I Need to Save Money

Alternately titled: Why I Need To Stop Being Being a Shopaholic. It's no secret that I like to spend my money on things other than rent and bills. Everyone knows that the second I get paid, I'm buying something. I abuse the phrase "treat yo'self" and use it for any minuscule (or sometimes not so miniscule...) purchase. It's a lot more difficult to deal with my shopping problem, or rather it's a spending money problem. If it's not clothes, it's magazines or coffee.

I told myself after my last big purchase over MLK weekend when I was back at home that I had to go on a buying freeze. This meant that I was going to buy only the bare minimums when it came to groceries (enough to keep me well fed and healthy, but nothing too excessive that I wouldn't get to and would just go to waste), stop buying new clothes and magazines, and cut down on my Starbucks expenses. This was all in preparation for my trip to New York City in March, but really, it's something that I should learn how to do before it's too late. There's never anything wrong with trying to save up money. I am the type of person who lives paycheck to paycheck and it would be ideal if I didn't have to do that.

I've been on this "freeze" for a month now and I'd have to say...so far, so good? I mean, I've purchased two items of clothing but one was a pair of suede boots for $22 and the other was a $5 t-shirt, so I'm not entirely sure that those are something I should be ashamed of. I've cut down considerably on my Starbucks habit and I'm learning to start making do with what I have at home (clearly in regards to clothing) food wise as well.

Let's see how long I can get this conscious habit to last....