Concluding an Exercise in Self-Control

In mid July I posted about a promise to myself that I would use up 8 products before I buy anything new for myself that I cannot reasonably justify. In that post I knew that it might go terribly wrong and I also knew that there are certain things that I was going to repurchase and wouldn’t want to wait for.

So from this attempt I learned a few things. Firstly I noticed that when I am downtown looking for something for someone else I am quickly tempted to treat myself as well. I was buying a birthday present for my cousin when I strayed from the goal to treat myself.

Secondly I noticed that I am impulsive in treating myself to something like a nice bath. And when I am having a bad week and the weather in cold and rainy too boot I am all for “cheating” and allowing myself to have that experience (with the bath salt packet I bought for the occasion) without feeling guilty about it.

Last but not least I think I saved quite a bit of money! Not tons but enough that it caught my attention. Probably also because the whole thing put me in a mindset where I was being far more conscious of my consumption and justifying what I purchase.

I think I learned form this, and putting a number on the situation does give a nice solid goal to work towards and a sense of accomplishment once there. I think that this also worked out really well for me despite my not being very strict about the whole thing. Also if this mindset and general way of looking at the products I use and particularly the things I purchase then I wont be setting this kind of goal too soon. But if I notice things piling up again I probably will try to strictly reduce it, and this is most certainly an effective method.