Shopper

I don't come from a family of gung-ho shoppers, but I somehow ended up a shopper. I like the acting of getting new things and this usually means buying them. I don't like malls and I'm not one for all day shopping trips, but a trip around a store that interests me (Whole Foods, Barnes & Nobles, Macys, even Lowes) makes me a pretty happy girl. Not that I spend without restraints; I am usually very budget conscious and like to look for a bargain, but things do add up. Every couple of months, I decide my credit cards could use a cooling off period and I declare the month a no-shopping time. In the past, it has sometimes been hard to stay away from frivolous spending for an entire 30 or 31 days (I have a nasty of habit of sometimes buying new clothes rather than ironing a piece of clothing I already own). However, I feel these month-long experiments keep me grounded and keep me from going broke. During these months, I cut out new clothing and shoe purchases and try to cut back on other silly spending such as trips to Starbucks or happy hour. I would never go as far as this woman did, who spent one year without buying anything (I haven't read the book, so I'm not really sure how this worked). But still, my little spending hiatuses are good not only for the checkbook, but also for the soul.