Psychologists have this term... Cognitive Dissonance. It describes the experience of stress and discomfort when our actions depart from our values. We generally will try and change our actions, or at least justify our current ones, to rid ourselves of this feeling, or suffer under its consequences. I bring this up, because I, along with a growing number of people, experience this in one form or another whenever I am faced with simple, every day decisions. Especially shopping. The topic is big enough that I felt it would be good to address.
I generally try to focus my purchases in the following order:
1. Local and organic
2. local
3. organic
4. other
I should go into further details on why I value these things, but that may be left for another post. Still, whatever you values may be, if they deviate from products produced from large-production, centralized operations, you will generally find the goods you value, cost much, much more than the standard fare. It is easy to find podcasts and blogs telling you just why value extends beyond a price tag, but it's hard to extend that to actually coughing up 1, 2, 3 times the amount of money for a similar product. This can get even more complicated when your finances are shared with another person (e.g. my partner). I can't say what anyone else can or should do, that's far too judgmental in my eyes. Instead, I'm hoping to do this, and some following posts, about the struggles I face, the decisions I've made- good and bad- and what I'm doing to live by my values and stay sane.
So, lets not talk in general terms, lets talk about me in specific. I want to support local, decentralized processes. I generally try to by organic, because if nothing else, organic products SHOULD at least be non-GMO. I am actually not as convince about some of their other "virtues," except that maybe their productions methods are a bit more in balance with nature. I try to buy local, even before organic. My partner, on the other hand, has absolutely no interest in anything outside of saving money and buying a lot of stuff for a good price. This is not to blame her for everything, I find it very difficult to resist a $4 whole chicken at Hy-Vee, even thought the $12 local bird is tastier, less fatty, and generally meatier. I am not perfect, and in fact the driving force behind this post is that I have slipped in recent months and I, personally, need to unpack and re-evaluate these things. If I ever get to blogging consistently again, I think I will include this as a weekly topic. Here is what I have so far...
Ways to shop by my values:
1. Think of Continuous Quality Improvement, not perfection. Sometimes extremes are fun, they shake us out of our comfort zone, they challenge us, and they make us feeling like THIS week is oh-so-different from the last. On the other hand, they are unforgiving and sometimes unattainable. OK, so the nerd in me had to frame this in CQI terms, but it isn't a bad concept, and if applied to life it can be a joyous, motivating, yet forgiving nudge in a better direction. Think about improving a bit at a time, month by month, or even year by year.
2. Budget. Equah and I have a wonderful budgeting system. We are the gold standard for a couple working together on money matters and I'm very proud of us for it. It uncovered a lot of previously unseen money, and seemed to give us "more" money for everything. I will try include a separate post on how we budgeted and went on a cash diet. I know it doesn't directly relate to most of the blog's content, but I think we have a system worth sharing and it does impact how I am able to do some of these things, so I feel it would help the blog be more holistic.
3. Cut back in other areas. I overspend in some areas that truly affect my finances. I am wayyyyy too prone to buy items for work or splurge on impulse buys when there are things I want more.
4. The three Rs: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, when applied holistically, will work in favor of saving money, not spending it. Reduction of energy usage, purchasing used clothing, recycling items for new uses vs. purchasing more commodities, these are all ways I try save money.
5. Reduce eating out or eliminate all together. This, THIS, above all else, is what takes up stupid amounts of my money. Not only are dining out option not healthy- even low calorie items are usually devoid of nutrition- they are so expensive. Yet every morning I seem to convince myself I am in such rush that I am justified to just pick up breakfast AND lunch on the road. (I work out of my car).
6. Add extra income. I am working toward selling some art, crafts, and homespun items to produce a personal income in addition to my current job. My hope is to use it to contribute to our grocery budget and "make up the difference" for shopping local or at the co-op. Equah is not opposed to anything but the prices there, so I think she would be open to spending more money if the additional cost came out of my personal moneys and not the household budget.
7. Shop in bulk. The bulk section at the co-op is much cheaper that all the other sections. In addition, shopping in bulk reduces waste and garbage.
The post is getting long, but I feel this will be a topic for continued discussion. Writing this post has reminded my of how fun and beneficial blogging is for me. It really helps me to better weight options and analyze things that I don't necessarily get the chance to do on a day to day basis. I've been overworked and overstressed lately, and like most healthy, positive things in my life, the blog was an easy thing to nix from my routine. I can't make too many promises, but I think it would be worth my effort to pick up the slack a bit and write more often. It keeps me focused on the positive things in life... and there is no price tag too big for that.
