Freeganism, Principles, and Underwear, Oh My!

No, I have not bought underwear yet. Can I tell you something? Organic underwear? Is kinda ...ugly. And seriously expensive. I know, I know, natural dyes, blah blah blah. But look at this!! Even the cut seems unflattering. Do I seriously have to spend $19 for granny panties?! Someone heeeeeeeeeelp meeeeeeeeeeeee.

So yeah, no underwear. But what I have done is eat out. Pretty much the second my Pseudo Freegan month ended.

Being a freegan, even the pseudo freegan kind, is interesting. It was actually less difficult to find food than I thought. Pretty much every day at the office, someone would order food, or bring in bagels, or something. And so, I would eat ... whatever was lying around in the office. Which meant carbs, carbs, and more carbs until Awesomest Co-worker freaked out that I was going to overdose on carbs (psssh as if THAT'S possible) and made me eat some minestrone soup she had in her cube.

Here's the thing. Freegans, like beggars, cannot be choosers. I don't know if the NYC freegans raid organic gardens, or what, but personally? I was eating mostly non-local, non-organic free bagels and cream cheese, topped with the occasional conventionally grown tomato. When my mom sent me home with veggie burgers, I ate the veggie burgers straight for a week. Not the sort of thing I tend to eat that often since veggie burgers are pretty processed, but ... again. It was free.

One of the things I really appreciated about my non-consumerist year was that it allowed me to live in accordance with my principles. For example, a few years ago, there was a brouhaha over some Target employees refusing to fill the morning-after pill for customers. Target defended its employees, basically stating that it was up to the employee's discretion whether or not to fill the prescription or not. I was really pissed, but other than writing Target a stern email, I did nothing. You see, I WANTED to stop shopping at Target, truly, I did, but, I just didn't see such a thing as really POSSIBLE.

Looking back, that seems really ridiculous. I seriously thought that I had no choice but to shop at Target? Was someone holding a gun to my head and forcing me to purchase cute, but totally unnecessary purses? Why did I feel like I had no options?

I think part of the problem is, you get overwhelmed. Every single clothing company reportedly uses sweatshop labor. Walmart depresses local economies and treats its employees poorly. How can you boycott every major store on the planet? You can't, right? And if you can't, then you may as well shop everywhere.

That, in sum, was my argument for years. But this past year, I managed to go a whole year without purchasing anything from any of those major clothing stores. And you know what? It's not impossible. Even now, when I plan to start buying clothes, there are plenty of thrift stores to shop at (so if I want, I'm able to buy Gap clothes without actually giving money to Gap), and more and more eco-friendly stores with fair labor practices. And you know, what? It is so empowering when you realize that no, you are not entirely dependent on big huge clothing stores. You don't HAVE to shop at Target; in fact, you do just fine without Target.

On the other hand, with the freegan food thing, I felt much more conflicted. I feel very strongly about building the market for local and organic food. So the fact that I wasn't buying, that I wasn't sending my money to local food economies, was strange.

It's a delicate balance isn't it? Between not buying and opting out and supporting sustainable economies and opting in? During my non-consumerist year, I balanced the not buying durable goods with buying food at restaurants, buying songs off iTunes, paying for concerts, movies, plays, and museums. But during my pseudo freegan month, that balance was gone, and it felt weird.

Sure, I was saving money, and reducing food waste. But what about my principles? Is it really principled to be eating nothing but non-organic bagels and conventional cream cheese for a month just because it's free? Is freeganism taking non-consumerism too far? Even pseudo-freeganism?

Eventually, and, I don't know, maybe the carb overloading was causing hallucinations, but I started to come up with this analogy. Just as it takes all kinds of species in an eco-system, perhaps it takes all kinds of eco-nuts. You have your herbivores, your omnivores, and then there are the freegans: the scavengers. And you need the right balance of all these types of species. Freegans, therefore, are performing a necessary function in this eco-system.

Necessary, perhaps, but I think unfortunately, the freegans will have to do without me from now on. The farmers' market is beckoning, and, to be perfectly honest, I'm a little tired of bagels.

Weekly Update

Hi Chile, hi Megan. How you gals been doing? Megan, did you have a fun trip?

I sure did. And yes, it did involve spending money, though honestly, it still wasn't a ton of money.

On Friday, July 11th, I ended up getting a last minute oil change for my car. I've been driving so much less than usual, that I have sort of been neglecting my car's upkeep, and in fact eight months had gone by since my last oil change. Of course, in that time, I had only put 5,600 miles on the car, but my manual says to change the oil at 6 months or 7,500 miles. Since it was less than 7,500 miles (though over six months), I thought that I was probably okay, but, in the end, paranoia won out (what if I get stuck in the middle of the desert!) and I got the oil change. So that set me back to the tune of $41.35.

I made Honda, Pie and myself sandwiches for the ride over to Vegas, to save us all the time and money. We arrived in Vegas around 11:00pm, and promptly ordered a few round of drinks. I paid for one round for my friends. Cost of drinks: $58.50.

The next morning, we ate breakfast at a terrible restaurant. Terrible AND expensive. Did I mention we were hungover? Blech. $25.00.

But we made up for it by eating a very nice dinner that night for $25.00.

And the next day, we had a delicious breakfast buffet for $18.32.

Aside from that, I paid $28.00 for gas, and $15.00 for a taxi ride we took.

So in total that comes out to ... $211.17 (not including the $100 for the hotel that I'd paid in advance.) $211.17, for a weekend that was, to quote Mastercard, priceless.

I think I did pretty well, actually, all things considered.

Cooking For One

When I switched to shopping mostly at the farmers' market instead of mostly at Trader Joe's, my food waste soared. I haven't really blogged much about it, because I'm kind of embarassed about it, but there it is.

Why did my food waste soar? For many reasons. One, because all the produce at the farmers' market looked so good, that my eyes would be bigger than my stomach, and I would buy too much. Two, because I was trying to do one big shop every week instead of doing 3-4 small shops every week, and I would get stressed out that if I didn't buy tomatoes now I would be screwed if I needed tomatoes later in the week. Three, because I read a lot of food porn. And I would get convinced that I just HAD to cook this recipe, but then ... I am lazy. And I lack follow through. And I would work until 7:30 most nights. And four, because I would buy all this food from the farmers' market and then end up eating out.

I know from reading Rubbish that I'm not the only American with a food waste problem. Food waste comprises a large portion of our landfills. Rathje and Murphy, the authors of Rubbish argue that when you eat roughly the same thing day after day, you are less likely to produce waste. Eating the same thing every day can be boring, but in my experience, they are right.

So part of my objective in July was to not waste any food, because frankly, if I'm trying to go without spending money on groceries for a month, then I can't afford any food waste. The first couple day of July, I ate cereal for breakfast, bread and cheese for lunch, and pancakes for dinner. I used up every last drop of batter, and ate the ends of my bread. I went home to the Bay Area for the weekend, and my mom packed me a cooler full of leftover food: fish, potatoes, and mushrooms. So then, for the next few days, that's all I ate. Fish and potatoes. Mushrooms and potatoes. Fish and mushrooms. Fish and a glass of chocolate milk. Potatoes and milk. (That was kind of a weird meal.)

Was it boring? Yes, kind of. Did I get a little freaked out about the lack of leafy green veggies in my diet? Definitely. Did I waste any food? No, I did not.

And now that the fish, mushrooms, potatoes, and milk are all finished, I'll probably go back to the pancakes (have to finish off the yogurt and eggs!) And for lunch, I'll probably end up eating peanut butter and jelly for a week.

It is nice not to be having food waste guilt. It is nice to not have the stress of cooking. And I LIKE peanut butter and jelly and pancakes. I could probably eat peanut butter and jelly for the rest of my life.

But it also doesn't seem super healthy. And I guess that's what I struggle with. When you are one person, and you eat something around 1700 calories a day, how do you fit in the veggies, the fiber, the carbs, the fats, and not have left over waste? Can I just throw farmers' market veggies in the freezer willy nilly? Because, I'll tell you what. Farmers' market produce is great. But I miss the convenience of frozen broccoli and spinach. I miss being able to sprinkle some veggies on a dish, and then being able to stick the rest of the veggies back in the freezer without worrying about waste.

Someone help me out before I get scurvy!

Forgive Me Megan, For I Have Sinned

All right. The first eight days I did really well, and then yesterday, I ended up spending $22.00 on a phone card and $9.19 on postage for various things I mailed out (including the cheese kit.)

Running total is $31.19.

Tonight is my cousin's 17th birthday and I'm going to give her cashola. (Fool proof gift for teens.) That counts as spending, yes? So that's another $50.00 right there.

$81.19.

Sigh. You are so kicking my ass.

Out of curiosity, I turned to my June credit card bill to see how much I had racked up in the first ten days of June. Taking out the exempted charges (bills, medical stuff, etc), I was left with the following:

June 3rd: $60 of farmers' market cash. (You pay with your credit card, and they give you little farmers' market bucks you can use at the stalls.)

June 5th: $17.40 on lunch with a friend.

June 5th: $22.00 for a phone card. (I clearly need to get with the Skype.)

June 6th: $50.00 for gas.

June 8th: $161.71 for dinner. (I treated all of my friends to dinner.)

June 9th: $17.00 for a weekly bus pass.

June 10th: $5.45 for postage. I can't remember what this was for.

June 10th: $9.77 at the grocery store. Again, can't remember what I bought there.

For a grand total of ... $343.33.

Um, I'm sorry, WHAT?!?! Did I seriously spend $343.33 in the first ten days of June? And of course, that's just my credit card charges, so it's possible I spent MORE than that in cash (though I don't tend to keep much cash on me.)

Okay, fine, I know I used the farmers' market cash for the rest of the month. And I guess almost half of that money was used to treat my friends to dinner which isn't something I do terribly often, but is a nice thing to do once in a while. But still. I mean sheesh. For an alleged non-consumer, I sure do find ways to spend my money!

So, anyway, Megan, you may be beating the pants off of me, but at least I am kicking the butt of June Arduous?

Of course this weekend, I go to Vegas, ie The Most Unsustainable Place On Earth. I'll give you an update on Monday.

26 Days

I know, I know. Once again I let another month go by without comment. The thing is though, that really there isn't much to say. I've been a non-consumer for so long now, that it's just ... my life. When I started this blog, I was still figuring all this out, still determining my values system, etc. I ran wild at used bookstores, and snapped stuff up on eBay. Now? Honestly, I don't even buy used that often. I can't quite recall the last durable thing I bought. I bought a few second-hand books with a gift card in May. The egregious cheesecloth, rennet, and citric acid, soon on its way to Dasha, in May. I think I got the battery for my iPod in April? Maybe another used book or two courtesy of a gift card? It's difficult to remember.

So the point is, talking about my non-consumerism feels a little foolish these days. What am I supposed to say? Woke up today, brushed my teeth, went to work, didn't buy anything? It's strange. I expected the July Pseudo Freegan Month to be a bigger deal. I thought it would make me re-evaluate my relationship with money, or that I'd be suffering more angst. And, I'm not. Not really. Yeah there are days when co-workers ask me to lunch, and it gets complicated. Yes, sometimes I miss eating out. But by and large, it's just an extension of what I've already been doing. Maybe as the month goes on, I'll start to feel differently, but right now ... meh.

On the other hand ... a couple weekends ago, Honda, Miss V, Annie and I were having breakfast. And Honda asked when my non-consumerist year ended. "August 3rd," I responded.

"Thank GOD!" exclaimed Honda. "I can't wait."

"I'm really not sure what you think is going to happen in August," I said getting a little uncomfortable.

"Uh, well, we're definitely going to the MALL!" Miss V pronounced.

"Ohhhhhkay," I muttered into my french toast.

The weird thing is, my girlfriends are not even major shoppers or anything. I know this conversation makes it sound as if they routinely spend their weekends at Bloomies, but ... they don't. They hardly ever shop themselves. Honda has a few clothes in her closet from high school for crying out loud!

And yet, they are eager for the year to be over. They are ready to take me clothes shopping, and underwear shopping, and especially shoe shopping. And I get it. Because I think, to a certain extent, what they're tired of, is mostly the strictness of the rules I've imposed for myself. It's not like they expect me to turn into some sort of fashionista who cares about the new style in jeans. I've never been that person. But they love me and they want me to occasionally indulge myself when I see a beautiful dress or a cute tee. They want me to wear shoes that aren't old and falling apart. And even I know I need new underwear.

But ... I'm not sure I'm ready for the mall. I don't know. Does that sound stupid? It's true though. I still love pretty dresses, and I think I would enjoy trying new clothes on and searching for that perfect outfit (after all, it's been a freaking YEAR since I've been inside a fitting room.) But the idea of buying new clothes ... it just feels so weird and foreign. And I keep thinking, my clothes are fine. Why do I need new clothes? And then the clothes I actually do need like underwear and bras just seem so BORING. Who wants to spend money on that stuff? Not me.

So yeah, I dunno. I guess I'm looking forward to August 3rd? Sorta? Maybe? Kinda? Barely?

Eating Socially For Free

I kid you not, literally 11 hours into the Pseudo Freegan Challenge, my mettle was tested for the first time.

It began very simply.

"Wanna go to lunch?"

I have a very, very hard time saying no to that. I enjoy being social, I enjoy eating out, I enjoy the activity of "breaking bread" with another human being. Sharing meals with other people is an important aspect of my life.

It's also the number one charge on my credit card bill. Every month my bill is a litany of food-related charges: Mexican, sushi, California cuisine, pizza. Not only does my restaurant addiction hurt my finances, but I've found that in the past month, it's messed with my meal planning as well. Because I agree to go out to eat at the drop of a hat, the shiny, happy food I buy at the farmers' market sometimes rots before I have a chance to cook. To make matters worse, while I rarely go to chain restaurants and almost never eat fast food, I don't only patronize restaurants that serve local, sustainable, organic food either. So though my grocery shopping tends to be very environmentally responsible these days, it's counter-balanced by my less than eco-friendly meal consumption at restaurants.

I'm obviously not against eating out, but clearly I haven't learned moderation. And I simply have to figure out a good way to curb my restaurant addiction while still spending time with my friends, family, and co-workers.

On Tuesday, when my co-worker asked me to lunch, I told her very honestly, "I'm on a spending freeze." Then I offered to either sit with her while she ate, or just go for a walk during lunch. She suggested we walk over to her apartment during lunch. I could bring my sandwich, she'd heat up her leftovers, and we could spend our lunch hour relaxing and chatting for free.

So that's what we did. And it was great. I got to meet my friend's cats and see her apartment. I didn't spend any money, and my sandwich was made with farmers' market bread, cheese, and produce.

Tuesday it worked out just fine. Let's hope the rest of the month works out that well.

The July Pseudo Freegan Challenge

A few months ago, Megan from Fix contacted me with an idea for a monthly challenge: a month of freeganism or buying nothing AT ALL. "I'll do it with you!" she said.

And because I'm a sucker for challenges and because I have a competitive streak, oh and also because I am totally NUTS, I agreed. But I still had reservations. "What about food?" I asked, "because I really don't have time to be going dumpster diving at the Au Bon Pain."

(You guys like how the TIME was my issue here and not really the uh ... dumpster diving?)

Megan agreed that the food was problematic. And then we remembered, duh! We have rent to pay. And bills. And turning off your phone for a month is a pain in the ass. And I have recurring donations to Planned Parenthood on my credit card.

Anyway, one thing led to another and we ended up deciding that this month would be the Pseudo Freegan Challenge. So ... we'll still be paying rent and our bills and donations. We'll still pay for medications if need be.

But other than those necessities, we're going to be spending as little money as possible. No snacks, no soda, no movies, no paid concerts, nada. All monetary spending that is not rent or a monthly bill or medication will go up on our blog. And yes, this includes food. If we mess up, and go to a movie, it goes on our blog. And at the end of the month, the one who has spent the least amount of money ... gets to declare victory and talk smack about the other.

Obviously this is going to be a challenging month. Megan gets food at work. I do not, so that puts me at a disadvantage in that category. We both have weekend trips planned for July (one weekend with the family in the Bay Area and a girl's weekend in Vegas) so obviously we're going to end up spending money there. I prepped a little for the challenge by filling gas in my tank and buying my July metro pass before June ended. And I did some grocery shopping over the weekend. I didn't spend much more money than I normally spend, but I did tailor my shopping with the challenge in mind, opting for stuff that I could freeze or store for a month like pasta sauce, bread and bison meat, instead of a ton of fruits and vegetables. Other than that, I bought tickets to a couple events in August (Les Miz at the Hollywood Bowl!!) and that was the extent of my planning.

Why did we decide on this challenge? Especially when Megan's already done the non-consumer thing for a whole year? Neither of us are against eating out at restaurants or seeing movies or paying for concerts. So why even bother?

I'll let Megan speak for herself, but for me, personally, I thought it would be interesting from a psychological perspective to really examine my relationship with money. I want to see how deprived I felt if I didn't allow myself to spend at all. I want to save money for some upcoming adventures. And frankly, it's summer and Los Angeles has hundreds of free events all over the city. I want to see if I can start taking advantage of those, instead of taking the easy road and going to a movie theatre.

So ... we'll see. I fully expect Megan to kick my ass up and down the block. But if that happens, that's okay too. Because as seriously as I am taking this challenge, I also know that I am going to have to give up on perfection right away. There are days when I will end up spending money. And on those days, I will come here and blog about it, and then go back to trying not to spend anything at all. It's going to be an interesting month.