Shopping My House

 

I haven't been grocery shopping, I mean really grocery shopping, in several months.  I've popped in for fresh produce and some dairy items like milk, cream and cheese, as well as the occasional bargain buy, but I haven't done a big shop in I don't remember when.  I'd have to look back and see.  The main reason is because I've been shopping my house before I make my shopping list and I find I pretty much have on hand what I think I need.

 

In recent years, as I worked on my long term food storage, I have amassed quite a bit.  Exactly what my intention was when I started this endeavor.  Surprisingly, it came together rather quickly and I had a lot of fun doing it too.  I had put a lot of planning and effort into it and now I get to reap the benefits of my hard work.  Now I'm scaling it back a bit so it is a manageable size for one and a half people meaning I want to cover myself and have a little bit extra to share with others.  I figured a yearlong pantry and freezer challenge would take care of that.  I shop my home first and then I go to the store and buy only what I actually need.

 

I'm doing the same thing as far as cleaning supplies, laundry supplies and toiletries.  Whenever I think I need something I shop my home and even if I don't have exactly what I think I want I often find something else that will work instead.  If not, I often have ingredients on hand to make something.  I have vinegar and water to make window cleaner.  I have soap, borax and soda to make laundry detergent and dishwasher detergent.  I have coconut oil in the pantry and a jar of vasoline if I run out of lip balm.

 

As far as hobbies go I've pretty much sworn off any more purchases of sewing and crafting supplies until I use up the bulk of what I already have.  I also have plenty of office supplies to use as well.  A couple weeks ago I redid my spice cabinet literally because I wanted it to look prettier.  I was tired of all the mismatched bottles and jars and wanted something more cohesive.  I shopped my home and found a bunch of matching Mason jars in the sizes I needed out in the garage.  I had a sheet of return address labels in my office supplies so I used those to print out the labels I needed for the jars.  A completely no cost project using up what I already have in my house.

 

I doubt I'll need to go to the store to buy anyone a gift this year either.  I have loads of stuff around here to make things with and plenty of supplies for cards to go with them.  Any purchases for Christmas and birthdays will be well thought out and quite minimal I expect.  I will definitely shop my home first before I head to the store or place an online order.

 

Before I organized my house after my big declutter I made sure I shopped my house first for appropriate containers.  I had emptied quite a few so I had a lot of extra ones to choose from.  Even before I went to the store to buy new ones I made sure I really thought about it first to make sure I was getting the right size and type of container.  I also made sure I didn't have something else that would work just as well.

 

Over the years we amass quite a bit of stuff so it pays to really think about it first and shop around the house for the things you think you need or want before you go to the store or log on and place that order.  By doing this we not only save a lot of money but we control the amount we waste as well.  It also helps us to stop amassing stuff and cluttering up our homes with unnecessary items we just don't need.