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The Urge to Buy

I've been fighting the urge to buy for the past few days. I've found myself searching online for the following:
  • A dishwasher. We have one, but it's old, noisy and unreliable, so I've been doing them by hand ever since we moved in. Until my daughter was born, that worked fine. Now, though, I feel like I just finish them, and within hours it needs to be done again. As I stood in the kitchen this morning looking at the dishes that have accumulated, I found myself thinking, "Boy, it sure would be nice if the dishwasher worked."
  • A free-standing pantry. My kitchen is small and my cupboards are full. Therefore, I have a few appliances, such as a bread maker, that are stored on the countertop. I don't know that we have enough items to put in an extra pantry to justify the expense, but it sure would be nice to have some more counter space.
  • Birthday and Christmas gifts. Five or six years ago, I would be out with other last-minute shoppers on Dec. 24. Over the past few years, though, I've started looking for gift ideas -- both for birthdays and the holidays -- months in advance, looking for on sale items that I can stash away until gift-giving time arrives. I'll give my last "in stock" gift this month, so I'm due for another round of buying. The problem is, I keep coming across other things I personally want and think, "Well, since I'm buying anyway ... ." Therefore, I fight the urge to buy altogether. I have to wait until the urge to get the extra stuff passes.
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