Note: This post is part of an ongoing blog series called #costamesa365 where the author is striving to shop only* in her city of Costa Mesa, for a year.
Frugal.
Such an unpleasant-sounding word.
Like a mealy, green toe fungus. You’ve got a bad case of frugal.
Or when a judge really throws the book at you. Verdict’s back: you’ve been frugaled!
Everyone likes to save a buck, get a good deal. Most people want to stash some rainy-day funds, feel secure.
But frugality? Blech.
You kiss your mother with that mouth?
So I regret to inform you that just one, short week into #costamesa365 and my frugal is flaring up, bad.
It’s Amazon’s fault, really. Without them, I can no longer shop from the convenience of my phone. Frugaled.
Sourcing the things I actually need – then making the trek across town to get them – is effortful. Double frugaled.
Ergo, I have very little temptation to spend. Super frugaled!
I intellectually understand how easy it is to spend impulsively on Amazon. I mean, one-click shopping, with two-day Prime shipping, is my jam! I just didn’t see what a financial slippery-slope it was until starting #costamesa365
Also, I think I was doing a fair bit of “aspirational shopping” without purchasing. Time suck! Like I would find something online, leave it open in a tab, and just occasionally scroll it without ever actually buying it. Does anyone else even do this?
So with much less time and money devoted to e-tailing – and real-world shopping requiring so much more planning and mindfulness – I find myself doing all the frugally things. My reuse game is strong!
Here are some recent examples:
Inspired by Tidying Up with Marie Kondo, I decided my drawers needed small-box separators. But I’m feeling lazy about having to get in the car and go source and shop for new dividers. So I went through my Tupperware cupboard and pulled out all the pieces that no longer have matching lids. Orphaned Tupperware = instant drawer dividers!
I’ve also been sorting the half-consumed tubes of creams, lotions, shampoos, soaps and other toiletries in my bathroom, with a plan to use them all up before I go out to buy more.
I’m reusing plastic wrap or Ziplocs or slips of paper (fronts and backs, please) for longer periods of time to make them last. Using smaller pieces of paper towels, too, now that I’m no longer a citizen of Kirklandia.
As a born-again brick-and-mortar shopper, I’m quickly learning to be mindful that stocks can run low, stores can sell out of things, I can be left hanging. I’m learning to call ahead before I hop in the car.
I’m in the process of planning out the next three months’ worth of purchases in advance, too. All the upcoming birthdays or events or kid activities that might require some sort of purchase – I want to figure that out, now, so I can combine all the acquiring into fewer shopping trips.
All in all, #costamesa365 is reshaping my lifestyle in totally unexpected ways… and I think I might even like it.
What the frugal? ♥
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*We will always start by shopping / looking in Costa Mesa, first. But if we really need something and an alternative is nowhere to be found in Costa Mesa, we’ll stray. Also, as parents, we’ve decided that certain kid-related things (mainly educational) will need to remain baked in.
