Truthfully my husband will laugh so much at this post, you will hear it all over Beijing. But for the first time in the five years that we have been married I am committed to beat my shopping addiction, and work on our adult financial situation. I won’t lie, I absolutely love to shop, for any occasion: when I am sad, when I am mad, or when I am happy. There are many great reasons in my head for shopping sprees, online, at the mall or even at the Roundabout store. I don’t shy away from a long car ride to get some shopping done. I love to “hunt” for treasures, and living in Beijing with kuaidi men at my fingertips has only made it easier. I don’t know how to speak Chinese but I know how to speak to the delivery guy on the phone.
After many times apologizing to my husband when we have more month than money left you might think he would take away my privileges of being in charge of our finances, but he has done no such thing. For some reason he still trusts me with our salaries. But enough is enough, and I am going to set myself a challenge and have even given it a name: NO SPEND February.
I can hear my husband’s laugh already. But I am adamant to not buy anything I don’t need. My home has furniture, and my child has plenty of toys and clothing. I want to declutter, I don’t want to add to the mass consumption of the world. I won’t go online and find stuff I don’t need; I won’t go to the mall and find more things I don’t need. I will keep Beijing posted on how I am doing and what kind of tools I have found to help me budget.
But I have set myself a few rules:
-I won’t spend money on things I don’t need in February.
-I will buy groceries- we need to eat in this home and use toilet paper on regular basis.
-I will go to the hospital if needed and pay for medication.
-If I attend a clothes auction I can only take as many pieces as I have brought.
-I will use the taxi service Didi, but try to use my bike more.
-I will set a budget for eating out and ordering food and keep to it.
-When my daughter gets invited to a birthday party I will buy the birthday child a present.
-I will make pictures of the things I think I need to buy, and review in March if I really need them. This won’t be a shopping list, but an “I can’t believe I wanted to buy that” list
Picture Credit Pixabay
