Spending update

Ok, we are half-way through the new credit card cycle, and so far so...fine.

I've made a couple purchases, including a closet organizer for about $40 (which I desperately needed), a plane ticket for $200, some groceries and miscellaneous items, a piece of jewelry from ebay for $18 (I had to use up the rest of my ebay bucks), and...here's the "fine" part....a ring from QVC for $99. And I was doing so well.

Under the guidance of To Shop or Not to Shop and Your Money or Your Life, I spent weeks (WEEKS!) convincing myself that all extraneous purchases were bad and would only lead to more extraneous purchases. This, sadly, is completely true. Even the process of cleaning out my jewelry box and closet of things I don't absolutely love led to less want. However, I made this purchase under a loophole. I had been pining for this ring for months, and while it has not been reduced in price at all, it is now available again in my size. It was grandfathered in, basically.

Now, the question is, will this be my undoing? Will this ring tip the balance I had so tediously maintained for the past 2 weeks? This is difficult for me, because an all-out moratorium on all "fun" spending doesn't seem sustainable, but is this ring WORTH it for me to break my streak? Until now, the answer had always been "no", but now, no matter how many times I reconsider this purchase, I just can't say no.

I should say that, despite this purchase, I'm still doing much, MUCH better than I've done in a long time, and that's cause for a little pat on the back.