It’s nearly the end of my No Shopping Month, and I wanted to write an update (alongside this delicious sago recipe with The World’s Greatest Spatula – more on that later…)
As a reminder, I decided not to buy anything (except food and essential toiletries) for a month. The first couple of days were tough – kind of itchy, even… I didn’t realize how much buying stuff had embedded itself into daily life: scrolling through promotions emails, looking at things on sale, fobbing off messages from friends about pop-up sales, waiting for deliveries to perk up an otherwise ordinary day.
Within the first few days, one of our three spatulas broke – and we’re a baking family (my husband makes amazing sourdough and rusks). If it weren’t this month, I would have immediately gone online to buy a new spatula (justified spending!) and something else unnecessary so I could get free shipping. Instead, I mentioned it in passing to a friend who then turned out to have a spatula collection and gifted us this absolute beauty. Way better than anything I would have bought!
Some desires came up and quickly disappeared, others stuck around. If there was something I felt I really wanted to buy and I was still thinking about it a few days later, I wrote it down. My list now reads:
– gooseberry plant
– The Highly Sensitive Person (a book)
– Kate DiCamillo books (any, secondhand)
– a wreck-it journal
– tiny gold earrings for my second holes (the ones I had fell out, never to be seen again, and none of my others are small enough).
And that’s it.
I think this will be my new practice. Once-monthly conscious buying of things I deeply, thoughtfully want.
I’ve unsubscribed from promotions emails, unfollowed accounts that filled me with unnecessary desire, and simply walk past sales racks because *I don’t actually need anything*. When I need it, of course, I’ll add it to my list.
For now, I’m delighted with the extra breathing space in my days… And the unexpected freedom. A total slice of joy.
#slicesofjoy
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