What Giving Up Shopping for Lent Taught Me

I have to say this one was tough!

Before lent started, I wanted to give up something outside of the ordinary. Most people give up sweets, alcohol, junk food, etc so I wanted to do the unthinkable.....give up shopping! Now, I don't shop that much but every little penny counts. A week into lent, I did buy something by accident but immediately asked for forgiveness and promised to not shop again. As hard as it was, I'm glad I did it because I learned 3 things:

1) You don't have to buy everything you see - During this time, all I could do was window shop. So one time my friend had to go to Forever 21 and they had a sale on jewelry. Now, I am an accessories whore and who doesn’t like to pass up on a bargain! I have a lot of necklaces and earrings so I soon realized, do I really need it? No!

2) Saving, Saving, Saving - Not buying that dress for $79.90 at Zara or those pants at H&M for $39.95 has saved me a lot of money. You'd be surprised by how far an extra $100+ dollars looks in your account. I was able to put the money towards lowering some of my credit cards and increase my current savings.

  

3) Shows discipline - Above all, this taught me you can do anything you put your mind to. Jesus sacrificed his life for us so giving up something shouldn't be that hard. I continued to remind myself that every day you make it is a sure sign that you can do anything if you try and remain focused.