Shopping Ban... sorta.

I have felt REALLY good lately about how well my husband and I have done on shopping. We have done AMAZINGLY well. I kinda/sorta/possibly/maybe tried to go on a shopping ban. And the TRUTH is that from January until today the only purchases outside of household necessities that I have made have been:

Christmas Presents (i'm over half way done)
Less than $100 worth of stuff on my Canton trip (And only $40 of it wasn't gifts)
A WHOLE wardrobe for my daughter (I love those consignment events)

So seriously from January to today (well, actually let's say last Monday) I had spent around $250 dollars and with the exception of a few things at Canton none of it was just for the heck of shopping.

NOW OUR STORY TAKES A LITTLE TURN:

Not a HUGE bad turn or anything but a turn for sure.

I KNEW that in the next few months i'd have a FEW things to buy:

#1-a dress to wear for my sisters wedding

#2-a gift, or 7, for my sister and future bro-in-law

#3- a dress for my daughter to wear to the wedding

Not bad...but just some things I would have to shop for that I could NOT not buy. :)

I found THE perfect dress last week. It was on sale, of course, fit me good, and with all this working out i'm doing these days it will look even BETTER by June 11th. At least that is the plan. (i'm a planner like that.)

WHILE I WAS SHOPPING FOR THE DRESS.....

I found some black pants that I couldn't live without. NOW let me say this, when I called my husband to tell him what I was buying my words to him were "i'm not even excited about it."

#1-black pants are a STAPLE. I work in the business world and I HAVE to dress up and look professional. So black pants are an item that MUST be on hand. I have 2 pairs currently (and at this point any full blown minimalist reading this is freakin' out) but I have worn the heck out of my favorite pair and may quite possibly not even see those pants make it through the fall. It's tragic, really, because these black pants are magical. They have been with me for 4 years now, look AWESOME, give me a the illusion of a figure that I do NOT have.... and they make me feel like a movie star. That's how awesome these pants are. I do NOT want to replace them but the reality is that if I wait to buy black pants when it gets closer to fall... THEY WILL NOT BE IN SALE. Remember my rule about buying clothes out of season?? This TOTALLY applies. These pants are $65 dollars, marked down 3 times, and then 50% off of that. HOW can you say no to that if it's something that you KNOW you will need? Well, maybe some of you can't... but I couldn't. It seemed too worth it.

#2-I started exercising again and this time I am getting back into running. To tell how CHEAP I have been my entire life let me just say that  i own 2 pairs of tennis shoes. Both of which I have had for over 8 years. You think i'm exaggerating? NOPE-i'm not. I bought these shoes before I got married the FIRST time. So yea, I have had them quite a while. They still look decent because i'm not much of a tennis shoe wearer...I am typically found in heels, but they were hard and weren't very flexible. SO... I went tennis shoe shopping. It felt weird. I haven't done that in over a DECADE! I found an awesome pair at a GREAT price and they feel wonderful...

But with these 2 purchases there is still a little part of me that feels guilty. Like I cheated or something, even though I made up the rules so I can break them...right?

This WHOLE topic has got me wondering... have I taken on too much? I don't think I have...but it sure does make me wonder. Counting dollars and cents can be exhausting but I DO know that its WAY worth it.

so what do you think? Shopping bans a good idea for you? is it okay to splurge every now and then?