So much to say I say nothing

Obviously I have SO much I need to say that I end up saying nothing! A bit like my house - there is so much clutter around and so much cleaning to do that I end up doing nothing.

However, I've been looking around for inspiration and motivation to address that particular problem, and the key to it all, to sorting out the mess I've lazily allowed to develop, is baby steps. One step at a time.

Like, for example, wanting to reject consumerism and wanting to conserve. My life was so tied up in buying ready-made products and ready-made clothes, and ready-made food, that I forgot how exactly I would make these things for myself. This is being a consumer, and its a very expensive way to live. There are so many things that tie you to that way of living, you're scared to change.

That is, until I realised the importance of why I absolutely MUST change. Okay, a large part of that was hitting the buffers on my bank account and not being allowed any more overdraft. I'm already paying tons off of credit card bills, and the mortgage, so I really didn't want to take out yet another loan to see it through. Only one thing for it: I needed to STOP spending money. After all, I had absolutely none to spend!

My God it was hard though. Thinking back, I must have been spending a little bit every day. For one I always bought lunch at work - now I make it at home (well, at least my darling hubby does) and bring it in, and that £2-£5 per day not being spent has already made a big difference.

Also, I had a really bad habit for buying cosmetics and toiletries. If I was feeling low in myself (which happened an awful lot back then, much less now) I would justify in my head, even when I'd promised myself that I would only spend on what I needed, that I had to have a new shampoo or new mascara, or new whatever. It didn't seem to make any difference that I already had 10 in the drawer at home, because they were different TYPES of shampoo, mascara, whatever other thing. Now things are different. I realise that these are all marketed differently so that people will fall into that trap and buy what they don't need. The company selling the blessed stuff doesn't care if you actually use it or not, the point is that they want you to buy it.

I've not bought a prepared beauty treatment for around 5 months now, and I feel so much better for it. These things are made from a combination of petrochemicals, which are really bad for you, particularly Parabens (see http://www.live-naturally.co.uk/article/Parabens-and-their-effects for further info). I've been washing in natural, handmade soap with lavender, and using coconut oil as a moisturiser. Sunburn I treat with sodium bicarbonate and honey in a comfortably warm bath followed by home-made lemon cologne, and use a basic shampoo (not a lot of it either) followed by the coconut oil after to soften my hair. Its very basic, but works loads better than all the lotions and potions I used to waste huge amounts of money on. I'm still using my enormous stash of make-up and I have enough to last me ages yet, and won't be buying any more!

Wow, I really get rambling when I get started! Still, I've enjoyed sharing this with you. If anybody actually ever reads this, do say hello, it would be nice to hear from people and what they think of what I say. Not that that particularly matters, I'll still say it.

Thanks for listening.