My unspending project, boring and pointless as it is, continues. I keep hoping for some kind of aha! moment, like I will be walking through the store looking at Ramadan dates or French stationary and suddenly I will realize something profound and life-changing (for example, that book where Douglas Adams says: “On the whole, it was not the little green pieces of paper that were unhappy”). So far, though, I am still just wishing for new books and missing my designer coffee.
DAY 10
Henry’s coloring book has filled up, and when we go to color this afternoon there are no pages left to enjoy. I draw some friendly monsters (fangs, smiles, bowties, claws) on blank inkjet paper and hand him the crayons. He rips my monsters up and throws the crayons at the wall. I draw giraffes, balloons, rocket ships, but he is equally critical. Finally I hand him the Sharpie and the blank paper and he works away happily until naptime, drawing swirls and lines with the marker and coloring them in.
DAY 12
We are invited to an Iftar party. Every year, I buy a new dress for this party, but this year I decide to wear last year’s pre-pregnancy sundress. Which works out pretty well, actually, since I spend the whole evening getting barfed on by the baby, and nothing spells frustration like having vomit stains on a new dress, especially when that dress is dry-clean-only. At home, I toss my dress in the wash, feeling smug.
DAY 15
I visit the bookshop and do not buy anything, an experience that leaves me feeling a little shaky. Which makes me think: are my book-buying habits really that out of control, that being around books actually leads to withdrawal symptoms? At home, I make a stack of all the books I bought last summer; it’s funny to realize that with each, the experience of picking it out, the shopping, is a pleasurable memory. The satisfaction derived from the purchase is, in some cases, as vivid as the satisfaction of reading it.
DAY 17
I go out for a walk around the neighborhood this evening, and am struck by how many little shops there are on my block. Standing on the sidewalk looking inside the little grocery attached to the mosque on the block, I wonder, for the first time, why there are so many things in the world: dish soaps, candleholders, nightlights, cars, shoes, toilet brushes. Who is using all these products? What happens to the things nobody wants? Why does the verb to consume connote happiness and success, if all you’re doing is buying a pair of rubber flipflops?
DAY 19
I make a list of the things I like to do on a weekend and cross out those that require spending money. This leaves me with relaxing in the tub with a book and waking up early and having coffee on the balcony while everyone else is still asleep and walking to the souk for some people-watching and exercising and napping.
September 24, 2008 at 2:20 am |
Interesting project. I should try this. Years ago I got paid once a month. I took out a certain amount of cash each payday and that was for child care, groceries, gas, entertainment, lunch money. There were times at the end of hte month that I was looking under the seat of the car and sofa cushions for pennies. I am thinking about trying this again, and I wonder how closely that I could keep to that amount if I tried. Gas alone would take up 1/2 of that amount. Putting my credit cards in the safe deposit box was the trick to truly living cash only.
September 24, 2008 at 12:56 pm |
Your project fits so perfectly in with what my family and so many of our friends are doing, which is making conscious efforts to curb spending, eliminate debt, and live happily with what we have while making sure there is money to be happy with during retirement.
“I visit the bookshop and do not buy anything, an experience that leaves me feeling a little shaky. Which makes me think: are my book-buying habits really that out of control, that being around books actually leads to withdrawal symptoms?”
I certainly know the feeling. I feel equal parts triumph and disappointment when I leave a bookstore empty handed. I cannot go often though or it becomes kin to a recovering alcoholic hanging out in the bar. Eventually I’m going to take that drink! I think the withdrawal is a very real and understandable feeling because of what you describe later, the pleasure derived from the experience of shopping for and purchasing wonderful books. Although I like to save money by using Amazon and by taking advantage of the discount I get a the local comic shop when genre books are available for order through their distribution lines, it is not nearly as enjoyable as being in the store and finding that treasure for myself. I guess it makes those moments that much sweeter to try and make them fewer and farther in between.
And I’ve learned this year to derive some different, but somewhat similar pleasure from using my library more.
And by the way, your cost free weekend sounds wonderful!!!
September 27, 2008 at 7:47 am |
Cam, the safe-deposit box is a brilliant idea! I just cancelled all mine and snipped them up in a mad frenzy, but putting them in the bank for an emergency is waaaaaaay smarter.
Carl, thanks for the thoughtful response. You’re right about libraries – I have a friend who only buys books she’s read and loved, and gets most of those from the library. Good luck with trimming the budget and meeting your savings goals; I know it can be pretty painful, especially when it cuts into the book-buying capital.
September 30, 2008 at 4:45 pm |
I’ve only been in Dubai 2 weeks and the cost of living here has already begun to shake me up. Your unspending project is so smart. I need to start one soon.
Libraries are supposed to help save money, but when the nearest library (that I know of) with a decent English-language collection cost me about 80 dirhams on cab fare to-and-fro, it doesn’t actually save me anything.
I’ve only bought 2 books while I am here. But I have bought too many magazines. I seriously need to cut back on book-buying, otherwise I will be forced to live on bread everyday in Dubai!
October 4, 2008 at 4:15 am |
[...] hurrah, my unspending experiment is done! Parts I and II are here and here, if you’re interested in how the first part of the month went, and here’s what happened towards [...]