loosening the purse-strings

thank god it’s March!

my NO SPEND MONTH experiment went fairly well, i’d say. i didn’t feel entirely deprived and i learned to say “no” and “not yet” instead of “mastercard” and “charge it”. my mom suggested i keep a list of all the things i didn’t buy but wanted to during the month. so, here are the things i didn’t buy myself on the day i wanted to:

1. adorable ball jar salt & pepper shakers – $15 (these arrived in my mailbox without me ordering them — thanks, Jane!)
2. lunch – $10 (thanks, chris!)
3. awesome london throw pillow – $90
4. chinese food – $27
5. all the things at old navy – $80
6. cute crocs – $35
7. cat shirt for boy – $30
8. custom free things – $8
9. new laundry basket to replace my breaking one – $10
10. new floor lamp to replace my broken one – $40 (i ended up fixing my lamp for free!)
13. lunch – $10 (thanks, chichi!)
14. cheesecake – $7
15. glee songs from itunes – $3
17. chicken & yogurt – $25
18. expensive razors with built-in lube – $15
21. lottery ticket & full-size haagen-dazs – $13
23. gorgeous 24 hours in london print – $40
24. discount snowflake throw pillows – $13
27. groupon for nando’s – $10

total not spent: $481

but, to be totally honest, i did somehow manage spend $155 of my own money at the casino where my mom took me after picking me up at the ferry last weekend. i also spent $25 at Shoppers that i accrued into March so i would have enough cash money to buy snacks & yogurt for the ANTM viewing party on the last day of the month. that’s not exactly cheating, is it?

all in all, it was a worth-while exercise and i’m fairly impressed with my willpower.

now, i’ll just have to resist the urge to run out and buy all the things on that list above! ;)