January- No Spending Month-Update: week 2

Just completed week two of no spending month. I must say, I feel liberated. I never thought I would say this but shopping can be exhausting.  Hours of browsing and decision making, hunting for discounts codes to makes sure I get the best deal. And then when it arrives, it might not fit well and you have to go return it. I don't know about everyone else, but every time I buy something, I always hang on to it a little longer before I use or wear it; just in case I change my mind. My husband often gets annoyed with the bags and boxes I leave on the floor because I haven't decided on what I want  to do with them, keep or return? What's annoying is having to keep the receipts. Not to forget, having to find time to make returns, it feels like a chore. See, shopping is exhausting. 

Oh, that brings me to another update. I cancelled my subscription to the Sunday newspaper. Most of the things I need I can find coupons for online. The newspaper sometimes has really high value coupons, but it's just not worth keeping it. And I hate throwing on all these paper every week. Even though we recycle, it's still a process that takes energy and resource.

I bought something

Ok, so January is no spending month, unless it an absolute need. I do consider the following purchases a need.
Reusable produce bags- I've just recently learned about the no waste movement. Although, I feel like this is nearly impossible for me to do. I'm going to do every little bit that I can to waste less. A bit ironic that it's going to take some packaging to get it deliver to me. But on the bright side, I won't be tearing off those plastic produce bags at the store anymore.
Breastmilk storage- I ran out of the storage bags. But instead of buying more plastic ones I bought the reusable ones. I mean, I can always use it for the next baby :)
Toothbrushes- Mine is so old, I don't remember when I bought them and you're suppose to replace them every three months. This is an emergency. Less than $9 for 4? That's an awesome deal and it requires no coupons. I also get to use the $9 cashback from Discover. So that cut the cost a bit. Total was around $31.

Update on my other allowable spendings:
I did say that I'm not going to put a $ limit on the each of my expenditures, but I will keep an update on the amount I'm spending. So far, 1/3 of the way into this month, we've spent $143 on groceries. You can spend a lot of money even at the grocery stores. I did stock up on some sales, and the food I bought is suppose to make quite a few meals for us. I just hope we'll be spending minimally on small stuff to supplement our upcoming meals.

Tips to not get tempted to buy stuff: 
You know how you buy something online and then you get emails everyday from that store with sales they have going on even thought you check off that you don't want any emailed updates or alerts?  This annoys the hell out of me. And a lot of time, I would just click in to see what they have and one thing led to another by seeing something on sale, it makes me feel like I needed it. That unsubscribe button does wonders if you don't want to spend money. But, if it's your favorite store and you do shop there occasionally, just simply deleted as soon as you see that email, out of sight out of mind. So every morning it's delete, delete for me.