When will we share precious moments?
I made it through one whole week, sans Target, and now I’m wondering when I should go back. Here’s the deal – a week didn’t really feel all that challenging. So instead of one mere week, I’m giving up Target for Lent. That’s right, NO TARGET UNTIL EASTER SUNDAY.
Um… is Target closed on Easter? So I can’t go until the Monday after? Oh dear. Moving on.
However, I’m not considering this to be my weekly challenge, as it will last several more weeks and is tied to my random Catholic faith. Do you think the Church wants me to stop shopping at Target? Or to stop being cranky (which is the other thing I promised to do this Lent)?* Or was the Church hoping I’d just tithe more…
40 days Target-free should do the trick and break their insidious hold over me and my money. By Easter, I should be able to drive by a red bulls-eye without their tractor beam pulling me in. Furthermore, this should teach me to a. plan my shopping better (and not rely on quick pit-stops at Target) and b. see what bargains are available at Menards/Walmart/ALDI, etc. Let’s see who has the cheapest TP of the three! Won’t that be interesting? SURE IT WILL.
Therefore, ergo and SO, I putting together a completely different weekly challenge for February 22nd to the 28th. It may sound like a simple, non-taxing, test of my frugal abilities, but this week’s challenge is surprisingly hard for me:
For the next week, I will not buy a single magazine, IPod song, or piece of fast food. The only thing I can buy like that is coffee from Starbucks – and only because I have a massive Starbucks gift card (Thank you, Cooper!).
As hard as I try, it seems I’m always picking up little treats here and there. A trash mag to read on the machines at the gym; an 80’s flashback for my IPod; breakfast at the Holiday Superstation on my way to the station – all these little treats add up to a ton of wasted money. Therefore, this week I am resetting my treat-o-meter. No long will treats be a daily occurrence. It’s time to make them special once again by not caving in like a politician faced with a tough decision.
Delayed gratification – all the cool, frugal kids are doing it.
*Someone told me once that I shouldn’t announce what I was giving up for Lent. It should be a private matter between me and my God. However, I believe in being held accountable for my actions, which is why I tell everyone and their mother what I give up. You tell someone you won’t be cranky for 40 days? They will HOLD YOU TO THAT. Plus, it opens the door to a conversation about doing without and cutting back on trivial things and giving to others – and isn’t that what Lent is all about?
What are you doing without? Share with the group in the comments and you’ll be entered in our prize drawing on March 1.
14 Comments
I’m not Catholic, but work in a Monastery, so I’m sort of Catholic-by-association. So, I guess that means I can sort of give something up for Lent.
I sort of give up Ice Cream for lent, even though I don’t eat it that much, so that should be pretty easy.
I can ask the sisters if giving up Target is a reasonable for Lent. I’m sure that giving the the cranky thing would be great in their book, cuz nuns love everybody.
Except Satan of course.
A couple of years ago I tallied up the average of my magazine purchases during the month and it averaged over $50 a month! Wow, that was way too much of a waste of cold, hard cash. So, now I have 3 that I subscribe to (actually they are gifts to me) and anything else I want to see I either read at the library or borrow from a friend. Same with paperbacks although I did get a Kindle from hubby for Christmas. I also got $160 of Amazon gift cards from friends and relatives so that is keeping me in books for now.
Good luck on the ‘no treat’ spending this week. The first of this year I started keeping a total of what I was spending on daily soft drinks, snacks, etc. Writing it down has helped me be more mindful of either bringing a treat from home or doing without. To reward myself I’ll be using the savings towards a nice new rug for the dining room later this year.
Wow, I have to hand it to you — giving up Target for ALL of Lent?? I think your reasoning and explanations are very admirable, and I’m proud of ya. Maybe you’ll end up being a big inspiration and motivation for all of us Targetaholics.
Well, since I actually work there, I have the excuse of shopping there to support the company I work for. Anyhew, good luck with the Lenten challenge.
Personally, I don’t tell people what I’m doing for Lent and that’s based on one of my favorite passages in the Bible, which is read on Ash Wednesday. Basically it’s about whatever you do, do it in private because you will be repaid by God. “Don’t let the left hand know what the right hand is doing.”
However, if being held accountable by friends and family works for you by announcing it publicly, I say go for it.
@ Georgie – I fully support other people shopping at Target. It is a marvelous organization, they give back to the community better than any other big box store, and their pricing is better than most.
I’m just addicted to them, and I have to break that addiction. Which is my bad, not Target’s.
Also – let’s face it. I’m such a blabbermouth, I couldn’t keep in what I give up for Lent even if I tried. *sigh*
Sweetie, everyone who shops there will say they shop there too much. Somehow they have found the method to keep people coming back – sometimes more than once in a day. I give you kudos for actually staying out of the store for an entire week. And I get why you’re doing it, so good luck!
I am giving up being treated like a second class citizen just because I don’t dress up when I go shopping or obviously have a lot of money to spend. I am especially giving up the rude customer service and employees at Walmart. I’ve decide even if they are cheaper on somethings than Target, I deserve to be greeted with a smile and someone who is willing and knowledgeable to help me. Walmart people just want me to leave them alone. I also like Menard’s They have some good deals and the people working there are much nicer and way more visible than HomeDepot.
I shall press on! And not shop! Because I really do need to start saving money for all the crazy things I have planned for this summer.
Ahhhh, a reason to stay tuned to the Cheap Chick Empire, oh gentle readers. To see what madness will be afoot. *cues the maniacal laughter*
oh Lord (pun intended) I was supposed to give something up for lent? shoot! well, it sure as heck ain’t gonna be Target – I can tell ya that right now!! Have you SEEN their clearance stuff?
Not a Catholic, so not really giving anything up for lent. BUT since I am starting with a new personal trainer this month, I decided to make myself some goal poster to help me be accountable. Made two sets, one for home and one for the office. First small goal: one week without treats. I pigged out on M&Ms last night so I can start today. I also declared, via poaster, that should I make every one of my training sessions (16 over the next 4 weeks) I will purchase all new gym wear. Fingers crossed that this works.
As a former Catholic, I can also confirm that nuns indeed do not like Satan. And while I am sure they do like everyone, Sister Mary Cafeteria (I honestly can’t remember her name after all these years) sure was a very cranky nun. Of course she had bunions, so that might have been it.
I am attempting to give up the cranky for Lent, but my children make this somewhat difficult. And peeing puppies too. Personally, a trip to a tropical locale would go a long ways towards improving my mood, you know?
Otherwise I am not giving up anything for Lent. I am just trying to eat less chocolate, exercise a little and maintain a State of Health. And I still don’t get the Target allure. Its nice and all, but doesn’t suck me in. I mean, really, there isn’t any fabric to buy there at all!
Good for you! But don’t substitute WallyWorld or another place for Target. I will be thinking of you. As for me, having $27 in bank account until payday Thursday is a great incentive to stay away from stores.
I forgot about giving something up for Lent, oops. But I guess I’d also choose abstaining from crankiness. It’s hard sometimes, but a greater effort, if not total squashing out from crankiness, has to count for something.
I think the allure of Target is everything about the store: great customer service/friendly employees, good prices, great selections, and great layouts. Targets just seem an overall pleasant environment where to shop, besides a place in which to save moola, in my humble opinion. Sometimes, yes, more than once a week.
I give props to Cheap Chick, though, for her mission this Lent.
Back when my kids were little and it was difficult to shop between naps, I was able to purchase most everything at Aldi and only hit Target once every few weeks. I’m sure I saved a ton by not walking into that store!
So much for that – back to my bad habbit of walking into Target weekly, but I still do buy everything Aldi has to offer.