So, all of the previous changes had a very big ripple effect on one particular area of my life. When it comes to the normal weekly grocery shopping trips, it is really hard to compare my current state to the previous. There are a couple of big differences, though, that I'll talk about here.
Because I, as the Mom, am buying less personal care products for me, the amount of time spent in the H&BA section has dropped significantly. My shampoo needs were - of course - about 5 times that of HTH and D2 so the baking soda/ACV thing makes a HUGE difference. And I'm not buying face wash and moisturizers. And I'm not buying body wash. You can see where this is going. There is really no need for me to go into that section for months at a time. A couple of tubes of toothpaste, some deodorant , and shampoo for my guys about once a quarter and I'm out of there! It isn't quite that streamlined yet, but I'm pretty close. I've found that not spending time in this section of the store means that I'm not exposed to all of those needs that I never knew I had - like 8000 kinds of hair product and specialized flossing tools and age defying lipstick and.... NOT having "information" on all of these products makes me feel a touch less crazy, so I'm good with this change!
I'm also working on feeding us with more fresh stuff. This change means less bulky boxes and packages in my cart. It means more foods bought from our local natural food store or any of our farmer's markets. Again, a change that is good for us!
But the thing that possibly changed my shopping the most was using my own bags. I've been taking my own bags and using the self check out line - I'm just not willing to deal with the cashiers on this in most of the big stores yet - for a while now. When I use my own bags, I buy less and I'm more thoughtful about my purchases. I'm not sure that this is a strict cause and effect relationship or if I just switched to taking my own bags because I was already in that thoughtful place. Either way, this has been the biggest change so far.
I don't have enough data to say this will be true over time, but right now I'm looking at a 20%-25% reduction in our grocery shopping bill when shopping with my own bags. So it really does all add up, you see. And the ripples go everywhere. And sometimes the most obvious Lighten Up impact comes from the bounce in my step when I see that receipt!
1 comment:
on the bag thing i found that i used so few that in the end i had to start picking one up now and again as i'd run out of rubbish bags. but its looovely not to have bags with bags and bags all under the sink like we used to. and i love my mega big blue tesco bag...
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