the goals...

The following are my goals for the next year (until October 12, 2007):

1) do not buy anything that is not needed for one year
2) all items must be borrowed, bartered, or bought used (ebay, craigslist, freecycle, Goodwill,etc) unless it is a matter of health or safety.
3) I will attempt to only eat meals prepared at home, unless there is no other option
4) I will plan my family's meals each week, which include mostly local organic items, to help us stick to goal #3
5) I will simplify and declutter my home and keep only what is truly needed and cherished.

*I will make an exception for printing of photos, tickets to events (museums, festivals, etc) and yarn that is absolutely needed for a knitting project that cannot be found to trade for *
The goal is not to deprive ourselves of what we enjoy, but to change from a consumerist lifestyle to more of a simplistic, recyling lifestyle.

Other goals that I am not ready to put down into writing yet are: limit TV watching for the entire family and creating exercise time for myself.

In other news: I am currently in search of family cloth (aka cloth toilet paper/wipes). I have been meaning to make that switch for dd and myself (Z claims he is NOT using it), since we already use reusable kitchen towels instead of papertowels, cloth napkins, cloth mama pads, and cloth diapers/wipes. Although, I do need to start remembering to bring my reusable shopping bags with me when I go grocery shopping! I'm going to go check out this site for those wipes I've been hearing about. Not sure if I will buy some (I would consider this in the "health" category of exemptions) or if I will make some since I do not have serger and my friends have all gotten rid of the ones they had. I've heard old tshirts work well, but I'm not sure if we have any to part with at this time. I would prefer to make do with something we already have, but we will have to see.