I've been doing a lot of research about sustainable living lately and I've found that there are many different ways that people are learning to change their lifestyles. Some people want to cut back on commercial crap, usually in conjunction with frugal living. Others want to foster community while focusing on a spiritual connection. Some (like me) are interested in local living including foods and reducing driving distances/areas.
Sometimes the way people aim to be sustainable don't always mesh with one another. The person focusing more on paying off debt and living with fewer belongings doesn't entirely go with purchasing local foods. Sure, you can be frugal and be local, but changing from mass consumer meats and non-organic bulk items could create sticker shock. You have to be willing to spend a bit (okay, a LOT) more on meats if you want to continue to eat in the same lifestyle.
You can keep costs low if you buy in season, can or freeze bulk local, organic stuff, and give up some items, especially if you make foods from scratch. Problem is, if you're already making stuff from scratch and living as frugally as you can, you'll probably see your costs rise. Well, you'll see an increase in visible costs, but in my mind, and in the minds of many other like-minded localvores, you're actually just paying the entire visible and invisible costs. Buying out of season, or buying prepackaged foods, has a huge hidden cost that we don't see when we buy stuff in stores.
But I still consider myself frugal, at least mostly frugal, even though I occasionally splurge. This is on my mind today because of a trip I made to the antique store in Cambridge. I found a $2.50 flour sieve and a $10 apple corer/peeler, but put the apple thing back in trade for a couple of scarfs I really liked. One I plan to make into pillow covers and the other I just want to wear. I guiltily also picked up a $4 set of beautiful salt and pepper shakers.
So while I bought items used, and relatively inexpensively, I did end up buying things I don't *really* need. In fact, I traded something useful for something decorative. So I guess that makes me more on the side of local/reduced energy costs (buying used stuff means fewer environmental costs to create more things) as opposed to frugal in the strict sense. And while it would be great to be frugal, community minded, spiritual, local, organic, energy efficient minded, there has to be a way to really enjoy life.
And I think that's the key. When you're doing what you believe in you enjoy life most. And obviously, since I'm still writing about the subject, I feel like I should be a bit more frugal, or at least forgive myself for what I consider living a little. Perhaps one day I won't want that scarf, but right now I do. And for now I just keep telling myself one thing at a time, Bethany, one thing at a time.
2 comments:
Don't feel guilty about an apple peeler/corer. All you need is a paring knife (actually, I use a cheap veggie peeler and my big chef's knife--devised a really efficient slicing method that doesn't require me to core the apple first and makes nice even slices for pie or snacking).
There is no need to have a fancy one-use gadget unless you're peeling and coring many apples every day (and if the one you saw is one of those crank-kind, they don't work well anyway). In my opinion, a scarf that you wear or make into a pillow, and the s&p shakers that might sit on your table would have been a better choice anwyay :)
I think I'm just concerned that I don't have a budget. If I felt like I could easily spend $100/month on whatever I wanted to it might be easier for me to decide what I feel comfortable splurging or scrimping on. But I have to have spending money. And I need a specific amount. Lack of money or an unknown quantity makes me feel guilty about spending or deprived of fun if I don't. We're sitting down this weekend to talk about what I can/can't spend. It's hard not working because I'm not pulling in an income and therefore feel unjustified in spending anything...
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