In a time of pandemic crisis, here are five semi-tongue-in-cheek suggestions to cut wasteful spending from your budget.
Leaf Blowers
A rake, broom, mulching lawn mower, or vacuum cleaner will do the same work, and most of us who would buy a leaf blower have those anyway. Leaf blowers are expensive, redundant, wasteful, and unnecessary power tools for lazy people who like to wake up their neighbors on Saturday mornings.
Convertibles
Maybe it’s because I live in Minnesota, but I don’t like the idea of spending extra for a car where the entire interior gets wet in the rain or any loose items within it are free for the taking to passersby unless I take the time and effort to put the cloth top up before I leave it. On the plus side, it would likely make for a less trash filled car interior . . . I also don’t like the fact that the cloth top up is a permanent fixture eight months of the year because it’s too cold to have it down, and four of those months are so cold in Minnesota that the car heater can’t maintain a temperature above 55 degrees underneath the cloth top no matter how much you crank it. It’s also unnerving that if I were to get into a roll-over accident my skull would be the hardest thing between my brain and the ground.
Designer Purses
I have never understood the female obsession with designer purses. I use just one purse – a small black microfiber cross-body one I bought from a travel store that carries only my essentials – I slip it inside a larger tote bag if I need to carry something larger to hold my computer or other extras. I do have a couple of more decorative clutches for special occasions, but they spend most of their time in a drawer in my closet that also holds the pashmina someone got me as a gift that I say I’m going to wear but never do, and a few pairs of pantyhose that I wish I never had to wear but sometimes must. The one purse accessory item on which I will spend money to get just the right one – although I still don’t care what brand it is, nor even what color – is a high quality, small-size bifold wallet that holds my ID, credit cards, and currency yet still fits inside my trusty small black purse. But to have a closet full of designer purses that I constantly have to switch my essentials between in order to “match” my shoes or my outfit, many of which cost more than the monthly payment on my first ever new car? Um, no.
China & Crystal Dishware
On holidays and other special occasions it’s customary for many families to set out the “good china,” and the “crystal glassware,” which otherwise sits unused and displayed in a special piece of dining room furniture called a “china cabinet” or “hutch.” The thing about “good china,” and crystal stemware is that it is so fragile that even if your automatic dishwasher has a “china” wash setting, it is best to wash it by hand. And crystal stem ware will develop unsightly water spots if you don’t hand dry it right away. All of this must be done with extreme care – setting it out, eating & drinking with it, washing and drying it, and putting it back in the china cabinet – so that no piece gets marred by even the slightest chip. It’s a nerve-wracking process that takes much of the joy out of the meal, and I think one reason that there is so often a “kids’ table” at these meals is because children and “good china” simply don’t mix well.
It’s always been this way – pioneer women often packed only two dresses and one pair of shoes to take across the prairie in a rough-hewn wagon. But by gosh, they packed the entire set of china dishware they got as a wedding gift. We can forgive them their obsession because back then they didn’t have as many decorative dishware options as we have now. So – what’s our excuse for continuing to obsess about buying, passing down, storing, and breaking out the “good china?” Why do we even need it anymore? My attitude is that unless it’s a daily use workhorse like a cast iron pan, if it can’t go in my dishwasher it doesn’t belong in my house. I most certainly won’t spend tons of money on expensive dishware that requires its own storage furniture, creates more work for me, and gives me anxiety to use.
Expensive Brand Name Diapers
This should be self-explanatory considering what diapers are used for. Yet people must still buy Pampers Premium and Huggies Supreme diapers for their babies and toddlers or they wouldn’t still be on the shelves. Both of my daughters wore much less expensive Luvs diapers, and they didn’t have any more rashes or leaks than any other child that I knew of. All parents know that there is no diaper – premium, supreme, or otherwise that can handle the “back blow” leak that happens when a child has an explosive bowel movement while sitting in a car seat. And Luvs got smart by the time my second daughter came around and put fun pictures on their diapers too – so then I was even more unsure why people still bought the more expensive ones. In any case – considering the nature of their one-use purpose, it’s amazing how much parents are still willing to pay for the “right” brand of diapers. But then again, because our kids’ disposable diapers will still be sitting, completely intact, in landfills long after their former wearers are dead and gone, maybe it’s a long-term investment?