Buying habits

Wondering how my trying to buy no books, decorative stuff for the house, or clothes is going?

Um.... um... well... Hmmm.....

Here's the deal:
I have bought much less... but have discovered that buying nothing in those categories is harder than I thought. Take just books as an example. This past week, I bought books for a wedding present (and there's a good reason the present had to be books... honest!). And then, I had to buy books for some course work I'm doing (I've actually been using a Seminary library about a 1/2 hour away, but there were some books that have to be read in the next couple of weeks that have been consistently checked out!).
On top of that, I could find no one who would try this with me. As with anything... going it alone makes the challenge that much harder.
So at this point, I'm still trying to not buy items in that category... unless there is some bigger reason to get them than "it's on sale" or "I'd really like it."

Any takers to try "round 2" with me?