05 No New Things
Today's Action is to Track Triggers. I have been doing this since the start and I only found 1 new thing I've been tempted by in the last 5 days - the rainbow metal polyhedral dice set - and I think that's pretty good. That low, low number is probably an effect of 10 years of researching and practicing minimalism. I'm not starting from scratch here so I do have some resistance muscles to work with.
But I'm not perfect either. I get in my moods where temptation is tricky. And I've done some tracking before, specifically when I tried the Low Buy Year starting in January. I had created a wish list then. I haven't added to it in a while, but I do have emails from and to myself of items I wanted to remember to buy... someday maybe. I have filled an online shopping cart just to abandon it. And I have bought a few items, after waiting more than 30 days thankyouverymuch.
For the purpose of full transparency (and to fill out this blog post a little) I will gather all my temptations and list them here. So you can see all the silly things I'm tempted to buy so you can feel better about the silly things you may be tempted to buy. And the thing is, I don't think I would've bought all these things even if I wasn't attempting a No Buy, Low Buy, or No New Things Challenge. None of us buy every little thing we desire or contemplate owning because it's just not possible. We've all got these muscles. Maybe we just need to work them out some more to strengthen them up.
Okay. The lists!
Wishlist items from January 2025 - March 2025:
- stationary pouch....$42
- composition notebook (3-pack)....$14
- bandana....$29
- fence privacy screen....$200
- vintage dark pens....$14
Items I emailed to myself to maybe possibly buy later:
- fountain pen ink....$21
Shopping carts I've filled and abandoned:
- linen pants (2-pairs)....$215
TOTAL money not spent....$727
Pretty good. But there were some things I did buy:
- pencil sharpener....$22 (waited 1 month)
- silk scarf....$195 (waited 1 year)
TOTAL spent....$329
I have also bought clothes (4 bras, 1 skirt, 2 pants, 1 jacket) and books that I didn't strictly NEED, but that wasn't during this No New Things Challenge. I think I made pretty smart choices and have been getting lots of use out of the items I have bought. And I'm sure there were a ton of other things that I wanted, but didn't even feel the need to add to a wish list.
1) bored
2) stressed
3) feeling bad about myself
in that order.
The only money I spent today was on a few cupcakes because I was craving cake.
Things I didn't buy today:
- <nothing>....$0
Total....$35
Success!