Thrifting

There is nothing wrong with shopping at a thrift store. It is like a treasure hunt. Plus it isn't used stuff that you are buying. It is: Vintage, pre-owned, gently-used, worn in, pre-loved, reborn, an antique, looking for a loving home...

Day Two

Day Two: I can’t fall asleep. I was up late watching infomercials, but today being the second day of my detox, I was watching with a much more discerning eye. They were pitching some pretty crazy stuff. Shamwows, a salsa maker and some HD sunglasses that improve how the world looks. The detox has made me hyper aware of how over saturated with advertisements and commercial propositions my daily life is and these infomercials just seemed absurd. Why would anyone need to buy a salsa maker without leaving there bed? From sun up to sun down we are bombarded with opportunities to indulge. Someone is always after our money, everyone wants us to want stuff.

The offer on the salsa maker was getting a little too tempting for me so I switched channels. The Suze Orman Show was on. For those of you who haven’t seen the show, Susan Orman (Internationally acclaimed personal finance expert) helps callers sort out finical problems. It is also a show that gives me heart palpitations, the show always ends with me feeling like I am not saving enough for retirement and is part of the reason I am still awake at 3am.

Suze has a segment on her show called “Can I Afford It?” where callers phone in and tell Susie about something they want to buy that is beyond an everyday essential. Tonight the callers desired items ranged from bagpipes ($1,300), an African safari ($12,000), a custom made saddle ($6,000) and a stripper pole ($500) and I am not making any of this up. The callers lay out their finical situation and Susie give them a professional opinion. All callers were denied tonight. None of them could actually afford it. Which made me question all my recent purchases. Could I really afford to send over one hundred dollars on jeans?

Between the callers bizarre desires and the infomercials that were on tonight the world seemed so clear to me (and I didn’t even need the HD vision ultra sunglasses), everyone wants something. Why wouldn’t we? We have been conditioned to believe that we need to want stuff. I may be getting delirious. Time for bed.

On a brighter note, I didn’t buy any stuff today. Still going strong.

Day one:

I felt like I needed to announce it to make it official. I also hoped that documenting my detox would make inspire others to do so. They will see the reward the benefits and challenges, in the end hopefully more benefit. I was surprised to see myself making changes this early in the detox. It is a Friday night. I have been sick all week and still getting over it. I spent a good portion of the day disinfecting my house and catching up on errand. When I finished my long to-do list cabin fever had officially set in and I was itching to leave the house. I have been on bed rest for weeks and have just stared to get my strength back. The first idea that popped into my head was to go to target, just to look around of course. Instead I went to a movie. I got a student discount. I only spent $10 buck. The movie was predictable, but I laughed once or twice and left feeling good. I cannot step foot near a target without spending more than $14.99 and once the initial shopping buzz wears off I feel guilty. So far this is going well.

The story of Stuff, for people who haven't heard

Copy and paste this link and watch the video. It will rock your world.

http://www.storyofstuff.com/

I am not crazy!

I am not some crazy hippy that lives in a tree. I am in my early twenties. I was born and raised in Southern California. I currently am living in Los Angeles where I have lived the past five years. I am surrounded by people who drive themselves crazy trying to keep up with the latest trends. You have to have the right Jeans with the right amount of flare in the right shade of denim. I do not consider myself a fasionista by any means, but I still find myself trapped in the same game. I love L.A. and I love to spend a beautiful L.A. afternoon shopping with my girlfriends, but I am ready to give it up.

I am in graduate school and on a budget, but I can spend oodles of money in a single trip to target, buying things I didn’t realizes I needed until I saw them. I find myself roaming the aisles “for fun.” I end up browsing, but generally find something that I need to have. I will buy anything from household “essentials” to clothing and accessories. Generally I wear the clothes a few times and grow tired of them. I don’t feel too bad because I didn’t spend much on them. I buy new jeans a few times a year. The cost of designer Jeans is ridiculous. I spend hundreds of dollars on a pair of Sevens of True Religions (or whatever the latest and greatest brand is) only to find that I did not buy the right ones. The moment I spring for a pair of wide leg trousers, skinny jeans are on the top of the Hot list and wide leg trousers join clogs in the not column. By the way, I think clogs are making a comeback. Which bring me to my next point.

Fashion is recycled! Everyone has heard the saying. If this theory holds true, I should be able to pull the latest trends of the rack of a consignment store. We will see.

The story of Stuff

I watched “The Story of Stuff Today” and I have decided to stop buying new clothes and other stuff for a year. Clearly, I will maintain the practice later as well, but the first year, is what I will consider my “detox from stuff”. This means I will stop buying new items. I can barrow things and buy used things I just cannot purchase brand new stuff. Obviously, I will still buy new underwear for sanitary purposes and this does not include food and hygienic supplies. I started tossing this idea around awhile ago, but had so many excuses as to why it was unpractical, put after doing more research the unpractical thing would be to change nothing. I have already started to think about things that will be hard but there are so many ways to buy gently used products- I don’t think it will be impossible. I already enjoy thrifting and shopping online on sites like Ebay and Amazon. I am very curious to see how much money I will save. I know that in a single trip to target I can rack up a pretty huge bill in less than an hour. I am amazed at how frightened I am to begin this journey, it seem so normal for me to me to shop. The more I have thought about this the more disgusted I get with my consumption habits.