Compacting in a small town

I haven't updated about Compacting lately because there hasn't been much to tell. How many times can you say "I bought nothing new this month."?

I am afraid that it may change soon, though.

Compacting in a small town sucks. At least compacting in this small town sucks.

I have been (what I am told are) the two biggest thrift stores in town and it was pathetic. I thought the fact that I don't need "stuff" would make it ok... clothes can't be that hard to find, right? The mens jeans section of the bigger store had exactly two pair of jeans. I couldn't even find the mens section of the smaller store.

So my options are -
1. Keep trying.
2. Drive to Jackson or Tuscaloosa (each 1 1/2 hours, in different directions) once a month as needed.
3. Try other small town thrift stores - if there are any. As the county seat, we are the biggest town around.
4. Become nudists.


I don't even know how I am going to pull off Christmas or the two birthdays we have coming up.

Sigh...

ANNOUNCEMENT! READ THIS!

After much consideration, I am moving Mamas on the Compact to Wordpress.org. We are getting more and more inquiries from people interested in joining--most of which have gone unanswered because I am incredibly busy with raising my toddler, working full time, helping my husband to run our farmers market and engaging in other charitable pursuits. But I have the time this weekend, so any of you who have NOT received an email invite will once we move to wordpress.

We will also have our own domain name, and it should be easier to register and post (you shouldn't have to wait for me :)). And for those of you blogspot lovers who may be a little nervous about the switch, wordpress is very easy to use and navigate. The new site will NOT be mother-specific, though, I imagine that many of our members will be mothers.

I will invite all of you over to the new site with an email describing how to log on etc. as soon as I work out the kinks. All posts will be imported over to the new site and this site (compactingmamas.blogspot.com) will be given an announcement for one week before I start a redirect.

Happy compacting!

NOT doing great on the Compact

Haven't exactly been going on shopping sprees, but... with stressing out with house-hunting, have kinda let the Compact slide. I need to re-assert myself TO myself, and restate my purpose with the compact, or officially put the Compact on hiatus until the move is done and over with.

I think the best option right at the moment is to officially put the Compact on hiatus until the move is done. Because with the fear that we're not going to have a house to move to, yeah.... I'm doing ok on keeping it to shopping second hand (Value Village and Goodwill are my friends right now. LOL)

I WILL be back on track, and soon!

Half way there...

The end of June marked our halfway point and I forgot to blog about it!

Things haven't changed much for us because we never did much shopping, and always looked for used before resorting to buying new. In fact, The Compact has made it a little easier because now I have a reason to give people instead of just being the crazy person who never buys new. I think the fact that being green is the new thing (we are a little slow here in Michigan) makes it easier, too.

One thing I am learning to do it think ahead. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

I know that my kids are going to out grow their clothes, so I am always checking for the next few sizes at the thrift store. I know that we will always need pens and pencils, so I pick them up when I see them at yard sales - even if we have some at home. I know that eventually our couch repairs won't work and it will need to be replaced, so I am on the look out for a good quality replacement.

Thinking ahead allows you time to find what really fills your need, instead of having to settle - or worse, run to Wal-Mart - because you are sitting on the floor or flashing the neighbors!

Picture from flickr and Cross posted at Life, in a Nutshell

Clothes

Yesterday I had to break the compact - and I am so happy about it. I have lost 2 pants sizes and 1 shirt size, and had just a few things that fit me right. It happened so quickly that I didn't have time to find clothes at the thrift store. I ended up having to buy new shirts and shorts and capris... but it was all on sale, so I spent right around $50. (4 shirts @$7 each, 1 pair of capris @$12 and 1 pair of shorts @$9.)

Now I am going to start keeping a stash of smaller clothes from the thrift store and freecycling them when I am out of them.

Not a bad problem to have, I suppose.

Other than that, we have been a compacting away with our bad selves.

Cross posted to Life, In A Nutshell

not much new in the compacting world...except that i haven't been following it very well lately. i need to re-group & re-state my purpose...hopefully that will give me some accountability with someone out there in the blogging or real world!

a couple quick tips
::walmart has great & cheap fabric for making cloth napkins...i have made a ton all for very little money ($1/yard!).

::white distilled vinegar works AWESOME as a rinse agent in your dishwasher!! it really works! my dishes have never been this shiny

::don't go to a dealership & drive a new car...it just makes you want one....darn you, MAZDA 5.....

check out my other blog for my work-in-progress, revised, longer lasting compact.

A little over one month in

And I'm doing OK. Just OK tho. I've bought a few things I wasn't going to. I bought two thingies (can't remember the name of them) at VikingFest, but that's a once a year thing, and I've been wanting to buy them since our first VikingFest three-four years ago. Bought a couple new outfits at Goodwill, so that wasn't "new", just "new-to-me" so I suppose that goes along with the Compact. :) The best thing I got that day was a porcelain Ballerina Cinderella doll that I think normally runs $25 for a whole $6. That was a heck of a deal!

Bought myself a new bathing suit, but that's not something I want to buy secondhand. And I'm not sure if my suit from last year would fit. It sux.

And the no junk-food thing? Yeah, forget it. I'm craving sugar like there's no tomorrow, so I'm about to give up on that. HOWEVER, I have done REALLY well on the cutting down on fast-food idea. So, there's a big plus.

That's my update. I'm worried about the move coming up, I'm going to TRY to stick to the Compact, but I may have to put it on hiatus until the move is completed.