Sunday, March 9, 2014

March Resolution, Week 1: Are we ready to be RESPONSIBLE?

First, let's check in on my February resolution reset. Was I able to knit a sweater in two weeks?


OH HELL NO.
But there's been progress. I've made it to the part where the sweater transforms from being a tube of enjoyable mindless knitting, suitable for subway or lunch hour distraction, into a collection of stitch holders that feels like wrestling a sea urchin.

I'm sure it will be finished by the end of the month, if I don't run out of the decades-old and impossible to trace yarn, at which point the sweater will become a vest. And I will cry.

So, onwards to March. I've successfully completed one (1) week of frugality. Lunch was brought from home four out of the five days of the week, carousing was kept to a minimum, I ignored the cute skirts and dresses in expensive boutiques, and bought two (2) pairs of pants from Old Navy. They were already on clearance, and a sale meant I received a further 50% off, so I spent a whopping $8.40 for two pairs of pants. I have spent more on one (1) cocktail at a bar.

Uncomfortable questions were raised by this purchase. I was proud of my frugality, but also ashamed. When pants cost $45, it's easy to ignore the chain of supply, demand, cheap labour and pesticide-grown cotton that brought them there - more difficult to do so when two pairs cost the same as a combo meal at McDonald's. I saved money by buying my pants this way, but I wondered if I was being cheap instead of wise.

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