Comments on: The Compact http://childwild.com/2009/06/15/the-compact/ embracing the wild heart of parenting Fri, 12 Mar 2010 00:19:53 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Rachel http://childwild.com/2009/06/15/the-compact/comment-page-1/#comment-326 Rachel Mon, 15 Jun 2009 17:28:47 +0000 http://childwild.com/?p=2210#comment-326 This idea makes me really happy. It seems like it would simplify decision making so much! I'm in the process of simplifying my life by getting rid of as many possession as I can stand to part with, which includes a load of books. I know many used bookstores will let you sell your books for store credit, which is a spiffy way to get books that are new to you. Craigslist is a godsend for getting things used. I have been able to find pretty much everything I have needed to furnish my home on craigslist... (Though I have to admit that I think part of the mark of real adulthood is not sleeping on a thoroughly beaten mattress bought used off craigslist.) My favorite Craigslist find is probably this ridiculous Disney Cinderella toaster, which imprints the image of a glass slipper on the side of your toast and plays the Waltz of the Flowers when the toast pops up. My friends and I also organize regular closet swaps. That way, everyone gets new clothes, and we get to get rid of the things we are tired of looking at! I am also fortunate in that my father's parents are packrats in the extreme. Pretty much everything I could ever dream of needing (tomato cages and cast iron cookware being the most recent examples) is stashed somewhere in a closet or barn on their property. If one does not possess one's own Depression Era packrat relatives, I bet estate sales are awesome for that. There is no better place to pick up kitchen supplies, particularly cast iron stuff. This sounds like such fun! I think I will try it. Thanks for the inspiration! This idea makes me really happy. It seems like it would simplify decision making so much!

I’m in the process of simplifying my life by getting rid of as many possession as I can stand to part with, which includes a load of books. I know many used bookstores will let you sell your books for store credit, which is a spiffy way to get books that are new to you.

Craigslist is a godsend for getting things used. I have been able to find pretty much everything I have needed to furnish my home on craigslist… (Though I have to admit that I think part of the mark of real adulthood is not sleeping on a thoroughly beaten mattress bought used off craigslist.) My favorite Craigslist find is probably this ridiculous Disney Cinderella toaster, which imprints the image of a glass slipper on the side of your toast and plays the Waltz of the Flowers when the toast pops up.

My friends and I also organize regular closet swaps. That way, everyone gets new clothes, and we get to get rid of the things we are tired of looking at!

I am also fortunate in that my father’s parents are packrats in the extreme. Pretty much everything I could ever dream of needing (tomato cages and cast iron cookware being the most recent examples) is stashed somewhere in a closet or barn on their property. If one does not possess one’s own Depression Era packrat relatives, I bet estate sales are awesome for that. There is no better place to pick up kitchen supplies, particularly cast iron stuff.

This sounds like such fun! I think I will try it. Thanks for the inspiration!

]]> By: Abbe http://childwild.com/2009/06/15/the-compact/comment-page-1/#comment-325 Abbe Mon, 15 Jun 2009 15:45:10 +0000 http://childwild.com/?p=2210#comment-325 I explicitly did something like this during the "christmas season" (tm), starting sometime when I thought of it and determined to do it until January. Less extreme, it was more about not buying anything new and especially anything new and made of plastic and coming from any kind of big box/chain retail store - I did buy such stuff as paper, even some plastic safety scissors, and some other things I don't remember, but I did not enter into Giant Retail Store Land. I think I have fallen off the wagon since then, though, even though I don't remember January coming and having a giant wellspring of "I need so many things I didn't allow myself to buy before now" built up. Lots of books, some computer equipment, an energy efficient air conditioner, a small kitchen appliance, new clothing I could have bought used, etc have all come into our house and out of our wallets this spring. sigh. I explicitly did something like this during the “christmas season” ™, starting sometime when I thought of it and determined to do it until January. Less extreme, it was more about not buying anything new and especially anything new and made of plastic and coming from any kind of big box/chain retail store – I did buy such stuff as paper, even some plastic safety scissors, and some other things I don’t remember, but I did not enter into Giant Retail Store Land.

I think I have fallen off the wagon since then, though, even though I don’t remember January coming and having a giant wellspring of “I need so many things I didn’t allow myself to buy before now” built up. Lots of books, some computer equipment, an energy efficient air conditioner, a small kitchen appliance, new clothing I could have bought used, etc have all come into our house and out of our wallets this spring. sigh.

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