First violation of New Year's Resolution

I made a strange-ish New Year's Resolution this year: I won't spend money on anything I don't need. The thing is, defining "need" is a difficult task. I need food, but do I *need* to order out for dinner? No. I need to socialize from time to time, but do I *need* to go to the movies? (OMG I REALLY WANT TO GO TO THE MOVIES!) If that's what friends are doing and I have got to get out of the house, maybe? I need to file all of my bills and paperwork and so on in order to stay organized, but do I *need* a gorgeous $400 4-drawer console filing cabinet that would go really well in the space next to my desk? Obviously not. Do I *need* to buy DVDs or books? No. I can get both of those at the public library. Do I *need* those fabulous shoes? ...maybe? (Sigh, no, not really.) eta: Don't need Starbuck's or the equivalent either--I can brew my own coffee at home. That means buying beans, but it's way cheaper in the long run than a $3+ cup of whatever several times a week (thanks for the reminder, isiscolo).

The plan is to put aside any money I would have spent on the things I think I might have bought if the resolution weren't in place (even random impulse buys like a Burt's Bees lipbalm at the checkout counter), and see what the "crap I don't need" total is at the end of the year. I've made it til today without buying any DVDs, books, magazines, shoes, pieces of furniture--anything I'd consider a want and not a need--but I broke down today and bought two really nice bookmarks (one woven, one pewter), and one clamshell 24-DVD container. The bookmarks are for me; the clamshell is for a friend. I'm burning all seven seasons of Buffy for her as an engagement present, and I thought it would be nice to put them all together in a container and wrap it. Now, was that necessary? Not entirely--but it was cheap, and nicer than giving them to her in paper sleeves.

I'm pretty sure this counts as "not necessary", and I'm using the "it was cheap!" as a hand-wavey excuse. Of course "it was cheap!" is how we nickel-and-dime ourselves into zero savings at the end of the year.

So - what do you guys think? Is this officially a violation of the NYR? Where would you draw the line on "need" when it comes to things like going to the movies, restaurants, buying books and DVDs, etc.? And what about things like gifts for others? Is "socially expected" the equivalent of "need"?

News on some ABC programs

ABC Press Release:

Today ABC Entertainment announced renewals for nine of its most popular shows, returning broadcast television's most successful fall series. ABC Entertainment ordered episodes of "Brothers & Sisters," "Desperate Housewives," "Dirty Sexy Money," "Grey's Anatomy," "Lost," "Private Practice," "Pushing Daisies," "Samantha Who?" and "Ugly Betty."

In other news, "Heroes" is done for the season; they start filming for fall in April. And in SHOCKING news, the CW has canceled "WWE Smackdown". Alas.