Showing posts with label frugality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label frugality. Show all posts
5/28/14
Labels:
Budget shopping
,
Clothes swapping
,
Freecycling
,
frugality
,
Recycling
,
Secondhand goods
,
Swapping
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Decluttering: The Joys of Fluid Ownership
Do you cling to possessions? I have in the past, but I’m
getting better at letting them go.
Moving house is a great way of shedding the fixation with stuff that so many of us suffer from. This is because you end up forgetting half the things you
actually own and it’s a nice surprise when you start opening the boxes at the
new place – it’s like opening presents.
My recent move from my shabby old deco flat was so rushed that
I ended up giving things away, donating them or just putting them on the hard
rubbish pile. There just wasn’t time for a garage sale.
When I got to my new place – a first floor sixties flat in a
bayside suburb – I still had too much stuff. Luckily I now have time to downsize
at my own pace. I will sell some of these things, and if they don’t sell, I’ll
give them away as gifts or donate them.
But my attitude to stuff has changed. I am much more willing
to get rid of things I have no room for. I want objects to be functional and if
they don’t play their part I will part with them. My huge vintage radio, which has
never done a day’s work in its entire time with me, has recently gone to a new
owner who may even be able to get it working again.
My thirties standard lamp didn’t survive the move intact,
and the other day I put it on the hard rubbish pile outside the flats with
hardly a twinge of regret – it’s gone already! I’ll eventually buy a lamp that can be adjusted so that the light is close enough to read by – something I couldn't do with the standard lamp.
This relaxed attitude to things is what the freecycling movement
is all about. It’s about embracing an alternative way of looking at goods – ownership
isn’t permanent any more. You use something until you simply have no use for
it, and then you pass it on to someone else. It’s not so much collective
ownership as fluid ownership.
I freecycled my old cream couch before the move and I
offered some things for freecycling that didn’t get taken – time was partly the
problem. Embracing freecycling completely would probably mean rarely having to make
any major purchases – you give stuff away you don’t need, and get stuff for
free when you need it (people on my freecycle list post ‘WANTED’ ads as well
as offers). But I cannot, at this point, be a complete freecycler. I want to
sell some of my old stuff rather than give it away – it took me so long to
collect! If it doesn’t sell easily then I’ll gracefully let go of it by other
means.
Different ways of freecycling
Sometimes there are things that are just too sentimental to
give up completely, even if you have no room for them. One option is to lend
them to trusted family members on a long term basis (a written agreement might
be helpful here). It’s still fluid ownership, but you know that in a few years’
time you can reclaim your stuff if your circumstances change.
Fluid ownership is a great principle when it comes to
clothes. Swap meets are wonderful for getting rid of clothes that are still
wearable but that you are simply sick of. We all need novelty and if you are
fashion conscious, endless rotation of your existing clothes won’t be enough.
At a swap meet everyone comes home with something new, yet no new resources
have been used to produce your ‘new’ items.
When it comes to clothes, roommates often practise fluid
ownership as second nature. Thrift stores are also a way of practising fluid
ownership – we sometimes donate things just because we’re sick of them, and
hopefully find things that other people have donated for the same reason.
In whatever form you practise fluid ownership, my belief is
that it produces good karma when it comes to stuff. When you give stuff away
freely or at a reasonable price, you are more likely to get bargains or
freebies back again when you need them.
Do you practise fluid ownership and if so how?
Until next time!
5/15/14
Labels:
Clutter
,
Decorating
,
frugality
,
Op shops
,
Psychology of shopping
,
Saving money
,
Thrifting
Until next time!
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The Secret Reason We Buy Too Much Stuff
 |
| (Picture: Jerry Bakewell) |
There are many reasons why we indulge in retail therapy, but
one of them isn’t mentioned very often. It’s so obvious we
don’t even think about it.
Sometimes we buy things just because we have the space for
them.
This realisation struck me when I moved house recently (when
they say it’s the most stressful thing you can do, they’re not kidding!). I
moved from a huge art deco apartment to a decent-sized two-bedroom flat with one
less room.
I’d already given away a lot of stuff before I moved but was
amazed at what I still had.
The most surprising thing was that I had quietly amassed a collection of thrift store pictures over the almost ten years I’d been in the
apartment. I had a total of more than thirty pictures altogether! This is
without any conscious collecting on my part – just a desire to fill the empty
spaces on the large walls.
The irony is that there are very few picture hooks at this
new place, and I am reluctant to ask the landlord if I can put them up at this early stage in the
tenancy. So the majority of these pictures are going to have to go – I’m
intending to sell some of the better ones on eBay.
Having amassed all these pictures has taught me a lesson in
restraint. I did get very skilled at picking pictures with future potential –
the more kitsch the better – and was proud of the way I arranged them in my
apartment. And I will keep some of them at the new place, and rotate them on the
few picture hooks I have so I don’t get bored.
But nothing is forever, and I will let the majority go with
grace.
I know now there is always a new picture around the corner.
Only a week ago I found myself staring longingly at a large, abstract print in
an op shop in the inner city suburb of Port Melbourne. I knew I didn’t
have room for it. When enough pictures are sold, perhaps I will let myself buy
one or two new ones.
So next time you're about to buy some little knick-knack or a piece of furniture it’s worth
asking yourself the question: am I buying this just to fill space?
Perhaps there is just one thing you buy too much of, because
you’ve started a collection – collections have a tendency to constantly demand
that they be added to!
If you tend to do this, next time you could rethink
whether you really need the item. If it still ‘calls’ to you, is there
something you already have that you could get rid of?
Another question it's worth asking when you’re buying a piece of decor: is there something else the money could be used for, like a great experience or a
large savings goal?
1/21/14
Labels:
Carbon footprint
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Ethical investment
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frugality
,
Going green
,
money
Credit unions versus
banks
My experience in Australia is that credit unions per se are a good choice for term deposits even without sustainability credentials, because their main aim is not to make a profit, but to benefit their members. I intend to keep some of my savings in my current credit union while opening a term deposit with Maleny.
Recently I read a book called Greenwash by Guy Pearse. It highlighted the hypocrisy of companies like yourselves that provide copious information about cuts to operational emissions while continuing to expand your investments in dirty, emissions-intensive industries, particularly coal mining and export. These industries, as well as speeding up catastrophic climate change, are also ultimately bad for our economy because they make the Australian dollar very high while providing very little employment, relatively speaking. Further, much of the profits go out of Australia.
Have you decided to green your investments? If so, what has your experience been?
Ethical Investing: A Greener Term Deposit
Please note: the
following is not financial advice. You need to do your own research before
making any investment decision.
I’ve been frustrated
with the options for ethical investing in Australia for a long time. Then I
read Greenwash by Guy Pearse and it
clarified what I’d been closing my eyes towards – the bank that underwrites my
term deposit, the National Australia Bank, is continuing to invest in new
coalmining projects at record levels. I’d had enough. It was time to find
something else. But options were limited.
I think I have found
the answer – a green term deposit.
If you want to buy
shares, in Australia at least there aren’t that many blue-chip, mainstream
companies that can be described as ethical; it’s not an option for me to invest
in supermarkets (gambling, coalmining, high greenhouse emissions, duopolising
exploitation of suppliers) or mining companies, and after that you’re not left
with many options apart from dodgy telecommunications companies.
I don’t have a large
enough sum to make it worthwhile to hire a financial planner, and I don’t like
the idea of the high fees and commissions that you pay if you put your money in
an ethical managed fund.
It’s amazing what a
little exploration on the internet can yield. I’d never heard of the Maleny Credit Union but as far as sustainable financial institutions
go, they’re not doing too badly.
Maleny is a small,
scenic town north of Queensland on the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The credit
union was set up in 1984 by townsfolk who wanted more local credit, and two in
particular who wanted to direct investment into ethical and employment
initiatives. From the start members were determined to retain it as a community
owned resource, and even volunteered their time to keep it open.
Then, in 2011, the
board voted that the credit union merge with one of Australia’s largest credit unions, Credit Union Australia. But the townsfolk would have none of it. They wanted
to keep it as a local enterprise that would always put people before profit.
Today Maleny Credit
union is a social enterprise, which basically means that ‘its purpose is to
improve the lives of members through ethical, sustainable and community focused
services’.
The credit union’s
ethics policy is quite extensive but I
would have liked more detail about specific things that the credit union is
investing in. In the absence of alternatives, however, I’ve decided to go ahead
and take out a term deposit with them.
My experience in Australia is that credit unions per se are a good choice for term deposits even without sustainability credentials, because their main aim is not to make a profit, but to benefit their members. I intend to keep some of my savings in my current credit union while opening a term deposit with Maleny.
In the longer term,
I’ll start to research putting some of my savings into ethical shares. The
beauty of term deposits is that they give you somewhere to park your little
nest egg while you decide what the heck you want to do with it in the longer
term.
(Credit unions also
tend to be much cheaper to bank with – by restricting different types of
transactions I completely avoid monthly fees on my account, Also, given I’ve
got an online savings account, I’ve never been fined when my online everyday
account goes into the red!)
My term deposit with
the bank is due to mature at the end of the week. When I made the decision to remove
my savings, I wrote to National Australia Bank explaining why. I’d suggest
doing this if you decide to remove your money from banks with dodgy
investments, or sell shares for the same reason. I think it’s worth letting the
companies know. If enough of us put our money where our beliefs are, the world
would be a cleaner, greener place. Here’s a portion of my letter:
Recently I read a book called Greenwash by Guy Pearse. It highlighted the hypocrisy of companies like yourselves that provide copious information about cuts to operational emissions while continuing to expand your investments in dirty, emissions-intensive industries, particularly coal mining and export. These industries, as well as speeding up catastrophic climate change, are also ultimately bad for our economy because they make the Australian dollar very high while providing very little employment, relatively speaking. Further, much of the profits go out of Australia.
Have you decided to green your investments? If so, what has your experience been?
1/12/14
Labels:
Buying green
,
Compacting
,
frugality
,
Manufacturing
,
Recycling
,
Supermarket shopping
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A Rant about Packaging
A few weeks ago I went to buy a
simple torch from the supermarket. It wasn’t until I got the thing home that I
realised how overpackaged it was. The torch was attached to a large, hard plastic
backing – by three rings of plastic (as shown in the pic above). It also came with a completely superfluous
hessian holder that can be attached to a belt.
Is there anything more irritating
than the overuse of packaging in consumer goods? In the absence of effective
regulation, packaging is wasteful in the extreme. How many acres of forests are
lost each year, how much superfluous hard and soft plastic is produced in order
to make run-of-the-mill goods seem exciting and sexy?
The Australian Conservation Foundation wants the Australian Government to set up a federal agency with powers to ensure that packaging is ‘kept to the minimum required for the preservation, labelling, safe handling, and economical usage of goods’. This is a great idea, but such a body would also need to require manufacturers to choose the most sustainable options for their (minimalist) packaging.
The government could offer assistance that made it financially viable for companies to do this. This would have the flow-on effect of encouraging companies to produce environmentally responsible packaging materials - fostering innovation and new green industries and jobs, possibly selling to global markets.
The Australian Conservation Foundation wants the Australian Government to set up a federal agency with powers to ensure that packaging is ‘kept to the minimum required for the preservation, labelling, safe handling, and economical usage of goods’. This is a great idea, but such a body would also need to require manufacturers to choose the most sustainable options for their (minimalist) packaging.
The government could offer assistance that made it financially viable for companies to do this. This would have the flow-on effect of encouraging companies to produce environmentally responsible packaging materials - fostering innovation and new green industries and jobs, possibly selling to global markets.
Manufacturers view packaging as
being vital to their branding – the ideas and emotions they want consumers to
associate with their product. Yet if they were forced to reduce it, they might
think up more imaginative ways of appealing to their customers – indeed, a
reduction in packaging would actually appeal to many customers anyway,
contributing to a green image that had some substance to it.
New uses for old packaging
Another item I’ve been looking for is a sustainable pencil case – I looked on Etsy and the Australian version of Etsy, Handmade – and found some lovely examples, such as this cute knitted pencil case.
But then I decided I didn’t
really need to buy a pencil case at all, because I just used a
plastic holder that had inexplicably arrived with a recycled toothbrush I
ordered over the internet (pictured below). What was the use of producing a toothbrush from
recycled plastic, I asked the manufacturer at the time in an email, when it is accompanied
by unnecessary packaging? So I have at last found a use for this plastic
container, which I couldn’t bring myself to throw away at the time. (Another
option would have been to use a wallet from an op shop.)
Plastic recycling has come a long
way, but manufacturers seem to be using this as an excuse to keep producing
more of it – in its produce section, Woolworths now provides small plastic bags
that are a pleasing grass-green hue with the comforting message that they are
produced from ‘at least 30 per cent recycled plastic’. Why don’t they encourage
customers to bring their own mini-plastic bags for fruit, vegetables and nuts?
Wikipedia describes greenwashing
as ‘a form of spin in which green PR or green marketing is deceptively used to promote the perception that an organisation’s products, aims and/or policies are environmentally friendly’. Superfluous
packaging often appears in examples of greenwashing. For example, Scotch tape
has produced what it cannily calls (perhaps to avoid accusations of
greenwashing) a ‘greener’ rather than a ‘green’ tape. But this greener tape
comes with its very own mini plastic dispenser, encouraging buyers to purchase
a new dispenser every time they buy tape.
I don’t want to discourage readers from trying to buy green. I originally planned to write a blog entry on green stationery items for kids going back to school. It is worth shopping around for more eco-friendly items from online stores such as BuyEcoGreen, and Officeworks now stocks many more green stationery options that it used to. But until we have tough Australia-wide laws on packaging, the waste-a-thon of cardboard and plastic production will continue.
If you enjoyed this article, pleas share using the social media buttons on the left.
I don’t want to discourage readers from trying to buy green. I originally planned to write a blog entry on green stationery items for kids going back to school. It is worth shopping around for more eco-friendly items from online stores such as BuyEcoGreen, and Officeworks now stocks many more green stationery options that it used to. But until we have tough Australia-wide laws on packaging, the waste-a-thon of cardboard and plastic production will continue.
If you enjoyed this article, pleas share using the social media buttons on the left.
8/19/13
Labels:
Budget shopping
,
Clutter
,
frugality
,
Materialism
,
money
,
Saving money
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The Golden Mean – Using Ancient Wisdom to Curb Your Spending
Are you trying to be more frugal? If so, you probably feel
overwhelmed with all the advice about it. A good way to start is to look at how
you think about spending and shopping,
and about how much ‘stuff’ you actually want.
The ancients knew a thing or two about budgeting. There’s an age-old concept that can help you make that
change the way you think about spending. It’s called the golden mean.
It’s not just the advertisers and retailers themselves who
urge us to buy. Governments do it too. In 2006, with fears of recession
looming, President George W. Bush urged Americans to ‘go shopping more’ to keep
the economy ticking over. To head off a recession following the Global
Financial Crisis, ALP Prime Minister Kevin Rudd simply handed out money – and much
of it went to big retailers like Harvey Norman. But we don’t have to be
obedient over-consumers. We can take control.
What is the golden
mean?
Forget the traditional sense of the word mean. The golden
mean simply refers to the middle way between two extremes. Aristotle praised
the golden mean, but a similar idea can be found in Confucius as well as
Buddhist philosophy.
How does the golden
mean work?
I discovered the golden mean for myself by accident. It was
the first time I’d sold anything on eBay. I was selling a Victorian white-painted
cane ‘what-not’ (a silly name for decorative shelving).
The person who eventually bought it had recently purchased a
holiday house and was looking for quaint ‘pieces’ for it. My piece suited her
perfectly.
I can remember watching the amount increasing as the bidding
began. In the end I think the final price was about fifty bucks. This felt like
a fair price for both of us. It was enough for me to feel that I’d made a nice
little profit on something that I loved but had no place for – there were just
no convenient corners in my flat for this piece, and it was impractical because
the shelving didn’t hold much. And it was a low enough price for the buyer to
feel that she was getting a slightly battered antique for a reasonably cheap
price.
In other words we were both happy. Neither of us felt ripped
off.
This was a revelation to me – it was possible for both buyer
and seller to be happy with the deal. This is the golden mean at work.
This point came up again a few years later when I was
discussing apartment rental prices with my brother-in-law (family members are
great for refining views in this way :)). Tax arrangements in Australia favour
property investors over first home buyers, and there are no restrictions on
rent increases. In a tight market, this makes most landlords profiteers by
default.
From our discussion it soon became clear that my
brother-in-law’s only conception of fairness was a landlord asking the maximum
amount that the market would bear. For him, there was no grey area between
making a killing from a rental property and offering rent so low that it was
basically charity.
But of course there is a place in between. This is where a
landlord offers a middling rent because he or she values a happy, long-term
tenant who will look after the property, and presumably doesn’t want to make
the tenant’s life so miserable that they move somewhere cheaper. This isn’t
charity, it is fair dealing. It is also the golden mean at work.
How do you
incorporate the golden mean?
The golden mean can be applied to all areas of buying,
selling, and preparing your budget. Here are some tips for incorporating this
classic idea into your life.
Reduce your spending.
If you spend excessively, rein it in, but don’t go overboard. Find a middle way
between splurging and being so strict you buy no treats at all. If you’re on a
strict budget for financial reasons, make sure you include regular small
treats.
Reduce the time you
spend shopping. If you spend too much time shopping (as opposed to too much
money), reduce the time and use it to develop hobbies or to improve your health
and wellbeing.
Don’t be too focused
on money. We all have to survive, and getting your finances sorted is
essential for your long-term wellbeing. But money is not the main point of
life. A sole focus on money making is a short cut to a poor quality of life.
Strive to add balance to your life with some fun and healthy activities.
Become a good time
manager. It’s hard to lead a balanced life when the world is set up to
encourage us to run ourselves ragged with work. Learn to work smarter rather
than harder.
Set a fair price.
If you sell something, set a fair price rather than one that’s too high or too
low.
Don’t always buy the cheapest
product. There are many reasons not to always buy the cheapest product. Buying
Fairtrade goods that provide a fair price to the people who produce them, and
supporting small independent retailers are two ways to use the golden mean when
choosing where and how much you spend.
Find the balance
between too much stuff and no stuff at all. In recent years minimalism has
become fashionable. This is an understandable reaction to our obsession with ‘stuff’.
But there’s no need to throw things away that you might need in future – use
your intuition to decide what you can
let go of, aim to bring less stuff into your life in future, and make use of
what you already have.
Never forget there is a golden mean, and that it does not
make you mean at all. Instead it empowers you to spend in a way that is right
for your purse, the environment and the person from whom you buy the product.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Are Any of These Negative Beliefs about Money Holding You Back?
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7/23/13
Labels:
Decision making
,
Deprivation
,
Emotions
,
frugality
,
overspending
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Why Do I Overspend When I Have No Money?
I’m going through a quiet patch at work at the moment. It’s always like this in July, presumably because of the end of financial year. But it makes me a bit panicky – part of me thinks the slow pace will never pick up.
Yet I’m noticing a tendency to spend as if the quiet patch wasn’t happening. On a logical level this doesn’t make sense. If there is less money coming in, it should be easy to spend less, right?
Wrong. Humans are emotional creatures, and it’s for emotional reasons that we overspend. I was curious as to where my own urge to keep spending came from, and came up with a few theories. Along the way, I thought of some other motivations that can lead to overspending just at the very moment when you should be pinching your pennies. I’ve listed them below.
Once you know what’s really going on, you don’t have to beat yourself up about spending. Instead you can deal with the source of the problem, not just the symptom. For this reason I’ve provided some suggested solutions to the different reasons for spending when money is tight.
Scarcity – If you’re telling yourself you don’t have any money, that alerts your brain to a fear that you won’t have enough. Your unconscious may decide that it’s better to spend what you’ve got, and to ‘stock up’ on consumer goods because there’s no more money coming in.
Solution: Sooth yourself. Tell yourself that you’re in charge, and that you’ll do your best to spend wisely the money you have access to, even if it’s limited.
Giving up – if you’re already in debt then it’s easy to think ‘one more little thing won’t make any difference’. Your financial situation feels so hopeless that you may as well spend that little bit extra.
Solution: Start a budget, so that you know where your money is going. Keep checking it, and try to stick to it; if you go off track, simply adjust the budget and get back on the wagon again.
Treating yourself – If there’s not much work coming in and you’re worried about the situation, it’s tempting to spend in order to feel better and give yourself a mood boost.
Solution: Treat yourself with things that don’t cost anything, like a nice warm bath, a walk in the park, a nap on the couch, or just sleeping in on the weekend.
Boredom – If there’s not much work coming in, or you’re simply at home a lot, life gets boring. You may find yourself browsing your favourite shopping sites, or going to the mall, seeking visual stimulation; the human need for novelty is a classic reason why people shop.
Solution: Plan your time so that it’s quite structured. Include activities that are mentally stimulating and challenging. Seek visual stimulation in ways other than shopping, like going to a gallery or listening to some music.
Guilt – if you’ve been an overspender for a while, it’s easy to slip into a vicious circle. You feel guilty for overspending, and the guilt makes you feel bad about yourself – so you go out and spend in order to feel better.
Solution: Practise self-love, even if you don’t believe you’re worth it (you are!). Seek the support of a self-help group for overspenders or a therapist who specialises in spending issues.
Power – Not having much money can make you feel powerless. In contrast, finding a bargain, or choosing a tasteful bag, can make you feel very powerful. Ironically, this kind of spending is also disempowering because it’s preventing you taking control of your finances.
Solution: Look at ways you feel disempowered in your own life, and fix them. Work on your budget, and look at any issues you are having with self-discipline, motivation and changing habits. Learn assertion skills to use at work and in your personal life. Join a community group that works on a social issue you’d like to change.
Drop us a line!
I hope this helps. I’d love to hear of any experiences you have of overspending when you’re broke, and how you keep your spending in line. Meanwhile here’s a couple of resources if you have serious spending problems.
I hope this helps. I’d love to hear of any experiences you have of overspending when you’re broke, and how you keep your spending in line. Meanwhile here’s a couple of resources if you have serious spending problems.
Help for overspending
Online discussion group: Shopping Addicts Support
Debtors Anonymous
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Things You Get for Free: Making the Most of Free Events in Your Area and Three Frugal Tips So Obvious You Probably Haven't Thought of Them.
7/6/13
Labels:
Bargains
,
Emotions
,
frugality
,
Secondhand goods
,
Thrifting
Chipped Thrift Store Treasures: Celebrating the Beauty of Imperfection
Do you ever buy chipped things? I used to have a horror of anything that wasn’t perfect and whole, but now I embrace the odd chip, scratch or dent as long as it doesn’t detract from the look of a piece.
I bought this picture from the Brotherhood op shop in Bentleigh. It was very shabby chic when I bought it (shabby being the operative word) but is now even shabbier after a piece of the frame on the lower left-hand side fell out a few months ago. I suppose I could mend it with suitable glue – I tell myself the missing piece simply adds to the olde worlde appearance.
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Herewith, a showcase of some chipped things I love.
I bought this large ceramic vase for ten dollars at my
local thrift store / op shop. It’s very heavy – it’s been fired
in a kiln, and has a lovely glaze. I’m not sure of the level of skill of the
person who produced it – there is no identifying signature at the bottom – but
the glazing and colour are very soothing. I discovered there were chips on the
inside of the rim when I got it home, but they’re not that visible so I’m not
too worried about them.
I bought this decorative vase from an op shop for about ten
dollars, but didn’t realise the sculpted flower on the top right was chipped; it's difficult to notice. Still I love the detail so much I
don’t really care.
This cement (I assume) pot was bought at a garage sale for a
couple of bucks – I really should keep some sort of record of prices I pay for
things – and the sculpture that makes up the rim is chipped. It’s really
supposed to have a plant sitting in it but instead it sits happily enough in
the corner of my bathroom to the right of the vanity basin, slowly accumulating
black mould (which I recently scrubbed off it so it’s not looking too bad). It
has a kind of decadent Roman, neoclassical feel to it.
I bought this picture from the Brotherhood op shop in Bentleigh. It was very shabby chic when I bought it (shabby being the operative word) but is now even shabbier after a piece of the frame on the lower left-hand side fell out a few months ago. I suppose I could mend it with suitable glue – I tell myself the missing piece simply adds to the olde worlde appearance.
This little birdie sits on my front porch. Because its tail was already chipped it cost about four bucks at a local garden centre. It sits precariously on narrow little toes and I chipped its little beak once, when I tipped it over accidentally. I feared it would be useless but somehow it still retains its birdiness.
It’s easier to accept imperfections in something that has
always been imperfect. When a possession we’re invested in gets chipped or
dented, it’s as if the ego itself sustains the injury.
Then gradually the change becomes incorporated, and we stop seeing it and feeling it. It's like a tiny scar, reminding us of all the injuries, bruises and deeper wounds we ourselves have sustained. It also reminds us that imperfection is the essence of beauty, life and growth.
Then gradually the change becomes incorporated, and we stop seeing it and feeling it. It's like a tiny scar, reminding us of all the injuries, bruises and deeper wounds we ourselves have sustained. It also reminds us that imperfection is the essence of beauty, life and growth.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry you might also like: In with
the Old and Out with the New - Shopping and the Search for Perfection.
5/14/12
Labels:
Compacting
,
Families
,
frugality
,
overspending
,
Saving money
,
Secondhand goods
Read More
Three Frugal Tips So Obvious You Probably Haven't Thought of Them
Getting serious about saving money can seem like an
onerous task. But it starts with simply changing your attitudes to money and
the way you approach spending it. Here are three new frugal tips that are so
obvious you may not have thought of them yet!
1. Assume you don’t need
anything
Apart from the basic necessities (food, housing, energy,
transport) we often say we ‘need’ new items. What we really mean is that we believe our lives would be easier, happier and better overall if we had those items.
When we go shopping for a particular non-basic item we start
from a default position that’s so drummed into us we don’t realise it – that we
must buy whatever it is we’re looking for. We feel deprived and somehow inadequate
without the item.
One way to decrease your spending is to assume that you
already have everything you need apart from basic necessities. Then, when a fresh need comes to your attention – a new smartphone; a pair of Mahno Blahnik shoes – you start from the
assumption that you don’t need it and
work backwards.
Assuming you don’t really need it, ask yourself if there’s anything you already
have that could substitute for it.
Alternatively, could you borrow it instead? Find it secondhand? Swap something
to get it? Or, when you give yourself time to think about it, do you really
have enough of that kind of item already?
Of course, at any one time there’s a fair chance that you don’t have everything
you need. I often recommend people write a list of things that they intend to
buy to put some boundaries around their spending.
The beauty of starting from a default ‘no needs’ position is that you exhaust every other possibility before buying the item. Then if you decide you do really need it, you can buy it without guilt. The real,
genuine needs will emerge from the dross of your many wants like shining
diamonds, and you’ll find the right items easily at the right time.
2. First things first
I used to be in a 12-step program, and if there’s one thing that is
plentiful in these programs it’s wise sayings. Some might argue there are too many, but they can sometimes be quite
profound. One of the sayings that has stuck with me over the years is ‘first
things first’.
There are two useful ways you can apply this to your
spending. The first one is simply allocating enough money for the basic necessities of
life (food, housing, energy, transport) before buying non-necessities. Of course, there are many ways you can reduce your spending on
these necessities so that you can save more money or buy something you really
need.
The other meaning of the saying is even more straightforward, and involves how you spend your time. Shop for the necessities first, and
then do any leisure shopping you want to do. If you’re prone to overspending, getting
your priorities right in this regard could help you reduce the amount of
leisure shopping you do, and therefore your spending. Instead of tacking your food shopping onto the end of a
spending binge, take the time to think about what food you’ll buy, where you’ll buy it, and how you can buy the healthiest food to look after
yourself. Changing your priorities in this way is a signal that you’re
looking after yourself, and this could also have benefits for your spending.
You could also look more carefully at other basics like the transport you use to get around, and how you use electricity and gas. Putting time and energy into thinking about those things that you might otherwise spend, say, shopping online could not only reduce your carbon footprint but give you a more mindful experience of life.
3. Look at your family’s money history
You’re not stuck with the spending habits that were instilled in you – it is possible to change your attitudes, and looking at how you came to develop them is a great way to start.
A useful exercise is to sit down and write a history of your family’s attitudes to money. Ask yourself:
How did my parents and grandparents spend money?
What were the attitudes to money that lay behind their
spending habits?
What are my attitudes to spending?
How have the attitudes and habits of my family helped form my own attitudes?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you’ll be able to look at your spending habits much more objectively and start to get some distance from them. And you’ll begin to understand that you don't have to be stuck with them!
After taking a serious look at my parents’ attitude to
money, and those of my maternal grandparents, I now have a completely
different approach to saving and spending from the rest of my family.
Have you found that you gained more control over your spending after changing some of your basic attitudes? What were your original attitudes and how did you go about changing them?
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Are Any of These Negative Beliefs about Money Holding You Back? and Be a Creative Stinge – 12 Great Tips for Cutting Your Spending and Saving Money.
3/4/12
Labels:
Food
,
frugality
,
Saving money
As I was eating my lunch a few Saturdays ago I had something of a revelation. The lunch I was munching on was hummus with a sliced tomato on rice cracker (bear with me). It struck me what a great food hummus was, and the more I thought about it the more convinced I became of its category-defying uniqueness. Here are just some of the reasons why hummus brings people together (with a recipe at the end):
It’s a vegan food without the stereotypes. Unfortunately, defensive carnivores have negatively stereotyped some foods beloved of vegans, associating them with so-called ‘treehuggers’ – think tofu, lentil burgers and alfalfa sprouts (not that there’s anything wrong with these foods, or ‘treehuggers’ for that matter!) Hummus has escaped this negative labelling despite its iconic status among vegans. On the contrary, it’s seen as a gourmet food and is endlessly being reimagined by the chef-erati; Nigella has an eccentric peanut butter version, for instance. Needless to say, hummus also goes beautifully with that other great vegan (and non-stereotyped) food, falafel.
It’s an allergy-friendly food without being associated with a rigid, limited diet. If you can’t eat dairy- and gluten-containing foods (like yours truly), and you bring hummus to a social gathering, no one assumes you’re on a special diet and gives you sympathetic but uncomprehending looks. If you can’t eat citrus, hummus still tastes great without the lemon juice.
It’s extremely economical. If you make hummus yourself, it’s a very low-cost food. Cook the chickpeas yourself and keep the tahini in the fridge, where it lasts for ages.
It’s incredibly simple to make, yet has potential for complexity. Hummus has only four basic ingredients, five if you include olive oil. If you’re not much of a cook you can still make great hummus. The only thing that you need to actually cook is the chickpeas, and you can avoid even this by using canned. On the other hand, if you’re a foodie, you can explore the complexities of hummus ad infinitum, deciding whether to get rid of the chickpea skins, which types of chickpeas and tahini provide optimum flavour and texture, whether or not to roast the garlic etc, etc – you get my drift.
It can be made in a variety of textures. Like peanut butter, hummus is flexible when it comes to texture. It can be smooth, rich and creamy, or crumbly and runny with pieces of whole chickpea in it. For extra creaminess, add olive oil and the water in which you cooked the chickpeas.
It’s eaten in many parts of the world, so it must be good! Hummus is found in countries along the Mediterranean coastline, such as Israel, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece. It’s taken Americans a while to catch on but apparently it’s growing in popularity there. The Brits also love it and Australia’s love affair with Greek and Middle Eastern dips has assured its popularity here for decades.
It has a distinguished but enigmatic history. Chickpeas, the main ingredient of hummus, have been eaten for more than 10 000 years. The chickpea was one of the earliest crops cultivated in Mesopotamia. Chickpeas were eaten in Palestine before 4000 BC and were a common street dish in ancient Rome. A similar recipe to hummus, featuring mashed chickpeas mixed with vinegar and other ingredients, dates back to the thirteenth century. However, the first documented recipe for hummus as we know it comes from the late eighteenth-century modern Syrian capital of Damascus, and the same source suggests that hummus was unknown outside Damascus at the time.
It has the potential to bring different and even warring cultures together. Hummus is much-loved by both Palestinians and Israelis, and the extent of cultural attachments and refinements regarding hummus in Israel puts Melburnians’ attachment to coffee to shame. It’s not just a dish there, but a national obsession; there are hummus restaurants as well as shops. There’s even an Israeli blog dedicated to it. There are accusations by Arabs of cultural appropriation, but hummus also seems to bring Arabs and Israelis together. There’s an intense and more or less friendly rivalry between Israel and Lebanon for the Guinness Book of Records title for world’s largest dish of hummus. In May 2010 the record returned to Lebanon.
It’s extremely nutritious. Hummus is made from cooked and crushed chickpeas, tahini paste, crushed garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Chickpeas are a good source of zinc, folate, manganese, iron, copper and phosphorous and they’re high in protein and dietary fibre. Tahini, which is made of hulled sesame seeds, is a source of calcium, iron and some B vitamins. The lemon juice in hummus is a good source of vitamin C. Hummus provides complete protein when eaten with bread. It’s also a good source of monsaturated fats, ie healthy fats.
It’s endlessly adaptable. The Vegie Bar in Melbourne makes an incredible hummus with cashews – it’s to die for. I saw a recipe for boiled peanut hummus on my travels but decided to skip that! There’s a commercial variety made with pumpkin at my local supermarket, and hummus is also sometimes made with carrot or beetroot. (While I dislike the idea of reducing the richness of hummus with a watery vegetable, I can see the attraction for commercial purposes – vegetables are cheaper than hummus ingredients.) Hummus can be made with thyme or mint, and sometimes white beans are added to the recipe. For dietary problems with either lemon juice or sesame, you can take out either ingredient and still have a flavoursome dish. Yoghurt is sometimes used in place of tahini.
Hummus is served with different garnishes in different parts of the world. In Israel they serve it with a boiled egg, fava beans, parsley and olive oil. The Palestinians often serve it warm. They place a crater in the middle of the hummus, fill the crater with olive oil and garnish the hummus with paprika, cumin, mint or parsley.
You can make hummus quickly if you’re in a hurry. There’s been much debate about whether or not it is okay to use tinned chickpeas. If you decide to use tinned, you’re better off buying one of the Italian brands that are cooked without added sugar. In Europe you can get jars of cooked chickpeas preserved in water and salt.
If you use tinned chickpeas, thoroughly drain and rinse the chickpeas. Don’t use the broth to make the paste smoother, and don’t make the hummus without the tahini; I’ve just tried the latter and though it tasted okay, the chickpeas were the wrong colour, giving the hummus a nasty orange tinge.
Recipe for hummus
Here’s a fairly basic recipe for hummus. It doesn’t include cooking the chickpeas; there’s a lot of info on the net about the best way to soak and cook them, and carb soda seems to aid the process. A really good article from the Guardian about creating hummus convinced me that combining the tahini with half the garlic and half the lemon juice before adding them to the chickpeas could produce superior creaminess. Add paprika or cumin to taste.
Ingredients
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
6–8 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt to taste
Method
Mash or puree chickpeas with rest of ingredients. Spread on a plate and garnish with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.
Read More
Why Hummus Is Not Only a Superfood but a Potential Peace Maker
As I was eating my lunch a few Saturdays ago I had something of a revelation. The lunch I was munching on was hummus with a sliced tomato on rice cracker (bear with me). It struck me what a great food hummus was, and the more I thought about it the more convinced I became of its category-defying uniqueness. Here are just some of the reasons why hummus brings people together (with a recipe at the end):
It’s a vegan food without the stereotypes. Unfortunately, defensive carnivores have negatively stereotyped some foods beloved of vegans, associating them with so-called ‘treehuggers’ – think tofu, lentil burgers and alfalfa sprouts (not that there’s anything wrong with these foods, or ‘treehuggers’ for that matter!) Hummus has escaped this negative labelling despite its iconic status among vegans. On the contrary, it’s seen as a gourmet food and is endlessly being reimagined by the chef-erati; Nigella has an eccentric peanut butter version, for instance. Needless to say, hummus also goes beautifully with that other great vegan (and non-stereotyped) food, falafel.
It’s an allergy-friendly food without being associated with a rigid, limited diet. If you can’t eat dairy- and gluten-containing foods (like yours truly), and you bring hummus to a social gathering, no one assumes you’re on a special diet and gives you sympathetic but uncomprehending looks. If you can’t eat citrus, hummus still tastes great without the lemon juice.
It’s extremely economical. If you make hummus yourself, it’s a very low-cost food. Cook the chickpeas yourself and keep the tahini in the fridge, where it lasts for ages.
It’s incredibly simple to make, yet has potential for complexity. Hummus has only four basic ingredients, five if you include olive oil. If you’re not much of a cook you can still make great hummus. The only thing that you need to actually cook is the chickpeas, and you can avoid even this by using canned. On the other hand, if you’re a foodie, you can explore the complexities of hummus ad infinitum, deciding whether to get rid of the chickpea skins, which types of chickpeas and tahini provide optimum flavour and texture, whether or not to roast the garlic etc, etc – you get my drift.
It can be made in a variety of textures. Like peanut butter, hummus is flexible when it comes to texture. It can be smooth, rich and creamy, or crumbly and runny with pieces of whole chickpea in it. For extra creaminess, add olive oil and the water in which you cooked the chickpeas.
It’s eaten in many parts of the world, so it must be good! Hummus is found in countries along the Mediterranean coastline, such as Israel, Syria, Palestine, Lebanon, Turkey, Cyprus and Greece. It’s taken Americans a while to catch on but apparently it’s growing in popularity there. The Brits also love it and Australia’s love affair with Greek and Middle Eastern dips has assured its popularity here for decades.
It has a distinguished but enigmatic history. Chickpeas, the main ingredient of hummus, have been eaten for more than 10 000 years. The chickpea was one of the earliest crops cultivated in Mesopotamia. Chickpeas were eaten in Palestine before 4000 BC and were a common street dish in ancient Rome. A similar recipe to hummus, featuring mashed chickpeas mixed with vinegar and other ingredients, dates back to the thirteenth century. However, the first documented recipe for hummus as we know it comes from the late eighteenth-century modern Syrian capital of Damascus, and the same source suggests that hummus was unknown outside Damascus at the time.
It has the potential to bring different and even warring cultures together. Hummus is much-loved by both Palestinians and Israelis, and the extent of cultural attachments and refinements regarding hummus in Israel puts Melburnians’ attachment to coffee to shame. It’s not just a dish there, but a national obsession; there are hummus restaurants as well as shops. There’s even an Israeli blog dedicated to it. There are accusations by Arabs of cultural appropriation, but hummus also seems to bring Arabs and Israelis together. There’s an intense and more or less friendly rivalry between Israel and Lebanon for the Guinness Book of Records title for world’s largest dish of hummus. In May 2010 the record returned to Lebanon.
It’s extremely nutritious. Hummus is made from cooked and crushed chickpeas, tahini paste, crushed garlic, lemon juice and olive oil. Chickpeas are a good source of zinc, folate, manganese, iron, copper and phosphorous and they’re high in protein and dietary fibre. Tahini, which is made of hulled sesame seeds, is a source of calcium, iron and some B vitamins. The lemon juice in hummus is a good source of vitamin C. Hummus provides complete protein when eaten with bread. It’s also a good source of monsaturated fats, ie healthy fats.
It’s endlessly adaptable. The Vegie Bar in Melbourne makes an incredible hummus with cashews – it’s to die for. I saw a recipe for boiled peanut hummus on my travels but decided to skip that! There’s a commercial variety made with pumpkin at my local supermarket, and hummus is also sometimes made with carrot or beetroot. (While I dislike the idea of reducing the richness of hummus with a watery vegetable, I can see the attraction for commercial purposes – vegetables are cheaper than hummus ingredients.) Hummus can be made with thyme or mint, and sometimes white beans are added to the recipe. For dietary problems with either lemon juice or sesame, you can take out either ingredient and still have a flavoursome dish. Yoghurt is sometimes used in place of tahini.
Hummus is served with different garnishes in different parts of the world. In Israel they serve it with a boiled egg, fava beans, parsley and olive oil. The Palestinians often serve it warm. They place a crater in the middle of the hummus, fill the crater with olive oil and garnish the hummus with paprika, cumin, mint or parsley.
You can make hummus quickly if you’re in a hurry. There’s been much debate about whether or not it is okay to use tinned chickpeas. If you decide to use tinned, you’re better off buying one of the Italian brands that are cooked without added sugar. In Europe you can get jars of cooked chickpeas preserved in water and salt.
If you use tinned chickpeas, thoroughly drain and rinse the chickpeas. Don’t use the broth to make the paste smoother, and don’t make the hummus without the tahini; I’ve just tried the latter and though it tasted okay, the chickpeas were the wrong colour, giving the hummus a nasty orange tinge.
Recipe for hummus
Here’s a fairly basic recipe for hummus. It doesn’t include cooking the chickpeas; there’s a lot of info on the net about the best way to soak and cook them, and carb soda seems to aid the process. A really good article from the Guardian about creating hummus convinced me that combining the tahini with half the garlic and half the lemon juice before adding them to the chickpeas could produce superior creaminess. Add paprika or cumin to taste.
Ingredients
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1/4 cup tahini
1 clove garlic, minced
6–8 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
sea salt to taste
Method
Mash or puree chickpeas with rest of ingredients. Spread on a plate and garnish with parsley and a drizzle of olive oil.
If you have any useful info about hummus, or even a favourite recipe, please let me know.
Happy hummus eating!
Happy hummus eating!
2/22/12
Labels:
frugality
,
Saving money
Freebies are everywhere. If you’re trying to live frugally, making freebies a key part of your arsenal can boost your savings as well as adding fun to your life.
Taking advantage of freebies doesn’t mean you never pay for entertainment or luxuries. On the contrary: it can help ‘free up’ the necessary funds to splurge on higher priced events and items that enrich your life: theatre tickets, a ride in a hot air balloon, a gorgeous sustainable garment for a special event.
Below I’ve identified many great sources of regular freebies. Sometimes freebies will be listed on a website, but you’ll need to do some of your own digging to get the most out of free.
Libraries are one of the original homes of free. DVDs, CDs, magazines, books and in some cases ebooks – it’s all there! Many libraries allow you to suggest a purchase, which you can then reserve. Libraries often run free cultural events, such as author talks, that are listed on their websites; some hold free film screenings. And you can always peruse the daily paper in your local library if you don’t want the expense of buying it.
Local area websites. There are a growing number of websites dedicated to listing free events in local areas. For example, Weekend Notes lists free things to do in many Australian and New Zealand cities as well as East London, Edinburgh, New York and Singapore. If you’re in or going to London, there’s Free London events. White Hat lists events in Melbourne, many of them free. A simple Google check of free events in your area should throw up some sites; subscribe to their feeds for regular updates.
Museums. Museums are often free, or provide free admission to concession card holders. Don’t just restrict yourself to your state or regional museums – smaller specialist museums can offer interesting cultural experiences. In Melbourne, for example, the Immigration Museum, the Melbourne Museum and Scienceworks are free for children and concession card holders.
Universities. Become a polymath by attending the many free public lectures that unis hold throughout the academic year, covering a huge range of subjects from theatre in ancient Athens and the impact of the GFC to how to build a sustainable city. Online faculty events-calendars and newsletters are good places to start your search.
Galleries. Large state galleries often have a number of free exhibitions as well as paying ones. They also often hold free floor talks – check websites for details. Small galleries offer challenging and fascinating art that you can view for nothing. Pinpoint a few in one area and go on a gallery crawl.
Local councils may offer many types of free events. They sometimes run free fitness classes. My local council, for example, offers free yoga, chi gong and tai chi classes, in parks during summer and indoors during winter. In 2011 it ran workshops and presentations on how to keep chickens, how to create edible gardens, and gardening in small spaces. Melbourne City Council has just announced it will run free dance classes monthly in the City Square or similar venue. Some councils offer free business networking events.
Many local councils also hold free outdoor concerts and cultural events during the warmer months.
Local festivals often include a host of free entertainment, talks and workshops.
Meet-ups. Meetup is an online bulletin board for events and gatherings of all stripes taking place in dozens of places across the world. Not all of the events are free; some are workshops and classes, and some group outings cost money, but there are cafe meet-ups where you only pay for what you consume. Start your own meet-up!
Informal business networking meet-ups that aren’t organised for profit don’t necessarily cost anything apart from what you buy at the cafe or bar. For example, Flying Solo, a website for Australia’s microbusiness community, provides a forum for its members to organise informal meet-ups in their local area.
Bookstores often hold free author talks and book launches – you might score some cheap wine and munchies if you’re lucky.
Free film websites. Word-of-mouth is a vital means by which film distribution companies advertise their offerings. Preview screenings of films can now be accessed on the web from sites such as GetScreening.com and SeeFilmFirst.
City parks sometimes hold free events in summer such as free guided walks. For example, the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne offers a free Summer Discovery Walk.
Neighbourhood houses sometimes run free or very cheap classes - check the websites of those in your local area.
Until next time!
Read More
Things You Get for Free: Making the Most of Free Events in Your Area
Freebies are everywhere. If you’re trying to live frugally, making freebies a key part of your arsenal can boost your savings as well as adding fun to your life.
Taking advantage of freebies doesn’t mean you never pay for entertainment or luxuries. On the contrary: it can help ‘free up’ the necessary funds to splurge on higher priced events and items that enrich your life: theatre tickets, a ride in a hot air balloon, a gorgeous sustainable garment for a special event.
Below I’ve identified many great sources of regular freebies. Sometimes freebies will be listed on a website, but you’ll need to do some of your own digging to get the most out of free.
Libraries are one of the original homes of free. DVDs, CDs, magazines, books and in some cases ebooks – it’s all there! Many libraries allow you to suggest a purchase, which you can then reserve. Libraries often run free cultural events, such as author talks, that are listed on their websites; some hold free film screenings. And you can always peruse the daily paper in your local library if you don’t want the expense of buying it.
Local area websites. There are a growing number of websites dedicated to listing free events in local areas. For example, Weekend Notes lists free things to do in many Australian and New Zealand cities as well as East London, Edinburgh, New York and Singapore. If you’re in or going to London, there’s Free London events. White Hat lists events in Melbourne, many of them free. A simple Google check of free events in your area should throw up some sites; subscribe to their feeds for regular updates.
Museums. Museums are often free, or provide free admission to concession card holders. Don’t just restrict yourself to your state or regional museums – smaller specialist museums can offer interesting cultural experiences. In Melbourne, for example, the Immigration Museum, the Melbourne Museum and Scienceworks are free for children and concession card holders.
Universities. Become a polymath by attending the many free public lectures that unis hold throughout the academic year, covering a huge range of subjects from theatre in ancient Athens and the impact of the GFC to how to build a sustainable city. Online faculty events-calendars and newsletters are good places to start your search.
Galleries. Large state galleries often have a number of free exhibitions as well as paying ones. They also often hold free floor talks – check websites for details. Small galleries offer challenging and fascinating art that you can view for nothing. Pinpoint a few in one area and go on a gallery crawl.
Local councils may offer many types of free events. They sometimes run free fitness classes. My local council, for example, offers free yoga, chi gong and tai chi classes, in parks during summer and indoors during winter. In 2011 it ran workshops and presentations on how to keep chickens, how to create edible gardens, and gardening in small spaces. Melbourne City Council has just announced it will run free dance classes monthly in the City Square or similar venue. Some councils offer free business networking events.
Many local councils also hold free outdoor concerts and cultural events during the warmer months.
Local festivals often include a host of free entertainment, talks and workshops.
Meet-ups. Meetup is an online bulletin board for events and gatherings of all stripes taking place in dozens of places across the world. Not all of the events are free; some are workshops and classes, and some group outings cost money, but there are cafe meet-ups where you only pay for what you consume. Start your own meet-up!
Informal business networking meet-ups that aren’t organised for profit don’t necessarily cost anything apart from what you buy at the cafe or bar. For example, Flying Solo, a website for Australia’s microbusiness community, provides a forum for its members to organise informal meet-ups in their local area.
Bookstores often hold free author talks and book launches – you might score some cheap wine and munchies if you’re lucky.
Free film websites. Word-of-mouth is a vital means by which film distribution companies advertise their offerings. Preview screenings of films can now be accessed on the web from sites such as GetScreening.com and SeeFilmFirst.
City parks sometimes hold free events in summer such as free guided walks. For example, the Royal Botanical Gardens in Melbourne offers a free Summer Discovery Walk.
Neighbourhood houses sometimes run free or very cheap classes - check the websites of those in your local area.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like How to Be Frugal when Your Friends Aren’t and Be a Creative Stinge – 12 Great Tips for Cutting Your Spending and Saving Money.
1/29/12
Labels:
frugality
,
Leisure shopping
,
Mindfulness
,
Psychology of shopping
,
Saving money
,
Secondhand goods
The latest edition of The Inspired Shopper is now available! If you haven't bought it already, this is a great time to buy. You can buy it cheaply and easily on the Amazon website. At only $2.99 it's an absolute steal. I'll keep it at this price for the time being, but I may put it back to its original price, $5.99, in the future.
If ethical shopping, decluttering, thrifting and saving money are the theory, then Inspired Shopping is the practice. Whatever the changes you want to make to the way you buy, they start with a willingness to slow down and listen to yourself, and an openness to the unexpected. This mindset is what Inspired Shopping can help you achieve.
This brand new edition contains more advice for conscious shoppers than ever before. It fully incorporates the smartphone and internet as part of Inspired Shopping. There's more information on making the shift to ethical shopping and ethical fashion on a budget, and loads of up-to-the-minute resources for thrifty, frugal and fair shopping. There's also commonsense advice on:
saving money
decluttering
knowing your consumer rights
shopping safely on the internet
giving inspired gifts
buying an appliance, car and even a house
supermarket shopping
shopping with children, friends and your partner
shopping for those with 'too much' money.
If you've bought earlier editions of The Inspired Shopper, I'm happy to send you a mobi file (ie suitable for the Kindle) of the latest version. Just drop me a line at caetem@yahoo.com and I'll explain how to provide verification.
Not quite sure but intrigued? Here's some more info about what's in the book and how to buy it.
Until next time!
Read More
Fully Updated Edition of The Inspired Shopper Now Available!
The latest edition of The Inspired Shopper is now available! If you haven't bought it already, this is a great time to buy. You can buy it cheaply and easily on the Amazon website. At only $2.99 it's an absolute steal. I'll keep it at this price for the time being, but I may put it back to its original price, $5.99, in the future.
If ethical shopping, decluttering, thrifting and saving money are the theory, then Inspired Shopping is the practice. Whatever the changes you want to make to the way you buy, they start with a willingness to slow down and listen to yourself, and an openness to the unexpected. This mindset is what Inspired Shopping can help you achieve.
This brand new edition contains more advice for conscious shoppers than ever before. It fully incorporates the smartphone and internet as part of Inspired Shopping. There's more information on making the shift to ethical shopping and ethical fashion on a budget, and loads of up-to-the-minute resources for thrifty, frugal and fair shopping. There's also commonsense advice on:
saving money
decluttering
knowing your consumer rights
shopping safely on the internet
giving inspired gifts
buying an appliance, car and even a house
supermarket shopping
shopping with children, friends and your partner
shopping for those with 'too much' money.
If you've bought earlier editions of The Inspired Shopper, I'm happy to send you a mobi file (ie suitable for the Kindle) of the latest version. Just drop me a line at caetem@yahoo.com and I'll explain how to provide verification.
Not quite sure but intrigued? Here's some more info about what's in the book and how to buy it.
Until next time!
1/3/12
Labels:
Budget shopping
,
Fashion
,
frugality
,
Saving money
Happy new year! It has come to the attention of this blogger (okay, probably at least a year after the fact!) that a 'new' trend is on the rise – the 'tuck-in'. It's now officially okay – in fact downright fashionable – to tuck shirts and T-shirts into jeans and other casual pants, as tightly as you want, and, if you so wish, without a belt in sight. This is great news for the frugal and fashionable.
For years tuck-ins were usually loose, had to include a belt, and as far as I'm aware (I'm happy to be proved wrong) weren't done if the pants were skinny or straight. Now any kind of tuck-in is de rigeur, and the belt-less tuck-in with skinnies is particularly favoured. And you can tuck in as tightly or loosely as you want.
Pants can be seventies flares, skinnies, tapered in the nineties style, 'boyfriend' and cargo shapes, including ultra-baggy, and even middle-of-the-road tailored flares.
Footwear is versatile but includes comfy brogues and oxfords.
For a preppie look, tuck in a T-shirt or fitted shirt into skinny jeans as shown below. (A tight-fitting short-sleeved shirt would add to the preppiness.)
For a fifties girlie look, tuck a T-shirt, shirt or sleeveless top into a pair of capris or rolled-up skinny jeans (a gingham shirt is particularly retro).
For a retro seventies look, tuck a shirt (especially one with a tie) into high-waisted seventies flares.
The tuck-in goes well with various kinds of skirts, including buttoned skirts.
Read More
The Tuck-In – A Versatile Look for the Frugally Fashionable
For years tuck-ins were usually loose, had to include a belt, and as far as I'm aware (I'm happy to be proved wrong) weren't done if the pants were skinny or straight. Now any kind of tuck-in is de rigeur, and the belt-less tuck-in with skinnies is particularly favoured. And you can tuck in as tightly or loosely as you want.
Pants can be seventies flares, skinnies, tapered in the nineties style, 'boyfriend' and cargo shapes, including ultra-baggy, and even middle-of-the-road tailored flares.
Footwear is versatile but includes comfy brogues and oxfords.
For a preppie look, tuck in a T-shirt or fitted shirt into skinny jeans as shown below. (A tight-fitting short-sleeved shirt would add to the preppiness.)
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For a fifties girlie look, tuck a T-shirt, shirt or sleeveless top into a pair of capris or rolled-up skinny jeans (a gingham shirt is particularly retro).
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You can easily dress up the tuck-in with heels.
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The tuck-in goes well with various kinds of skirts, including buttoned skirts.
In fact, if you're trying to get the most out of your existing wardrobe, the tuck-in has some great things going for it:
* It gives a new look to your stuff. It's amazing how tucking something in can create novelty - novelty is what shoppers crave, and why we always want to buy new clothes.
* It makes some pieces work together that otherwise wouldn't.
* It's particularly suited to shirts and may give new life to some shirts that you hadn't got around to getting rid of. You could also buy boys or men's shirts from the op (thrift) shop and tuck them in.
* You can create some retro looks very easily, without significant outlay.
* You don't have to worry about your waistline. Okay, so the tuck-in can seem unforgiving. But you don't have to tuck in tight. A loose tuck-in for the tummy challenged (ie virtually everyone over the age of 25!) can be very flattering, especially in the case of low-waisted jeans.
* There's huge versatility in the tuck-in. You can tuck in to low or high waists to create different looks, as the pics above show.
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Wanted – An Annie Hall for the 2000s and An Op Shop Find Transformed by the Needle!
11/24/11
Labels:
Bargains
,
Budget shopping
,
Clutter
,
frugality
,
Materialism
,
Saving money
Out of the ashes of the GFC and the continuing economic malaise have risen two huge consumer movements that are now burgeoning – simple living and thrifting. They’re part of what is being dubbed ‘the new economy’ – a wholistic approach to the acquiring and exchanging of goods that involves cooperation, community building, and a commitment to both environmental sustainability and workers’ rights.
Yet despite their common provenance, these two movements can sometimes seem at odds. While one is about shedding unnecessary goods and opting for minimalism and simplicity, the other is focused on the excitement and money-saving benefits of hunting out secondhand bargains. Can they be reconciled?
Simple living and decluttering
Not only that, but thrifting has been transformed for good (and for the better) by a combination of the internet and the rise of sustainable fashion. Fashion savvy, ethically minded young (and not so young) women have embraced traditional craft skills, refashioning and upcycling their thrift store finds, whether they’re taking the sleeves off a dress and adding a piece of black lace to the neck, shabby chic-ing a desk or cabinet, or turning a tablecloth into a gorgeous retro apron. Then, true to Gen Y imperatives, they share information about their upcycling through blogs and Twitter.
And while there will always be a place for serendipity in thrifting, there’s been an internet-inspired explosion in information about it. Not only guides on how to do it (some of the information incredibly specific), but where to go and, as mentioned above, what to do with the stuff once you’ve got it.
What powers thrifting, then, is often quite different from the force behind decluttering. For the crafty, thrifting is inspired by creativity, and for the ethically minded, it’s a greener, kinder alternative to buying new. But what also drives it is the desire to find a bargain – a desire that seems hardwired into the human brain.
A 2010 study found that the level of excitement that shoppers feel when they are faced with special offers is the same as they feel from sexual arousal. Apparently bargains give our brains the same level of excitement they get from sex.
Reconciling thrifting and decluttering
But the thrill of thrift-store bargain hunting may lead to pitfalls. Because thrifting is so cheap and there are so many bargains available, frequent thrifting could be a recipe for recluttering. How to reconcile the message of simplicity with the joy of finding a bargain?
Beth Dargis, who teaches groups and individuals skills in simple living and runs the My Simpler Life website, understands why thrifting is so popular. ‘It’s wonderful in that you can get things more inexpensively,’ she says. ‘Things with character and a history. Plus, people aren’t buying new things that cost money and environmental resources to generate.’
But she agrees that ‘Thrifting can be dangerous if it becomes “the thrill of the hunt”.
‘If you buy things you don’t need because it’s a fantastic deal and you feel like you made a grand bargain, thrifting may need to be put on hold for a bit.
‘It’s also a trap for people that like to collect things. Some people have so many collections there is no place to live in the house.’
Beth suggests that dedicated collectors could set an upper limit on the size of their collections, ‘and when you reach it, one piece of the collection needs to go before getting any more.’
It seems important, then, to apply the same skills to buying used goods as we increasingly do to buying new ones. There’s bound to be a raft of bargains when we go to the thrift store, and there’s simply no need to snap up every bargain we find. Some bargains really are meant for other people.
And of course, there are plenty of way to get rid of excess goods, thrifted or not, as long as they’re in decent condition – selling them on Etsy and eBay, donating them to a thrift store, or giving them away on websites such as Ziilch or through the freecycling community.
So yes, it’s possible to be a thrifty declutterer and a minimalist thrifter – it just takes a wee bit of knowledge, a soupcon of willpower, a dash of intuition, and a dose of shopping savvy!
Read More
Thrifting and Decluttering - Are They Compatible?
As Buy Nothing Day approaches, it’s time to look at two movements that both aim to change consumer shopping habits but seem diametrically opposed.
Out of the ashes of the GFC and the continuing economic malaise have risen two huge consumer movements that are now burgeoning – simple living and thrifting. They’re part of what is being dubbed ‘the new economy’ – a wholistic approach to the acquiring and exchanging of goods that involves cooperation, community building, and a commitment to both environmental sustainability and workers’ rights.
Yet despite their common provenance, these two movements can sometimes seem at odds. While one is about shedding unnecessary goods and opting for minimalism and simplicity, the other is focused on the excitement and money-saving benefits of hunting out secondhand bargains. Can they be reconciled?
Simple living and decluttering
Simple living is about simplifying one’s lifestyle and is sometimes linked to sustainability. It has been advocated for centuries and was popularised by Thoreau as far back as 1854. Its modern incarnation is partly a reaction to the excessive materialism that the manufacturing boom and easy access to credit brought about in the nineties and noughties.
In fact, some of us have so much junk that we are living in bigger houses than we need to partly to accommodate it. A UK survey reported in 2010 found that ‘The amount of rarely used items owned by an average Briton has doubled in the past three decades to fill 3,370 cubic feet’. The survey found that all that unnecessary clutter was typically taking up an area worth over £70,000.
In fact, some of us have so much junk that we are living in bigger houses than we need to partly to accommodate it. A UK survey reported in 2010 found that ‘The amount of rarely used items owned by an average Briton has doubled in the past three decades to fill 3,370 cubic feet’. The survey found that all that unnecessary clutter was typically taking up an area worth over £70,000.
As a response to this, a key aspect of simple living is getting rid of excess goods – junk that is not only useless, but actually impedes quality of life because it takes up space, time and energy. This is achieved through the process of decluttering. The aim is to acquire only those things that have lasting value. This has led to the idea of domestic downsizing – moving to a smaller house or apartment while shedding the unwanted goods.
But decluttering isn’t against consumerism per se. Rather, it’s about ensuring that the goods we acquire for pleasure actually improve our lives rather than complicating them. The unclutterer website stresses that:
But decluttering isn’t against consumerism per se. Rather, it’s about ensuring that the goods we acquire for pleasure actually improve our lives rather than complicating them. The unclutterer website stresses that:
Living beyond one’s basic needs becomes a problem only when the accumulation of property becomes a source of stress rather than enjoyment ... finding balance is difficult for many because purchasing and accumulating can be effortless, while planning ahead and organizing takes effort.
The rise of thrifting
Thrifting, like decluttering, is hardly new – for our ancestors who lived during the two world wars and the Great Depression, making the most of secondhand goods was an absolute necessity. But the recession has led to a thrift store boom.
Not only that, but thrifting has been transformed for good (and for the better) by a combination of the internet and the rise of sustainable fashion. Fashion savvy, ethically minded young (and not so young) women have embraced traditional craft skills, refashioning and upcycling their thrift store finds, whether they’re taking the sleeves off a dress and adding a piece of black lace to the neck, shabby chic-ing a desk or cabinet, or turning a tablecloth into a gorgeous retro apron. Then, true to Gen Y imperatives, they share information about their upcycling through blogs and Twitter.
And while there will always be a place for serendipity in thrifting, there’s been an internet-inspired explosion in information about it. Not only guides on how to do it (some of the information incredibly specific), but where to go and, as mentioned above, what to do with the stuff once you’ve got it.
What powers thrifting, then, is often quite different from the force behind decluttering. For the crafty, thrifting is inspired by creativity, and for the ethically minded, it’s a greener, kinder alternative to buying new. But what also drives it is the desire to find a bargain – a desire that seems hardwired into the human brain.
A 2010 study found that the level of excitement that shoppers feel when they are faced with special offers is the same as they feel from sexual arousal. Apparently bargains give our brains the same level of excitement they get from sex.
Since the recession, shoppers have become more determined and ruthlessly efficient when hunting out special deals. According to Pat Conroy, vice chairman of Deloitte LLP, shoppers treat finding a special deal as a game they play with stores and brands, in which they emerge the winners.
While he’s referring to consumers buying new products, the sense of shopping as a game is also often present in the comments of those who share their thrifted finds on Twitter.
While he’s referring to consumers buying new products, the sense of shopping as a game is also often present in the comments of those who share their thrifted finds on Twitter.
Reconciling thrifting and decluttering
But the thrill of thrift-store bargain hunting may lead to pitfalls. Because thrifting is so cheap and there are so many bargains available, frequent thrifting could be a recipe for recluttering. How to reconcile the message of simplicity with the joy of finding a bargain?
Beth Dargis, who teaches groups and individuals skills in simple living and runs the My Simpler Life website, understands why thrifting is so popular. ‘It’s wonderful in that you can get things more inexpensively,’ she says. ‘Things with character and a history. Plus, people aren’t buying new things that cost money and environmental resources to generate.’
But she agrees that ‘Thrifting can be dangerous if it becomes “the thrill of the hunt”.
‘If you buy things you don’t need because it’s a fantastic deal and you feel like you made a grand bargain, thrifting may need to be put on hold for a bit.
‘It’s also a trap for people that like to collect things. Some people have so many collections there is no place to live in the house.’
Beth suggests that dedicated collectors could set an upper limit on the size of their collections, ‘and when you reach it, one piece of the collection needs to go before getting any more.’
She gives the following advice on avoiding cluttering up the house with thrifted goods you don’t need. (This advice is equally applicable to buying new goods.)
Notice what you are buying for. How are you feeling emotionally when you buy something? Is it to make you feel better, more accepted, or to give you that shopper’s high? Or is it really useful? For it to be useful you need to ask these questions before buying:
1. Where will I put it?Thrifty minimalists, unite!
2. Do I have the money to buy it right now?
3. Do I already have something else that works?
4. How many times a year will I use it?
It seems important, then, to apply the same skills to buying used goods as we increasingly do to buying new ones. There’s bound to be a raft of bargains when we go to the thrift store, and there’s simply no need to snap up every bargain we find. Some bargains really are meant for other people.
And of course, there are plenty of way to get rid of excess goods, thrifted or not, as long as they’re in decent condition – selling them on Etsy and eBay, donating them to a thrift store, or giving them away on websites such as Ziilch or through the freecycling community.
So yes, it’s possible to be a thrifty declutterer and a minimalist thrifter – it just takes a wee bit of knowledge, a soupcon of willpower, a dash of intuition, and a dose of shopping savvy!
Until next time!
If you enjoyed this blog entry, you might also like Great Tips for Successful Op and Thrift Shopping and Clearing Out Clutter: A Goodbye Ritual for a Loved Object.
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