Know When to Say When

So it's been a couple of weeks since I first decided to curb my spending dramatically. And I've had no major mishaps. I've managed to stick with my goal to purchase only consumable items. However, I'm finding the urge to buy more than I need (even of consumable items) is still persistent. I'm no longer buying bargain toys or t-shirts or temporary tattoos, but I'm still struggling with the concept of buying "enough." The other day (in a moment of weakness) I actually bought 6 boxes of dishwasher detergent. Yes dishwasher detergent is consumable. But I'm not sure why I thought I needed 6 boxes. No one needs to purchase 6 boxes at the same time. They don't even sell cases of dishwasher detergent that big at Costco. At the time it seemed like a good idea. An hour later it didn't. To rectify the situation I decided to make a return. How many boxes did I return? 3 or 4 may have been a reasonable guess, but no, I only returned one. I'm still not sure what I was thinking. I guess subconsciously I'm expecting to clean a lot of dishes.

I suspect there may be more at play here. There's certainly some reason why I consistently buy more than I need, even when the item isn't necessarily fun to buy. No one wakes up excited to go on a shopping spree for dishwasher detergent. I need to start understanding what constitutes enough. Whether it's a consumable item or not, I think the crux of the problem may be that I just don't know when to say when. So before making another purchase, I'm going to get in the habit of asking myself "do I already have enough of this or a similar item?" Perhaps 50% of the time I'll answer that question by putting the item(s) back on the shelf. I think that once I can discern how much is enough, I'll be more content with what I have. And who doesn't want contentment?

Anyone out there need to borrow some dishwasher detergent? You know where to find me. I'm the idiot hiding behind a cardboard wall comprised solely of dishwasher detergent boxes.