Looking at the stacks upon stacks of books my granddaughter has, I realize we have so many! She loves being read to and we love reading to her, but there are a lot of books we don't read, we always choose her or our favorites. Why are the other books here and why do I keep buying more? There are so many fun, delightful books, there is no reason to hold on to any that don't bring enjoyment.
The other morning I needed a berry bowl and when I opened the corner cupboard, the bottomless pit of jars and containers assaulted me. I almost shut the door and reached for something else. I stopped myself and thought, "Why do I have it, if I am not going to use it? And why, when I want to use it, don't I have it in a place that is easy to get to?" Why do I have so much crap? This isn't the first time I have gone to get something and didn't want to be bothered with getting it because it was buried behind something else.
Amazon is my shopping paradise. Anything and everything is there and after I check prices, I run to Ebay to check prices, then do a google search to make sure it isn't cheaper anywhere else. All of my information is on file, so check-out is a breeze at multiple places or I use Paypal, also easy. I think if I had to enter my information each time, I wouldn't buy half the things I do. The companies know this. My purchases tend to be impulse buys and I nickle and dime myself to death by buying a little of this, a little of that. It's just too easy. But here's the catch, I don't need anything. I mean, nothing.
Craft supplies for oodles of crafts with the kids and myself fill drawers and dresser tops. I have enough socks to last me until I am dead. I have piles of jewelry and always end up wearing the same 3 or 4 pieces. I have make-up in boxes under my sink and barely wear much more than eye make-up and a little lip color. I have clothes for every season. I have gadgets and gizmos in the kitchen for cooking or baking multiple different ways, many which sit collecting dust while I grab my old standby pot. We have DVDs filling shelf after shelf and watch Netflix. I have hundreds of unread books and many I have read on every subject I have ever been interested in, both fact and fiction, but I continue to buy more.
I have finally come to the realization I don't need anything else. I have everything I could ever want and then some. So why do I keep buying? I do love the thrill of the hunt, finding the best price, the best quality and I do love getting "presents" in the mail, no matter what it is. But once I have the object, do I use it or does it get added to my pile of stuff? Sadly, I can say I buy and then bury the majority of what I purchase. Or maybe I organize it away for later, with later happening, like never.
I have decided 2019 is going to be a year where I make some changes. No more purchasing unless it has been previously used or is consumable. Consumable includes food, toilet paper, health products, soap, glue, etc. You, lucky reader, get to witness this and hold me accountable. The reason I am adding used items is:
#1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
#2. If I am doing a project and an item is needed, I could most likely find it used somewhere.
#3. If an item breaks that we use, I want to be able to replace it or buy the parts to fix it.
#4. I might go crazy buying absolutely nothing. (I am being honest.)
I must admit, I plan to add to my goat herd after fencing is complete. We are working towards our agricultural exemption and goats are our primary plan. We aren't very quick with projects, so it might not happen in 2019. I'm just giving you a heads up.
I will be using up what I have, creating gifts in the kitchen and with my crafting supplies, enjoying my things, finding new ways to use them and fixing what I have. I will be donating or giving away items I do not use and making room to conveniently store and retrieve the items I want to use. I will be striving to eat less processed foods and more homemade whole food entrees and snacks, hopefully using a large portion of food from our garden I plan to redirect a portion of my time to. I hope you will join me on my journey of buying less and living more.
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