A LIST OF THINGS I BOUGHT

(When I wasn’t supposed to be buying anything) from the 24th of May to the 24th of June.

1. A pale pink linen boyfriend shirt from Gap
2. A pair of floral espadrilles from Zara
3. A bottle of perfume from Jo Malone
4. A headband from Zara
5. Two books
6. A pair of socks from Pull & Bear

So as you can see, I wasn’t actually that successful in buying myself NOTHING at all for one month.

I feel really frustrated at myself as well as disappointed – I mean, how hard can it be, to not buy anything for one month???

In my defense (here goes the excuses for WHY I bought the aforementioned material goods), much as I had been avoiding malls like the absolute plague, I ended up taking a shortcut through one in Barcelona on the way back to my hotel. No surprise that there was a huge Zara, being a Spanish brand and all. It’s a well known fact that Zara, Pull & Bear, Stradivarius etc are all cheaper in Spain since it’s their home country, so when in Rome and all that, I HAD to look! I swore I was just looking but of course, it was only a matter of mere minutes when I gave into temptation and succumbed to Zara’s spring/summer collection. I bought the hairband, the shoes and the socks all on the same day. I had kept on envisioning the socks with my Old Skool Vans – they’re black fishnet ones by the way. And I could just see myself sitting on a pretty beach, giant sunglasses on and an Aperol Spritz in my hand, wearing the hairband.  (FYI, I haven’t worn the headband or the socks – yet. I’ve since realised it’s hot enough on a beach in Dubai without an oversized hairband acting much in the way a winter hat might – ie. making you overheat. Well done, Pam. So clever!)

My next moment of weakness came at the airport, before boarding the plane to Singapore for a last minute trip. (of course it was last minute – would it have been anything else?) Killing time in an airport is dangerous for many reasons. It’s as dangerous for my waistline as it is for my bank account. Trying to amuse myself, I ended up buying two books. Telling myself that books are not only educational and will make me appear more interesting as a person, I also reasoned that it was okay to buy myself a couple. But what is a book without a hot drink?

One flat white and ‘skinny’ (who the hell are Starbucks fooling!?) carrot muffin later, I turned around, ready to stroll to the gate, when I found myself confronted by the Jo Malone counter. Now, anyone who knows me well, will tell you I am a Jo Malone freak. Causally sniffing some scents and having a sly little spray of my favourite one, with zero intention to buy may I add, I glimpsed a sign, “RAMADAN KAREEM! 20% OFF”. Nice one! But I still wasn’t tempted, UNTIL, I came across their cologne intense range, which now comes in SMALL BOTTLES! To a non Jo fan, this will mean nothing to you, but for the longest time, I’ve stalled in buying their cologne intense ranges because it only comes in a supersize bottle which is not only expensive, but very impractical for a person who travels as much as I do. Coming in a handy size and a fraction of the price (thanks to the 20% off promotion) and there was no other way…! I couldn’t leave it, I had to get it!! The promotion was only on for a few more days and I would miss out! I wouldn’t be passing back through the Jo Malone part of the airport again before the end of Ramadan. Oh my God, ten minutes to get to the gate… I was sold!

As for the pink shirt, I’d seen it in Gap a few months ago and tried it on repeatedly. The last time I was in Gap, they didn’t have my size anymore. My mum sent me a screenshot saying the shirt was back in stock online and that Gap were doing a 30% off promotion, and that she could order it for me if I liked while she was online. It was all too easy!!! And even though I agreed quite happily, I felt really guilty afterwards. I still don’t have the shirt yet, I’ll pick it up the next time I’m at home, and I know I’ll love it (because it’s going to match perfectly with the shoes from Zara and a pair of denim shorts – I’ve already envisioned it in my mind) but it feels a little bit tainted.

So there you have it. The story of how I tried to not buy anything and failed miserably. It’s okay though, God loves a trier, and I’m going to try again next month.  I managed to go away on two different trips  this month out-with work, and I know that that was only possible because I had extra money left from not buying lots of crap like I usually do. I’m hoping that maybe if I keep on trying, I’ll manage to squish in a third trip each month!

I’ll keep you updated on how the buying less thing goes. Let’s see if I can drop the list to even less things for the month of July.