First Goal of 2012: No Shopping!

I love reading The Minimalists blog. Their blog entries are short and sweet but give real life advice and wise ideas. One of their recent entries talked about failure and went back to the main author's resolution for 2011: to not buy anything for one year.

Doesn't this seem crazy?! It does to me a little bit. Of course he still bought food, hygiene products and things like movie tickets and gym memberships that are considered experiences.

But this idea does bring me back to something I've always wanted to do: not buy anything for at least a month. In fact, it is one of my goals for the year.

I simply love shopping. I love the thrill of looking in a store, finding something new and taking it home. However, I do not love looking at my bank account or wallet after I purchase something, even if it is just $20.

If I really think about it, most of the things I buy I do not need. I always think I need new clothes, but my closet is bursting with clothes I rarely wear. I always think I need new makeup or beauty products and I do love to test new items and share them with you on my blog, but I can do this much less often than I do.

So for now, I do have gift cards from Christmas I have yet to use, so I am allowing myself to use those if I want to since it was not my money, but I will not shop for at least a month and see how I do.

This will definitely be difficult. It is so easy to go down the street to Target when I'm bored, go shopping with a girlfriend to hang out, or find things online or in catalogs that I want so badly. I am going to do my best to ignore my impulse to buy and concentrate on spending money on experiences and saving. So here goes...

I will not buy anything unless I truly need it (example: running out of something like deodorant that is necessary!). I will be allowed to buy food, experiences such as a movie with a friend and I will take a close look at everything I spend my money on.

...I'll keep you posted! Give me some tips or advice!

Minimalist Lifestyle

Lately I have been really interested in reading the blog, The Minimalists. Most of the time while surfing the web or reading articles on website, I am a skimmer. Much like that girl on the Toyota Venza commercial... "Well, I read most of the article..."

I find myself actually engaging and reading full articles from them. Perhaps it is because the minimalist lifestyle is something I wish I had, but would find extremely difficult to actually practice.

Here's the gist of these two guys, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus: they quit their six-figure corporate jobs in their late twenties to explore a life of minimalism and hopefully...happiness. They write about all things minimalism: getting rid of your "junk", finances and budgeting, turning off technology for a while, happiness, and much more.

I often get sucked into the notion of the "American Dream", which seems these days is to be rich and buy stuff. I get hooked on shopping and I obsess over things I want. I get brainwashed by advertising just the way companies want me to be. I buy things I don't need just to shop or just to have it. Sometimes it ends up being a very useful buy...more than often, it doesn't.

Yet I think the true "American Dream" is freedom and happiness. Freedom to do what you love and find happiness in life...not the material goods in life but relationships, finding your passion, etc.

So for now I am reading more into this minimalism lifestyle. While I don't hope to go to the extreme and get rid of my TV and car and everything, I do hope to stop buying useless "stuff", donate things I already have and organize things a bit more, and learn to rely on technology less.

What do you think of minimalism or The Minimalists blog?