Moms Stay At Home
And Still Go Shopping!

Shopping is something that needs to be done, a necessary evil if you will.

I’m not down on the activity. A lot of people love to. I’ll admit to liking it on occasion, by myself.

I enjoy going out to see new styles, colours, and fabrics. I enjoy slowly making my way through the aisles at a grocery store discovering new products and foods.

For some people though it can be...hazardous.

For some people shopping is a sport, or, an addiction.

In order to be a stay at home mom, you’re going to have to curb your your appetite for shopping.

I’m not saying totally stop, just not as much, or in such large amounts. That doesn’t mean you can’t have pretty things! It just means you won’t have them right away, right now!

I have a girlfriend who LOVES to shop. She’ll go out and buy an outfit right down to the accessories and new underwear. It’s amazing! It truly is a process. (I hate shopping with her. ;-D)

She’s a very logical lady though. She doesn’t spend what she doesn’t have. If she really wants something, first she makes sure it will really go in her house, or it’ll really fit into her wardrobe. This means – she leaves whatever it is at the store! GASP!

She goes home and thinks about it, or measures the area of her house where she was going to place the item.

If, after her thinking, she decides “Yes, I absolutely want it,” she calculates if she can actually afford it. If she can, great! Off she’ll go and buy it. If she can’t, she asks the store if they have a layaway plan, or if they can hold the item. If so, she proceeds in this way, paying for the item little by little, all the while knowing it is safe and sound and will be hers soon.

If the store cannot accommodate her in the form of a layaway or holding it, she saves her money, puts it away in a special account reserved for things she wants. When she has enough saved up for her purchase, off she goes!

What happened if the item is no longer available?

As I said, she’s a logical lady. She knows that the material thing she wanted was not truly necessary in her life, her home, or her wardrobe. It is simply a thing. She says, “C’est la vie!” or “It wasn’t meant to be,” and forgets about it.

We must move away from the notion that we NEED things.

We as humans need only food, water, and shelter to survive. Don’t snort! And don’t tell me you didn’t, I heard you. ;-)

I’m not saying this is all we should have, I’m saying it’s all we need. Should you have a nice home? Yes. Should you have great food? Yes. Should you have the cleanest drinking water around? Absolutely! You should also enjoy other things that make your life more full, such as the latest gadgets, a great sleek car, comfortable patio furniture – but you don’t need it.

Your life is not going to be totally horrible if you don’t have that sparkly new LX 570. Honest! However, does a vehicle make life easier? Yes, yes and yes. Does wearing clothing that suits you and fits well make you feel better about yourself? Yes. Does eating a great meal make you feel completely satisfied? Definitely. Does having nice things within your home, like comfortable furniture and beautiful artwork make you feel ‘arrived’? I can vouch for a total yes.

What makes you feel even better about the above things is being as smart as possible about the purchases and getting the best possible deals.