Six Things I am Allowed to Buy

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Once I conceived this big plan for house-selling, stuff-storing and world-traveling, two things became clear. First: this is going to be expensive, and second: I have a lot of stuff. Therefore, I've instituted a rule that for the next year I'm only allowed to spend money on the following things:

1. Consumables - food (groceries and restaurant meals), gas for the car, toiletries, running shoes (Non-runners may not understand that this belongs in "consumables", but runners will agree right away.), gels, Bodyglide, beer...
2. Immediate but unforeseen needs - perhaps the water heater gives out, or the car needs new struts (ok, that's actually a foreseen need since I've been warned about it already, but you get the idea)
3. Gifts for other people
4. Items that do not occupy physical space (movie tickets, DVD rentals, race registrations, hockey fees, iTunes downloads, massages, etc... this is a gratifyingly open category)
5. Items related to fixing up the house for sale.
6. Items directly related to the trip - gear, clothing, travel agency fees, tickets, guide books, laser eye surgery (Ok, this is a stretch, but the trip was my motivation for taking the plunge.)

Note: mortgage, property taxes, utilities, home and car insurance, investments, etc.. are not included in the ban. I'm really talking about discretionary spending here. And about not accumulating more stuff that will just have to be stored, sold, given away or abandoned.

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