STYLETHREAD -- LET'S TALK SHOP!

this may not be extreme for some of you but it is for me.  heres the deal: we are living in a tiny apt temporarily in an expensive city on one salary with two kids and my hubby and i both need a total wardrobe overhaul for various reasons.  so we have been trying to buy a little at a time, before we go overseas again in 3 months and won't have access to american shopping (except online, which is better than nothing but really sort of a pita when that's all there is imo).  the problem is that although we have no debt, we are having to dip into our savings at times to pay our cc in full.  so, we are trying to come up with ways to cut our expenses so we can buy the clothing, shoes, and accessories that we both need (hubby is a diplomat and we will both be going out a lot and need to look polished while living overseas) w/o having to dip into our savings.

so, i decided (hubby doesn't care so it was mainly my decision) to discontinue our cable starting april 1st.  i think it will be hard but i think i can do it.  btw this means absolutely no tv for us b/c we don't have rabbit ears and actually i don't think they even work anymore anyway.  so we will not be able to watch any tv in our apt except for dvds and downloads from itunes etc.

i think it will work though b/c in the mornings i already don't watch tv b/c i am in a hurry on school days and on other days my kids watch their dvds.  so i'm okay there.  during prime time tv nights, my hubby and i usually download/netflix a bunch of stuff and will watch whatever hubby has lined up for us (right now we're watching episodes of lost every night, for example).

the only times i watch tv are when i am cooking dinner, but most of the time i can't hear it anyway b/c the vent is on, or if hubby is working late and i'm by myself i'll watch it, but i can just as easily get on the internet, do a yoga dvd, or read a magazine and be entertained.  also, while i am cooking we plan to just turn on the ipod and listen to music, which we do most of the time already.

so i am thinking that b/c i still have the internet and can still watch tv at the gym while doing cardio that this would be tolerable and will give me more time to focus on other things, like reading and getting my children's baby books in order, etc.

this cutback will save us $60/month and hopefully will, along with other cutbacks (i.e. not going out to dinner as often), allow us a little more breathing room to shop!  so wish me luck!