Often people ask me about items I use in our home. It has been a while since I have written about a product for a few reasons. Even though I experiment and look for new eco-friendly, healthier products, I have not found anything worth recommending in a long time. The more I research product ingredients or the companies that manufacture them, the love affair often ends quicker than an engagement on The Bachelor. Hey, it is a learning curve.
This year I am going to focus on living simply and buying less…stuff. It will be challenging. This holiday season we tried to focus more on experiences than gifts. We had lots of fun with our family and friends with less unwanted items, less packaging and less careless spending.
Andrea from A Peek Inside the Fishbowl suggests a two month trial of buying nothing but essential items, a Shopping Embargo to kickoff 2011. She writes, “This is not necessarily a SPENDING embargo. It’s a STOP BUYING CRAP WE DON’T NEED kind of embargo.”
I like the idea! Count me in! This fits nicely with my personal plans for 2011.
Some of my plans for the year include
- Prepare more things from scratch and move away from processed, packaged products. I love to cook; and want to make more stocks, breads, soup, juice, sauces and meals instead of last minute dashes to the store.
- I am going to experiment with making natural cleaners. I want to see if they really do a good job. (I am a tad skeptical) It will be interesting to determine if there will be a significant financial savings too.
- This spring I plan to construct a G20-like barrier in our backyard to outwit resident rabbits and other critters that foiled my attempts to have a vegetable garden. I will be turning to Wildflower Studio blog for inspiration and advice. (For gardening information, not constructing a G20 barrier!)
- I am going to make a concerted effort to buy only essential items and reign in our spending habits. The Shopping Embargo 2011 is a good way to test this plan.
My bloggy friend Sara from My Points of View is also participating in the Shopping Embargo Challenge with Money Monday posts to track her progress.
Want to join us? 
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi Laura, I’m on a spending diet too! I’ve been pretty successful so far this year, I have not brought any unnecessary items into the house. I’m also trying to cut down on processed foods. I’m trying to bake more for the kids so that there will be homemade muffins for them to munch on once in a while rather than grabbing a store-bought granola bar. Looking forward to hearing how your experiment with natural cleansers goes!
That’s super Cindy! Congratulations! I think the key to success for me will be organization. You sound very organized.
Organized? Hardly. I was trying to figure out what to make the kids for lunch yesterday. Trying to do without processed foods just makes that task so much more difficult! So they had PB&J and cereal. Would an organized mom serve that for lunch, lol?!?!
I think many of us are trying to pinch pennies in January. It would be interesting to scrutinize my purchases for two months.
I’m so glad you’re joining in!! So far January has been okay but I anticipate February being tough, with DS1′s 5th birthday, Valentine’s day, and using up the last of our Christmas gift cards
Oh, birthday’s would be hard. Good luck with that. I almost bought a coffee at Starbucks today…total mindless spending. I almost blew it in the first week. I suddenly realize this will be a VERY interesting challenge.
Great blog, I just discovered it!
The Shopping Embargo sounds like a great idea, and it reminds me of the No Impact Week challenge, based on Colin Beavan’s No Impact Man project. http://noimpactproject.org/ (If you’ve already mentioned this on your blog, I apologize for repeating it.) A lot of people participated at the same time a few weeks ago (to start the new year off right), but anyone can challenge themselves at any time of year. It’s a humbling experience, especially when you consider yourself fairly green to start with!
Hi Andrea. So nice to meet you.
Thank you for including the link toNo Impact week , it is fantastic! I am humbled already with the challenge. It is proving to be much harder than we thought it would be….
Oh I had the best intentions to do this also but 2011 didn’t start off well. I bought two books (lately “due dates” at the library have just irritated rather than inspired me to read faster) and I’m still trying to add a couple of shirts to my wardrobe (after doing a major purge of my polyesters and rayons) and we just welcomed a new cat into our home so there were some purchases for him also! And I’m struggling with the need for new socks (I’m eyeing some recycled fibre ones from Muji) and whether to buy two smart power strips/bars… Sigh!!
I do like the idea of really thinking before I purchase – asking myself if I REALLY need the item. Might at least start with that this year!
Good luck – hope it goes well for you and Andrea, all all others participating! Such a great idea!
K.