Blog Update!
For those of you not following me on Facebook, as of the Summer of 2019 I've moved to Central WA, to a tiny mountain town of less than 1,000 people.

I will be covering my exploits here in the Cascades, as I try to further reduce my impact on the environment. With the same attitude, just at a higher altitude!

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Buy Nothing Sunday Confessional - Week 2

Buy Nothing Sunday ConfessionalForgive me people, for I have spent. This last week has been much better than the first week. I did end up buying some pajamas for the kids, but only because they were 40% off plus an additional 15% and they outgrew all their other pajamas. I could have tried to find some at the local thrift stores, but previous experience has shown that there are never any pajamas available in the size and/or style I'm looking for.

What else? Emma needed a backpack and lunch container for Kindergarten, so that was bought. We also went out to some local coffee shops for coffee and to lunch twice (local establishments) while we were working from home. Which means we have to be away from the house since the kids are home. So, buying coffee to get free WiFi is kinda part of the deal for not commuting all the way downtown on those days. I sort of figure that's a wash. The library is only open a few hours on those days, but as soon as it opens we take full advantage of it.

The only other non-essential thing I bought was a bottle of wine for my cast party last Monday. But, it's Washington Wine Month, so I bought (well, I always do) a local wine to bring. More info on the cast party and green makeover show to come, so stay tuned. Yes, I got the part! The show will be total hoot and I'm very excited to make this show as educational and entertaining as possible.

Anyway, I am definitely paying more attention to what I buy and don't buy because of the challenge. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean that the hubs isn't taking up the slack on purchases, but there's only so much I can do about that one.

Sooo... how was your week?

30 comments:

Robj98168 said...

Spent- I have. I bought Romeo an antler chew. Adn I bought some 1X2 and some cable clamps to redo a chair into a wodden chair . I bought the chair a Value Village. And I bought some office supplies and stuf to make 3 trophies for our upcomaing car show in September, but I will be eimbursed for that. COFFEE MOST EVERYMORNING AT A LOCAL COFFee place, and bought lunch today and yesterday got lunch bought for me!

Manda said...

Forgive me Crunchy for I have spent. Something about me and food, I just can't stay away. It was that chocolate lemon cheesecake, and the day I didn't pack my lunch but all in all not too bad.

Sandy said...

Forgive me, Crunchy, for I have spent. I bought a big bottle of castor oil to make some goat milk soap. Apart from groceries, I think that's it this week. Not so bad...

knutty knitter said...

I haven't had time to buy anything this week!

viv in nz

Farmer's Daughter said...

Congrats on the part! I can't wait to hear more.

I haven't bought anything this week... actually I called the cable company to reduce channels and knocked $30/month off our bill. (I just can't go TV-less.)

I'll probably do some back to school shopping in the coming week, though.

FernWise said...

I didn't spend. No $.

But I AM going to have spawn go thru' his wardrobe this week and get rid of all the stuff that is really really seedy. Then it will be off to Goodwill for replacements.

Spawn still hasn't opened the package of undies I got him for Yule - I could only afford tighty whities, and he only wants the more fashionable and more expensive boxers. He turns red and won't answer me when I ask who will see the more fashionable stuff....

Frondly, Fern

Tina Cardone said...

I too bought a few items of clothing, but I needed them and they were on super duper sale (25% of original price). Other than that just groceries. I was so thrilled to find fresh local strawberries in August that I keep telling everyone about it. So delicious.

Jennifer said...

I find this Challenge very interesting.
I live in the country, far from almost any type of shop that isn't food related.
I hardly ever buy clothes, gadgets, salon services, etc., so other than groceries, fuel and the annual vet appointment for the dogs and cats, no spending here!

Now if there were a bookstore close by, that would be difficult to pass up! :)

Bravo to you all!

Heather said...

A better week for me. No spending on non-essential things. I bought only groceries and a new toner for my printer (essential as I work at home). I hope to continue this next week!

TheNormalMiddle said...

I caved and took the kids to a science museum and it cost $29 but it was an all day adventure and we LOVED it. It was also our last outing since i return to work/school tomorrow.

Beyond that I did pretty good!

Allie said...

I bought my weekly pack of cigarettes (which actually comes out of my food budget), and I forgot to bring dinner to work last night, so I bought a baked potato. Plus the cat's food. That was the grand sum of my spending this week. So, the only "illegal" spending I did was the baked potato. Didn't buy groceries this week again; trying to just eat out of the pantry to see just how cheap I really can make August.

Pam said...

This week I started strong, but the stress of an exam led to a few nonessential food purchases. A much needed study break took me to the vending machine even though I had snacks in my desk. My desire for a quick and easy dinner the night before the exam left me without leftovers for lunch, so I bought lunch one day. My inability to throw together a lunch was mostly backfiring of my plan to not buy groceries until I had finished some of the stuff I had on hand. I have now bought groceries and should be able to avoid buying any more lunches.

The 4 Bushel Farmgal said...

Everyone else did so good this week, and I was so bad! I hang my head in shame...
I took a road trip to visit my grandkiddies, so I spent a lot of money on gas, food, and I spent $17 in second-hand stores.
I'll be doing penance this week with tomato sandwiches and homemade lemonade in my kleen kanteen.

Congratulations on getting the gig! We're all looking forward to this.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, this is always my problem with these Buy Nothing challenges -- I can't help but feel that there's nothing wrong with buying something, as long as it's supporting a person or company who's doing something good. So buying a rain barrel, vintage clothes, organic local wine, all-natural cosmetics even -- these things I think are just fine and should be encouraged. On my end, well, other than groceries I've been pretty good -- the only thing I've actually purchased recently was a couple of tickets to the symphony for my mom's birthday... but does that even count as consumerism? I mean, what's the carbon footprint of the symphony? Can't be THAT big, other than the air conditioning required to cool the music hall. Sigh.

Mama Bean said...

No spending here.
We're renovation the kitchen next week though... I don't think we'll make it through that without purchasing liberally.

Erika said...

Spent - food... at work mostly, but we did have dinner out once this week (does it count if we *planned* to eat out?)... I also bought some tomato cages at a garage sale for 50cents, a big planter for 10 cents, and a huge bag full of sewing notions and embroidery thread for a dollar... As for next week... more spending planned - time to stock up on school supplies for the future (I'm a teacher without a classroom.....), and frankly, when I'm stocking up for unknown future classroom(s), I'm going for the best deal, and not what I would personally purchase (things like notebook paper, glue, pencils, colored pencils, crayons, comp books, etc. - I'd purchase recycled materials, environmentally friendly glue, non-petrol based crayons, etc.)...

--Erika

Unknown said...

We have kinda given up on the set rules. It's been a stressful past few weeks, so we bought dinner 2 times in the past week because both of us were too tired and just plain frustrated to cook for ourselves.


We are going to be continuing but just as a "buy nothing new challenge"

Tel said...

I bought some cookware from a Chefs Toolbox (akin to a Tupperware party for bakeware...) but will put it to use for making things at home and not buying the crap I do at work. Like I have the past week... Ah well, have managed to not buy any books or stuff from my favourite online eco store. It
's been hard :(

SongbirdSisters said...

Ummmm....I bought a car this week. It was a planned purchase, though! And it gets better mileage with cheaper insurance than my old car so it's eco and wallet friendly. Buying the car involved a small road trip soo.....I pretty much stunk this week. I shall do better this week!

Anonymous said...

I did well - one planned purchase of shelves for all the models/sculpture my kids make - been looking for about 6 months for the right ones at the right price and found them. 1 family dinner out, groceries and some laundry detergent. Other than that we've been cleaning out rooms and closets - trying to get ready for school.

Billie said...

Oops. I completely forgot about the challenge.

I bought - 4 plant pots. One to pot an african violet that needs to be removed from its water before it dies. One to repot the poor spider plant whose pot was broke last year. I shoved it into an old plastic pot last year. And 2 pots for herbs. Along with that came soil for the repotting and fertilizers for my poor plants. All this was absolutely a no-no. I have absolutely sinned here.

We went to the local agricultural fair this weekend. We spent 70$ for the 4 of us to get in (27$), eat, buy a few trinkets for the kids and take a couple of rides. I don't feel terribly guilty about this as it was for family fun. And how do you give up not doing this when it is a once-a-year event?

Cave-Woman said...

Yep. Bought something.
I bought a nut-milk bag so I can strain the material I'm putting through the blender. So----This will, hopefully, keep me from making a big, expensive purchase of a juicer.


So----when and where will your show be on the air?

I'm looking forward to seeing it.

SusanB said...

I was doing pretty well until Sunday -- only a book about wild plants preordered early last month and movie tickets on Friday night because we needed an airconditioned getaway. But alas, Sunday we had to go to a funeral which was very close to an area where we go two or three times a year to shop for speciality groceries/big box/ and retail sales. . . and I bought -- very well made cotton blazer and a linen top - I rarely buy clothes, candied ginger for my mom, a book (about preserving food), a refillable grill lighter (so my partner will quit using the plastic ones), a wooden spatula, window box brackets for the deck, a bunch of used DVDs, plus some groceries (but not the ones I really was looking for here) and facial tissues. Total disregard of Buy Nothing in the interest of maximizing the car trip. Sigh.

Adrienne said...

Let's see... other than farmer's market and grocery store purchases, I bought a plastic bin to turn into a compost bin. I think the fact that it'll keep all my veggie scraps out of the trash justifies it. Also bought three used paperback novels. Oh, almost forgot, a lamp to replace the one that the cats knocked over and broke into a million pieces at 6:30 on Sunday morning. That wasn't planned or fun.

Anonymous said...

Well, I did buy the kids a few clothes as they have grown out of so much and DS literally only had one pair of shoes. OK and a totally unnecessary bottle of nail polish for my daughter and me to share.

I used to be addicted to shopping on Amazon but am totally boycotting them now since they are selling synthetic urine to be used for drug testing. Isn't the point of drug testing to keep doped up long haul truckers off the road (among other safety issues)? I just find it to be morally absent and am going to not shop there anymore. As liberal a person as I am, this one just seems wrong.

Lisa

On the good side it will keep me from buying as much since I do love books.

Lisa

LynnieBee said...

I was better this week, went out to lunch once, but that's it. I'm moving next week, and since I'm trying to get rid of all of my perishable food, I'll probably be eating out a lot in my final pre-move days, but I'll try to keep it minimal...

Radioactive Duck said...

Forgive me Crunch for I have spent. My weakness is food, but I was able to curb it this week and only ate out twice on my own dime and twice on my grandparent's dime. I also managed to drive from Virginia to Florida and back and only spend around $30 no on gas. The biggest purchase was a gift for my sister that she asked me to pick up. Not bad for a 16 hour car trip.

Greenjoycie said...

We took a pre-planned vacation day to a water park. We brought lunch but did go out for dinner on the way home. This is a tradition with me and my sister, and it happened to fall in August. The only other thing I bought was a "stain stick" from Etsy. It is made without plastic so I can stop buying the plastic ones. Hopefully it will work as well. That's all

Jenette said...

So with the son and hubby b-day ... it has been a rough spending week. Cake was bought and paper plates -frown- but they have been in the house for about 3 years. We did request use books or no gifts ... but I will be buying a swing for our swing set. Hubby wants a cake and a Garmin. The baby shower I bought favors but they are hand made soap :).

Jenni said...

I am late! I had to get soccer stuff at the Bullseye (yikes), and I picked up some (practical) gear. Then, there was a Barnes and Noble trip where I got one workbook for each kid, and some eco friendly Faber Castell school supplies. Have bought 3 mags all month: used to buy two a week! Looking for someone to swap magazines with! I've been doing good since then!