Barter, thrift and the new year
I've been doing a lot of thinking about thrift and I've decided that I am not nearly as thrifty as I would like to think I am.
Yes... I quilt. But I don't need quilts really and I tend to buy tons of new fabric for them. I have plans on using up all my scraps... but I have so many new projects that the scrap projects get pushed to the back. And I don't spend as much time 'quilting' as I do 'shopping for new fabric for quilts'. That's not any economy at all.
I also cook... but I could do more 'cooking because it's more economical than buying pre-prepared foods' and less 'fancy cooking' that takes ingredients that cost more than I would usually spend on a meal. Make ahead frozen dinners would be an excellent idea... and I make a mean pizza that could be frozen for when I need a fast pizza fix.
I've also been thinking a lot about barter. There's a lot of stuff here that I could trade for things I want/need to fix up the house instead of trying to find a place to sell it and then buying new stuff.
So here's some of the stuff I'm thinking about doing for 2009:
Emily's clothes: We can shop at the thrift store on Sunday for shirts that fit and new pants that she needs. Ditto work pants for me. This will be even cheaper than getting them off the clearance rack. It will take more time but oh well.
Books, movies and games: McKay's only except for gift cards! Even better if I can take in enough trade to get what we want.
Buy nothing new. No fabric... no movies... no games. Exceptions to this are
- underwear (eww!)
pillows
paint and supplies for the house
toiletries
gift cards we get
On the paint and supplies, I can keep my eyes open and get most of what I need from the salvage store and maybe find the paint at the mis-mixed section of the hardware store. Glue and such will have to be bought but that's not the expensive part.
On the gift cards- Emily should not have to go without the pleasure of spending gift cards from family and friends that she gets or being forced to spend it on something on sale or clearance. If she wants something brand new, that's how she'll have to get it but she shouldn't be denied that. And if Mom gives me gift cards and/or money, I might get something for myself although it may be toiletries since Lush is awful expensive.
What has prompted this? Well, the economy for one and the environment for the other. We already recycle a lot... we could do more. And I need to divorce Emily (and myself too!) from the 'buying habit'. There are lots of things we can do that require little money and we can make everything cost less with a little time and attention. We need to take advantage of the free things we can do and the entertainments we already possess and spend less money and time on 'acquiring' and more time on 'enjoying'.
I am going to try and stop smoking again... it's far too expensive and it's a luxury that I need to learn to live without. Besides, it's bad for me. Sodas and sweets need to go on the verboten list also except for home-made sweets which have the value of both being sweet and having some nutritional value. They also give us some Mom-Em time which is important and teaching Emily a little about cooking.
More to follow, I'm sure...