24/24 - Week 3

Welcome back to week 3 of my 24/24 Challenge!

Purchases this week

I purchased no new items this last week, though I did make plenty of purchases that were secondhand and Zero-Waste...

• On Wednesday I visited Soap Refill Station in Waldo for the first time this year. First I presented a bag of empty containers that I had been saving for their in-store "Donation Station" of secondhand vessels. Then I chose 2 containers to refill for the 2 liquids I needed. The staff member weighed my containers before I filled them (they are thoughtful like that), then I filled an old dish soap container with the dishwasher detergent, and a plastic jar that once held sea salt to hold toilet bowl spray.

  

  Repurposed vessel = no new plastic created!

  
  

  

  Toilet Bowl cleaning concentrate
  

    While in the shop, I found a new product to try: Tooth Tabs by un*Paste! I've tried a different brand & flavor before and didn't care for them but these new ones are *cinnamon* and actually contain fluoride, and come in 100% compostable packaging.

Trying a new Zero-Waste tooth"paste"

Cinnamon tooth tabs!

I repurposed a tiny, cute glass bottle that came in a Hot Toddy
making kit that somebody gave to me months ago.

• I bought a *pre-owned* merino wool camisole on PoshMark because I need something warm to wear under my not-warm tops.
• I bought 7 *secondhand* tops from my favorite consignment shop, Style Encore in Overland Park, but I'm going to return one of them because it's not quite in my color palette and makes me look washed out.
• On Wednesday I went to High Vibe Bride in Mission, KS and tried on 15 wedding dresses but the very first one I tried on is the one. It was such an incredible experience, 3 of my closest gals came with me, and the best part is that it was a *GIFT* from a very generous and loving friend. Ok wait, the other best part is that the owner Janay PLANTS FIVE TREES for every dress she sells.
• I scored a secondhand freebie at work this week: A pair of no-show socks to wear with my summer sneakers.
• I also scored a secondhand-but-new freebie at work (the client purchased these, never used them, and offered them to me): 2 bamboo toothbrushes (one for me, one for Derrick!) and eleven refill pods for Myro deodorant... Which is "eco-friendly" in the sense that the product itself is green, but they still use plastic packaging. If I purchased this item myself, it would count toward 24/24, because it's not Zero Waste. But since it was secondhand I accepted... I don't need 11 of them, but they are small, and Derrick is interested in trying too. Since these are just the refill pods, I went on the Buy Nothing Group and asked if anybody had a Myro stick/applicator they would part with, and I got 2 hits! So I'll go pick those up tomorrow. If I had to buy new deodorant (which I won't, for quite awhile), I would buy the cardboard applicator ones from Native.

Other Wins & Tidbits

• On Tuesday night I had an unscheduled evening so I spent the time re-organizing our pantry. I listed a bunch of items on our local Buy Nothing Group (BNG), including a bread maker, juicer, Yonana machine and multiple ingredients that were in various states of opened/unopened, expired/not expired. The beauty of the BNG is that as long as you disclaim the condition of the item in your post with honesty, you can almost always find a willing taker. I also wiped down every shelf, consolidated ingredients, composted plant-based food that was too old (we have 2 compost bins out in our back yard), poured items into mason jars and labelled the contents with my glass pens, and spent a chunk of the evening Googling "uses for expired baking soda". The entire time I listened to "Leslie F*cking Jones" on Audible which is so good, guys.

I use secondhand bins in my own pantry, and create labels on the tops of jars.
My clients' pantries are way fancier, but I personally don't like matchy-matchy.

My newly organized pantry & all the free space!

• I got an Amazon credit for $19.85 from my Simplicana Shop, so I applied it toward replacing some of my supplements (booo plastic bottles, but supplements are on the OK list since they are somewhat medical).
• I bought a tank of gas using a portion of the cash that I got from consigning clothing for a client- every time I consign clothes, my clients and I split the amount they earn in half since I'm doing the errand.

Challenges

• I spent way too much money on dining out this week. Totally fine within the 24/24 challenge (it's food) but an ouch on my budget.
• Speaking of budgets, when Mint.com (RIP) went down, I switched to YNAB. I did the free trial and just paid my first annual payment on it (almost $99, ouch, but they are being honest when they say that I do in fact.... Need a budget. I cannot function without one. I'm super into managing finances.
• Our friends invited us to their baby shower and they have a registry... And thankfully, there was an option to purchase a digital gift card. I'm sort of iffy on this one since I know that the gift card will eventually go toward buying a new, tangible item. But, what can you do? I guess I could have asked them if they would mind if I tried scoring anything on their registry secondhand via the BNG or Marketplace or a simple Facebook post to my local pals, but I don't know them well enough to ask, and the idea of asking felt too much like injecting my own weirdness into a situation and making it more about me than about them.

Still 1.5/24 items... At this rate I will buy nearly 26 new things this year. If I can avoid buying new this next week, I'll be ahead of the challenge!