The Compact - Halfway!

I've made it halfway through my year of The Compact. I'd say it is still going pretty well. The reality for me is that I don't really buy much to begin with. This whole exercise has just stopped me from buying clothes and shoes and makeup and perfume and nail polish really. It has made me much more cognisant of what I buy and where it comes from. And it makes me much more creative in justifying why I've made a purchase that may be borderline against the purpose of the Compact. Like the manicure and pedicure I got just a few weeks before having Iain. It's probably against the Compact since it uses nail polish and other resources that aren't the best for the environment, but I really "needed" it and it helped me to relax and momentarily feel pretty -- even if I did end up taking off the nail polish on my hands within a few hours since I picked a color that looked like white out instead of a nice, neutral, natural color. That didn't help my argument any.

And while Rick has been off work for two weeks to help with the baby and just get a break, we've spent a lot of that time shopping because Rick finally had time to get a few things that we "needed" --or that he's been wanting for awhile now but not had time to find as of yet. The question is, did we "need" them? Not really. But he wanted them and I didn't disagree since he isn't doing The Compact and I'm happy that they are helping us get our house organized. For instance, he bought a new carpet runner for the hallway to make Ada's incessant runs from one end of the house to the other be a bit more muffled --for a stretch of eight feet at least. And he finally found a DVD cabinet that will fit his extensive collection and have room for our board games too. This seemed like a better solution than having my distant relative custom make one in his garage out of all new materials.

Then there are my contributions to his buying spree. While at Ikea we got a salad spinner for $4. We were going to splurge on the collapsible one from Bed Bath and Beyond but it was $30. I considered this a "need" as far as The Compact goes since I keep having to throw out salad greens we get from our CSA because I am not good enough at cleaning and drying them so they don't go bad. I'm working on it but the spinner will surely help. I did try to convince him that he "needed" a santoku knife while we were at Ikea, but he didn't fall for that one. It isn't something he needs at all since he didn't know what it was, and we have a set of knives including a chef's knife (they are interchangeable) so "need" didn't even factor into the decision in the slightest.

While at Ikea, we did "need" to eat and Iain "needed" a nap so we made him a makeshift space at our table and enjoyed a nice lunch without breaking any of the rules of The Compact.Then Rick wrapped him up like a burrito and we went on our merry way.

The only other thing I can think of that I bought this past month was a pair of sunglasses for Ada. She "needed" them to protect her eyes since she was going camping with Grandma Ba and Grandpa Rich in Wisconsin for 10 days. I also bought her sunblock. And I feel no guilt for buying either one.

Moral of the story: After six months, The Compact gets to be second nature and becomes mildly annoying as you wait for the end of the year to arrive. But it's a worthy exercise and offers much insight into your consumer habits.

The Compact Update

Thanks to my sponsors, I have no need to buy anything. Between Rick, my mom and his mom, this is just too easy. Not to mention all of the friends who have loaned me maternity clothing.

Rick bought me a hanging basket to store all of the fruits and veggies I now buy. I helped him pick it out at World Market for about $8. He got the hardware and installed it next to the sink. So sweet of him.

Grandmas DD and Ba have collectively spoiled all of us. Knowing they are going to buy stuff for Ada one way or another, I’ve given in and started making suggestions like, “Ada could use a pair of Crocs for the Summer” and shortly thereafter, a pair of Crocs in her size magically appear…along with clothes and stuff for BB and snacks and goodies. I can’t control what they buy but I can try to point them in the right direction and keep saying “less is more”. My new catchphrase is “Just because it’s only a dollar, of a few dollars, doesn’t mean you should buy it.” That isn’t justification of a “need”. That is marketing. It’s a sales trap you can easily avoid.

But I will say that the Grandmas are doing much better –or at least they have learned to pile it all on me at one time instead of trickling little things our way constantly- which has been proven to appear to be less even if it is the same amount. Maybe they are just reserving the flood of goodies for a future baby shower…

Barb has cut back on stuff she gets Ada and uses that excuse to buy us bigger items that we “need” for special events like our anniversary. She bought us a new air conditioner for our 8 year wedding anniversary, which is now fully functional and works really well. (Thanks for that!) And our very own pre-loved double stroller that counts as her baby shower gift. We tested it out this weekend and it worked beautifully. I’ll start being concerned when she starts making up special events like “It’s a full moon so I just had to get you this…” Until then, I’m proud.

DD is still buying more stuff for her granddaughters than I even imagined, but she is also getting more hand me downs and bringing things that she has duplicates of at the house. She’s also receptive when I tell her we don’t need things or won’t use them and she’s willing to pass them on to someone who will so they don’t clutter my house.

I am feeling slightly guilty for requesting a baby pool for Ada from DD and Bobpa. But it is something she will really enjoy. I could just turn the hose on her but I’m thinking that will use more water than a pool and therefore be worse for the environment and the compact. Until then, we’ll share kiddie pools with our little buddy Hudson down the street.

Two things that worry me this month are baby showers and my birthday. Not that I’ll buy things for the baby showers, but that even though I’ve requested that a bunch of friends just go to brunch to celebrate with no gifts needed, I’m sure they can’t all resist an opportunity to shop for cute baby things. I get that. I’m just hopeful that the things are more thoughtful and make less of an impact on the world in some way, or are durable enough for me to pass on at some point.

My birthday is the real issue as I have three coupons on my desk that are just taunting me: Banana Republic $15, Victoria’s Secret $10, and DSW Shoe Warehouse $5. I don’t know if I should give them away, ask Rick if he wants to use them (to buy me gifts? That just isn’t right.) or recycle them. I hate seeing good coupons go bad though. That just seems wrong.

Oh, and the sneak attack…Father’s Day is coming up and, surely we can make Rick a card and cook him something nice, but I found this pair of earphones that would be more comfortable for him to wear since he spends a lot of time with his I pod. Tempting, but he doesn’t need them. I’ll hang on to the name of them and we can make that purchase when his others die or he can treat himself at some point.

Moral of the story: 5 months have passed and I really don’t miss buying things or the act of shopping.

The Compact Update

Rick is such a bad influence on me.

Surely I've mentioned how tough it is for me to not buy the Twilight New Moon DVD since I'm doing The Compact and committed to not buying anything new for the year. I first saw that it was available at Costco for $16 and passed it up like a good Compact-er should. Then I had hopes of being able to buy it in a few months once it went to the previously viewed section of the local video store. But the other day, as I was looking over our bank accounts I noticed a charge that seemed odd. I asked Rick about it and he said it was his Columbia House DVD club and he forgot to cancel this month's automatic shipment of the director's pick movie. By the time he went to select the option to refuse this month's selection, it was too late. His excuse was that he was thinking about adding more DVDs to the order and forgot. At first, I was really mad since the director's pick is always super expensive and you never get a deal on it. I started to reprimand him for being careless and wasting money since I just assumed we'd have to send it back and pay more for shipping. He quickly stopped me mid-sentence by admitting that this month's selection was the Twilight New Moon DVD. I pretended to be really upset and he pretended he'd be willing to send it back. Then I waiting patiently until it arrived in the mail and insisted on helping him open it, all the while offering to ship it back for him. He refused my offer on the basis that it would be even more expensive to return and we should just cut our losses. What a guy! I feel a tiny bit guilty, but it really wasn't my fault so I'm letting it slide this time.

The other tough part of The Compact this month was our trip to Minneapolis for my friend Cadence's wedding. You see, when I go to Minneapolis, I shop. It's what I do. They don't have sales tax on clothing and I live in Chicago where we have the highest or second highest sales tax in the nation at 10.25+%. It's beyond ridiculous here and I love a good deal so I tend to splurge whenever I'm in Minnesota. And, Cadence likes to shop so, it's our thing. Last time I went up to help her with wedding stuff, we were too busy to shop and I was good. This time, I tried to shop and even searched for a maternity resale store so that I'd be able to stay true to The Compact while filling a need for a bit more "big momma" clothes. So how did I do?

I succeeded at being good. I ended up buying one shirt that I'm not excited about but Rick says looks "cute". I was going for "hot momma" or "sexy" or "you don't even look pregnant" but instead I got "cute" and "comfortable". What do you expect? It was $6, with no sales tax, from the maternity resale store. As far as The Compact goes, I succeeded. As far as fixing the gaps in my wardrobe and making myself feel phenomenally awesome, I failed miserably.

The most painful part was following up that sad $6 shopping spree with a trip to the mall a few blocks away in which Rick was able to find two pair of dress shoes, a shoe horn, a dress shirt, matching tie, and a new suit. Seriously? He's making out like a bandit on my Compact commitment. Whatever money I've been saving by not shopping, he's been spending on updating his wardrobe. And I can't blame him. He only shops once every five year and gets a ton of wear out of his work clothes so I can't complain. Especially not when he gets 20+% off and doesn't pay sales tax. Nice. What's good for him is good for us both. It just isn't easy to sit back and watch him have all of the fun. Thankfully, my friend Jen got a few more maternity clothes back that she had loaned to her friend in Texas and they will add a much needed spark to my wardrobe for this final eight-week stretch -- and I'll admit her designer jeans do make my butt look good.

In other really-darn-lucky-me news, I was thoughtful enough to pack a back-up dress for the wedding "just in case". I don't know what made me do it but I listened to whatever it was and it turned out to be right. We drove all of the way up to Minneapolis to get into town with just enough time to check into our hotel room and change into our dress clothes for the rehearsal dinner when I realized that the original dress I had fit into just fine three weeks ago--not a maternity dress mind you--no longer fit and looked awful. I had the foresight to make sure black accessories would work with all dress options so it all turned out just fine in the end. Crisis averted. Good thing too since we didn't have any time to spare and I wasn't about to go shopping for a new dress to wear to the wedding. We later found out that I could have rented one from this maternity resale shop, but I think it would have been brown instead of black and you can just imagine the drama that would have created as I frantically searched for a pre-loved purse, shoes, sweater, and jewelry. It would not have been good at all.

Moral of the story: The Compact takes more time, more creative thinking and problem solving, a lot of supportive friends willing to lend you their stuff, a patient spouse, and a knack for planning ahead, but it is rewarding in the end knowing that you can do it.

The Compact Update

Another month of The Compact almost complete. My friend Amanda just made me buy covers for the knobs on our stove so Ada doesn't blow up the house. I consider them a necessity and an insurance policy more than a splurge so I don't think they break the intention of The Compact at all. If they do, again, I just say Rick bought them.

My biggest temptation of the month was at Costco of all places. They had the New Moon -Twilight Saga DVD that was just released for $17. I just saw it again today at Blockbuster for $27. But I resisted and hope to buy it once it goes into the "previously viewed" bin. Otherwise, Rick might just have to get it for me for my birthday or something. Maybe I can download it online instead of buying the DVD. I'm so addicted to the whole Twilight series it is kind of ridiculous. Oh well. There are worse guilty pleasures.

Victoria's Secret has also been tempting me with their Free Panty offers. I have been meaning to give them to friends but instead just have been letting them expire. It is really hard for me to pass up a free deal but I don't really need them and don't need to be tempted in that store anyway.

A visit to Minneapolis last weekend included a trip to Nordstroms, the Mall of America and a fabric store. Absolute torture, but again, I resisted. I bought an ice cream cone while my friend Cadence bought wedding shoes and other wedding essentials. It really wasn't so hard not to shop since I'm pregnant and only had a tiny suitcase with me.

My challenge now includes what to wear to Cadence's wedding in a month. A book club friend loaned me two dresses and another offered me access to her closet to see what will fit. Cadence gave me three tops she had in a goodwill pile and a purple scarf that I'm enjoying. So I'm good on clothes for the most part. My friend Alison also just returned the last of my maternity clothes so I have a few more items to chose from in my daily struggle to get dressed.

And in a random search on the Internet for "reclaimed fabric", I was inspired by a craft website that showed several projects made from vintage sheets and old jeans. I'm hoping to get to go shopping this weekend for some fun fabrics so I can make baby gifts for friends. I have a backlog of baby gifts to work on and so getting a few more fabrics would be super helpful, or at least researching ideas for what I can make with the fabric I do have.

Mason jars to hold all of the new foods in my pantry has been the other issue. My mother-in-law gave me a few smaller jars for jelly that have come in very handy for spices and seeds. And a free-cycler just offered me her husband's collection of Nescafe jars with plastic lids so I hope to pick those up this weekend as well.

I've spent a mint on food this month, and stocking up at Costco on dried fruits, grains, and canned goods helped that bill mount quickly. But I think I can spread that over the next few months as these bulk items should last us quite some time. It's a great time to be learning how to cook and pregnant since I can spend on food and save on clothes.

April is the Sycamore kids clothing community garage sale at the school so it is my opportunity to get anything we need for Ada for the summer. And maybe a few things for baby boy in the belly too... I doubt that though. He already has a ton of stuff. We'll see.

Moral of the story: Month three of the compact wasn't so bad. And surely I've saved more money and a ton of time, and become even more creative than before.

Amazing, Powerful Photographs

When you have a free moment, check out this website. This photographer, Chris Jordan, tries to depict the vastness of the impact of the way we live. It's a bit like Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth, with less harping and more evidence.

Intolerable Beauty is my favorite, but each is moving.

http://www.chrisjordan.com/


Enjoy. Recycle. Be cognizant of what you consume.

ay

Target Shopping vs. The Compact

Luckily I took Rick with me so I wouldn't feel so bad going to Target Friday night. You would think people have better things to do on a Friday in the city, but no. The place was hopping.

In my effort not to buy things for the year... I must report that I did very well. We got the cleaning products and daily necessities we needed - diapers, wipes, toothpaste, tissues, etc. And we only bought two things that I would count as "questionable". Batteries for a frother we bought at Ikea a year ago and haven't used since we didn't have the proper battery for it (but we bought the smallest possible two-pack), and sippy cups for Ada since we only have one large one and four small ones and it's the one item she needs for daycare in March. I think both fall under necessities so we're good.

My mom, in her desperate attempt to be supportive of me and thereby my commitment to The Compact, or her crazy love of pictures, offered to purchase the extra sheet of photos from Ada's Valentine's that we didn't use so she can have one on the fridge and in her home office and her work office and one for a friend. All just to save me a little guilt (and have more opportunities to stare at her bubbly little grandchild.) I'll be delivering it next weekend. :)

I will say that I am spending way more money on food these days, but I think that is due to the fact that I'm learning to cook and buying way more food and crazy ingredients than ever before. That makes me want to start composting...we'll see about that. I'm still in the research phase.

And the one thing I really want that I'm not giving in to...yet... are things for my camera. My photography class I'm taking this month is causing a bit of a dilemma. My instructor suggested we get a UV lens cover to protect our camera lenses - a $5 insurance policy for a $100 lens and a smart investment. And there is a software he is training us on that is $250 or so but I might be able to find that used or in a previous version so that's a new challenge. And he told me it isn't smart to connect the camera to the computer to download the photos, but instead use a memory card reader to do that. Easy enough since I have the card reader, but now I want another card so I can switch out between the two. Turns out I have another card, but it's in Granny's digital photo frame displaying adorable photos of Ada and doesn't have the capacity that I need. And I think I have a third card, but I'm not sure where Rick put it last. (It's always his fault since he borrows my camera for work and then leaves important things like the memory card at work so we go on vacation for a weekend and have to buy a new card -- but I never see the original one again, type things.) So there is hope for that yet.

Moral of the story: I must admit, I'm still loving the compact and the effect it's having on our bank account. Amen to that.

The Compact...hmmm...

So Rick had to make some purchases, which normally fall under his category of things to buy since he is in charge of the computer and all things electronic in the house. But I'm in charge of most things photographic including printing photos of Ada, creating photo albums, and organizing and archiving our photos.

To cut to the chase, he had to buy printer cartridges because we ran out of time while trying to get Ada's valentines into the mail. They will still be late by a day or so, but closer to the 14th than they would have otherwise. And why so much drama? The Compact.

You see, instead of sending Christmas cards each year, I've started the tradition of sending a Valentine's day card from Ada to some of our closest friends. Last year I had 100 copies of a photo we took of her at the lakefront copied and I made valentines frantically to send out. Knowing we would keep up the tradition again this year, we discussed how to go about such an undertaking while respecting The Compact. We considered having Snapfish print and send the cards, but Rick would have to make that purchase since I'm "not allowed" to buy things that are new and unnecessary, and it would be costly. Creating more waste defeats the purpose of The Compact so I instead wanted to use up supplies we already had in order to make this project more "Compact friendly". The solution was to do it all ourselves and instead of ordering photos from a chain drugstore or Snapfish, we'd print them on our home printer and reduce our mailing list. The list dropped from about a hundred to less than forty. We then incorporated an email version for friends who aren't big "photo people" or who have Internet access and can get the sentiment and print the photo, or make it their computer monitor's wallpaper, if they like.

To achieve this feat of printing the photos on our home printer, we had to get new ink cartridges since ours were dead and Rick didn't have time to reload them with our refill kit we have in the basement(which we may have already refilled them to death anyway), nor did he have time to stop at the cartridge recycle store a few blocks away since he's been working late. So again, we had to compromise, but do so with good intentions. We now have the old cartridges to refill and can use the new ones as back ups to refill and alternate so we always have some available. That's the theory anyway. Or we'll take them to the recycle place next time around.

Unfortunately, after printing most of the photos, the last 2 pages didn't print properly because, after spending $31 on ink for the printer, the color couldn't last beyond 11 full-color photo pages and lost it's luster on pages 12 and 13. Knowing that we still had 6 valentine's to stuff with a photo of our little angel, I received a photo coupon for a free 8 1/2 x 11 from Walgreen's today and bit the bullet to purchase 2 pages of photos so we'd have the six images we needed. I only spent $4, and technically it breaks The Compact, but... it's also technically an errand I did for Rick since I put this all on his plate two weeks ago and he just ran out of time. As it turns out, we didn't even use one of the sheets yet...the one I actually paid for...so it's an "extra".

We did, amazingly, only have to buy stamps to complete the rest of the mailing. It just so happens that I have a huge supply of heart stickers from years ago when my mom must have been doing a mailing for work or something. And my mother-in-law came to make valentines with Ada and just happened to leave us the "extra" cards and envelopes, which we exhausted for the mailing. I used returned mailing labels we keep getting from various charities, and hand labeled the envelopes myself.

Talk about The Compact changing my thought process and increasing my awareness of what I purchase. Whew!

In all of this, I've also justified the purchase of the new printer cartridges as a "necessity" for work since I use the printer when working from home. And even though Rick bought them, I still feel guilty for not planning ahead further so that we had more time to get them recycled from the ink cartridge store, or refilled them from our kit downstairs. I'm also feeling bad since I asked Rick to purchase some DVD's to backup our computer files, mainly photos of Ada, so that we can store them in a secondary location and be able to recreate my work files and condo association records. Again, something I "needed" for work, something Rick purchased, with my final justification being that by using DVDs that we didn't have instead of CDs that we did have, I can use less because they store more data, again making better use of the resources we have available to us.

Does your brain hurt yet? Because I'm exhausted just from thinking about it.

I also must admit to buying gift cards for two friends having babies in the next month since I bought them from a baby store. I didn't buy them gifts, and the gift cards could be used to buy cloth diapers or environmentally friendly toys or laundry soap, but that's less than realistic. I did buy them in conjunction with other friends as "group gifts" if that gets me any points, and I encouraged the "groups" to support a local baby store instead of going to Target--part of the whole "buy local" idea. So if we are keeping track, $10 goes toward one friend, and about $17 goes toward my portion for another friend. Keep in mind that they also may be used to buy nursing bras which would fall under the "necessity" category of The Compact as I interpret it. (I'm all about the technicalities.)

And I also bought a gift card for a local ice cream shop for a friend's son who just turned five. It's local, it's food, and it encourages him to enjoy a treat with his parents and new baby sister-to-be. How's that for a trifecta? Not to mention the homemade card Ada and I made for him tonight from our stash of leftover cards, envelopes, and stamping supplies. Entertainment all around.

Poor Ada must feel like she lives in an art studio or a sweatshop with all of the cards we've been cranking out of here. I'm not sure which but she sure seems to be enjoying it so far and I'm getting a tiny bit more storage space from the supplies we are using up.

Moral of the story: The Compact will make you think harder about how your actions affect the world around. Just know your head might hurt as a result of too much thinking after awhile.

The Compact: Month 2

Whew! I made it through January without buying anything new except food. I think I have more free time now since I don't spend my time shopping. And surely we have more money in the bank, but that's offset by all of the food I've been buying for my cooking lessons.

I will say that I almost had to buy a book for bookclub, but it wasn't available used and the library wait list was too long so I'm borrowing it from my neighbor who also happens to be in my bookclub. We have a deal where one of us gets the book, reads it and then gives it to the other to read. It's worked pretty well this past 6 months or so. It will be my turn again next month so hopefully the next book is more easily available in a used format.

I also got a bunch of fabric and batting from someone on Freecycle.org so I've started another baby quilt -- this one for my #2. Combined with all of the fabric I had in my leftover bin, I'm happy with how it is turning out so far.

And I have maternity clothes left over from last time, plus those sent to me from my friend Amanda out in Colorado since she's quitting at two boys, and my bookclub neighbor Jen who borrowed my maternity clothing bin for her first and is just returning the favor. At least I'm not running around naked with my big belly showing.

Rick has been out to get some new dress pants, but he isn't following the compact and he desperately needed them. He also waited until they went on sale and got a great deal on some really nice stuff.

It really hasn't been hard so far, but it has been thought provoking and increased my awareness of what I'm consuming and how I can be more efficient. And I borrow a lot of things, rent movies, and spend my money on services like prenatal yoga classes and prenatal massage. A better use of my hard earned money I think.

We'll see how February goes. Wish me luck.

The Compact Update

So far so good. I'm halfway through January and I haven't bought anything I don't need that isn't part of the Compact. I've been very tempted by the fancy store windows as I walk by, but continue to resist. My most recent struggle is what to get a 5-year-old for his upcoming birthday. I'm likely going to get a gift certificate to the local ice-cream shoppe since that counts as food, supports a local business, and will encourage him to get out of the house for walks with his mom and new baby sister due in late May.

In response to comments made by my bookclub, I have cancelled my subscription to the Chicago Tribune which was delivered three or four days a week. I don't read it and it just ends up being recycled. I originally got it for the Sunday coupons but now that I'm trying to eat better, it's doubtful that I'll save much money with those coupons since they really tend to be for products we don't buy. Hopefully we'll save since we won't be paying for the paper, and we won't be buying products just because we have the coupon. That's the goal. And we'll have to drop off the recycling less often since we will have 3 less newspapers a week filling our paper bin. Nice.

I've also unsubscribed from about a dozen shopping sites that have been bombarding me with discounts and product newsletters. Less email makes me happy and less temptation is always good for my budget. But... I just got a $10 gift certificate for a yarn store in the loop for any $25 purchase and I have to say... I didn't delete it. Yarn and craft supplies are the number one most likely item to make me stray from the compact. But, I have a good supply saved up - more than I can possibly use this year- so I just have to be strong and work with what I've got.

It helps to put everything into perspective when you see the massive destruction in Haiti right now. I'm thankful for the safety of my family and friends, and to have what material things I do possess including a warm home.

Moral of the story: The Compact is more than just reducing your consumption. It provokes thought and consciousness about what you're using and why. A brilliant mental excercise.