consumption
Unexpected benefit of home-made stuff
I've been slowly transitioning from store-bought to home-made for my personal and house cleaning needs. When one thing runs out (shampoo, laundry soap, etc.), I find a recipe and make it myself. I have pretty good supplies in store of most things, so it really is a slow process.
I noticed a benefit today that I hadn't expected — it's the calming presence of the absence of labels and brands. I was sitting in the tub (don't have a shower) and looking at the glass jars of shampoo, conditioner (the vinegar rinse), and body wash that I made. No labels — no writing (well there's some chinese writing on the old soy sauce pourer I use for my vinegar rinse, but it's faint and I don't understand it) — no brands! I'm in a marketing-free environment in my bath tub and it's really nice.
I make a point of not displaying any company logos on my clothing (if they want to pay me to advertise for them, they can), and it's really nice to be lessening the corporate advertising in my home. I'm looking forward to the day when all of my products are hand-made and I can be almost completely free of advertising within my home.
Waste not, want not?
As I was doing some baking for my annual New Year's Day brunch, I managed to finish up a jar of ground nutmeg. I have a tin of whole nutmegs, and I was glad to finish off the ground stuff so I could switch over to the less-processed variety. A friend of mine was hanging out in the kitchen with me, and I told her it made me feel virtuous to have used the whole container. "Huh," she replied.
This friend (who is a fellow-traveller in trying to reduce debt) earns about three times what I do and has about the same amount of monthly expenses, but is often caught short on bills and definitely lives paycheck to paycheck. A little while after the nutmeg discussion, she mentioned that she would like to buy some new eyeshadow. I had some sort of reaction which led her to say that she didn't think that using eye makeup until it was empty was a virtue. This got me thinking about waste and want.
I do think that using something up is virtuous, and that throwing something away that is perfectly good is a waste. I have eyeshadow that I remember buying in 1994 — it doesn't go bad, and it really does last almost forever.
As I've been becoming more frugal and mindful about spending, I've tried to separate needs from wants, and have tried to examine what I really want when I think I want a thing. Is it really eyeshadow that is wanted, or is it glamour? Is it really new shoes that are wanted, or is it to give the appearance of wealth and sophistication? And every time I give my hard-earned money to someone else, I try to be conscious that the same money could be going towards bill payoff or savings so that I won't have to work as much in the future. Certainly, I need groceries, I need heat, electricity, etc. And sometimes buying a new pair of shoes (or eyeshadow) feels great! But in consciously wasting as little as possible (by not throwing things away, by using things up, by buying just what i need for groceries, and cooking up what's in the fridge), I notice that my wanting is also reduced.
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