Well, we are only 8 days into the New Year and I’ve already noticed how freaking HARD it is to walk away from the point-click-buy life. A few examples, in no particular order.
TEEEEEA
I had an amazing cup of tea when visiting my family in Chicago. The brand, Spirit Tea, makes these super innovative herbal blends. So important for me, since I gave up caffeine. But they didn’t sell any loose tea, and I didn’t have time to find the retail shop (if there was one). So basically I have to wait until I’m either back in Chicago or Spirit Tea takes over DC to scratch that itch.
Annoyance Factor: Very high. I want to support small, boutique businesses and clearly E-Commerce saves them from expensive overhead. And I just want good tea.
$ Factor: Low, since I didn’t buy anything.
Water Filers
Ohhh, sexy! Yes, the water filter on my fridge was embarrassingly out of date. This usually would be a point-click-buy. But hark! Counterfeit water filters? Yes, it’s a thing, apparently. So my fanny went to the hardware store and picked some up.
Annoyance Factor: Moderate, I enjoy errands in general and hardware stores in particular. Plus, I found them easily.
$ Factor: High, nearly $75 for two filters. Yes, there are better deals online, but if low price is your guide, you may end up with a lemon.
Beyond these two examples, I have noticed the urge to BUY stuff is quickly kaboshed because I don’t have access to my usual channels. I also have to run more errands, and find some big box stores a lot more unpleasant Target than others Costco. This might shift where I actually spend my money in person. If I have to be there more, I want to enjoy it. That’s the point!
So as I write this, I’m enjoying my store-bought tea with my newly filtered water. Not a bad turn out by any means. But there’s still 357 days to go.
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