May wrap-up

Ouch! Not so good this month, but I have an excuse. We are just about to start building some extensions on our tiny house and I'm expecting we will run out of money whilst doing so. So I've decided to buy all the birthday pressies coming up in the next few months before the money runs out. So here tis:

$36 soft soled shoes made in Canada for DD2 - she grew out of her last pair and they are the only ones that stay on her feet

$25 knickers for DD1 from ebay. This was a bit of a disaster. I convinced DD1 (aged 7) to try some organic cotton knickers from Blessed Earth online store a few months ago. I love them, but DD1 reckons they give her wedgies. So I found some other australian made organic cotton panties online but she gave them the thumbs down. I eventually caved in to the inevitable and bought some Calvin Klein ones from ebay. Made in China. She loves them and won't wear anything else. Sigh.

$30 hairbands from Ribbonista online store as birthday pressies for DD1's friends. These are such a hit with the kids - made by a WAHM - absolutely love them!

$80 flannette backing for Q4. Yes I know. Someone hit me. At least it wasn't made in China.

$39 CD from Oxfam online - French cafe music. SOOOOO COOOOL. For myself for Xmas from DD1 and DD2 - getting in early, I know.

$93.50 Handmade stool with her name carved into it, for my nieces 2nd birthday. Handmade in Australia by Sams Handcrafts. Nice!

$139.75 Dollshouse for DD2's birthday from Bentsticks (handmade in Aust). I'm knocked out by how cute this dolls house is. All made from wood, no plastic in sight. Excellent!

$37 remote controlled helicopter for my nephew's birthday from ebay. Yes, its made in China. Doh!

$18 Clock for DD1 from ebay. I truly loathe this clock. DD1 was desperate for it (its a digital clock with different coloured backlights) and I caved in and bought it for her, for participating in an esteddfod. Its made in China, as already gone through a set of batteries and has started to fall apart. Grrrr. It sums up everything I can't stand about made in China items. Dodgy, fleeting items that break easily and then you throw it away and get another one. What a waste. Grrrrr.

$76 flannette sheet set. We needed a fitted QS sheet as ours developed a massive rip and the girls needed a pillowcase each. I really wanted to put my money where my mouth is and get organic cotton ones but they were SO out of my budget. In the end I got 2 sets of fitted sheets, 2 flat sheets and 4 pillow cases for $76 from ebay. Made in China. Gulp. But thick and they look like they will last. Crossing fingers.

Total $574.25. Ouch. But at least all the main birthday pressies from now til Xmas are accounted for.

Anyway, May was a mixed month and I can't for the life of me think of a mini-challenge for June. Last months mini-challenge was finally completed - I managed to fill a bag for vinnies of clothes I will never wear again, and also put away a few baby toys that I couldn't part with and will donate the rest to the school fair, so yay!!! The clothes cull didn't result in the huge amount of free wardrobe space I was hoping for, but nevermind. Onwards and upwards.

April wrap-up and May mini-challenge

Hmm, not so bad this month, my lowest spending total so far this year. Here's the breakdown:
Freeplay lantern (to replace my freeplay torch which DD2 broke) - I love this company, its very ethical and supplies its products to poor communities etc etc so I'm happy to pay a bit more to support them. We had a stack of power outages last year and really need a non-battery torch or lantern for when it inevitably happens again. $93.50

Lunch bag $15. DD1 needed a lunch box and it was hellishly difficult trying to find one that wasn't made in China. I thought I'd done well when I ordered a homemade insulated and embroidered lunch bag from ebay, but it arrived with a big made in china tag on it - the bag was made in China with the embroidery done in Aust, so I made it halfway I guess.

Three helebores (flowering plants which I hope stay alive over the next couple of weeks) as mothers day presents $45

Winder pyjamas for DH $45. These were very cool ones from Peter Alexander. Unfortunately I didn't realise til after I got them, that they are made in China. Sigh.

Book called Beers & Cheers (locally printed, about the history of Hobart pubs) $40

Backing for Q3 from an online WAHM shop (made of bamboo, wild nettle and cotton) $53.30

Two headbands and one bow from new WAHM online shop Ribbonista $31. I found out about these from a Nappycino thread. I'm going to try them out on my girls and I'm hoping they will be great birthday presents for 7/8 year old girls, in which case I'll be buying them regularly!

TOTAL ; $322.80

Woohoo!! I think I'm gradually improving. Certainly, the urge to go into town and cruise the shops and buy stuff I don't need has disappeared which is a huge step for me! I've been into town heaps recently and only bought what I originally went in for. Most of my shopping now is done online after lots of research and consideration for what I'm buying so I'm well happy about that.

But a big OOPS for the mini-challenge. I was meant to cull my clothes but it just didn't happen. Time ran away with me - will try it as my May challenge instead....

March wrap-up and April mini-challenge

Well, I didn't go TOO badly this month. Here's the damage:
- pyrex dish (made in USA) $12
- tupperware snack cups $20.50
- $11.15 quilt fabrics from ebay
- cardigan and jacket from The Hempest (made in Peru) $240
- quilt fabric from Craftcon (USA) $80
- queen size merino blanket off-cut; single wool blanket and jumper for DH from Waverley Woollen Mill seconds sale (all made in Tassie - woohoo!) $99

TOTAL = $451.50

My big splurges this month were on the cardigan and jacket from The Hempest and on quilting stuff- again. I'm REALLY happy with the cardy and jacket - I needed another cardy for winter as the one I've had for years is beyond repairing and has gone all faded and threadbare. The cardigan is made of organic cotton and silk and the jacket is alpaca, wool and tencel, all made in Peru by an indigenous womens co-op and fair traded - woohoo!! They are SO comfy and warm and I'm really impressed by the quality.
I stumbled upon a link to an online fabric shop in the USA and it was an aladdins cave of all the quilting fabrics I have ever wanted and with the dollar being strong, it worked out much cheaper than buying from ebay. I also bought the woollen queen sized blanket off-cut in a local seconds sale and will use it as the insert for my last quilt.
All in all, I could have done better, but at least my purchases have not been made in China so far as I could tell (not sure about the tupperware??) so I'm going okay in the mini-challenge. Will try to do better next month!!

Okay for next months mini-challenge - I'm going to follow everyone elses lead and do a clothes cull. I have heaps of clothes that I no longer wear and I have to face the fact that after having 2 kids, I'm never going to fit into a size 8 again. So out they must go (sob). I'm a horder, so this may be tricky....I'll let you know how I go.....

Feb wrap up and March mini-challenge

Okay, so how did I go in February with my spending challenges?? Hmmm. Well, let's see.
Here's the breakdown:

• $75 school shoes
• $95 school uniform purchases from school shop and Big W
• $45 quilting fabrics (7 pieces from ebay and a length of ribbon from spotlight)
• $50 quilting bag (from Kirrily at Nice Knickers on ozebaby)
• $14.88 Organic t-shirt for me from Big W
• $17.86 Organic t-shirt for DH from Big W
• $20 Mr Men T-shirt for my Dad's b'day pressie Big W
• $20 Two egg cup & spoon sets from small local shop for b'day pressies for the boys next door
• $17.50 taggie blanket for gift for baby of my ex-babysitter, from Loopy Loo ozebaby

Total - $355.24

Well, no so bad for a former consumerholic I guess, and a better total than last month. Still, I reckon I could do better. I really didn't need the quilting bag (although I love it to death and I'm happy I bought it) and I'm bummed about my spend-up at Big W - I really could have thought of a better pressie for Dad than a Mr Men t-shirt and we really didn't those need those organic t-shirts I bought either. Curse that impulsive spending!!!

Well, in a bid to challenge myself further and totally shackle my spending from here on in, my March challenge is.......drum roll........another drum roll......I will not buy anything made in China. That's right. Nothing made in China. Not only for March but for THE REST OF THE YEAR!!! Gasp!!!! Can I do it??? I'm not sure but I sure as hell am going to give it a red hot go.

By the way, in case you were wondering how I went with the February challenge (no tissues) I was cruising with no problems til I got a head cold, then used all my hanky stash up in one day and lacked the energy to make new ones, so regressed to tissues. Oops. Am back on the wagon now though as my cold has disappeared. Yay!!

Cracking open the champers

So what am I celebrating??? Two things - I have finally finished Q1 - woohoo!!!! Here are some piccies of the front and back of the finished product - DD1 raced in front of the camera for one of them, so excuse her blurry outline. And also, DD2 has been in 100% cloth nappies for a year now. That's cloth 100% of the time - nights, holidays, outings, everything! I'm pretty chuffed about that. So we cracked open a bottle of champagne to celebrate (thats an Oxfam cleanskin champagne left over from our Xmas stash).

Hey also, in my quest for sustainable online clothes shopping I came across an interesting site http://eco-chick.com/ I get the New York Times by email, and there was an article in there about ecomums with a link to this site. I haven't had a chance to look at it an any great detail yet, but it has heaps of links to sustainable clothes sites (unfortunately they are probably mostly in the US, but its a start). Thought some of you might be interested.

To Op Shop or Not to Op Shop

This is something I've been thinking about for ages. I'm not a clothes person and don't often buy clothes, but when I do, I reckon there are three options for sustainable clothes shopping:

1. Buy from an op shop
2. Buy organic cotton or some other sustainable item from a large department store, thereby increasing demand for more sustainable products
3. Buy sustainable item locally made from small local business.

Anyway, I've been thinking about op shop shopping for a while now, and I've decided that I would aim for number 2 or 3 on the list, as I want my hard-earned money to have a wider purpose - to drive the consumer market towards where I want it to go - to encourage manufacturers to see that there is a demand for sustainably made clothes, and so hopefully they will make more and buy more. My thoughts are (and these are just my own personal views) that at op shops you get good value and your money goes to support a charity but it doesn't encourage any market shifts if you get my drift

But anyway, yesterday I had to go to Big W to get a skort for DD1's school uniform. While I was there, I noticed they had organic cotton t-shirts for sale. They had catchy 'save the earth' type slogans on them and I needed a t-shirt and so did DH, so I bought us one each. I didn't get a chance to look at them in the shop as I was holding a wriggly toddler in one arm and trying to placate DD1 who wanted to go and look in the toy section.

Anyway, I got them home and was really disappointed. They'll get worn, don't get me wrong, but they were just not what I was expecting. They were dyed with a really strong colourful dye and had some plasticy stuff on the front for the slogan. They were made in China and they just had the wrong 'vibe' if you know what I mean. So I'm canning number 2 as an option.

Since I've discounted op-shops, that leaves me with number 3. Tricky! Is there anywhere in Hobart where you can buy locally made (or at least Aust made) clothes made with natural (preferably organic) fibres? I've only found 2 shops that cut it so far. One unfortunately is way outside my budget, but in the other one I picked up a long sleeved cotton top made in Aust - woohoo!!!

Oh and also, before you ask, I can't sew (well, I can only sew quilts!!) so I can't make my own. To be honest, I'm not interested enough in clothes to spend time making them. I don't even want to have to buy them that often. I just want the purchases I make to actually mean something. Phew! Its all trickier than I thought. Anyway, its no more clothes purchases from big stores for me - local and Aust made all the way.

January Round-up

Okay, so here's what I bought during January. Before I list them all, I have to say that I'm quite pleased with myself. Compared to what I was spending and buying late last year, I have come a long way.

Okay. Here it is:
$20.70 Webkinz toy for DD1. She paid me for it by washing the outside of my car, polishing the windows and vacuuming its insides. She ended up playing the online games for hours each day and I reckon it was money well spent.

$50 Bathers for DD1 from the Cancer Council shop

$40.20 Quilting fabrics for Q3. I bought these in bits and pieces throughout the month from various ebay shops. I added them all up and they came to this total.

$79.70 Bamboo, wild nettle and cotton backing for Q1, bought from WAHM online shop

$40 My sister's b'day pressie - handmade necklace from the Female Factory shop

$82.39 Quilt batting (unbleached cotton) and backing for Q2 and spool of King Tut quilting thread from online shop

$50 B'day pressie for DD1 (its not til March but I'm getting in early this year) - handmade necklace and earrings from the Female Factory shop

$48 B'day pressie for DH (not til September. Yes that's not a typo. His b'day is in Sept) - a clock in the shape of a VW combi with a surfboard on top, bought from small gift shop in city

$41 Another 2 webkinz toys. One for DD1's best friend's birthday which was a couple of days ago and another to put away for DD1's birthday (yes I know, hit me)

$8.83. DVD Mr & Mrs Smith

TOTAL - $460.82 (ouch)

A few observations. I think my high point was the bathers - before the Challenge I just would have bought onces made in China from a department store, but these ones are really nice, made in Australia and the profit goes to the Cancer Council - woohoo!! The handmade necklaces were also a great find, with the profits going to restoring the convict women's prison just down the road from us.

Low points. Hmmmm. I was surprised how much I spent on quilting - although the expenses for Q1 and Q2 are now pretty much done, only Q3 should be chewing up my money from now on. And I bought heaps of gifts!! For people whose birthdays were ages away!!! I think there is a bit of retail transferance or something happening there.

There are 2 items that I can't really justify - the extra reel of quilting thread and the DVD. I love the quilting thread, and although it was an indulgence, I'm happy with it. The DVD was a good buy I reckon - both DH and me love that movie and had recorded it when it was on TV a while ago but the recording stuffed up and each time we watch it, it cuts out at a random point. So I decided when the price was low enough I'd buy a copy.

And back to the good news, I didn't buy any cloth nappies!!!!!! For the first time in over a year, I haven't bought a cloth nappy this month. Not even a Bitti D'lish. Gosh. Who'd have thought. Anyway, I need to go and watch something on TV about Cat Stevens and I've rambled enough. SO there it is - the January round-up.