Just Buy It - School Edition

There is nothing like shopping, stumbling on an item you are certain you need, buying it, and when you get home or off the web - realizing that you already have it.  UGH, how frustrating!

As a kid, at the end of the summer, I remember mom taking us school shopping to get all of the things on the supply list.   At one point in time, there were 4 of us kids in school, so before the trip to the store, she did an inventory. 

School supply shopping season would arrive, she would gather all of the items we had in the house, compare it to the list(s), and then purchase only the items actually needed. Mom was frugal, as anyone raised by a child of the depression would be, and she was a professional when it came to using everything till it actually ran out and not breaking the bank when spending money was required.  She did not have more time than any of us have today, she was a working mom after all, but she did have a system of where things belonged in the house so the inventory took little to no time out of her day and her purchases were targeted and necessary.

That process seems logical, but today our schedules are over packed and taking a moment for evaluation before action is often disregarded in order to just get it done (sorry NIKE, I sort of disagree with you).  There are a few reasons for this – here are my thoughts…

·       Procrastination – Putting off the project till the deadline is imminent is something that everyone is guilty of in some way and this creates unnecessary pressure to just buy it.  Stop procrastinating and tackle the project earlier rather than later – this will allow for a thoughtful progression and saves time, money, and avoids panic attacks in the long run.

·       Time - Many of us feel that we do not have much time to locate all of the currently owned items related to the purchase in order to figure out what is really needed.  School/office supplies should be treated no different than perishable food items for the fact that they still take up space – just because it’s in the office and not the kitchen does not make the space it takes up any less valuable.

·       Reality – Our things are scattered in, on top of, and behind drawers, cabinets, and closets because it was not necessary to categorize anything when the totality of stuff fit in a car but life however has progressed and the accumulation of stuff now overflows a 2000 square foot house, a small garage, and sometimes an offsite storage unit.   This is where I will suggest a quick blog read of Chaos-before-serenity steps 3 & 4 when it comes to categorizing stuff and a review of Battles Vs. Wars for suggestions on how to get your stuff categorized.

I will not blame NIKE for anyone’s double purchasing a Trapper Keeper, or whatever they are called now, but I will suggest that if the goal is to eliminate excess stuff, stop to take inventory before the shopping trip.