Long ago, in a city that now seems very far away, we decided to put ourselves through a rehab program called the Compact. Compacting started when a group of friends in San Francisco decided that they were tired of the consumer rat race and made a pact not to buy anything new for a period of 6 months. Now there are all sorts of blogs, Yahoo Groups, and websites dedicated to Compacting.
We first decided to Compact as a way to detox from our consumeristic lifestyle. We had just started "going green" and the Compact got our creative juices flowing. We stopped shopping for entertainment and started spending that time connecting with each other. We spent more time outside, in the garden, at the park, taking walks. We learned to make due with the things we already had and to separate need from want.
As time went on, we began buying things again. We were good at times and bad at times but, for the most part, we did well, not going overboard. I was able to leave my corporate job and take a part time position working from home. We felt pretty good about that, considering that Mr. Greenhab is a teacher, and they aren't known for their high salaries!
Lately, though, we've noticed that the monthly credit card bill is getting higher again. (That could have something to do with the two new additions to our family!) On top of that, Mr. Greenhab and I delved into a conversation the other day about how much of the US's debt China holds...which led to a conversation about everything that is Made in China...which led to a conversation about the book Depletion & Abundance...yada yada yada...and we're back on the Compact.
Funny how that happens. But I guess everyone needs to reinforce their rehab (greenhab) once in awhile to make sure they stay the course. Here we go.....
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