"Lent is NOT a behavior modification program."

Old Navy top, Urban Outfitters cardigan, Gap jeans, Dolce Vita loafers, F21 locket

I didn't grow up practicing Lent. It's not something I participated in until probably graduate school. This year I was thinking of doing one of the typical "elimination" doo-hickies during Lent, when I stumbled upon Chuck's post, in which he says (and rightly so), "Lent is not a behavior modification program."

Whoa, boy.

I mean, I knew that. I did. But it hadn't kept me from considering it as such. I've been using Lent as an excuse to try to make myself a better person (by not doing something or another). Oh, sure, I would feign the heightened spirituality amid my elimination practices, but not much will have changed.

This year, I'm still going to "eliminate." But I'm going to consider and plan out what I can do in place of the eliminated practice.

Have I built up enough suspense yet? Yes? Ok, I'll tell you.

This year, I'm giving up clothes (and accessory and shoe) shopping. Shocked? Probably not. But let me take a minute to talk about how I'm going to do it (trust me, it's a challenge) and what I'm going to do instead.

• Unsubscribe from emails. I subscribe to quite a few flash sale sites. (That's where I got these loafers--love them.) It's a great way to save money on clothes and accessories, but also a good way to spend money I don't need to.
• Divert my path. When I walk home from work, I either walk by Banana Republic or Old Navy. (For those of you who know me, you know where my husband works, and where I get discounts.) I'm planning on redirecting my path to not walk by those stores.
• Redirect my money. Sweet! I'll have more expendable income! Well, let's do something with that income, shall we? I'm going to research two places to direct my extra cash: Kiva, a micro-lending site for funding entrepreneurs, and some local charity or cause (I know of lots, just need to narrow it down).
• Increase my savings. I currently have a SmartyPig account to save for a digital SLR, and I contribute a little each paycheck. I want to increase my savings by at least 50 percent to this fund.
• Set aside time to read through one of Chuck's recommended Lent resources.

What else should I do to help me keep my shop fast?

(And apologies for the lack of Music Monday this week. I'll try to be back on it next week.)