ComPact 2014 -- September

New month, and soon a new season. August went by so quickly -- that had to be a record breaker. So, after so many months (years?) of ComPacting, I see the most success by stopping the flow. By just not introducing new items, I can see and feel the difference.

Biggest success? Resisting the urge to overbuy beauty items. I feel that I've finally reached the point where I can do without. I have assembled the items that work best and that I use most. Life is easier.

Unfortunately I still have all the items I'd collected before I "enlightened" myself. Still applying the "one-by-one" rule. It works.

What has made the biggest difference for you?

On 9/1/2014 BExplorer said: Thanks for this monthly thread (and also your HEP thread)! I am finally being very thoughtful in my buying, asking myself how much will I actually go through before the next sale and buying no more than that. Also, I have moved from "if I think I may want/use it, I better buy it" to "if I have ANY doubt, I better not buy it". BIG improvement for me :-)

It's like there's a switch in our heads that suddenly gets flipped.

Living in the high desert is not for the faint of heart. I've been a desert dweller for nearly 20 years now and this environment never fails to surprise me. This is not to say that all surprises are pleasant. Some of our secrets have been revealed to the masses: Film crews stationed here return home with photos and tales of 7-inch centipedes and weeds that are so vicious that even the leaves have thorns.

But I must say this: Summer of 2014 has been glorious.

Every year we hope for a monsoon season that never materializes. This year we had rain. And it doesn't take much rain to encourage the barren desert to burst into action. Invasive species make their way through concrete and asphalt and grow in feet, not inches. Bugs that one might have read about in sci-fi novels are now suddenly in your home. Every year we see a new crop of weeds and a new crop of bugs. Since I have feeders in the yard I'm aware of the birds that use New Mexico to get to wherever it is they're going. I see flocks of unidentified flying mammals every day.

The cooler temperatures are always welcome and we appreciate the rain. But we're left with some of the most evil weeds in the universe. It seems as if every new thing that sprouts has spines, thorns, burrs, swords -- these things are vile. But now the rain has ceased and the temperatures are rising. The weeds are started to look limp.

And now is the time to act. My system, again, is one-by-one. I know better than to go out and try to address every ill in one session of back-breaking weed-pulling. I've learned the hard way.

Now I don garden gloves and grab a 13 gallon trash bag. I work until I fill that bag as full as it can be, then I go into the house and have a cold beer. It's amazing how much one can accomplish when one establishes rules. One bag, one beer. It works.

Happy September ComPactors!

Thanks for keeping us going every month, Bee. You are The Best!

What has made the biggest difference for me? Without a doubt, ending the "must try everything" feeling and buying new products all the time. I stopped watching most presentations, delete makeup company emails unopened, avoid the beauty departments in stores.

Next, working on using products up completely before moving on to something else has helped a lot. i had gotten into the habit of buying things and starting them with something else partly used. I had all these half full products all over. I never had many unopened things stashed away. I was always trying something new. Now I try new things but not until I am done or close to done with what I was using. I admit that I still struggle to finish things up once I buy the new product.

On 9/1/2014 willdob3 said:

What has made the biggest difference for me? Without a doubt, ending the "must try everything" feeling and buying new products all the time. I stopped watching most presentations, delete makeup company emails unopened, avoid the beauty departments in stores.

Yes, the "don't look" method! It actually works.

My biggest collection is still shower gel and lotion. I rarely use lotion yet I collected gallons of the stuff. I'm convinced it will spoil before it gets used.

But I'm making a dent in the shower gels because I'm using them up one by one (in the shower and as hand soap at the sinks) instead of matching scents to my current mood.

I can't believe how much time I wasted trying to figure out which fragrance to use. Am I feeling fruity? Flowery? Foody? Cantaloupe or watermelon?

Now I just use the same scent until the bottle is empty.

On 9/2/2014 SKV said: Thank you for starting this thread Just Bee! Temptation has been creeping back in for me lately and I really need to stay focused with all the fall sales and holiday sets coming out soon. This thread really helps me and I think September will be a great month!

Yup! At the beginning of every season, there's temptation. We crave a big change and a new season is the perfect opportunity. But we probably have enough in our collections to pick out a few new things without having to go out and buy them.