Running the Numbers

This morning I recorded the last 2011 doll inventory worksheet entry. I was startled when I reached line 101. Did I really purchase 100 dolls in 2011?  (The first line contains the column headings.) 

Snapshot of Excel 2011 doll inventory worksheet

I filtered the worksheet columns to determine how many gift entries the worksheet includes and discovered a combination of 19 dolls received as gifts or purchased as gifts.  That leaves a sum total of  81 dolls I purchased for myself -- too many to add to an already burgeoning doll population.

Midway into 2011, I stopped recording dolls purchased as gifts, so I know the gift total is not accurate.  The total of dolls purchased for myself may be also be slightly off, but not in my favor.  I may have forgotten to record a purchase or two.

I felt slightly better after comparing this year's total with the staggering 141 and 144 totals from 2010 and 2009, respectively.  In my defense, some entries for the three consecutive years are for paper dolls, which do not require much space, and in 2011 I did begin to downsize my collection. Through eBay and doll lay aways, I found new homes for 42 dolls.

In 2012 and the years to follow, I resolve to do better by enjoying what I have and downsizing even more.  It's a must!

dbg

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This is it! My Last Online Doll Purchase! I Quit...

...for 2010, that is. But! I resolve in 2011 to be more discerning about my doll purchases.  I will think them over first without allowing my emotions to determine the dolls I buy. The days of thinking, "I've got to have it. She's so cute. I need this one, too. I can't pass up on this price.  She will display well with..." etc. are (need to be) over.  I mean it (this time). 

I resolve to use a "cooling off" or "think it over" period before making the final decision to buy another doll.  I will not conduct spur-of-the-moment-I'm-bored eBay doll searches.  I have already removed several saved eBay searches, as eBay is my main doll buying source, and I will continue to gradually wean myself from it.    

I will do this.  I need to do this.  I am running out of room. 

This, I know, is easier said than done, but I'm determined to curtail my spending.

My last online doll purchase included these four AA Kelly Club dolls, from L-R:  Dress-Up Deidre, Holiday Angel Deidre, Lemonade Stand Tamika, Deidre (dressed as a Barnum's Animals Crackers lion).

Let's use the featured dolls as an example of past emotional purchases. I had no intentions, whatsoever, to buy additional Kelly dolls. I do not even collect them (well, I do own a few, but to actively seek them out has not been part of my doll-collecting modus operandi.  But, I was enabled.  Actually, I enabled myself. 

After owning Kwanzaa Keeya for umpteen years, I got the bright idea to remove her from her box to photograph along with Festivals of the World Kwanzaa Barbie.  Doing this led to the discovery of the  Kelly Club poster enclosed in Kwanzaa Keeya's box, which illustrates several AA Kellys manufactured up to 1999.  These dolls were previously unknown to me.  I immediately went to eBay to search for one of the (I need this one) dolls on the poster, Lemonade Stand Tamika (LST).

In addition to finding LST, the same seller offered the other featured dolls.  How could I not purchase them all and save on shipping, too?  (I asked.)

Going forward, I am going to utilize and further develop my "think it over first" skills to determine whether or not I really need to purchase another doll.  I am also going to limit my eBay visits as well.  Seriously, I am.  I will.  I must. 


dbg

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