Happy New Year everyone! I'm sure you've all heard the term 'spending ban' floating around in the blogging world. Well that is exactly what this post is about! I thought I'd write this post so that it's 'set in stone' and I can refer back to it. My student loan will be making it's way to my bank account in a few days and I really need to control my spending. I'm going to just put it out there that my spending habits really aren't great. Once I get money I can't wait to spend it, it really does 'burn a hole in my pocket'. I buy things I don't need and I always buy beauty products 'just because'. I buy Yankee Candles and then never use them, I have 5 samplers and 1 medium jar that I've never used. I get caught up in the hype of limited edition beauty products I just can't help it. If a product has super cute packaging then yep I'm going to buy it. If it's Disney or Hello Kitty then I buy it. If it's Lush cosmetics I buy it. I'm also in debt as a result of my shopping addiction and I desperately need to fix this. I'm going to learn to only buy clothes and beauty products when I need them, or at least cut down my spending dramatically.
I'm going to attempt this ban for 100 days but I'm going to aim for 25 days at a time so below I will list the dates for each 25 day milestone.
January 31st 2013 - 25 days
February 25th 2013 - 50 days
March 22nd 2013 - 75 days
April 16th 2013 - 100 days
Because of the fact I'm such a bad spender I thought I'd tackle this in 25 day sections as apposed to a straight 100 days. I'll go crazy if I think of it any way other than 25 days at a time. I'm also going to buy a journal to document everything I spend money on in a way to help me take control and not splurge on things I don't need. I'll check in and make a new blog post after every 25 day period and note my progress.
I am allowed to:
- buy beauty products when the ones I currently use run out/low and I don't have a replacement. The replacement must be the same price as or cheaper than the original.
- spend money on dates with my boyfriend.
- spend no more than £50 on January 11th because I'm going to Liverpool for my friend's birthday night out.
- spend the money given to me for my birthday (January 28th) on whatever I please.
- buy essentials. (Dry shampoo, deodorant, razor blades etc.)
- buy clothes but I am not allowed to go over board and go clothes shopping every week. I'm going to try and cut it down to monthly and I'll go from there. Baby steps.
- buy gifts for friends, boyfriend and family. (birthday, valentines etc.)
I am not allowed to spend money on:
- Bags. I have plenty, most of which I've never used.
- Shoes. I have plenty of pairs of shoes for the Winter. I do not need new ones.
- Takeaway.
- Beauty products.
- Perfume. I got 3 bottles for Christmas and still have some from the year before. I don't need any more.
- Accessories. I buy earrings and bracelets and then never wear them.
- Tattoos.
- Any beauty magazine if it's only for the freebie.
- Anything with Hello Kitty/Disney packaging because 9 times out of 10 I only want it for the packaging.
- Candles. Not even cheap ones.
- Sale items. Just because it's in the sale doesn't mean I have to buy it.
I know this ban seems quite lenient but if I make it any more strict I won't stick to it and will blow it off straight away because my spending habit really is that bad. This doesn't seem as lenient to me as it might to you, I'm addicted to spending money you have no idea. This will make me think about items I do go to buy and I'll ponder 'do I really need this clothing item?' 'is it worth it?' the answer will be 'probably not'. Also with buying a journal to write down everything that I do buy it'll really help me reflect and hopefully calm down the impulse buying.
I'd also like to just say that I'm getting a new phone on Wednesday because after almost 1 year and a half my iPhone 4s is on it's way to death so I'm paying my contract out and upgrading. I'm also buying a Festival ticket for either Leeds or T in the Park in February. Me and my boyfriend already have this planned so that and the phone 'don't count'. I also had plans to buy a dressing table for my bedroom but what I'm going to do instead is make it an aim to save as much money as I can to afford it and buy it as a reward when the ban is over.
If there's any more rules you think I can add to this please let me know in the comments!
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