Since starting the No Spend Challenge on January 1st we have still been in holiday mode, which means we have been staying home and hanging out. Needless to say, we haven’t had too many temptations to buy stuff. Until yesterday when we made our first trip to Costco.

Following the No Spend rules, we went in armed with a list of the food items we had run out of. As soon as we walked in I started noticing the merchandise lining the entry. We headed toward the food sections to find the items on our list, but we passed all kinds of stuff along the way. The cotton lounge pants caught my eye (Mmm, soft and comfy) as well as the decorator pillows that match my couch (pretty!). I silently started reminding myself that they weren’t necessities.

We managed to successfully navigate the store and stick to our list. It was probably one of our quickest trips through Costco since we were focused on the getting what we needed and getting out. We didn’t stop to browse because there would have been no point. What surprised me about the trip was how distracting the stuff was.

Walking past the displays, I felt indecision about what to buy. The number of items offered a plethora of ways to “add” to my life, but mostly they added clutter to my mind when I thought about what to buy. The experience has begun to make me more aware of how I think about spending. Of course, this is only the first trip to the store.

~ Alyse