I play Lost and Found. If I spend an hour writing an article and get $15 that's money found. But if I let a Walgreen's Register Reward expire it is money Lost. The object is to find more than you lose. I have not learned the finding aspect as well as I have mastered the lost concept.
So I could use your help defining what makes an item disposable. Here are some of my dillemmas and my scorecard.
- Why is a $10 razor disposable and a $2 piece of fabric a keeper?
- I bought a $10 book light that didn't work and I felt like I had to return it. But I intentionally leave $15 books for others to find and that makes me feel generous.
- I clip coupons then buy things I give away.
- I won't make a doctor's appointment until my deductible is met. Think that through colleagues.
- I give perfectly good items to the thrift store but sell used things on ksl.com.
- Why do I keep a jar of buttons I'll never use, but toss paper clips?
- I buy pencils but I can never find a sharpener.
- I don't mind paying for airfare, but I feel ripped off buying gas.
- I'll buy a cookbook to cook one recipe.
How much is disposable worth? $1, $5, $10. A pair of $30 Old Navy jeans should be disposable after 15 or 20 washes but I have 20 pair in my closet nicely hanging on $2 hangers. And is disposable strictly a financial decision? Absolutley not a financial decision. It's mostly emotional and how attached I feel toward the item. A brass screw is worth more to me than a quarter because I can sew a screw into an art project but a quarter has to have something else with it to be worth anything. Something handmade is worth ten times more than something purchased. And why in hell's sake do I think I can make just about everything? Pioneer heritage. DUH!
I wish we still had returnable pop bottles. I miss that easily found money. I have my limits though. I will not gather scrap metal on the curb and sell it on ksl.com. I will keep fabric scraps of any size (more art materials). I will keep a spool of lime green thread even if I don't have a piece of lime green fabric. Lost!
Make no mistake. I am acutely aware of my inequities and inadequacies.
3 comments:
So many questions....
1. The razor can hurt you, cut you, and put rust in your bloodstream. The fabric is non threatening.
2. The book light is a broken thing. A found book is a treasure!
3. Buttons might someday become a nose on a doll you make your great granddaughter. What the heck will you do with a paper clip?
3. I have an electric pencil sharpener that I use once a year. I can bring it to your house tomorrow and sharpen all your pencils, really fast!
This is so interesting, Kelly. I need to take stock of my own dilemmas. Like I will reuse paper plates but let food spoil in my fridge. Which actually costs more?? I'm an idiot sometimes.
OMG! It's like I'm reading your mind lately. I have been doing the "downsize" thing lately. I do it in phases so as not to get overwhelmed. And I keep asking myself the same thing. I won't buy a year's subscription to my favorite online photography tool...but I'll spend that amount on 5 lattes at the 5BX (Jed's word for SBX) drive thru in one week. When I have coffee at home.
This, combined with your bedroom post a few scrolls down, was like a two part HELL YEAH screaming at me (nicely) this morning. I've been suspecting we're all AS IN EVERYONE a little backasswards when it comes to what we keep and what we part with. I realized that the actual cost (mostly mental) of managing inventory, managing stuff, was too high, too steep. The cost was too great. I have had some serious mental deterioration in the past 2 years and I feel like the clutter is making me stupider. Your "bring me joy or leave" initiative is an inspiration. Not in the trite way people say to you sometimes, but in the way that it has helped me sever ties with unused and irritating clothes, dishes, housewares, and a fricking rubber chicken. It's amazing; I have felt my memory squirm a little closer, millimeter at a time, back to health. It might be better eating, it might be the comfortable 6 month mark with a new love, but I think it's the decluttering above all.
This was all to say that in my eyes, you are a mobilizer, and you are absolutely right! And brilliant for examining how we manage our "stuff."
/rant/
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