Shopping Free for 100 Days!

When I first heard about the 100 day Stretch on Tiffany's blog, I had to take a moment to give Tiffany some credit. 100 days is an awful long time to go without shopping, especially during the fall and holiday seasons, my favorite time of year to shop. I wanted to learn more so I headed over to Misty's blog and read about the reasons behind the Stretch. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to participate. Not only do I have no need to shop, but it's time I got through a shopping detox!

I am officially declaring myself a member of the 100 day Stretch team. I will start September 17, and my detox will end December 25th!

There are a few reasons that now is the perfect time for me to participate in this challenge. Johnny and I are currently in an exciting time of our lives. As we spend our weekends looking at houses and talking about appliance options, I know that my money will be better spent in our savings account than hanging in my closet. I also tend to suffer from a serious case of the ' One for you One for me' syndrome when it comes to holiday shopping. I just find such amazing deals, and some awesome gifts that I can't help but to buy a few things for myself as well while I'm at it! With my challenge extending until Christmas Day, this will be a great year for me to exercise some restraint and spend my holiday money on gifts for other people, and not for myself.

I have a lot of confidence in my ability to make it through, and that's partly because I'm giving myself a few guidelines before starting. I'm a good rule follower.

Rules:

-No clothes shopping for 100 days. Period.

- No shoes or jewelry shopping either. I've got enough of both of those items.

Exceptions (as established by me):

- There will be 2 shopping purchases allowed, and they will be for work pants only. These can only be purchased with a coupon, or during a sale. (Last spring I lost some weight, and all of my work pants no longer fit. I didn't want to make any purchases at the time because I knew that during the summer I'd be wearing skirts anyways! Now the cold weather is coming and I've got a serious need for some well fitting black work pants. )

-I'm a Maid of Honor for a wedding in December. I've got my dresses picked out for the shower, bachelorette party and rehearsal dinner! Should anything happen between now and than however, I will allow myself to make any necessary purchases as long as they are wedding outfit related.

I know I could have started the challenge today, but if I'm being honest I do have a pair of shoes I wanted to pick up on my way home from work today. I have a coupon on hand that ends today, and they are on sale so I will buy them as my first and last purchase of Fall 2011. Say goodbye debit card, I'll see you in 2012!