How to avoid spending money

Yesterday, I had some returns to make. They were things that I had purchased and decided I really didn't need. Like the AE tank I talked about in a previous post and some underwear from Victoria's Secret that I had bought a looooooong time ago and had just been sitting in my closet. You might want to know how this relates to not spending money. Bear with me, I'm getting to that.

The return to AE was quick and painless. I did have to stand in line for a while but since there weren't any banners around me telling me how cheap clothes were, I didn't have a problem not stopping and looking around. It also helped that I was on my way to a babysitting job and didn't have much time to begin with.

But then I walked over to Victoria's Secret, and with horror realized that I was about to walk into their semi-annual sale. The very same event where I purchased the undies that I was about to return.

For those of you who don't know me well, I LOVE Victoria's Secret underwear. Especially their Pink line. And my friend has been raving about her Vicki's bra and it makes me want one. I've also read that Ipex bras are the shit. And I need new bras. So you might understand why going into the store was such a problem.

I stood outside and wondered to myself, "How in the world am I going to make it in and out of this place without at least one new pair of underwear in my hot little hands?" I took a deep breath and plunged in. I pretty much ran to the back of the store to get in line by the registers. But I did make it out without buying anything, and I am quite proud of myself. Even thought I had to run through the store to keep myself from spending.

So, you may be asking yourself, how do I avoid spending money? Well, this is my advice to you:

Stay out of the store!

If there is nothing in the store that you need to live or if it's a store where you will be really tempted to spend the money you don't have, don't go in. It sounds simple, but I honestly had never thought of it that way until I walked out of Vicki's bag free. I was a little sad as I was walking back to my car because that means, more or less, no more mindless wandering around the mall.

But then I realized that I really don't go to the mall anymore unless there is a reason to. Either I need something or someone else needs something. So either way, I'm on a mission and that helps me to keep my money where it belongs, in my wallet.