A new committment

A new decade... and a new blog?

I have big plans for this year... a shopping ban of sorts...

It started with the intention of making a sacrifice...  Our church community is in a large financial campaign to restore an old historic building while merging two churches of two different cultures into a new entity.  I am a full time stay-at-home-mother.  While I'm saving my family plenty of childcare expenses and insourcing as much as possible to operate this household, I am working very little on my own 'professional work' while my children are so young.  So then when we were called to make sacrifices as a family for this financial campaign, my thoughts were intimidated by the prospect.  We are careful as is, since we are on one income in a high cost of living area near Boston, and money was tight in my family for the later half of childhood, so I wasn't a stranger to the concept of cutting back.

The thought processing cycled through: cutting back on vacations (goodbye warm Disney destinations for school vacations), delaying home renovations (really, couldn't I make more space in our cozy home if I declutter more and delay the renovations) and car upgrades (I can't participate in carpools because we can only seat our family with our current car, and our dog has to stand up to fit in between the arm rest) for the family, and arrived at... what if I didn't buy things that I normally shop for fun (clothes/shoes/accessories/books/home decor) for a year?

The amount of time I spend browsing through online ads, e-mail newsletters, mail catalogs, add up and I already feel short on time day to day.  They are usually for items I don't have to have, but things that sound like a great deal, or items that might be nice to have.  I must be on Amazon.com daily just to research some item or browse out of curiosity, compare prices, and just to put an item out of my mind by putting it on standby on my shopping cart.  Online window shopping also breaks up my daily mundane-ness while waiting for child pick up, or waiting for that special bathroom break summons from child #2.  With the convenience of a smartphone, it's so easy to buy something and have it appear on my door steps shortly after... but I wonder how much time and money am I spending on things I don't HAVE to have?

I'm not in the competitive industrial design world anymore... I hardly have to dress up for social outings like weddings and parties, and our church is pretty laid back when it comes to attire, so I certainly didn't need as a wide variety in my wardrobe as I was used to.  I enjoy dressing nicely, but as a stay-at-home mother of 2 young children, having a wardrobe that corresponds to the distinct weathers of New England was more practical than dressing up most times.  I heard somewhere, that we often buy things to impress people who don't even matter to us, since the important people in our lives accept us no matter what we wear or what we have.  That is so true... In my twenties, I was an industrial designer in both corporate and consultancy.  Being a designer felt like it came with some pressure to dress a little edgier than other business professionals, to prove I had good taste, but still stand out a little.  I wore a lot of black since college by the professor's advice, so I have been 'collecting' black clothing pieces when there were sales. Because I was one of those people who felt like my body type wasn't easy to dress... when I found something I liked and fits well, I felt like I couldn't pass up this opportunity (though perhaps, I should have just spent the money on good alterations). I didn't spend extravagantly, but I did accumulate over time.  I had suits for that occasional funeral, and dress up clothes for the different sizes I ranged in the last 2 decades, the vacation clothes (because black wasn't what I wanted to travel to warm weathers in), the yoga clothes, the photographer clothes (things I could squat and climb chairs in, but be dressy enough to be at a black tie event without standing out as frumpy).  I avoided trendy clothes, so my more 'classic' pieces felt even more wasteful to get rid of each time I moved, or organized my closet.

Of course, the kids will still need new clothes as they grow and seasonal changes, and I will shop consumables like foods, gifts and toiletries, but only when I have finished the current item.  The exceptions would be, if the item I currently have wears out or breaks, then I can replace the item or make an item myself (will I finally get my sewing machine out and get better at sewing?).

While I was tumbling this idea in my head, I came across this book, "The Year of Less" and was inspired by the author's determination, terms, and executions.  It was like the road map was already laid out for me.  The author also found accountability through blogging, so this idea became more of an inspiration... that, and my desire to connect with others in an introverted way has always been there, but the follow through wasn't.  Even if I don't gain an audience and accountability eventually, if my children could someday read my thoughts at this stage of life, it would serve a great purpose.  I would have loved it if the tables were turned, and I got to read my own mother's thoughts before her time on this earth ended.  So here we go!