountable, haha. They say shame is one of the most powerful human emotions, and TBH I don't know if I could handle coming in here and confessing to breaking my ban... you guys are keeping me honest and on track!
With one month under our belts (for better or for worse), has anyone noticed anything? CrustyBadger has noticed that his supposed gazingus pin was too easy, and Rosy survived month 1 and thinks the second will be easier... I'm going back and forth, myself. Sometimes I think it's easy to buy ZERO of something, go cold turkey. I'm just not online browsing like I used to, because I know I can't buy any of the stuff that normally tempts me. On the other hand, sometimes things trigger me (tv shows! friends that shop! pants that don't fit!) and I find it very hard to resist! Overall I'm realizing that I can get by with a lot less clothes than I though I needed, and also that if I buy jewellery it just sits in a drawer. I hoard it. Oops.
I'm reading a book that is helping. It's called "Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm during the Great Depression". It's excellent so far. A true story and a really neat read if you want to not shop... because it's set in a time that is the OPPOSITE of Amazon Prime. You CANNOT shop because there are no almost no stores and when the depression hits, there is no money! How do ya like that? I like it. It motivated me to make a pot of dal (famously cheap dinner, fave of Jacob from ERE) and clean my house. Oh I'm so industrious when I'm not shopping! Lol.
CrustyBadger, can you think of a new gazingus pin to add to the challenge?Also... does anyone have any books to recommend to me? On the topic of changing habits, resisting addictions, etc. I'm reading "Little Heathens" (described above) and also "In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts" (on the topic of addiction) and in the past I've read "The Power of Habit" and I think maybe I should revisit that one. I know there are a lot of readers in this thread so send me some recommendations!
Another thing I've noticed: we have a lot of people with identical gazingus pins. Isn't that interesting? I think some things lend themselves to collections better than others. But I wonder what it is about books, tea, crafting, jewellery, and junk food that make us addicted and crave more more more? Is it simply variety? FOMO? (Fear of missing out). Advertising? Hmm. I welcome your thoughts.
I'm being extremely verbose but I have to tell you something else: Jewellery and clothing are the gazingus pins I've banned myself from, but I have to confess that I have purchased a bridesmaid dress. This, I consider a mandatory purchase, and do not count it in this personal challenge. I see no way of obtaining one for free and I make it my business to do whatever makes the bride less stressed. So that is my exception.
Ok stay strong everyone! They say that part of the success of alcoholics anonymous is that it builds a community that is going for the same goal. Well, I think we've got a lovely team of people here and I KNOW we can do it! Only 334 more days to go ;)