Mother Talkers

Social Justice and Activism Thread 2/12

by RachelD

Sun Feb 11, 2007 at 07:52:04 PM PDT

If you are working on, or hope to work on, a project for social change, writ small or large, this is the place to share your victories and challenges!

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  • No Spend (0 / 0)

    Not sure if my No Spend plan counts as social change, but I've been doing pretty good at it.  For the next two weeks, I want to be very conscious of our spending/consuming.  

    Any hints on how you spend/consume less from everyone would be appreciated!

    by NJmom on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:20:23 AM PDT

    • Buy one, toss one (0 / 0)

      I have a strategy with clothes, makeup, skin care, stuff like that. If I want a new shirt, I have to decide which one is worn out and I'm either willing to toss or give away (if in good shape). If I want a new lipstick, which one am I done with or not wearing, so toss, or what.

      Helps me evaluate "need" (or even "kind of" need) vs want or totally frivolous purchase. Also keeps clutter and extra stuff out of the house.

      My other strategy is more mental. My dh works a ton of hours in his demanding job and we have an aggressive saving plan. I tend to think of our income as "life energy" or opportunity cost - we're not hiking, going to the movies or just hanging out when he is working.

      So I ask myself, "Am I willing to trade our family time and our life energy for this item?" Usually not, enough times yes. I don't know if it's logical, but it helps me figure out if something is worth it.

      RachelD

      by RachelD on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:44:32 AM PDT

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    • budget (0 / 0)

      I'm an Excel freak (thanks to my hubby, the CPA), so for me, it's an Excel solution. Set a medium term goal for savings, and track your expenditures/savings. At the end, you have a nice little total, and you see the evidence along the way on what you are or aren't buying. This worked really well for us when we were saving for our flat in London; watching the savings numbers tick up was helpful!

      by Rachel on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 02:15:53 PM PDT

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      • Loathe (0 / 0)

        I know.  I really need to start doing the Excel sheet again.  But oh, how I loathe it.  I hate logging everything in.  I don't even balance my checkbook, let's just put it that way.

        by NJmom on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 09:22:44 AM PDT

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        • I know (0 / 0)

          it can be a pain in the a$$ sometimes. (I'm an organization freak when it comes to the office/books, so I like it). But what you can do is make the "total" cell really big and colorful - that way you notice it right away when the savings number gets bigger! I know, it sounds lame, but it's a nice little reward.

          by Rachel on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 02:18:47 PM PDT

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  • Stuck (0 / 0)

    I have done well in meeting my goal to convert over our cleaning to green cleaning. So I'm calling that one done.

    Still working on learning which companies are blue or red, to make different buying decisions. This will take some time to really get used to. And sometimes it won't be practical, but I'd like to keep working on it.

    Now volunteering. I set my goal on supporting single moms stationed in Iraq. I started by googling, and this may have been a mistake: the avenues to possibly do this are very many and the need for the families of fallen soldiers overwhelmed me. Didn't Gore talk about despair in An Inconvenient Truth? (Plus, honestly, I am having back troubles and we went on a little mini vacation this week).

    So I am getting back in the saddle on this one in the next couple of weeks.

    RachelD

    by RachelD on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 08:58:45 AM PDT

  • Observation (0 / 0)

    An interesting observation by a friend of mine who teaches college English in our very rural/poor/conservative county:

    She showed them a film about people trying to consume less in the Bay Area by only thrift shopping, recycling, etc., I guess it's a big movement of about 3,000 people now (I'll ask her for more details if anyone is interested...I know very little).

    Anyway, the reaction was very counterintuitive. Two main reactions by these underprivileged community college students:
    1)Insulted that these rich people were slumming it the way that they HAVE to do it.
    2)Amazed that anyone would choose to buy used stuff when they can afford good, new stuff.

    Interesting, huh? My friend and I thought they'd be a more environmentally conscious generation and happy about the movement, but I guess not if they've been living in poverty their whole lives without a choice. Are you surprised too?

    by tarantula on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 03:14:11 PM PDT

    • Not surprised (0 / 0)

      Well, I am not surprised. Environmental concerns and consuming too much are the concerns of the privileged. I think it's hard to get intuitively that some people get disgusted by our own consumption. It is perhaps a spiritual problem even. People just don't need as much as we have if we are lucky enough to be financially secure.

      But it's really hard to convey that without sounding like a self-righteous prig though, and a fool. But I do get where the students are coming from though because my family is only two generations away from poverty. Choice is a big factor and goes a long way in taking away feelings of deprivation and shame.

      RachelD

      by RachelD on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 04:38:58 PM PDT

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      • This (0 / 0)

        makes me understand why working class moms who HAVE to work consider the complaints of upper class moms (SAHM's/WAHM's/working moms who have a choice) about "the Mess" as just whining.

        I still don't think it's whining because upper class people are historically the ones who seem to have the means (time and money) to make broadly beneficial changes, but now I understand.

        And just as a note, I'm from a mostly working class background, too, but my husband and I both scrabbled for education and have now gone backwards for cache and not cash.

        by tarantula on Mon Feb 12, 2007 at 09:19:02 PM PDT

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    • Interesting (0 / 0)

      I totally get that.

      That is really interesting.  I think the whole 'Voluntary Simplicity' movement has that annoyingness about it too.

      You only want to simplify when you have so much that it is starting to get in your way.

      Although, I think for people in the middle, simplifying still has value if only to stop trying to keep up with Joneses.

      by NJmom on Thu Feb 15, 2007 at 09:20:45 AM PDT

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