Swap Meet and the end of my 40 Day Fast

Hey Everyone! Welp, I survived my 40 day shopping fast, and all in all I did pretty good. I did buy a couple of cotton tank tops that I took on vacation, but that was at about day 35 so I figured I was pretty close :) My tanks from last summer were nowhere to be found and I knew I'd need something cool to wear in the 90 + degree tems in Florida.

Now that the Fast is over, I feel more educated and aware of the hold shopping had on my life. Instead of spending my free time shopping, I was able to get a lot of things accomplished this past month that I had been putting off. I also learned to appreciate the clothes and belongings I have on an entirely different level. I made new outfits from old tops and bottoms that I had never thought would go together before. I seriously feel like.......responsible or something. (Gasp!). I know that my husband is proud of me, and that really counts for a lot in my book. He even said the other night "Why don't you treat yourself to some shopping since you haven't bought anything in awhile?" I told him that I didn't need to. I have everything I need right now :)

That was my entire point with the Shopping Fast. I wanted to remind myself that shopping should be on a "needs only" basis, not just for "whenever I want." I'm going to continue to limit my spending, and also continue to give only handmade or secondhand gifts to others whenever feasable.

During my Shopping Fast, I hosted a Swap Meet where some friends came over with clothes and books that they were tired of. We borrowed and gave until pretty much everything was gone! Some things we will return to each other after awhile, and other things we just gave away for keeps. Cool huh? Here are a couple pics from the event.

We went around and held up our belongings so everyone could get a good look at each stash o goodies. We had to bring in extra tables and chairs because of all the stuff!!

Check out all those goodies on my bed!! Thank you to everyone who participated!

Two of the beautiful swappers :) Good job ladies. We had a great turnout!

The idea behind the swap party was so that women could experience having something new without having to shell out any cash. We are all family in God's house, so why not share with each other?

Check out this video I found of professional Swap-a-holics :)

These women are from a website called Swap.com and it's basically an entire network dedicated to Swapping. Wouldn't it be cool to do something like this at the Osage Center or somewhere here in town? What do you guys think?

I will keep you updated on when the next Swap Meet will be held. I'm already planning one for the Fall so we can all get geared up for the new school year :)