No New Clothes in 2011 Challenge: Whew, that was close!

By Wendy Mihm | Wednesday June 22, 2011

Halfway, baby!!  Halfway.

I almost cracked and gave in again, just a little over a month after my last slip-up, which happened right before Mother’s Day.

Here’s how it went down… 

I was doing some routine shopping at Target, but was not at my usual Target location.  I had to drop off a load of stuff at Goodwill, so I was in another part of town.  Maybe it was the different store layout that made the whole experience seem more exciting than my usual semi-weekly Target trip, and therefore much more tempting…

I made an unusual detour into the women’s clothing section and found a neatly-merchandised stack of cap-sleeved t-shirts with what appeared to be ink-stamped polka dots in faded colors.  One was off-white with pale green polka dots that I thought looked fun and summery.

I picked up the shirt.  The cut looked flattering. The cap sleeves were definitely cute. $10.00.  Hmmm.  A tad pricey for Target, but decent for such a pretty summer top… and the fabric seemed to be a nice quality too.

The next thing I knew, I was holding that sweet little summer number up to my chest to see how it might fit.  Not bad. I thought about my “No New Clothes” challenge and how well I’d done so far.  “What’s one little $10 t-shirt? I deserve a reward for doing so well for 6 months!” I rationalized.

Sooner than you can say “Pathetic Excuse” that thing was in my cart, and I was off to the grocery section.

As my shopping list got checked off, I began to feel more and more lame.  And the shirt began to look less and less cute.

I must have picked that thing up no fewer than eleven times between the bananas and the toddler toothpaste.

And by the time I reached the checkout line, I felt so guilty about that $10 t-shirt that I practically thrust it at the poor, confused woman at the register and said “Here!  I definitely don’t need this!”

Halfway, baby.  Halfway.

Like what you've read? We pack some of our best insider know-how and savviest strategies into our free weekly emails.
Subscribe today and let us help you live a healthy, happy financial life.