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Post by dayeanu on Mar 31, 2012 11:23:37 GMT -5
Ok. I made it through the grocery section pretty well. No excessive purchases. I stayed off the baking aisle. (I always fancy I'll spend the week baking. HA!)
I'm attracted to the strangest things. A very small dish drainer. Huh? After I recently decided I probably don't need the one I have? But this one is small. Would fit down in my sink!
Now I have passed the canning jars. Whew. Looking for a travel mug for DGS and a small plastic covered box for office supplies. Legitimate purchases. It's interesting how, at some level, I know what is a legitimate purchase, and what isn't - no matter how I justify them all.
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Post by ramatama on Mar 31, 2012 12:01:20 GMT -5
yep, same here. Am still kicking myself for buying stuff with the best intentions and it is still sitting here- there- everywhere, in its bag or box, unused, years later. grrr... Have avoided bazaars, yard sales, flea markets for the past 5 years, to varying degrees. Same thing for bookshops. If I go in one, unlikely I will come out without a book. Have skyscraper stacks of books next to my bed to read, self-purchased or given to me. Have told everyone, no more books...but do they listen?
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Post by dayeanu on Mar 31, 2012 12:17:02 GMT -5
Yes, Ramatama, a disappointing amount of my clutter is stuff still in the shopping bags!
I'm heading for check-out. Unnecessary purchases? I'm even looking at the food, because while I don't tend to be a food hoarder, I do shop for "fantasy meals I'm going to prepare," then ending up eating tamales and frijoles instead!
Bananas. DGS and I like them. We will probably eat them before they go bad. Cheese. May put it back. Think I have some in the freezer already. Need to use stuff out of the freezer. Mandarin oranges. Will keep for more than a few days. Cottage cheese. I'll probably eat that for a snack.
Non-foods: Stainless steel spatula. I do need one. 92 cents to replace the one I currently use, that the handle keeps falling off of. 92 sets to get rid of the aggravation. Must throw old one out when I get home. Small plastic storage box for office. Travel mug for DGS. Small bird feed bowl.
Ok. Good so far.
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Post by Starflower on Mar 31, 2012 12:45:27 GMT -5
This past week I was really good about not getting anything not on my list, I even left Walmart when my back started to hurt and I did not get everything on my list since I was feeling overwhelmed and knew I would over-shop if I stayed. So I did well except for the health food shop that is closing today. A few days ago I got a few things there not on my current list, but on my mind to remember for later and they were all discounted - 2 small bottles of spiced rice vinegar, 2 small bottles of a soy sauce substitute made with coconut husks, 2 small boxes of stevia pkts, and 2 bars of the bath soap I usually use and am on my last bar. I also got a whole lot of samples of herbs and tea and creams, and I even joked what a hoarder I was while fillling up a small bag with the free samples... I did donate some paint and craft supplies to the hobby shop at the VA hospital. The gal did not have a family for me to donate the canned goods I brought so they are still in my car and I will drop them off at the local women's shelter next week. I am trying to think really hard about what I bring home or order online.... do I want to move it later this year or not? Even if I do not move until next year, it is still a good mindset to get in to block the impusiveness. Take care.
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Post by dayeanu on Mar 31, 2012 16:35:33 GMT -5
RAMATAMA, I have a carpet sweeper, never taken out of the box. Probably purchased in the early '90's. I just found it the other day! My carpet has probably not been visible since about then . Starflower, you sound like you did responsible shopping - well, idk about the samples. IF you'll use them, it was ok. Other stuff, yeah, ok, you bought an extra packet of stevia and an extra bar of soap. They were probably marked down. You use this stuff regularly, right? So I don't see a problem. Shopping must be an addiction for me. I'm still thinking about that little tiny dish drainer! How sick is that! After realizing the other day that if I keep my dishes washed, I can use my dishwasher as a drain rack! I don't even need the dish drainer I have. But I *want* that little tiny one. It's "cute." It's a little bit unique. I'm unique, too, huh! Nutty as a fruit cake. but the important thing is that I didn't buy it. Oh, wait! I have three dishwashers. The one that is currently installed, the new one that I bought before I moved - to be installed - and a portable dishwasher from one of the other houses. That's six potential dish drain racks, plus the regular dish drainer I already own. And I still want that little tiny one. I AM nuts! I should do what I read about someone doing. Every time she resisted an unnecessary or impulsive purchase, she put that amount of money in a piggy bank or jar or something. I think that's a kinda cool idea. You can see your self-control paying off! I should sit down and write a paragraph about how I imagine my life will be better if I buy that little tiny dish drainer. I should write a paragraph about how, when I was growing up, my best friend was a little tiny dish drainer. (Sort of like the brave little toaster stories - I loved those.) ok, my looniness is going to move on to other topics.
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Post by downandout on Apr 1, 2012 4:37:26 GMT -5
brave little toaster one of my favorites!!! well i failed this week. amazon.com sent me an email suggesting a book that i might like to read and i was like 'yes i would like to read that book' and then i also bought a bottle of raspberry ketone (i think thats what its called) because dr. oz had said it was a good weight loss tool and i have been losing weight especially the last two weeks so i bought both of those things. but i did not buy any of the beautiful plants at the grocery store when i went there for milk and sugar. i did buy a new pot to cook with but when i got home i threw out the old one so i think that was okay. and to be totally honest there probably is a pot in the doom room that i could have used but even tho i sorted thru some of the hoard the other night i didnt see one.
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Post by dayeanu on Apr 1, 2012 5:50:30 GMT -5
Downy, I think you really did well. The book was the only real "extra," assuming you consume the ketone stuff.
I think we are allowed an "extra" if we can afford it, and if we are actually going to use it (read it) in a reasonable time frame. Which it sounds like you will. I think the important thing is that it doesn't become clutter. Will you get rid of something, to compensate for an extra book? I think if you hoard books, buying a book is a bigger deal. If you don't hoard books, I don't see a problem. Good for throwing out the old cook pot! That's excellent, really. I'd probably be like, well, I might need this old one if some day that one's dirty/in use/20 people are coming for lunch.
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Post by downandout on Apr 1, 2012 6:06:54 GMT -5
thanks Daye! yes i hoard books but i know i will read this one. i am going to make myself take a book ive already read to work and leave it there. someone will take it! i hope i take the raspberry ketone. i would like to say that i definitely will but it may go the way of the juicer and the foot bath you wouldnt want that old pot Daye! it was nasty with the teflon starting to come off on the bottom. i was afraid to use the darn thing because of that but yet i couldnt let it go until i had a replacement weird i know.
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Post by Starflower on Apr 1, 2012 6:37:15 GMT -5
Daye, I am giggling so hard about your comment about not needing a pizza pan since last century (1990s)... I can soooo relate!!! Bear with me, this story pertains to this thread.... Yesterday my DS called to say he amicably broke up with his gf of a year and a half. One reason they broke up is that she was not accustomed to lowering her standards and living in the mild-case, fixer-upper rowhouse in NW Washington, DC, that he just bought. He said his gf freaked out about finding some old mouse poop and some other minor things, and did not follow thru' on her promises to help paint, etc. She had to leave the house a few times because she was overwhelmed by the condition of the house. It just needs a lot of cosmetic work or my DS would not have bought it. Luckily she is a minimalist and taught him a few things about living simply. Now that the gf is out of the picture my DS has made some different decisions about his house. Instead of fixing up and renting out the basement as they had planned, he will now be renting out all 3 bedrooms in the main house and he will be moving into the basement apartment himself. He has a detached 2 car garage for storage and work space. The BEST part of all of this is that by breaking up with the gf he will be much, much better off financially and mentally than if she stayed. At the end of this year he will be living in Wash, DC, for FREE, with a profit, AND will be making enough money to buy a nearby condo to rent out for a profit. Next year he plans to quit his day job, work part time online on his own flexible schedule, tend an organic farm with his buddy, and be RETIRED from full-time work at 31!!! My point of relating this story in this thread is that my DS realized that he was in a co-dependent relationship and it was time for him to make some hard but needed changes in his life. Sometimes it is NOT THE STUFF we bring into our lives that is the problem, but the PEOPLE that need to be dealt with so we can better deal with all the physical and mental clutter. This can mean going to family therapy, or moving to a different place, or working out chore schedules, etc., basically finding what will work to make everyone's lives better. It may eventually boil down to releasing some people from our lives, which can be very hard, indeed. But for me it is the opposite! Years ago I released the abusive people in my life and now I am realizing that I have a huge, gaping, needy hole in my life that I tried to fill with stuff, but what I really need to bring INTO my life are healthy, supportive people in my life. And for me that means to move to where there are extensive support systems already in place that cater to my needs. Take care.
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Post by dayeanu on Apr 3, 2012 12:04:33 GMT -5
I am at the store. Waiting on Mother's prescriptions. Waiting to talk to the geriatric psychiatrist and the parole officer who supervises sex offenders. My anxiety level is a little bit higher than usual. I think this is a prime trigger to shop.
I am looking at the bargain aisle. A lemon container. Orange juicers. Organizers. Grippers. I could actually use those. My goal is to get out of the store with thee intended list - Mother's prescriptions and masking tape.
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Post by dayeanu on Apr 3, 2012 15:23:00 GMT -5
Well, after scanning all the interesting areas, cookware, hardware, bargain aisle, pets, health and beauty, and garden, I left the store with:
Mother's prescription Masking tape Shop towels (which I had on the list that I left at home, but had forgotten about until I saw them) Cadbury egg for me (Hey! It's been a stressful day!) Skittles for DGS
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Post by casper on Apr 3, 2012 15:24:28 GMT -5
YEA! for candy! WTG! on sticking to the list!
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Post by dayeanu on Apr 3, 2012 17:41:16 GMT -5
Thanks, Casper! It really does help to know that I will have to come here and fess up.
That Neo-on-the-go doesn't look quite as necessary when I know I have to list it here!
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Post by razy on Apr 4, 2012 2:04:54 GMT -5
Thanks, Casper! It really does help to know that I will have to come here and fess up. That Neo-on-the-go doesn't look quite as necessary when I know I have to list it here! I know!!!! Apparently I shop when I am stressed and I am stressed as all get out at the moment and surrounded at work by equally stressed people - the office was verging on complete hysteria this afternoon. On the way home from the gym I decided I needed to by all the things I have been thinking about getting and a pillow. The appliance shop did not have the answering machine I chose so I didn't get that but in the next shop I bought a pillow I didn't know I needed.(it was half price and I'll do something with the old one) Luckily the next appliance shop was closed At the next shop 2 long sleeved tees and jacket (all 30% off) and Easter eggs. I am going to throw away the old tee I wore to work today - it seems smelly. And ya can't have too many long sleeved tees......
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Post by Starflower on Apr 4, 2012 6:05:28 GMT -5
Checking in. I only bought a few things lately that were not on my list or direly needed, but I did notice at the time I was having a prolonged, horrible day. I had a meltdown after a bad news/good news phone call on the way out the door to an 11:00 am chiropractor appt, and then a 4 pm group therapy appointment 2 hrs away at the VA hospital. I knew I might be overbooking myself, but was rather upset after the phone call and needed some support.
Right after the afternoon appt I went to Wally world (walmart) for a memory card only, and got 5 little things in the craft section - 3 little pkts of metal craft findings (not needed) and 2 organizer boxes (needed to sort the craft findings I already have... plus the new things. *sigh*) I was going to get some big storage bins too, but reminded myself that I need the cash for dental work later this month, and I will not need the storage bins soon since I am not moving for months anyway. On the way home I went to a supermarket for only meat and cold medicine, and got a frozen cheesecake that I certainly do not need. But at the time I justified it all to myself.
I really do not feel all that bad about the few extras I bought, but I will try to not stress myself out so much in the future. Next Monday I would like to make the same 2 appointments, and will plan ahead so I do not need to go shopping that day. Oh, and I will NOT answer the phone before I go!
Take care.
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