Moving, reorganizing, redecorating, and the 2nd hand plan...

So we have decided to move, again, for the 4th time in 4 years. I think although I loathe moving, I secretly love the cleansing, the chance to purge and to begin anew, and perchance to Kijiji ? This all takes place before my 2nd hand resolution....Our new place is fabulous but a little smaller (and a lot cheaper !) so I had to sell a few pieces of furniture and replace them with smaller versions. First to go was the dining table, buffet and hutch. A lovely teak set I bought for $275 a year ago and I sold it for $300. I replaced it with a lovely small table to seat 4 from a very nice family through Kijiji for $75. So far so good. I also found a lovely small corner cabinet for $30, also on Kijiji, solid wood and in immaculate condition. I need somewhere to put my wine glasses, martini glasses, and all the things to fill them with ! Kids have Kool Aid, I have mommy Aid ! I found a lamp , brushed steel, $20 also Kijiji... Are you seeing a trend yet? At this point I was feeling pretty good about my purchasing decisions, then came the idea to move our 3yr old to a big girl bed. This is where it went sideways. I had my 2nd had flourecent light bulb moment 2 weeks before all this took place....my resolve was not at it's strongest.

 Now even though I am consciously aware of the media's influence on my need to buy things, to posses, that the philosophy we are spoon fed from birth that new is better, newer is best is a load of crap I still fall victim to the impulses and pressures around me. Whether it is TV we watch, the air brushed magazines we read, or keeping up with the Jonses, it is constant and at times overwhelming but I am hoping to master it, to bypass it, even rise above it. What I think will be harder for me is to transcend is the rush, you know the rush I am talking about. When you go shopping, when you buy something, even if it isn't something you really want, most of the time it is something you don't actually need., you get the RUSH. Unfortunately the rush never lasts very long, often disappointment sets in and you look at the item and wonder why? I am fully aware of the pressure we put on ourselves as women and even more so as mothers to be and do the "best" at all times, and it was this overpowering need to be June Cleaver that sent me to Home Sense. I felt like my daughter "deserved" the most fabulous room I could design for her, even if on a budget. So after 2 hours on buses back and forth between Kitchener and Waterloo, one sheet set $10 at Home Sense (clearance of course!) and a full price flower pillow because my daughter told me she liked and my ability to say no took at left and the floor lamps, I hopped on the bus to the Bargain store where I purchased her comforter for $19. So all in all it was a cost effective day, but still I couldn't shake the feeling that my motives were not so much about making my daughter a pretty big girl room but more about my need to get her what I perceived to be the best. Reality kicked in after the shopping rush had passed. My daughter is 3, she could care less about where I got her bedding. If I had bought her the Fairy bed set I saw on Kijiji she would not feel any less loved or any less special. It is my need to be a shopper, to get that rush no matter how fleeting, to participate in the never ending cycle of consumerism that left me feeling like this experiment will not only help my wallet but my spirit. So after Two kijiji steps forward and one flower pillow back, the experiment goes on....

The idea...

I decided to write a blog about an idea I had amid the dust, smell of old coffee and even older people while shopping at Value Village a short time ago. I am going to try to not purchase anything "new" for the rest of the year, making exemptions for food, unmentionables and perhaps gifts which I will try to make instead. I am going to try to buy everything 2nd hand, clothes, furniture, toys either from 2nd hand stores or on sites like Kijiji etc etc. I suppose I should start at the beginning....
Value Village was having a 50% off sale for all clothes and accessories so I spent 4, oh yes 4, hours there looking for clothes. What would possess a (relatively) sane person to spend that much time at ANY store looking for clothes you ask? Ever since I had my beautiful daughter just over 3 years ago my wardrobe has been VERY low on my list of priorities, something I am sure most new moms can relate too. There is the weight yo-yo (how big do my breasts REALLY need to get to breast feed?!), the style identity issues " Can I still wear that? I'm a Mom, now , is it too sexy? ". Not to mention that for the first year chances are you were going to get spit up on, peed on or showered with any number of other fluids I had no desire to try to get out of a cashmere sweater !! So now my toddler is potty trained, my weight is back to pre-pregnancy (mostly !), the fluids are more or less contained, and YES DAMMIT I can wear that, I am still a sexy, vivacious woman! So I wanted to get some clothes that didn't look like pajamas or workout wear. I hear that The Village ( said in a Parisian accent but of course) is having a sale so off I go. Four hours, 3 cart loads of clothes tried on, 3 times to the ladies room to wash my hands, and I emerged slightly haggard and a little sweaty. I spent $124 on 23 articles of clothes, one belt, 2 canister sets, and 2 books, and an idea. If I can get this much for this little why not try to get everything second hand for the rest of the year? I love shopping but the reality is my disposable budget isn't what is used to be. I am frustrated with the "disposablilty" of the things I am buying ie the fan I bought over year ago that just died, whatever happened to repair shops? Like the Fix It shop on Sesame street? Why is it cheaper to buy a new fan instead of repairing my old one? I want to try to pay less tax to the Harper government, I did NOT vote for them.  I love the idea of supporting other families like ours by buying directly from them. It's like the circle of life, but with strollers, blenders and couches. So here begins my journey to live a 2nd hand life.

Next I will tell you about getting everything I needed for my daughter`s first big girl bed and her new room, how I avoided going into Pier 1 (also know as crack to me, I LOVE Pier 1), caved in Homesense, and why it took 2 hours on a bus to get bedding.