Everyone’s needs change over time. You may slow down or stop using an item, or you may start to use something else instead. It’s just a part of life.
For instance, I was a big fan of pencil and paper. I not only write copious lists, I also composed my book/blog drafts and kept a journal in paper format. To save money I stocked up on pencils and notebooks the other year when I caught them on sale.
Since then my needs have changed. My journals are now stored electronically, written in plain text format and stashed on my computer. I save photos, scanned papers, and other relevant items in an annual folder with the file names sorted by date. While I still use pencil and paper for my lists, my usage of these items has went down drastically.
While I’m delighted at the lower cost of maintaining electronic records, the change in my habits left me with a small stockpile of pencils, pens, and notebooks. Instead of having a year’s supply on hand as per my plan, I have a tote of supplies now that won’t get used up for several years.
Since the items will get used eventually it doesn’t make financial sense to eliminate them. In fact, I’m sure my daughter and grandchildren will make a dent in them over time even if I don’t. Even so, it would be stupid for me to add to my stockpile this year. A stockpile is only worth the time and expense when it actually gets used in a reasonable amount of time.
As a result I have now instituted a spending moratorium on certain office supplies. No more paper, pencils, or similar items will be purchased until we use up what we have.
Period.
It doesn’t matter if we stumble upon a cute little notebook with a funny little saying or a crazy-cheap sale during Back To School Season. I refuse to buy what I don’t actually need.
Spending moratoriums can apply to all areas of your life. If you have a sizeable collection of books, music, movies, video games, or whatnot that you haven’t used, it makes sense not to purchase any more until you’ve actually enjoyed what you already have.
If you have food in your pantry that is in danger of going bad, don’t buy more until you use it up.
If your closet is overflowing, stop buying more clothes!
That’s why we stay broke, folks. We spend money on crap we don’t need when we have more than enough already. It’s one thing to stock up on stuff we need and actually use, but when it gets to the point where we have more on hand than we can use up in a reasonable amount of time, we need to stop.
Buying for the sake of buying is stupid.
What areas of your life do you need to impose a moratorium on? Please share your stories in the comments below.
Hahahah! Back when I first decided to get serious about frugal living, I discovered that I had a serious pen and paper habit! I think it was almost an emotional thing for me, because when I was a kid, my best friend and I enjoyed hanging out at the stationery store, buying cute pencils and the like. I guess I carried the practice into my adult life without really examining it. It was an inexpensive way to “treat myself” and it reminded me of her (she moved away when I was 13, and part of me never really got over it.) Anyhow, when I finally had my “day of reckoning” I discovered, to my horror, that I had 3 grocery sacks full of pens and pencils! I donated most of them to the music school where I was working, and kept a small number for myself. 20 some odd years later and I still haven’t needed to buy more!