Shopping hiatus, finished

The shopping hiatus is over, officially. We went a full 12 weeks this year, with only a few slip ups. I technically may have cheated right at the end, when D and I picked out two of Lily's amazing homestead paintings. BUT, we haven't paid for them yet and they won't be able to come live with us until the end of the exhibition. So that doesn't really count, right?

{this is our homestead pair - i feel like we adopted two new family members, photo by lily}

I'll be honest - this time wasn't as revelatory as last year. I was able to cruise through for the most part and I spent some time feeling disappointed by that, wondering if I'd made it too easy (should I have cut out thrift store purchases as well? should I have stopped buying flowers every week?).

Then I smacked myself a little and moved on. This was never meant to be an exercise in austerity. I allowed thrift store purchases because I'm comfortable with my thrifting and it doesn't contribute to demand for new items. I purchased flowers every week because they are one of my few indulgences, and the pleasure I get from them far outweighs the cost.

In the end, I think this year was easier partly because last year was so successful (read my thoughts about last year's hiatus here). I did manage to re-think my shopping habits after the last hiatus was over. If I look at my credit card statements, I can see that my frivolous spending is pretty sporadic already, so going a few months without any purchases at all isn't that difficult anymore. I know my trigger points (sales!) so I can more easily avoid them when I don't actually need anything.

This isn't to say that I'm going to stop purchasing stuff altogether, ever. I'm just going to keep focusing on maintaining a tightly edited and thought out list of what items I want/need at any given time. This works well for me because I can refer to the list when a sale hits. I'm not sure if I'll do the hiatus again next year (although I highly recommend this exercise if you haven't tried it before!). I think I'll revisit my spending habits regularly and decide if I'm in need of a refresher at some point.

Things I want to buy:

*Sunglasses (2 pairs - from Zenni - upgraded to SEVERE want, ordering now)

*Perfect workout tee shirts (must be thin cotton, loosely fitted, nice and long, v-neck - thank you to all of you who have given me such good recommendations - I'll be checking them out!)

*Serving pieces from the Heath summer collection (specifically, the summer appetizer set and possibly the serving and cutting board set - still want, D on board)

*Small rug for the my office (idly looking, not urgent)
*New clock for the kitchen area (specifically, this one which D and I are obsessed with - not going to pull the trigger yet, waiting) 
*A few casual dresses that I can wear both at work and at home
*Cardigans (cardigans are actually always on my mental list, because I wear them every. single. day)