practice mindful consumption

Not perfect purchases, but mindful. I did all my shopping online, which dramaticaly cut down on impulse buys, and gifts for myself.
I bought 5 gifts from Etsy, and I am happy to support artists and crafters as opposed to corporations and factories.
I am doing simple kraft paper gift wrap this year.

Not perfect, but a good start and a great improvement!

I bought recycled ink cartridges today! They cost about 30% less than new, I get one dollar per cartridge for my old ones, which get recycled, and stay out of the landfill….
small, easy, win-win.

This weekend, I was at Goodwill. I spend a good deal of time in second hand stores because that is where I do most of my clothes shopping. Anyway, this weekend, I found myself in a goodwill in another town, and WOW! everything was priced CHEAP! books for 99 cents- at my GW, they are never less than 4.99.
tshirts- 1.49- at my GW, 3.99
Everything was pretty much half of what I would expect to pay at my hometown Goodwill.
So, I may have went a little overboard buying things I don’t need. My restraint crumbles in the face of a good bargain.

went to Costco last night for groceries- hungry and without a list.
I try to avoid the “middle” section of Costco- where all the delightful treasures are, and last night I did pretty good, except- right as we were leaving- there was a big pallet of Burt’s Bees stuff, and I grabbed a pack of lotions and potions. I rationalized that I deserve something nice for myself, since I have quit smoking.
When I got home, I was disappointed- I had just spent 18 bucks on stuff I don’t need.
BUT It’s made in the USA, kind to the environment, and I will use it….

We got to Grandma’s yesterday, and Grandma was SERIOUS about these valentines. We made handmade envelopes, embossed and colored pictures for the front of the cards, stamped a “handmade by” stamp on the back of the card, added glitter glue….
It took about three hours- but my daughter is very proud of her valentines, and they turned out really cute.

Today, the daughter came home with her list of 27 names for the classroom exchange.
I could have bought a $2.00 box of Spongebob valentines at the Mart, but instead, she called her grandma and made arrangements to go to grandma’s house on Sunday and make valentines with rubber stamps- her grandma has a million of those things!
It will end up costing a lot more, when gas and time are factored in, but I feel better about handmade stuff.
I don’t know why, the kids are just gonna throw them out anyway…....

It used to be “live simply”.

I have been reading about living simply- and I think I would rather live “moderately”.
I’m not ready to go off the grid and start an organic farm just yet.
I just want to consume a lot less, save a lot more, have more enjoyable time for super fun stuff.