No buy - Low buy thoughts

I'm going to try and keep a track of every non-consumable item that comes into my home, either because I have bought it or acquired it for free. 

I have been giving thought into doing a 'no buy' challenge, and specifically a 'no buy year' as a way of really cementing good habits and trying to move on from negative habits and mind sets. And this isn't to say that I am committing now to not doing something like this, however I did see a youtube video earlier (note to self - stop watching youtube) where a lady was discussing her no buy year to date, challenges, failures, and was beginning to wonder at the arbitrariness of it, because what happens at the end of the year? Do you give yourself a big pat for completing the challenge and go back to your old ways? Have you learned anything? Are you going to never buy anything non-essential again, ever? Are you now a completely conscious consumer? These are good questions, because I like a challenge and a game as much as anybody, but what I would really like to do is change the way I feel about buying things and it's hard to know if this is something that would happen by itself if you go for a long period without spending money willy-nilly, or if you psyche is just biding it's time, and once the challenge is over all it will take is for you to have an emotion day and convince yourself that buying something as a little pick me up is just the thing. That was a long sentence. 

I think it's still possible that I may want to attempt a no buy challenge, perhaps with the new year, but what I want is to be very resolved about what I am going in for, and what I hope to gain from it. But I think a good way to make any positive change is jus to start, so as of now - or actually a few days ago - I am going to try to be a conscious consumer, and as much as is comfortable I am only intending to buy essentials. 

And a good way to reflect on this brings me back to my first sentence, which is to say that I am going to keep a detailed record of everything that I buy. I think it may also be a helpful thing to record when I want to buy things to see if I can get to the bottom of what the real desire is there. We are one week into October and I have already spent a staggering £75.46 on non-consumables, which honestly came as quite a surprise to me. I don't know if any of these purchases could realistically have been avoided, I'm certainly trying to convince myself that they were all essential. It'll be an interesting experiment to see if my criteria for what is or isn't essential changes over the coming weeks and months. In the mean time I will do my best to keep a true log, and this will be published at the end of each month.

With that it's time for bed. Another thing I'd like to get better at not frittering away is my time.