Willpower

I have decided to become an organized, unimpulsive shopper. This should be even harder than childbirth.

It appears I have a gift for buying frivolous things I have no use for, or t-shirts on a whim, or liking things so much I buy them twice. This is a problem, and it needs to stop. I also seem to like to pay for mediocre food and bad service, in fact it seems to be one of my favorite things to do. So before my husband cuts up my credit card, I am taking control. Starting today...

Because when I put my mind to something, it's balls out. And I have a plan. I have announced that we will not be eating out for one month. Not sure if it is really feasible but we are going to give it the old college try. Really it's quite ridiculous the amount of money a family of six has to spend to get a meal, especially when you are paying over 20 bucks for McDonalds. I'll have to take some alternate routes so that I don't pass by Pei Wei or Texadelphia and break down in crying fits. So no food, outside of this house for one month, except for Date Night. My children already hate me.

To get the ball rolling on this little plan of mine, I spent all day taking inventory and discarding items in the pantry and refrigerators. Yes, plural, 3 to be exact, but one's for beer, does that count?

I found a cream gravy mix expired August of 04, brownie mix expired October of 05, 2 unopened bottles of red wine vinegar, 3 canisters of minced garlic, 5 million paper napkins, and two smashed ding dongs from God knows when. I am not even going to admit what was in the fridge. But now I am armed with the Costco list from hell and a grocery list that would make your head spin.

And speaking of lists, the new plan is I don't go anywhere without one. Not Target, not Claires, not the mall. Nowhere! And if it's not on the list, it's not in the basket. Of course my downfall at these places is that everything is so cute, Kathryn really needs that top, Emma would love these High School Musical panties, Alli looks good in red, and there's a horse on that shirt, I HAVE to get it for Abby. No I don't. Especially considering they do not have to ability to fold or hang their clothes, nor close their drawers which are overflowing with a plethora of perfectly good wearable items. Alli will hate me for this one. So no clothes til winter. Not even for me, I'll just have to make do with the 12 white t-shirts I already have.

So there you have it. If I'm grumpy these days, it's because I am suffering shopping withdrawal. But it's for the greater good. There's a few things I still want for the house and I'm thinking the little brats are expecting Christmas presents. And to be able to take the ballpark tour I want to next year, I better start saving them pennies, because you know I can't stay in those cheap hotels.

Wish me luck and send me booze, I'm gonna need both. Luck to stick to this plan and rum to drown my sorrows. And at the end of the month, if I prevail, I think I might reward myself with the bad-ass hoodie I saw in Lucky Jeans. It will be obvious that I have learned my lesson.