Month: November 2015

Not too shabby for my first week I suppose, now that I am coming to terms with the idea that I may have a shopping problem.

Here’s what I bought:

1. Doggie poop bags.You need to pick up your dog’s poo, so these are actually an essential so they shouldn’t even be on the list. Strike it!
2. A coffee with my girlfriend. She brought me a bowl of quinoa and roasted vegetables because she knew I’d be hungry, so I didn’t have to buy lunch. How sweet is that? Plus she introduced me to steamed radishes. Who knew you could steam radishes? It was a revelation. She threw them in a bowl with some water , steamed them for six minutes in the microwave and tossed them with butter. Delicious.
3. A delicious eggplant roti, but I’m actually not counting food yet. Maybe eventually if I get really good at this no shopping thing, but for now I am not counting consumables. So strike that. And I guess I can strike the coffee I bought on the day of the revelation radish too, yippee! I’m doing so well!
4. I bought The Art of Memoir by Mary Karr. There. I admit it. I am justifying this purchase because I know it is the kind of book that I will want to revisit and reread on numerous occasions, so it was worth getting. I am loving and hating it. Loving because it is wonderfully written and inspiring, hating it because I am tormented by the idea that I will never come close to having anything poetic and interesting to say. If only I could go shopping to make myself feel better and fill my angst-ridden void. Sigh.
5. I window shopped in Zara and didn’t buy a thing, although now I am obsessed with this dress with it’s crisp little collar.

Look how happy she is in her dress! I’m obsessed. Obsessed. One should not go in shops when on a shopping ban. That’s basic shopping ban 101. Damn my OCD, why couldn’t my OCD make me obsessive about cleaning rather than cute collared dresses?

I’m nervous as I write this because I don’t quite trust myself, but I am declaring November my no shopping month. It may be finally dawning on me that I am a shopping addict because I am already panicking. What about the Church bazaar I am going to this month? How can I resist the baked goods? What if I find the perfect commemorative souvenir tshirt in Iceland? What if I find waterproof warm boots on sale? What if I run out of my favourite Body Shop Body Butter? Oh the dilemmas, the questions, the panic. That’s the sound of an addict isn’t it?

Like an addict I have to tell myself one day at a time.

Some people give themselves a shopping ban for a year. I’d love to do that but I am already feeling my brow grow damp in week one, so I am not going to push it. Maybe I am not meant to be a minimalist, but I do not want to be a mindless consumer either, so taking a shopping break is a good start.