A Spending Drought

I don't know what's come over me of late.  For the first time in a long time, if not ever, I'm finding it very difficult to actually spend money.  Maybe, I'm currently just feeling happy with my lot and what I have and I don't feel the need to acquire anything else, or maybe I realise that I actually have far too much already and don't need to add anymore to it.  

Take yesterday for instance, it was the beginning of the month, I had money in my account, I went out shopping to finish the grocery shop and get a few other bits, but I kept an open mind, had a good look around a few shops and was willing to buy other things if I saw them and liked them.  Only I didn't.  Save for one book from Poundland.  It hardly broke the bank.

Later tonight, I took Little Bird swimming and then strolled into town and had a look around Primark (as it's just about the only shop still open at that time) and I couldn't find a single thing I wanted to buy, either for me or Little Bird, which is highly unusual. 

Going down the West End this weekend, going into shops such as Liberty, I wasn't even tempted to spend any money and I didn't.  I just bought the few second hand sewing patterns in a local market here before we went.

My charity shop shopping habit has slowed off dramatically in the past year and I missed my favourite jumble sale this weekend due to spending the day with our visitors, so another opportunity to shop was missed.

More surprisingly, I've been finding it increasingly difficult to fill Approved Food orders.  I limit myself to one per month and try to get enough to justify the postage costs, but lately, there's not enough on my order to warrant sending it.  Partly, I think it is because it is such a popular site at the moment and good things sell out very, very quickly, partly I seem to be a bit more reluctant to fill the cupboards with lots of food that doesn't always get eaten, the February Food Challenge bringing this to my attention, and partly the Beauty and Household challenges I've been taking part in have stopped me throwing extra things into the basket and overstocking on beauty and household products.  Maybe I need to just place an order every six weeks or two months these days.  This in turn will make my credit card expenditure fall further, which is all good.

It does make you think about what causes you to feel the need to spend money on things you don't honestly need.  Perhaps, because I don't buy glossy magazines very often these days, or watch much television, I'm not bombarded with as much advertising imagery as I have been in the past, or maybe I'm able to see through it when I do encounter it.  Maybe I've now finally started really asking myself - do I really need/want this? 

As mentioned, I think the challenges I've set myself have helped a great deal in this respect, as they have really slowed down my spending in certain areas and made me think hard about what really is necessary spending and this approach seems to be filtering into other areas of my life too.  Don't get me wrong, I love shopping and could happily shop 'til I drop, but I have made an effort to limit opportunities and it does work.  The longer you limit yourself for, the more you get used to not spending money and acquiring new 'stuff' and the harder you find it to actually commit to buying new things unless they are vitally necessary.  This might change as the challenges end I suppose.

Maybe, I'm just more accepting of myself  at the moment, and have got to that point in life where I have just about everything I could ever need, so feel less prone to trying to impress, by having the latest thing or wearing the latest styles.  Whatever the reason, I'm enjoying the moment, but I can't honestly say that it's more than that, as who knows, I may suddenly decide I need something and find myself going off on a shopping spree at some point in the near future.  How fickle I am.