Zero Dollars

Today I accomplished something I never thought possible. I walked out of Target without spending a single dollar. . . or cent for that matter.

No Lie!

Here is how it went down . . . I walked in with my list - after one too many Target trips that resulted in me walking out of there with $100 worth of useless nick nackety trinkets I now never walk in there without a list. My list had 5 items on it.

Before I had been in the store 5 minutes I had already loaded my cart with several non list items. This of course is normal and each item had been assessed for 1. entertainment value = check 2. cheapness = check and 3. necessariness = deemed irrelevant see #1 and #2. Then I hit the section of the store where my list items were located. Surprisingly, Target had none of my list items, not one.

So, I started wandering down the kitchen aisle looking for potential new gadgets that I certainly don't need but would assuredly be wicked fun to use every 6 months. Then, so as to not walk out of Target a consumer failure, I started mentally adding to my list. I could for sure use some new shampoo and what about a new CD case for all my picture discs. Ooh and I have been meaning to get new pens, the ones at work are crappy. And then this thought popped into my head "you could just leave, you know".

It took me a minute to process this avant garde concept and while it swirled around in my brain, I took inventory of my cart. . . . a mini globe ($1 and would be so fun at work), airwick refills ($5, on sale, I think I have one of these), pink tie-die croc knock offs ($9.99, pink-croc-knock offs, need i say more), a canvass bag made entirely of recycled materials ($6, dubious claim, i know), and turkey jerkey.

I don't know where the moment of sanity came from but I just stopped my cart in the middle of the aisle and walked right out of the store. I felt so liberated. So, freed from the irresistible siren song of consumerism. I even felt a little bit proud of myself. I realize this seems pretty ridiculous, never the less it is an accomplishment that has always eluded me.

In case you were wondering, I am plagued with guilt right now that I just left a cart full of stuff sitting in an aisle for someone else to have to restock.