Purchasing with a purpose - only buying things that I know that I am going to use (a re-use)

At the end of last year I started setting up a plan to not spend so much money and accumulate so much stuff. I have SO MUCH paper that I really shouldn't be buying more. Occasionally there are really good deals and sometimes I can see the potential for an individual project and other times they are just so pretty that I think I will eventually find the perfect use for them. 

The problem with just being pretty is that I have so many pretty papers but I actually rarely use them. No more of that - I am only buying paper pads if I am going to use them and I have set up a challenge to myself to only get paper pads that I will be using in the immediate future. The pad you see below is one of those paper pads that I bought with the idea of creating something. 

Since my word of the year 2025 is magic. It is like this paper pad was a sign. I ended up using some of the papers to create my word of the year cutout (see post from January 24, 2025) and then thought of a simple yet pretty card to create with some other sheets from the pack. 

The paper pack was actually on clearance at Michaels and was part of their special edition collections. I used my cricut to cut the text for the front of the card. I cut the word "hello" in two different colors to create some depth by layering the two cuts. The paper cut so clean (I used the heavy cardstock setting)  that I am already trying to think of other ways to use the paper pad.

Do you have a large paper collection too? I am thinking of starting a challenge to start working through older paper pads - would you be interested in working through the challenge together?