Trash, Treasure or Just More STUFF?

There is a theme in blogdom this week and it all revolves around the stuff we spend our hard earned money on and the way it clogs up our homes, our minds and our time.  The Nester calls it "I hate to pass up a good deal-itis disease".  Ring a bell?  It sure does for me! 

And then the brilliant words of Rachel at Small Notebook sealed the deal.  (You have to read this post...it really is BRILLIANT!)  

Now don't get me wrong...I love cruising Craig's List, stopping in at Goodwill, strolling the isles of my favorite antique shops and there is no harm in that.  The troublesome behavior comes when we start buying stuff we just don't need!  I do find value in the concept that you should buy something great when you see it and I do this often (like this fun Apples sign I just bought for my kitchen), but I also think there should be some rules that go with that. 

The first thing I always ask myself is "would I buy this if it weren't on sale?"  If I really love it the answer is YES and the fact that it is a bargain is just icing on the cake!  The next rule is I have to know what I am going to do with it when I get home.  Not "I will find a spot for it at some point".  Which is exactly what I did with this fantastic blue pitcher.  I saw it, loved it, bought it with no plan of what I was going to do with it and now it sits in my kitchen cabinet lonely and unused.  (Even as I write this I think, but I will use it someday!) 

And my final rule...and this is a new one to me... is it has to be on "THE LIST".  I have just started a list of things I want for the house.  I keep this list with me and when I go to my favorite spots I look for and only buy the things on the list.  (At least this is the concept.  I am just starting to put it into practice.) I can still search out a good deal and now I have the added enjoyment of finding just what I needed and getting to cross something off my list.  (I LOVE crossing things off lists.  I sometimes write things down on my daily to-do list that I have already done just so I can cross them off!)

This topic couldn't come at a more perfect time for me, as my husband and I have just decided to go credit card free.  Yes, ladies and gentlemen we have removed the credit cards from our wallets and are only spending what we have.  Crazy concept, I know!  We have been talking about this on and off for a while now, but this finally pushed me to get on board and take the leap.  The best thing it has done for me (so far) is to make me slow down and think before I spend.  Do I really need more stuff or are there bigger more important goals that this money can help me accomplish?  Yes even the $7 I was going to spend at Starbucks can get me one step closer to sending my daughter to college. 

In the insightful words of Small Notebook ...

No one of us ever said, ”I hope I have a big house full of things that I bought just because they were on sale.”