I keep a fairly extensive universal wish list on Amazon. Anything I see or think of that I want I add to the list, and then periodically I’ll go through it to see if my desires or needs have changed, and I’ll do some deleting. This process works really well to help me save money and buy less stuff that I don’t need. Plus it’s kind of fun – like online shopping without actually spending money.

But…it’s not exactly like shopping, because I don’t get the stuff. And we’re on a tight budget these days, so lately my wish list has been growing. If we had the funds, here are some things I would be buying right away.

1. Adobe Photoshop Elements. My old copy of PSE isn’t compatible with my new computer, and I’d really love an updated version so I can do different stuff with my photos for Project Life. Right now I’m using pixlr.com as a free online alternative, but the quality is nowhere near as good.

2. New Balance Minimus running shoes. I’ve been running consistently for a month now, and I’m discovering that my body is much different than it was pre-pregnancy. I wouldn’t say I have a lot of pain, but I do notice stiff and creaky joints when I run now, and I never felt that before. I’ve heard amazing things about these shoes, and I’m dying to give them a try. I think I’ll complete C25k, sign up for and run a race, and then reward myself with these.

3. Sheet set. We have one set of sheets that fits our bed, and the fitted has a big tear in the middle of it. I would love to get a pretty set like this, but in reality we’ll probably end up settling for something much cheaper. And in reality reality we will probably just tolerate our torn set for a lot longer.

4. Coffee syrups. We’ve already talked about how addicted to coffee I am. I can’t drink it straight though, I unfortunately need some cream and sugar. I have a serious distaste for manufactured creamers so I usually use milk. I really want to branch out into delicious, flavored syrups to take it up a notch.

5. Timex Weekender watch. I could really stand to wear a watch at work because there are no clocks in the patient rooms (so annoying), but I don’t because the only one I have is a loose fancy silver one. This pink one is casual, fun, and will fit snugly on my arm.

1.. Instax mini. Oh my goodness, this would be so cool to have for Project Life.

2. Essential oils. I’m totally sold on using these for health reasons. They’re expensive, but a little goes a loooong way. I actually have some money set aside right now and am hopefully going to make the purchase sometime next month.

3. Project Life page protectors. I could really use this design of page protectors for my inserts.

4. Scrubs. I’m still wearing the sets that I bought at my higher weight after I had the baby, and they are looking pretty baggy and frumpy. I just hate spending money on scrubs though.

5. Printer. Our printer technically works, but only if someone pushes down very hard on one corner due to some hardware being broken. If you don’t push down it won’t engage. Printing is a two person job and way too annoying to bother with.

So, what’s on your wish list? How do you go about making discretionary purchases? These are all things that would be really useful to me, but not essential. My plan is to focus on one purchase at a time. I’ll put the money for that item in savings (or pull out the cash and hide it away) and keep it there until the beginning of the next month when we get paid again. If we don’t need the money before then, I’ll know we can afford the purchase and I’ll take the plunge. I think it’ll work!