Inspired…My Ramadan Challenge

Image courtesty of: http://blogs.bgsu.edu/hkrista/

Everyone has their Ramadan goals, yes?

I have been developing mine for the past weeks. The ones I came up with are:

1. Read the whole Qur’an: I know this is one most people attempt/do and some might think it’s kind of a given but I really want to do it. I want to read a whole translation of the Qur’an so I can really get to the basics of my faith.
2. Make all prayers: Easier said than done with some of them (aka Fajr) but InshAllah.
3. Completely learn all of Salaat: Confession: I don’t know the part you do when you’re sitting down aka the Tashahhud. It’s difficult to learn something in a completely different language but I’ll admit, I should have learned it by now. So when I get to the Masjid on Eid, I’ll be able to recite everything correctly, InshAllah.

So that is what I had planned. However, today I came across this article on WordPress’s Freshly Pressed: no clothes til december. Summary: No buying new clothes until december, wear what you’ve got. I got to thinking, how often I decide I need something and then hate it and leave it in my closet something like that. I still have that horrible pair of jeans that 1) did not fit correctly (I bought them in a hurry) 2) I made a sad attempt at making them fit and now 3) they are completely ruined and sit in my closet as a reminder of $30 wasted. Not fun.

So, I thought, what if I do something like this? I decided to try. At least for Ramadan, which will be hard because Ramadan this year falls during the back to school shopping flurry. One thing I will need to buy though before August 1st is a new skirt. I need something to wear for Eid prayer (you need to look nice) and I think I have my Eid outfit almost figured out, I just need the maxi skirt (don’t act like you haven’t started planning your Eid outfit already. You know you have lol). So that will be my last piece. I desperately wanted a pair of skinny jeans before school starts too (I recently put my favorite pair to rest 😦 ) So that might get put on the exemption list too but besides that (and underwear. As Sarah pointed out underwear is a must), I will not buy nothing, nada, zip. For me: also on my no buying list will go jewelry, scarves and shoes. I have more than enough, even though one can definitely argue that you can never have enough.

Also, after thinking it through, I decided Ramadan will be the end of me buying those $2 coffees at McDonalds, Coffee Bean, Peet’s, Starbucks, etc. No more wasting my cash on my beloved coffees that come in the pretty little paper/plastic cups. If I don’t have a gift card or something of the sort, I will be stuck making it at home. Both Ramadan and Sarah’s post have made me think about reining in that consumerism I had previously talked about. It needs to be done. And that’s that. (Thank you Sarah for the idea!)