The shopping syndrome.

I admit it: I love to shop. This behavior is so unhealthy for so many reasons (I don't need to list them here) and I've been working hard at curbing it. However, it still happens (baby steps!) and I have developed some shopping "rules" to keep me in line when I do find myself in a store. One of them is if I can't think of where it would go in my house, what specific activity it would be used for, or what item it would replace, I can't buy it. This simple rule has actually helped me a lot -- and I have a good friend who often shops with me and we make each other follow it (most of the time).

There are days when I don't listen to my own wisdom, though, and come home with things like this:


I heart this. The colors, the design, the material (I love felt), even the price (cheap). But does it have a function? Nope. It's too nice to be a trashcan. It's too soft to store things (they bend it out of shape). It's just not useful (to me). But I love it! And I went against everything I knew I should do and bought it anyway. Now it's been at my house too long to return and has sat in a pile of stuff being nothing but a nuisance. When I think about giving it away or selling it I just can't do it.

What do I do now? Have you guys fallen into this trap?