Empowering: credit card bill was close to HALF of last years monthly average!! Challenging: the impulse/urgency urges in the store. I’m finding it takes a lot of mental work to avoid unnecessary spending in some areas (especially those like food/personal care which feel like a “need”) Something you’ve learned about yourself: I want to shop around when I’m bored. I am home part time with a toddler and am struggling to find more activities we enjoy that aren’t shopping. I also have a habit of trying to “optimize” or make everything efficient. So I try to pick things up early even if we don’t need them yet to “save a trip” or “get it all over with”. Or try to add more things to a shopping list when really I only need one or two things, to make it “worth the trip”. Unexpected benefit: changing even how I think about “needs” in general, especially when grocery shopping or shopping for health related things. I.e. I don’t have to have extra of everything, or buy something new that functions almost the same as something we already own.

I am! Did a huge full house declutter, but in the second round of decluttering/maintenance-ish. The no buy is such a great complement to the decluttering!! Love the idea of a decluttering session!

This weeks win: meal planning before grocery shopping. This is a HUGE win for me! I usually make a list of general/staple items we use often but with no real plan. I always thought meal planning would feel boring or confining (high suspected ADHD brain here), but I planned out meal options (without specifying a day) and a few back ups and found myself actually excited to cook them and I’m looking forward to specific meals!! Big surprise!! And doing a big bi-weekly trip feels more manageable for time to do more meaningful activities during the week. Extra win!