Anyone following my blog might know that I’m trying hard to kick the plastic bag habit.

I’m about 80% successful with my efforts. I am FINALLY remembering to bring them in whenever I shop. That was the hardest part, really. I would get in the store, all done shopping and think, SHOOT…. I left the dumb bags in the car!!! AGH!!!

Well, I finally started to put them on the front seat, right under my purse. That seems to have made me remember a little more often and well, finally, it’s getting to be a habit.

I just need to remember to bring ENOUGH bags in… that’s why I’m not 100% successful. I keep underestimating my shopping needs when it comes to bags. I finally just put ALL my nice bags into one bag and bring the whole thing in. That seems to be a pretty good way to remember.

Now I want to try and slow down the paper towel use in the house.

When I realized that paper towels are creeping up in price…. even the super duper cheap ones seem to be about $1.39 any more… and I watched my kids (and me) using them like crazy just to dry hands at the kitchen sink after washing? And using them to get a little big of water on the counter and such, I thought, this is whacked. I need to get a dozen or so nice basic bar cloths for that kind of stuff. Use them for the day, wash, use again kind of thing.

So I did. I got 5 larger bar clothes in a pack for $5 and I got two packs of 9 washcloth sized for $3 each. $11. And I know it will take a little time to get us into the habit of using them, like the cloth bags, but I think in the end it’s a better thing.

Now mind you, paper towels are perfectly great for picking up yucky stuff that the livestock drags in, or pukes up… (thankfully that is rare, but well, does happen) And they are good for messy yucky spills… but I think with just a little training we can make a roll last a good long time. Sounds good to me.

We are just about weaned off paper plates and plastic forks… got some great little snack plates from Ikea and bowls too… fun colorful pieces and super easy to wash up. We’re really using them consistently for lunch and snacks, whatever. We are a family that tends to eat at all different times, rather independent cusses, actually when it comes to that, and so it’s easy to just make a sandwich or something light and it’s pretty easy to use these little plates. I think I need one more pack and it would be perfect. No more paper plates.

For awhile I was getting a box or two of plastic forks and spoons, because we seemed to be going through a ton of silverware all the time and since we hand wash everything, we were running out of forks ALL THE TIME… But since we stopped getting a lot of prepacked foods and such, that seems to be leveling out more. And we’re trying hard to keep up on the dishes through the day more. So they aren’t piling up and all. So that’s it, no more of them.

It’s not a huge expense, I know. But you start combining them all… and it starts to add up. $6 for paper towels, $2 for paper plates, $4 for plastic forks and spoons and I start to think, well, that’s like $10-$12 a week…. times 52? $520??? To use once and throw away?

Well, we’ll keep at it. I just like the idea of not having to buy the stuff and remember to buy it and all that running out of this and that and all. I want to start shopping much more simpler.

Another thing I did was to wean everyone off the multiple types of soap, shampoo and conditioner and other health and beauty aids like toothpaste, and rinse etc. We voted and made a list of the stuff we absolutely loved and what we didn’t care so much about. Me, I love Pantene shampoo. I’m just not a big fan of Swave and all that. And I’m careful not to waste it, or use big handfuls, so that’s good. Girls didn’t care much. Great, so we buy just one brand of shampoo and conditioner. Maggie loves the pump soap from Body Works… so I had a great coupon, and they had a sale, I bought 8 bottles and that’s the soap we use. Jessy doesn’t much like some kinds of toothpaste, she’s not a real mint freak, so we get the citrus flavored mouthwash and toothpaste.

Everyone is happy and I don’t have to remember everyone’s umpteen kinds of stuff… Did the same in the kitchen, just narrowed it down to a couple loved cleaning products. Dawn soap, Comet cleanser, Vinegar and water spray cleaner. That seems to be what we need most.

With so many choices in life, especially with shopping and groceries, I think we fall victim of the “too much” overload and tend to think we need all these things to make our lives run smoothly. When in reality, we don’t and can get by with more narrow choices. It sure does make shopping simpler and cheaper too. I can stock up on the things we like and watch for good sales.

I think it makes good homesteading sense… learn to live without so much STUFF around you… get good stuff, good multi-purpose simple tools to make things work smoothly. That’s the key to running a good simple household.

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