I'm still doing well on my goal of no shopping. I cheat a certain amount on sewing supplies, but I am buying more cautiously than last month and otherwise I have not purchased anything other than consumables since the start of the year.
My birthday was a bonanza of new things, thanks to the generosity of family and friends: 5 new hula hoops, a large pile of books, tasty treats, a beautiful top, lotions and potions, a handmade necklace, and lots of fabric and notions came into my life at the beginning of this month. Thanks, everyone! You've helped me to not buy stuff.
Which is not to say I don't spend money. There are lots of things that fall into the category of consumables. In fact, over 40,000 yen has floated away from my wallet in the past week. Here is a rough accounting:
Thursday 5,000 - PASMO card charge-up; 11,000 - train fare to/from Shimoda; Friday 2,000 - vegetables; Saturday 3,000 - hoop class; 10,000 - groceries and food gifts; 12,000 - 3 hour dinner at Aoi Napoli; Sunday 0 - I stayed in and sewed all day :-) Monday 1,000 - a variety of good breads; Tuesday 2,000 - laundry detergent, toilet paper and groceries
So you can see that the money goes quickly. But just imagine how fast it gushed out when I bought clothes and other stuff.
Speaking of clothes, I was very proud of myself a few weeks back when I mended a big hole in my favorite sweater. I crocheted into the knitting around the hole, then crocheted in a spiral towards the center. I added a coordinating patch on the other elbow, too. The repairs look funky and I am happy to be wearing the sweater again.
That experience has lead me to want to rework all of my clothes. I've already done some surgery on a t-shirt that didn't fit right - I turned it into a tank top that still doesn't fit but matters less- and a skirt that was too long is now a better length. My serger is amazing for that sort of thing. I have other old things I want to reshape, tear apart or simply embellish. And thanks to Mom & Jenn's generosity at my birthday, I have more fabric to work with in the coming months. My wardrobe is going to get a real overhaul.
Now here I am, more than a 1/4 of the way through the year, and I don't feel any lack or need. But my daily notebook/sketchbook is getting perilously close to being filled, so we'll see what happens next month.
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