Tuesday's Post - Laura

I am a shopaholic. At least I can admit it, right? The worst part is, though, that more than half of the things I buy are things that I don’t need. Clearly, that’s an issue. Whether it’s a pair of expensive shoes or a new Dooney and Bourke school bag, I will look for any and every reason there is to buy something. One might think that with all the spending that I do I would look at my bank account and see that my balance is quickly decreasing and seize my spending, but that is not the case. That is why this group challenge is so great for me. For example, at the beginning of the school year, I was convinced that getting mail was the absolute BEST thing that could happen during the day. Since my mom obviously didn’t send me care packages every day, I decided that online shopping for sandals, dresses, boots, and any other material thing I thought of was a good alternative and would make checking my usually empty mailbox much more exciting. Unfortunately, my dad, who manages my money, caught on to my newly acquired habit and made me return the majority of the things I had planned on receiving. What is more disappointing than getting a package of brand new clothes that you have to return immediately? Since my dad has now caught on to my online shopping “addiction”, I am now very limited and controlled on what I can spend my now limited amount of money on. In order to start the challenge my group is given, I am going to start being more conscious on my own about the amount of money I spend per day. While doing research for my last group project, I realized that there are many other places that the majority of the population lives on less than $10 a day, some even less than $2. Not going out every few days to get YoZone and not online shopping for things that I DON’T need is something that I can do so that I become more conscious and appreciative of my own money. Although I did just find a really cute tote bag for the summer, I guess I will just have to wait until I really need it.