Shopping Ban has Ended, Now What?

My year long shopping ban has come to an end, I can't remember the exact date I started it but I was doing it with another blogger and hers has finished so I'm going to say it's over today. To re-cap, these were the items I wasn't allowed to purchase for an entire year:

1. Clothes
2. Shoes except for the exceptions listed above
3. Electronics and appliances 
4. Magazines and books
5. Cosmetics (I still have mascara from my wedding in 2011 so this shouldn't be too difficult)
6. Pretty much anything that's not on the list above
7. Toys Cyril has enough to last him until toys are no longer cool 

How did I do?

Clothes

I think I'd give myself a B or maybe a B+. While I didn't go on any unnecessary shopping sprees for clothes I did buy a jacket when we were in Portugal. The weather was colder then we had expected and I was uncomfortably cold each evening so Josh convinced me to buy a jacket I fell in love with, he said it was my Christmas present but since we share a bank account I took it as a strike against my ban.

In December I found out I was pregnant. I flew home in February with no maternity clothes, because I was still in the first trimester, but the bump soon appeared and my regular clothes became very uncomfortable. I bought a few essentials online that were on sale and I don't regret it, I wear these tops every day and it would have made for a very uncomfortable and unattractive pregnancy without them, can we say exposed muffin top anyone?

Shoes

I didn't purchase any shoes except for the running and light hikers that were on my approved list. Now that the ban is over I really need a pair of dressy sandals and a pair of ballet flats. I don't know if I'll buy these items until my Rainbows pack it in but I've put on a few dresses for nice evenings out and my Rainbows definitely don't cut it.

Electronics and appliances

This was by far the easiest section for me as I'm not a techy person and tried on numerous occasions this past year to convince Josh we no longer need a TV. I was unsuccessful in that attempt but our TV consumption has decreased drastically and Cyril has yet to watch more then 5 minutes of TV which is probably why he's the only child who sits and stares at the guinea pigs in nursery for extended periods of time, most interesting thing the kid has seen!

Magazines and books

No purchases made.

Cosmetics

This is another easy category for me as I rarely wear make-up. However, my Bare Minerals powder ran out in December (I had it for 2 years) so I did need to replace it.

Toys for Cyril

I bought him a toy vacuum at a charity shop last weekend, best purchase of our lives, just wishing the thing actually suctioned because the house would be spotless. I no longer feel guilty if I have to vacuum while he's awake because he just grabs his and follows me around the house. In fact, this week he kept telling me to get my vacuum out, I think I've done the living room 4 times this week, now that's a record!

Next Steps

In summary, it wasn't a bad year and definitely showed me where my triggers are. It also taught me to be a more conscious consumer and our house is pretty clutter free which brings me happiness everyday. I will probably extend my ban but with baby number 2 on the way I have a few essentials that need to be purchased.

As far as our debt is concerned our original goal of having it paid off by November was not met. This goal probably could have been met if our house was finished in December as we had originally planned.  However, our house is still a work in progress so we continue to have extra expenses paying for rent, taxes and utilities on our rental property. Despite all of this I'm happy to say we will officially be debt-free in July, only one small credit card left to pay off and then they're all getting cut up!