the pre-Christmas spending freeze is OVER!

a cozy Christmas farmhouse from an article full of holiday decorating ideas

As today is the 1st of December, we are officially finished with the pre-Christmas spending freeze.  I'll give an account of the weeks 6 & 7, but be warned - Thanksgiving break was full of online shopping.  Most of it was for Christmas gifts, but a little of it was breaking the rules (oops!).

- no Target purchases:   check.  This has been so liberating and probably the biggest lesson for me is that I do. not. need. to buy so much from this store.  The bright lights and stocked shelves attract me, but rarely do I love the things I buy there.  True - there are exceptions (like this dress) but I plan to stick to the essentials from here on out. 

- no clothing purchases:   uhh...this is where the holiday shopping comes in :)  I could say they were presents, but really I just couldn't pass up the free shipping at Homage and bought some new tees for us.  (Plus, I fully intend to wear mine before Christmas.)

- Goodwill donation:   check.  I finally took in 2 boxes and a bag full of items to the Goodwill drop off, and subsequently organized our basement.  It looks so much better now. I get a serious high from simplifying my home. (am I alone in this?)

- no home purchases:   check - sort of.  I did buy a Christmas nativity set for our mantel on ebay.  It is the same set my parents have and I LOVE it.  I couldn't pass it up.  If you follow me on Twitter, you know I've also been eyeing a gorgeous vintage lamp.  So far I've resisted, but I still wish I could buy it.


Over the past 7 weeks we have saved a lot of money, and it has definitely been worth it.  The timing was perfect with Thanksgiving.  I have a regained contentment for what we have - but more importantly a decreased dependence on consumerism.  We will keep up all these "rules" in the future but just not quite as strictly.  Thanks for the accountability, friends!

Want to see the rest of the story?  Check out these posts:

The Rules
Weeks 1 & 2
Weeks 3,4 & 5