You might recall my post about discovering the wonders of online shopping. Well, it’s cost me quite dearly. On top of the GST I had to pay because my order was above $400, I had to make alterations to every piece since I’d ordered the wrong sizes and I’m very particular about fit.

I hope this serves as a warning for those who find themselves unconsciously clicking “Add to Shopping Bag” – you might find yourself utterly broke by the middle of the month, and I don’t mean a I’ve-got-enough-to-survive-a-few-weeks kind of broke, I mean a I’ve-got-$6-left-in-my-bank-account kind of broke.

It doesn’t help that most of my friends are quite frugal – I always get looks of disapproval when they hear I’ve bought a new skirt or a new dress, or from my colleague Lili when I send her a link to a cute vintage dress on Etsy.com.

I know I’m not up to Rebecca Bloomwood (the protagonist in the Confessions of a Shopaholic books) standards yet, but I definitely have a problem. So finally, after my shopping binge this month, I’ve decided to tackle my “addiction” head-on.

Since Lili can’t seem to put aside money every month – ironic, since with my nasty shopping habit, I’ve still managed to squirrel away some savings – we came to an agreement. I will not buy any item of clothing from now until the end of May while she will put aside a stipulated amount of her salary every month until May.

There is a loophole here. I’m only banned from buying clothes, so I’ll probably be spending on  books, magazines and weird knick-knacks, but how much could these possibly amount to, right?

And there’s online shopping,  but Lili doesn’t need to worry about me cheating – after this experience, I’m off it for a while.

For the most part, I’m actually relieved about this shopping ban. With clothes out of the picture, I might have cash left over to get stuff I’ve been wanting to get for a while now.

I could get an iPhone (I’m one of three people left in Singapore who hasn’t got one), a new bag (I’m currently using one of those recyclable ones), new shoes (what? I need something to spruce up my old clothes) or go on a holiday (I haven’t been on an overseas holiday since I was 10). Gasp, I might even have enough money to go out with my friends more often.

Wait, I just counted the number of days until May ends. 78 days?! Wish me luck!