At our old house, there were two thrift stores within a 15 minute walk; now the closest thrift store is ten miles away. I’ve mentioned that we very rarely go thrifting anymore, which has been helpful in my mission to purge the house of clutter. These days, I only go to the thrift stores if there is something we really need. I went a couple days ago, on a mission to find a small set of shelves to put by our back door. We take our shoes off when we come in the house, and they end up in a big heap by the door. I was looking for shelves that would fit into the small corner by the door and give us a neat place to put shoes.
There’s a Goodwill right next to my favorite grocery store, so I combined the two trips. Within a few minutes in the Goodwill, I found a perfect set of shelves. They are homemade, solid, and heavy, made of real wood. Exactly what I was looking for, and for the bargain price of five bucks. Since I found the shelves so quickly, I decided to browse around a bit. I soon stumbled upon a great carry-on bag. It was solid and well-made, with a retractable handle and wheels to roll it along miles of concourse. It had tons of interior and exterior pockets, and was just a handsome bag overall. I wanted it. Up until a short time ago, I’d have bought it, simply because I wanted it.
But my new clutter-purging self decided to pass on the bag, for lots of reasons. I already have a great backpack that works just fine as a carry-on. It also works for hikes and day trips, which can’t really be said for the wheel-about carry-on. I’m trying to eliminate uni-tasking objects from my life as much as possible, and a purpose-made carry-on bag isn’t really good for much else besides air travel. If I were a frequent flier, I might have made a different decision. But the last time I flew anywhere was in 2007. We have a toddler now, and flying doesn’t sound so appealing anymore. In fact, traveling in any form doesn’t really seem like as much fun as just hanging out at home with my husband and son. In addition, my understanding of how my actions impact the planet has increased dramatically over the last several years, and these days the idea of flying just conjures up images of greenhouse gasses rather than exotic destinations.
So I put the bag back on the shelf for someone else to find, and left the store with the small set of shelves. The corner by our back door is now neat and tidy, and I don’t have to find room in the basement for a bag that might come out of storage once every couple years.
All is good.
FrugalChick says
I find that sometimes I have to remind myself that there will always be a good deal; whatever I’ve stumbled across at the moment will not be the last great deal I come across. I could never have the time, money, or space to take advantage of all the good deals out there anyway! And I’ve also been getting rid of the uni-tasking items; versatility is much more important to me these days.
BigNan says
FrugalBabe,
Like you, my husband and I are very fond of thrift stores. But we do need to keep it under control. It is easier since we moved further away from our favorite stores, but we also have a little “gauge” that helps.
“If in doubt, leave without.”
That way, unless we really, really want/need something, we put it back on the shelf for someone else.
BigNan
GC says
Hello FrugalChick
I don’t visit too often so I might have missed this.
Since you haven’t flown since ’07 does your family live nearby? Or do they come to see you instead of the other way around?
Most of my family are in the tri-state area but we have some still-close relatives in other countries as well as down south. Graduations, funerals, all make flying seem absolutely necessary from time to time.
GC says
sorry
having a brain lapse
I meant FrugalBabe
Frugal Babe says
GC – Good question. We live near my siblings and parents (all within an hour’s drive). My husband’s parents split their time between a northern home in the summer and a southern home in the winter. Our last flight was to visit them in their winter home, and we have tickets to visit them there again in March, which will be our first flight in three years. We’re making a conscious effort to reduce our carbon-based travel as much as possible (which means pretty much anywhere that we can’t get to by bike or on foot), but visits to see family and friends are still important to us, and do happen occasionally.
Zella says
While I agree with not buying what you don’t need, avoiding travel because of the eco impact seems kind of… excessively boring. The whole point of having a kid is to expose it to how cool this planet is. Staying at home in your comfort zone does nothing of the sort.
FrugalBabe says
Zella,
You bring up a good point. We do not intend to never travel with our son, but he’s 17 months old at the moment. To him, it doesn’t matter whether we’re in our own house, at the grocery store, or in Thailand. We are purposely not traveling with him until he’s old enough to appreciate it and remember it.
Traveling by air emits nearly as much pollution – per passenger – as traveling the same distance in a car. Dismissing this as boring is a head-in-the-sand approach.
Travel is great, but I think sometimes people build it up to be more than it is. Some people spend six months planning an exotic vacation, or think that they will “find themselves” on some island somewhere. But then they wish away the days of their lives until the vacation, and might even feel exhausted and let down once they come back to their “real life.”
I’m not advocating that we all just hang out at home. We each have to make our own decisions when it comes to stuff like this. For my own family, we try to make every day awesome and special, rather than elevating certain days like holidays, birthdays, or vacations to be better than the rest of our days.
We will still travel (we have tickets already to visit my in-laws in March) but we understand the trade-off when we do as far as the impact that it has on the planet. And yes, that means we don’t travel as much as we used to. And we’re happy with that.
BigNan says
FrugalBabe,
With regards to Zella’s comment, I would say that personal decisions about how our behavior impacts the eco-system are usually trade offs. I would not stay home just to reduce greenhouse gases.
But I think your decision to stay close to home now that you have a little one is wise. There will be plenty of time to travel and expose him to the wonders of the world as he grows older. Babies need stability and routine. They need to be loved, fed, and kept clean and healthy. Having a child is a major decision, and no matter how much we love our child, it is stressful for the child and the parents. Anything one can do to lessen that stress (like staying home and providing routine for child and parents) is a sensible decision. Your little one could care less about flying anywhere at this stage in his life. The comfort zone that Zella refers to is EXACTLY what a toddler needs. Zella is correct that children need interesting and stimulating experiences, but these do not always have to be provided in far-away places.
Sheri (Green & Crunchy) says
Awesome post. As usual :)
I loved this: “For my own family, we try to make every day awesome and special, rather than elevating certain days like holidays, birthdays, or vacations to be better than the rest of our days.”
We are the same way! Exactly the same.There is so much beauty in the everyday — I don’t need to wish or want for more. It’s all right here, right here at home. I am a happy homebody too, and, like you, I don’t have much desire to travel either — and travelling with 5 kids is not exactly stress-free anyhow! We’re going away in late-December and I’m already stressing a bit over the sheer volume of work it requires to get this show on the road!
I applaud your willpower to leave that awesome carry-on bag at the thrift store. Especially since you have a trip coming up in March and you could EASILY have justified the purchase because of your upcoming trip. It’s so easy to justify thrift store purchases because everything is so darn cheap :)
Zella says
Yeah, 17 months is definitely young for traveling much. Most of my great memories from childhood involve travel of some sort– whether within a few hours to a food processing plant for a tour, “magical mystery tours” throughout the countryside, or getting lost in foreign countries.
I don’t have my head in the sand about emissions– I just try to make my differences that fit within my priorities, one of which is use of mass transit (which hauled me to/from the latest cross-country trip), another of which involves living in a small, efficient home. But nonetheless, “boring” probably wasn’t an accurate word.
m- says
Hey love your Blog!
I don’t know if take suggestion for furture blogs. Hopefully these are inspireing..
Blog 1. Since you are starting to live more minimally what does your food shopping look like? What does you usually buy?
weekly
biweekly
speradically
Blog 2. What does the frugal babe house regulary eat? breakfast, lunch, and dinner Any frugal bage recipes you would like to share?
Blog 3. Winter is fast approaching. How does the frugal babe house keep winter heating cost down? Programable thermostates, Alternative Heat Sources, electric baseboard heat…. warm sweaters and sherpa coats….
just some ideas for future post…
thanks m-
marci @ onlinecolleges says
You have great determination to put that carry-on bag back on the shelves! I am a sucker for bags with multi-uses.