Part of my New Years promise to myself was to stop wasting my precious pennies on frivolous periphials while simultaneously watching my way of life shimmer down the slippery slope to poverty-ville.
I am in the habit you see, of appeasing my need for goodness knows what with little piles of utter nonsense and Housekeepers, dear darling Housekeepers, trust me:- six bars of baby soap, an over-sized bottle of lemon juice, a Pot Noodle, Take a Break magazine, and a bottle of the kind of cheap red wine liable to be downfall in the near future, simply doesn't touch the sides of contentment on any level at all.
What I am seeking is a little luxury and what I am buying is a big pile of junk. Ugly junk. Banal boring dull, what is it good for junk. Literary junk. Alcoholic junk. Junk, junk and yet more bloody junk, all adding up to a whole lot more money than anyone can afford to spend on junk when her heart yearns for beauty. For momentary culinary pleasure. For words that inspire her to do something wonderful. For objects she will treasure and everyday necessities that have her feeling positively demented about getting on with the same necessities in hand.
Which is my little pumpkins, my rather long-winded, all round the houses way of saying, now goodness me, would you look at that beautiful soap! Because yes indeed, soap is what it is, soap in bottles with patterns to sell the cat for, soap in fragrances as inviting as Pomegranate & Redcurrant, and Sea Watercress & Chai, soap that would beautify any bathroom and at £8.00 in the UK from the gorgeous Hush, and $11.00 from ShoeString Home in the US, soap that won't break the bank if we are only willing to sacrifice a little junk..
So this is my plan: I am going on a JUNK DIET. I am giving up cheap chocolate and sugar-free lemonade by the bucket-load. I am giving up trawling the pound shops, and seeking two for ones I don't need, buying weekly magazines, supermarket paperbacks, piles of cheap anything and cardigans that disintegrate into holes after one spin through a delicate wash. I'm done. I'm keeping my purse in my pocket and instead saving my pennies to buy real treats. Pretties that make my heart sing! Soap that makes me feel proud! Books that improve my cabbaged little mind!
Are you with me, or are you with me? The time for teeny luxury is now...
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10 comments:
I have kicked the magazine habit myself...if I need a hit I go online and read them, thumb through best issues that I've kept on my dresser or go to Barnes and Noble and read whatever issue I'm after while the boys romp through the kids section. Space is a premium and its not worth it. Soap seems like a good frivolity! I am trying to buy frivolities that use up, aren't terribly expensive and yet are fabulously wonderful. Oh! And things that make me a better person...cleaner, smarter, healthier...etc.
This makes such utter sense, of course! I have applied this method to clothes and shoes, being fed up with those charity bags that pop through the door always being full to bursting with those items popped in at the supermarket, or those that seemed like such a bargain at the time from some of those cheap and cheerful high fashion storesn (you know the ones!).... all of which either went out of fashion oh so quickly, or that lost shape or fell apart - and without fail, they always do. It made sense to wait for an item I LOVE, and it has worked - I am still pulling those same items out a year later and still feeling good wearing them. Of course the odd fashion accessory to ring the changes is ok!
Candles is another one - as I learned to my cost when one particularly dodgy cheap (but pretty) candle landed my whole house with smoke damage and I was still wiping soot out of nooks and crannies and off walls months later....
The trouble with beautiful soaps in beautiful packaging is that you have to take them out of the package to use it!!! That just breaks my heart, and yet a soap sat around purely for decoration is just silly - what to do Alison, what to do???!!
I'm with you! Two quotes I keep in mind whenever I'm tempted... "I don't want more choices, just better things." and "I can't afford to buy cheap stuff."
I so agree -- the amount of money I spend on "ooh that's cute, I could use that" junk at Target alone is apalling.
Last week, I looked at my cart and thought -- I could live easily without ALL of this, and put all but the necessities back.
Haven't missed a single thing.
I do agree Alison,I have however just returned from'Netto' where I called in for some kitchen roll and left with three carrier bags full of junk! and yes magazines!its a really bad habit and very costly! a few of the glossies can set you back around £8.00! madness when you think about it,thank you for a very timely reminder! xx
I understand what you are saying. It really annoys me when I need to buy something critical to the household, but I don't feel as if I have the money. Then I look around the house and see all my impulse purchases that at one point gave me an 'instant gratification', but now seem wasteful and unimportant. It is very rare that I buy a book, however. Books are my deepest material love, so deep that if I bought every book I ever wanted to read we would most certainly wouldn't have money to buy food. I am so grateful for the library system!!! With a little patience, I can have any book I desire transfered over from other libraries. I would, however, buy any book that you published, Alison!
I'm with you!
:)
It's been that long, I can't remember when I could afford to be frivilous. Simply haven't had the budget in aaages.
However, good luck with this particular resolution.
Ali
I'm with you, absolutely! No more unnecessary/ cheap/junky stuff I don't need OR really want!
Oh you're so right about spending twice as much on junk than if we treated ourselves once or twice to something a little more decadent! It's something I'm leaning more about now!!
I'm decluttering my magazines at the moment and whilst I enjoy a browse through I don't really need them all and there is so much eye candy on blogs that I think I'll be ending my subscriptions at renewal time and instead I can treat myself to a book or similar!
Victoria xx
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