Tuesday, September 25, 2007

To buy or not to buy..

That has been the question these past two weeks.. so many things I want to buy or even just think of buying. I didn't realize what a consumer I was until this pledge made me evaluate each item I thought of buying.. maybe its like a reverse psychology thing- when you aren't allowed to buy things, you wanna buy even more? The list is endless- a steamer, camera, baby clothes (even though we literally have an outfit a day until she turns 1), scissors, floss, laundry detergent, colander, jeans, eid clothes, books, gifts etc... its good that Ramadan began after our moving and spending fest where I allowed myself to purchase all sorts of things for our apartment- air purifier, coat rack, vacuum cleaner, rug, cutting board, water filters, microwave, desk, etc..

But I find that its pretty easy to hold off on buying things that are not really "needs" but more of a "want".. i can sit on the floor, breathe semi-clean air and throw my coats on the sofa.. but what I find difficult to control is my constant purchasing of food items used in various attempts at creative and ethnic cuisine.. like i had to buy fish sauce to make pad thai, right? I find my kitchen stocked with all sorts of cooking ingredients used sporadically and my fridge filled with items that make me search for new recipes which starts the cycle all over again... this is all connected to my larger problem of food waste and management- as long as I can finish the food in my fridge and not let things go to waste- my conscience is sated... but in reality- do I really need all these food items (and kitchen gadgets;)?

What do you all think?

3 comments:

Sanjana said...

LOL. it seems like we all have a collective obsession with kitchen gadgets. (a steamer? i'd love to have one of those ;)

Tanzeela said...

I'm really lame, but I've started a list of things that I need to buy after this thing is over. Some of things are arguably justifiable under the "rules" but the others...umm, yeah, lets not get into what my rationale would be for buying a designer wristlet. :P

Anyway, I think we've been compensating for our lack of spending in other areas by buying more foodie stuff as of late...like the excessive amount of produce we seem to buy at the farmers market.

anila said...

Interesting you mention food stuffs. That is exactly what I have been dealing with this summer as I noticed myself throwing out fruits and veggies that I purchased but just rotted away. And yes I use the same logic…”but I gotta buy this one bottle of whatever for a recipe that calls for one tiny teaspoon full of what is in this bottle…so I gotta buy it right”.

This past summer I began to reduce my overall purchase of food and I realized that realistically I consume more food in my mind than what I actually need. I mean I think of all the fabulous recipes that I could make and how happy I would be (there’s that theme again) doing this. Of course I need more gadgets (theme two) to make these recipes. Right? Maybe? Well I do cause the editor of Gourmet magazine said so in this months issue.

After reducing food purchases I have found that I have a lot more money left over each week, and I don’t feel that guilty for throwing out food…cause there ain’t a whole lot to left to get rid of.