I've never been the kinda person who actually sets aside money for things that they want. I either buy stuff when I want it (suffering from severe bouts of buyers remorse afterwards) or I don't buy anything at all. More often than not, I just don't buy anything.

With my money a bit tight, I eliminated the really frivolous spending. Ordering take out, a few beers here and there, making grocery lists instead of blindly purchasing food that I may already have.

So I have been setting aside some of the extra cash that I would have been spending, and over the last few weeks my savings has grown.

Yesterday, I removed a very modest amount from my savings, and went to the fabric shop. As I was having my fabric cut, I got the obligatory "what are you working on?" from the sales associate. I didn't have any projects in mind, I was just building my fabric, and trim stash. So I said "nothing really."

This idea of buying stuff without having any clue as to what I will actually do with it is really out of character for me.

As the fabric was being cut, I waited patiently for the wave of pre-buyers remorse to overcome me. I usually hit a wall during the cutting where I can almost feel myself begin to yell "STOP! WAIT! DON'T CUT THAT! I don't need it." In fact I get this feeling at a check out counter too when shopping for anything. It feels like the point of no return. The fabric will be cut, stuff will be rung up. And there's nothing I can do about it, but reach into my wallet and pay.

It makes me sound terribly cheap, but I can assure you, I'm not. I just really hate consuming for consumption's sake.

A strange thing happened to me though. I waited, and waited for that feeling of guilt as my fabric was being cut. It never came. It also didn't come as my selections were being rung up. In fact, I never felt guilty about my purchasing at all.

Why? Because I saved for it. All my other obligations have been taken care of, so why not spend a little money that I set aside for the purpose of spending. What a novel idea.

I don't know why it never occurred to me before. 

So what did I buy? Not a whole lot (that would be waaaay out of character for me) A snow storm hit Cleveland last night as I was shopping, so I bought some bright, cheerful supplies that really made me happy.

I even bought this tacky mess that I couldn't seem to stop looking at.

And I finally got my embroidery floss organized.

Well, almost organized. I didn't buy enough little cards.