A Great Read and a Spending Freeze

I've been reading Patricia Pearson's Area Woman Blows Gasket. I had read Pearson's Playing House when I was pregnant with The Dude but, even though I enjoyed the book, I was not really in the mood for a light-hearted look at pregnancy at that time. (Note to Canucks, it is a good read and I noticed in my weekly perusal of the TV Guide (Baby Girl calls it Mommy's Newspaper - how dumb does that make me seem!) that Playing House has been made into a MOTW-type tv movie airing this Friday.)

Anyways, so far, I love Area Woman. I believe that it's a collection of her National Post columns (that makes it sound awful, I know, but she is one of the rare Post writers who didn't make me feel queasy). Some of the pieces are about motherhood and feeling what I call "mothered up". Many are wry observations about urban life (and since Pearson once lived in Toronto, there are a lot of "I've been there!" moments.) And they are very funny. Like this bit from "Hemp Waffles: Bet You Can't Eat Just One": ". . . vegetarians ought to get over their weird conceptual attachment to meat and stop eating pretend meat products. Carnivores don't try to make their meat taste like vegetables, after all. They don't go to rib joint and ask for shredded pork slaw or salad made of giblets."

I made the mistake of reading this in a quiet hospital waiting room where my snort-laughs were highly audible in spite of my attempts to muffle them.

She has a wonderful section of essays focusing on consumer culture. About the intimidating women in white coats at the department store cosmetic counters. About the dizzying array of things for sale these days that no-one really needs. About the freedom that accompanies going to a barber shop instead of a salon.

She also has a gift for putting the silliness of our North American middle class society in perspective. She writes of a $50 million lawsuit against the maker's of Pirate's Booty, a cheese and rice puff snack that was "misleadingly" labelled low-fat. The faux cheesies cost about $3 a package; the $50 million was for "emotional distress and nutritional damage." Pearson writes, "Nutritional damage? If these people can be be emotionally distressed and nutritionally damaged by a rice puff, imagine what would happen to them in a war. Try suing the government of Sudan for forcing you to eat nothing but boiled shoe leather until everyone in your extended family dies."

Anyways, I'm only about halfway through the book but the whole consumer culture thing has been playing on my mind. I don't know if it's the whole we're out of oil thing. Or if it's getting the updates from marketing think-tanks on the newest ways we're being played. Or if it's yet another request from Big Packaged Goods to casually mention their products on my blog (um, will the Category Manager please note that I only use non-toxic vinegar/baking soda based cleaners in my house and stop bugging me). Whatever the cause, I've had my fill.

So, I'm going on a shopping diet. No more J. Crew. No more Old Navy. No more (gasp) Winners. Now I've got a two year old and a six month old, both growing like weeks so I can't pull a Judith Levine and swear off consumption all together. But I can buy only the things I need (thankfully I have a huge stack of unread books because I'm just not good at the library thing and books are like air). And save the rest (please, Iogen, go public and I'll invest the savings in you).

And in order to have some accountablity, I'm gonna blog my progress. 

So today, I took Baby Girl to the museum. We have a membership there so that was free. And I walked/strollered even though it was really bloody cold outside. I really wanted to get a couple of Godiva chocolates as a little treat because it was really bloody cold outside. But I resisted. I also opted to have an at home lunch rather than pick something up. At the grocery store, I needed to buy soy milk and some rice and refried beans to accompany dinner (total $6.42). And so I bought soy milk and some rice and refried beans to accompany dinner, even though I noticed that they had non-fair trade Cadbury Easter Cream eggs and a couple of new home design magazines by the checkout. I had to drop off my watch to get a new battery (which will cost me a shocking $45) but that's kind of a necessity, right?

It doesn't seem like much but it's a start. If anyone wants to join me (because my program is more exclusive than Oprah's), jump in via the comments field.

Comments

[rachel]

May I just say: the Cadbury easter candy always gets me. I can resist Halloween and Xmas, but Easter (which I don't even celebrate!) is always my undoing!

So, uh, good for you resisting the siren's song!

[Isabella]

$45 for a watch battery??!!? That's insane! I can't imagine what kind of watch takes that kind of battery. I get the battery for my lovely designer watch replaced at the Bay for about $15, and even so, there are times I think for a little extra I could find a replacement, maybe a timex, that would look ok. So, sorry Jen — I don't think you can call that one a necessity. (Although, I would've caved on the Godiva.)

And $4.99 for glue!? I hope it's a vat.

Maybe downtown Montreal living is in fact rife with bargain options I now take for granted.

[farah]

I'm in as well. My hubby and I just got back from Vegas and I spent a small fortune on shoes, purses and clothing. (well my justification was that I hadn't been to the states in over a year). I am totally on board with this until I start bringing in some more money. I plan to accomplish that on my husband's suggestion to start actively managing our portfolio again instead of letting it sit there.

[ThatDeborahGirl]

Lately I feel my guy is spending more of our small budget than he should. I had an idea today that I would let him control all the money for a month and then I would get to control all the money for a month. Whoever has the most left at the end of their month gets to control the checkbook forever.

[Her Bad Mother]

I'm jumping in, too. But I second Rebecca's question - what about an allowance (however small) for the odd treat or borderline necessity?

And where would 'alternative' shopping (co-ops, consignment, etc.) fit in here? Or is that me trying to get around the rules?

[Lana]

wow, read your post and then jann arden's on her site (www.jannarden.com) about how radio manipulates us, and i feel a little overwhelmed. i think i will join you in the spending diet.

[Sharon]

I'm in. With the new business (aka no income) I need to stop the spending insanity. You never know when that rainy day will come!!

[Beanie Baby]

Good for you!

I'm already doing something similar with my New Year's Resolutions and the fiving thing--I'm not sure what you had in mind but as long as it's not more involved than what I already do, I'm in.

[krista]

Ah- Good for you.

Down with consumer culture!

[rebecca]

I'll join!

I realized today that most of the stuff I buy for The Dictator is unneccessary, to say the least...

She has a ton of stuff and then we played with popsicle sticks and glue ($4.99) for over an hour tonight..

Also, I want to start saving money...for that "rainy day..."

I'm in...shall we put ourselves on an allowance or something?