This blog is becoming all consumption, all the time, huh? I’m running with a theme, so I hope that my two (maybe three) readers will bear with me.

It’s hot in Seattle today. It’s NYC hot. It’s Chicago hot. It’s so-not-the-Pacific-Northwest hot. My wardrobe is not equipped for this hot. Neither is our apartment. Or our willingness to cook at home. Or even toss a salad at home, at this point.

Before Jon and I leave the house to consume foods made in some nice, air conditioned restaurant, and before I go look for accessories that will make this weather more bearable, I’ll leave you with my clever thoughts on shopping as I was driving home.

The common advice to going grocery shopping is to make a list, and never go grocery shopping hungry. This will avoid buying crap food, and make sure you stick to a budget, and stick to those things you really need, and are really healthy for you. My old grocery shopping style was “go in, see what looks good.” That ended with me consuming a lot of horrible prep-foods, spending lots of cash, and eating poorly. I’ve gotten better at that, and life is pretty good now.

My clothes/accesories/stuff shopping style is very much the “go in, see what looks good.” I’ve gotten better at not impulse buying, but my decision making process could use some fine tuning. It occured to me today that maybe I should make a shopping list for all this other stuff I consume.

Example:

eyeshadow (two colors, pink and purple, not to shiney)
lip color (medium tone, brown base)
skirt (black, A line or similar, conservative style, medium length)
shampoo (color conserving, no horrific scent)
3 work shirts (short sleeved, buttons optional, easy laundering ,fun colors)
cropped pants (black and khaki, business wear)
sunscreen

Budget for all these things: $175

Now that’s not a real list, but it’s what I’m proposing to myself for my next round of shop-o-rama. Instead of hoping that I can get what I want for a low price, and accepting the price I pay for whatever I choose, going in with a budget and a mission, and not buying what’s not on the list.

And NOT going shopping when I’m trying to just satiate an emotional need.

So with that, as I sweat through my clothing … I’m going to eat and shop.

Keep cool out there!