Target can still tempt my greedy nature

I went to Target yesterday, I still love that place. I totally broke my solemn vow not to buy non-necessary items and I bought a brand spanking new laundry basket. I'm telling you, this basket is such a cheerful shade of bright pink that I felt like I was buying a totally taboo home decor item. I spent $7.99 on it and I don't regret it at all!!! My new washer and dryer are super short (Mia thinks they were made for her so she shoves all her toys in them) and they show off half the wall with the water hoses coming out of it that I thought it needed something to perk it up. I can put the basket on top of the dryer and load my clean clothes in it instead of just carrying them to the couch, they will be contained in a bright basket of joy! I feel so giddy, it's just exciting!!!!! So as I was browsing through the temple of home decor gluttony I came up with a short list of the things that I would like to buy with my garage sale money.
1: Plane ticket to CA to visit my homies (1/2 of that will come from my birthday money)
2: Iced tea pitcher thingy with a spigot (don't need it but it's sooooo cute!)
3: Wii Fit
4: Super cute lanterns for the backyard
5: Super cute fancy decorations for the backyard
6: New bedding for my bed (ours has been puked on so many times it must be time for a new one after 7 years!)
7: Awesome laundry sorter/hanging clothes dryer
8: Coolio ironing board hanger/iron organizer
9: Towels that actually MATCH!
10: Cool awning thing for over the hot tub
11: Net-o lounge chair for sunning myself while I'm recovering from my foot surgery
12: cute garden decor items
13: Adorable play house for the kids to play outside
14: Swimming pool (Greg said "NO WAY")
15: Super cute plastic dishes (perfect for outdoor entertaining)
16: New BBQ (that's Greg's list, but it's MY sale)
This is just a small list of the things I saw in Target yesterday that I thought it would be so fun to get if I were a free spending foolish woman. My list is always changing and I'm sure that I won't be making that much money, but it's good to have a goal of greedy wants. This is why I'm giving half the proceeds to Sharon, at least I know half of the money won't be wasted. Plus, I have to give the kids some of the money since it's mostly their stuff that I'm selling off. I think our final decision will be a play house for the kids to use, but we'll have to build it so it's big enough for them to use as a cool kid hangout as they grow.

Oh well, I would rather do without these items and have credit cards that are being paid off than have them and stress about how we're going to pay off our debts. In this economy we're so lucky that we can survive comfortably on one salary that it really makes me appreciate the things we already have and not focus so much on what we don't. When I go to Target I get overloaded with the items I want, but I quickly forget about them in between trips and don't even dwell on it like I used to! This experiment is getting easier in some ways, but it's getting harder to fight the complacency that takes over and I find that I sometimes overspend on the groceries when I don't need to. OK, so it's not as fun and new and funny as it was in the beginning, but it still reminds me every day of how wasteful we were before we started. I hope you all have good fortune in this economy and find ways to make your lives easier every day. When things start to look dreary if you just make an effort to point out the good things you'll find yourself believing that everything will be find in the end. Life is crazy and scary, but you'll be stronger and wiser from having to deal with the poop.

Happy Easter!

xoxo