Destroying a jewellery obsession, part 2

It was strangely well over a year ago that I wrote about destroying a jewellery obsession, and I have to admit that it does keep coming back in really terrible urges. I’m not sure how long I am holding off exactly, but for the past two years I have tried to stop buying so much jewellery.

As I mentioned in my original post, I got really sucked in by sales and cheap jewellery that didn’t go the distance. It still gets difficult.

The challenge to stop

I can safely say that I haven’t bought any new jewellery since September, with the exception of a few Pandora charms on our trip to Melbourne in January. In September I decided to unsubscribe from any subscription boxes I had, and to stop going to jewellery stores and being drawn to the shiny. I told myself I wouldn’t buy anything until going to Melbourne – just for a little challenge. When I got a Pandora bracelet for Christmas I wanted to buy a few more beads for it but I made myself wait until going to Melbourne.

Since then I have not bought anything else! It gets really tempting looking at pretty jewellery and just wanting all of it. There are some email newsletters I still subscribe to that tell me about jewellery sales, but I try to delete them before I get a chance to look at them properly.

Out with the old.

About a year ago I gathered all my old, unloved jewellery that I had not worn in a while and found someone who wanted to buy the lot for $25. It wasn’t so much about the money, but selling it directly to someone made me feel better than just giving it to the local charity store. As the year progressed and I became more desperate to get rid of cheap plastic and metal jewellery, I donated them to a charity store down the road instead.

I was able to get rid of a handful of jewellery bags and boxes that rarely saw the light of day, trying to fit everything into one box. Because I like to individually bag most of my earrings before putting them in my jewellery box, it takes up more space. I had to live with two jewellery boxes instead (one big and one small).

I still think I have a bit too much jewellery, and there are earrings I have that don’t get much wear. Because I have three piercings in each ear, I find it hard to mix and match earrings. It makes my ears look a mess if I wear earrings that are too big. I don’t have enough small ones.

Continuing to resist

I am not lying when I say it’s hard. I still find myself walking into jewellery stores and peering at all the shiny things, looking for inspiration and pieces that might be ‘my style’. I spot a lot of things but I know I’ll just keep burning holes in my wallet if I keep spending. I can’t help it because all of it is just so pretty. It’s just costume jewellery quality too, so it’s not like it’s precious metal.

I said to Nick that I wanted some new rings to ‘keep my fingers happy’, but he said to me that they wouldn’t be happy for long. Yes… yes it’s true.

At present, I am trying not to buy any jewellery until our trip to Europe. I am not planning to buy any jewellery there, either.

At the same time I feel like all this resistance is going to bite me in the neck later when I give in and buy everything I have been resisting… but let’s see how I go.