End of January Report

We made it one month without buying something new. Mostly.
These were my cheats:

2 dog dishes from Dollar General for Samson's food and water.
A chew toy for Samson from Dollar General
A dog collar and a flea collar from Dollar General (These were for Jason. ha! Just kidding.)

This is what I bought new that was under "forgivable" categories:
Pencil Sharpener
Stapler

These are the items I had an impulse to buy but then remembered not to:
Too many to remember

Seriously y'all, I had no idea how easily I bought things, unnecessary thing, without even giving it a second thought; baskets, house shoes, clothes, decorative items, cooking utensils, more, more, more.
This month has been very eye-opening for me. But what it hasn't been, is hard. I am grateful that the impulse to buy has been easy to stifle. I even went through Target and TJMaxx without getting one thing that wasn't on my list. I actually went into TJMaxx and came out with nothing! Today has been the first day that I actually feel an urge to shop. Instead, I'm going to waste a little time on Pinterest looking at some ideas for my future house, and then get busy cleaning my current house.

What I've already taken away from this experience:
Think before you buy
Sale racks are deceiving

That last one may sound odd but it really isn't. Several people assumed that my resolution only applied to full-price items but no, it applies to all new items, on sale or not. Before, I would have browsed the sale aisles, congratulating myself on saving money as I tossed things in my cart. Now I avoid the sale aisles, congratulating myself on actually saving money and also shaking my head at how easily I was tricking myself beforehand. Now, if I do for real need something, I'm going to check the sale aisle first, but other than that, I'll pass.

Have any of you had any denying-the-impulse success stories?

I know, I know

I keep trying to post. Honest I do. But for some reason, it has been very, very hard to find a moment to write something. I did, however, up load some photos the other day and I'll let them be my post for now and help me ease pack into regular posting. 

Maid Marion

Pallet sleeping at Aunt Kat's on the way home from Tennessee

They took over Aunt Kat's bed. And each other's personal space.

Nora rested on Daddy's fist. And it was cute.

On New Year's day, we finally made our gingerbread houses.

Claire's house was the only house to stay together.

The rest of the houses had to be decorated in pieces. 

This is how you pose for a picture but also keep your nakedness a secret. 

We also put together some ACME crafts that day.

Claire made a fabulous looking peach pie out of play-doh.

Audrey came for a visit and taught a How To Behave Like A Princess class. Nora didn't pass.

We acquired a puppy. His name is Samson and I have to admit I'm a little bit in love. 

He's very patient.

Daddy babysat one evening while I had my hair changed.

It's always more fun when he's in charge.

I think her whiskers are my favorite.

Nora would spend all day, every day with him if I let her.

I call this Through the Toilet Paper Roll.

New hair color. Me no likey. Me need brown again.

The moment where I rested

Today was a good day but a little bit exhausting. We all slept in this morning and it just seemed to take longer than normal to get my engine up and running. I finally started breakfast and Eily helped me make pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. It was very exciting because it was her first time to crack the eggs all by herself.

Then I did the thing that I've been putting off all week. I emptied out the trailer. It took all afternoon but the girls and I finally got all the presents organized and put away. It's a good feeling to know that is finished for a year. Elaina and Claire have been very cute with the whole not-buying-anything-new situation. This evening, Elaina was telling us that it really doesn't matter if we don't buy any new toys because it's so easy to make things out of the items we already have in our house. Then she told us how she was going to make a play gun using some cardboard rolls and an empty crayon box. See? That right there is one reason I felt this was such an important thing for our family to do. We are all so used to just buying what we need instead of seeing if we can first make do with what we have.  For example, the girls got some new doll clothes for Christmas and the basket that we keep them in is already completely full. I immediately thought,  "Oh, I need to remember to buy another basket the next time I'm in Fort Smith." Then I remembered The Rule and decided that we either needed to get rid of some doll clothes or just use a container we already have for the new clothes. I ended up putting them in a cloth book bag that I had up in the top of my closet and I'll just keep my eyes open during the year for a used basket.

Then we ate salad for supper and Jason, Elaina, and Eily left for basketball practice. Claire stayed home with me and Nora because her mouth had been a bit sassy today. (Well, every day if we are being honest.)

Now, I'm going to go read to Nora and get her to sleep so that I can spend some quiet time reading before Jason and the other girls get home. I hope you are having a nice, calm evening.

January 1, 2014

Well, it's here. The Year of Nothing New. I went ahead and purchased my blog book this morning so that it would be out of the way and I can truly feel like I'm doing this.

We went to Misty and Thomas' house last night for New Year's Eve. It was a lot of fun. We got home at eleven but I forced myself to stay awake until midnight. Then I was asleep by 12:01.

We start the mornings with breakfast, coffee, and the classical music station. But before you can say I Love Bach, Eily has turned on River Dance and is tapping her feet silly in the living room.
I'm gong to be sad when the girls go back to school.

Aunt Abby gave the girls some play-doh for Christmas and our dining room table has been Play-Doh central for two days. I've never been good about leaving something like that out and about so I'm a little bit proud of myself for staying calm, despite the mess. I mean, it's not a total mess. We clean it up each night but all the equipment stays on the table.

Jason and I are going to have electronic-free Sundays for a while. No email. No texting. No browsing. Yes reading. Yes bonding. Yes relaxing.  Join us if you like. I bet neither of us will regret it.