Aprovechar

Farmer's market take, 1st week of June, 2009

The first week of the no-spend month has come and gone.  We spent more than I thought we would, yet I’m still pleased, because we’re on track for the month:

$31—groceries at the farmer’s market
$13—headlight bulb (plus a spare) for the car and a bag of chips
$21.50—eating out ($2 taco and $2 margarita night at a nearby restaurant—plus a generous tip; skimping on a tip is cheap in the bad way)
$7—a fresh-squeezed lemonade (for me) and ice cream/waffle sandwich (for Dan) at a summer festival
$15—gas (I didn’t fill our car up before the start of the month—but we don’t drive very far very often, so this half-tank should last us a while)

Total: $87.50

Thoughts during the first week:

• There are times that I buy essential clothing that ends up costing a pretty penny: I spend $50 (if I can find one on sale) to $80+ for a bra, because I wear an unusual size. The bras are worth the money because they keep my back from hurting, and they make me look much better in my clothes than ill-fitting bras do. I buy shoes infrequently, but if I’m going to wear them often, I will spend $80-$100 on a pair of shoes that will be comfortable and last for years. But there are plenty of times when I am tempted to look at clothes just because a catalog or ad or sale email catches my eye. And once I’m looking at the clothes, I’m easily sucked in to at least thinking (if not acting on) the idea that I should ‘update my wardrobe’ with a few new pieces. When you think back to what our society was like, say, 100 years ago, when many people owned two sets of clothes, if that, it’s amazing to think we can have closets full of clothes and still feel we need to buy more. I generally avoid the mall because, even though I have relatively nice clothes, going there makes me feel frumpy and makes me want to spend to fix that. The marketers do a damn good job of tapping into my psyche there. I don’t have tv at home, and since I have been without it several years, I notice how much it does the same thing when I catch glimpses of it in restaurants and waiting rooms. Ditto for some magazines—I’m particular about which magazines I read, because I want to feel I’m getting more from some articles than the ads and other articles are taking away from my sense of well-being. In the past week, I’ve noticed how much the internet is assiduously takes the place of the other marketing that I’m avoiding, though. I may not give in, but I’m tempted to. I’ve spent the last week deleting sales ads as soon as they come in—resisting the impulse to click through and see what’s there.
• It’s amazing how often my response to a stressful or dull day is to want to eat out at a restaurant.  We went out last week because of a particularly exasperating Wednesday that had me feeling fed up by dinner time.  And there’s nothing wrong with eating out occasionally, of course—it can be very pleasurable.  The trick is not to turn to it more often than one’s budget or waistline can allow—or to let that pleasure be a way to avoid dealing with other things in life that need to change.  Last night, after spending most of the day baking for recipe development for a magazine article, I had zero desire to cook dinner.  My husband finally arrived home from school around 8 p.m., and there I sat on the couch, sugared out from tastings and wanting to eat out instead of stepping foot in the kitchen again.  But my husband suggested that we hold off for $2 taco/margarita night if we’re going to eat out again, and he made us a simple meal of doctored, boxed (gluten-free, dairy-free) mac ‘n’ cheese with cut-up Applegate Farms Great Organic Hot Dogs (the only hot dogs I buy) and a side of swiss chard.  Gourmet? No. The hot dogs and chard were great, but it was the first box of that type of mac ‘n’ cheese that we’d bought (several months ago—eating from the pantry!), and I can’t say I loved it.   But it served its purpose: fueled us up for the next day, and kept us from going out to eat.
• It was fun wandering through the artisans’ booths at Summerfest (photography! quilts! paintings! jewelry!), but after a while, it hit me that ‘festival’ tends mean to ‘come and be tempted to buy lots of stuff you don’t need.’ They did have music and wine tastings at one (distant) end of the festival, and (overpriced but tasty) food booths at the other, but that was pretty much it.
• Every Saturday or Sunday, this season, I take local tomato and lettuce from the farmer’s market, combine it with local, pastured, and amazing Thompson Farms bacon, and make a BLT for lunch—sometimes plain, sometimes with avocado or honey mustard vinaigrette added.  Every week when I eat this meal, I chew my sandwich in silent, deep pleasure.  Often the most satisfying meals really are a few high-quality ingredients put together simply.
• This No-Spend month has me rerouting some neural and financial and other pathways that I take, but it’s not as hard as I thought it might be—yet, anyway. We’ll see what happens over the rest of the month!