this month, i made a mental goal to buy only fresh groceries (produce,milk, etc.) and i did NOT succeed with this. perhaps in june, i really do need to put a dollar amount in an envelope and actually challenge myself. honestly, i think my dislike of entertainment (non-thrift store) shopping has a disadvantage. i think i make up for it with food shopping. we are at the start of the summer (pre-garden surplus) and my freezers (yes, plural) are full. uh huh. perhaps i need a lower june limit, as well.
really, the biggest wake-up call is that i have finally been updating my price list (excel spreadsheet with items, prices, and price per unit of foods/items we buy regularly) to reflect our current buying habits (more eco friendly items, more organics). oh my goodness. prices have changed a lot, even on items i am not buying any differently. (if anyone wants a copy of this, let me know.)
additionally, i realized that, while we are doing quite well with our goal of not buying new, there is a lot of room for improvement on the following: 1) buying from local vendors (buying home repair materials from the big box store is phenomenally less expensive and they more often have the specific parts we need in a timely manner. 2) packaging. so much of what we buy has packaging. after watching the story of stuff, i felt even more inspired to reduce more, but i am guilty of having limits. for example, while i think we are better than the average american, i do like to shop at costco. although bulk, costco products have way more packaging than if i sought out a buying co-op for items like oatmeal and rice. 3) there is so much more i could do to be sustainable, even right here where we live in an urban setting. after watching an episode of 30 days, where two friends learn to live off the grid, i feel like time is such a limiting factor for us being able to set-up some systems that would allow us to collect rain water, use grey water, and heat (at least our water) on solar.
acquired used:
- 4 pr pants for lala
- 3 sweaters for the kids
- PJ pants
- 2 shirts for me
- huge bucket of blocks
- glass pasta storage jar
- 2 pair shoes for finn
- children's book
- full set of enamelware dishes
- replacement coffee carafe (2 days after finn broke it. score!)
- chacos sandals for me (free on freecycle. score! the current REI catalog arrived and the exact style i got were marked at $95!)
- 2 HUGE lidded tins for bulk grain storage
- dr. scholl's for me
- dansko clogs for me
- 10 strawberry plants and a thornless berry bush (free)
- lovely mother's day gifts for me! (tomato seedlings, blueberry bush, italian plate)
bought new:
- 2 books for gifts
- materials for piping and trim finishing on our house
- sewing materials for a birthday gift and for a skirt a friend asked me to make
- 2 pr shoes, one each for lala & mike.
