Confession: No Shopping for a Month

Today I lost a bet. A stupid bet. And now, for the month of September, I'm banned from shopping.

Since moving to our new house, my husband and I have been planning to buy a new TV for our living room, as our 4+ year old one is not quite up to par anymore. Of course, that meant that my husband wanted to get an even bigger TV.

TV shopping is one of the few shopping experiences I let my husband handle; to me, they all pretty much look the same, and they're all pretty much way too big. He had picked out a 55" Vizio from Wal-Mart and debated for a few days with our friend Chris whether the box containing the TV would actually fit in our car.

I told them that they were being ridiculous; of course it would fit. I was so sure of the stowing capacity of my car (which has moved me in and out of college dorms, carted bookshelves and Rubbermaid bins, and can fit our dog's crate) that I promised it would fit... and if it didn't, I wouldn't go shopping for a month. So I told him to get a move on and buy the darn TV already.

Today, we went to buy the TV. Man, that box was massive. They let us wheel it out to the car on a heavy duty stock room cart (with which William ran over my toe, breaking my toenail).

It didn't fit.

We had to put the box in an empty parking spot next to us, unpack it, and then load the TV, styrofoam, and flattened box into the car separately... and it still didn't fit. The flattened box was still slightly too long for the car, so I had to go back into Wal-Mart, purchase a package of bungee cords, and then figure out how to hook them onto my car such that they would hold the trunk shut. All while receiving tips, "That happened to us, too!" comments, and weird looks from the other customers in the parking lot. (I hope we don't wind up on People of Wal-Mart.)

Suffice it to say William was quickly claiming bet victory, and now I won't be shopping again for the month.

Luckily for all of you, I managed to squeeze in a trip to Borders, which has entered the final days of its liquidation, before the ban went into effect. I'll be posting that haul soon. For the rest of the month, I'll be posting pre-blog hauls that haven't been documented yet, freebies, deals, tips, confessions, and peeks into my wardrobe, as well as updating the site with recommended TV shows, additions to the book shelf, background on my 3 fellow Fernandes family frugalistas, and other goodies. So don't stop visiting just because I've stopped shopping!

P.S. - Don't tell my husband I said this, but it never hurts to take a break from the spending, anyway. After all, we are trying to be frugal!