the first week of not shopping

After many times of threatening to do so I have decided to go a year without buying anything new except consumables. Maybe I can recapture my 20s when I couldn't solve problems by throwing money at them. It is almost 20 years since I got my first credit card. I also hope this will force me to find something creative to do with all those yoghurt containers.



April 28th, day one of my year without shopping, doesn't go well. In Mardi Gras World (New Orleans) I spot a string of pink beads with flamingos--perfect for my bathroom. After I whinge for awhile about how much I regret having chosen today to begin, my friend buys me the beads.



April 29th, day 2, I manage to resist the perfect orange purse--sleek and beautiful. Although it is not something I would be likely to use, at 50 bucks I probably would have bought it except for the no-shopping vow. This forces me to reflect on my penchant for shopping. I own a dozen or more bags and use my 10 dollar Korean backpack pretty much every day.



April 30th, back home to Calgary. Airports are my serious weakness so its lucky that my stopover in Denver is only long enough to buy a cup of coffee.



May 1st I tell my sister that I am going to go a year without buying anything new except consumables. She asks me what a consumable is and I realise that I don't know. She suggests that books are consumable because I can read them and pass them on--but I rarely do pass them on. I will probably make an exception for books for work.


But this all raises lots of other questions--what about bobby pins and elastic bands? I lose them so fast they may as well be consumable. Getting a haircut just to avoid buying bobby pins seems ridiculous. Maybe Value Village sells hairclips.


I also realize that I have to buy my 6 year old niece a birthday present. I'm sure one can buy kids second hand presents but as I this will need to be learned I cheat and buy her something new. I persuade myself that as it is art supplies it is still consumable but worry that at this rate I can end up defining everything that wears out as a consumable.



May 3rd I buy a newspaper. I can't decide if that is a consumable or not. If my aim is to avoid bringing new material objects into the world newspapers are probably out. Magazines maybe I can justify by passing on, but it is clearly time to renew my library card.


Having bought the paper I find myself reading the future shop ads in the back "no payment, no interest for one year" and thinking that if I got something under that plan it would really count as buying next year.


I find myself obsessing about things--worrying that the blender will break, noticing that the cordless phone is nearing the end of its life, remembering that I never bought the new cell phone that I wanted.