Hi, my name is Charlotte...

...and I'm a shopoholic.

In the few years since my husband has been working excessively and taking classes, I have found comfort in shopping.  I like to walk the mall to kill time on the weekends and its not unusual for me to wander around TJ Maxx on my lunch hour instead of eating by myself.  When I'm home alone at night, I'm usually fighting off boredom by browsing online.  I don't spend much at any one time and only buy during sales or with coupons, so I never considered my shopping habit to be much of a problem.  Well, let me tell you something folks.  Spending $30 here and $40 there multiple times a week certainly adds up over time.  Since we are considering starting a family soon (eek), I've decided that now would a good time for me to get control of my spending.

Don't get me wrong, we make decent money and it's ok for me to buy things here and there.  The real problem with my shopping habit is that I buy things that I think are really cute but don't really have any use for or things that are just ok but are on sale so I can't pass them up because they're so cheap.  In the end I've spent money on stuff I love but have no use for or things I don't really like enough to actually use.  So I guess my goal is to spend less by being a more discerning shopper.   

Am I alone in this?  I certainly hope not.

So there you go, blog world.  I am looking to you to hold me accountable.  I will not restrict myself to the point of misery but it is time for me to stop buying things that I don't both love AND have a use for.

That being said, I have done well so far this month and have actually RETURNED a few things I bought during the after Christmas sales.  As a reward, I decided to treat myself to some fun cheap jewelry from Forever 21.  I am trying to branch out when it comes to accessories so I'm starting out with cheap stuff that I won't feel bad for not using much.  I can't really wear much clothing from Forever 21 because I'm 5'8" and their clothes are made for shorter girls (or tall girls that don't mind showing A LOT of skin...) but their accessories are so inexpensive they allow me to try new things without feeling guilty. 

Here's what I ordered:

I thought these were unique and fun with just a little pop of color.  They're the Ancient Disc Earrings and priced at under $2.  I'm hoping to get at least a couple good wears out of them this spring. 

Next up are the Curved Leaf Earrings.  I'm hoping to wear these with a sundress or flowy top when it warms up a little more.

I probably didn't need to get another pair of fun gold earrings, but I really liked these.  They're the Cutout Bollywood Teardrop Earrings and I think these will be more of an evening pair than the leaf ones.

On to necklaces.  This is the Teardrop Bead Necklace.  I typically wear very small and simple necklaces (this is what I've had on for the past few weeks) but I want to try to add a little flair to my wardrobe.  Since I wear a lot of solid colors instead of patterns (man do I sound boring) I'm hoping that some different pieces like this will help.

Last we have the Faceted Bead Necklace.  This was the one item I wasn't completely sure about but I'm currently in love with the color navy and all things nautical so I sprung for it.  At $10.80 it was the most expensive item I bought but I think it will prove to be a quality purchase. 

With shipping and tax, I was out the door at $36.35.  Not bad for 5 items.  I will have to say, it is a bit hard to fathom spending $6.95 for shipping when 4 of my 5 items cost less than that.  Come on F21.  Oh well, shopping online saved me a trip to the mall where I would have inevitably bought stuff from other stores as well.  And of course, no trip to the mall would be complete without spending a little extra on...

No unplanned buys from other stores + no unnecessary snack spending/calorie consumption = a spending win for this week.