Spending Less

Black Friday has come and gone.  But unlike Mary, I’m decidedly not a shopper.  So while she was braving the crowds on Friday morning, I was busy reading the newspaper.

And that’s when I ran across the full-page ad in the New York Times that Patagonia ran for their Common Threads Initiative.   Patagonia is the well-known, California-based purveyor of outdoor clothing.  As a successful retailer, it’s a bold move to ask their customers to buy less, particularly on what is touted as the biggest shopping day of the year.

But the initiative is part of Patagonia’s larger commitment to the environment.  The initiative was launched a few months ago with the goal of raising environmental awareness among consumers.  It focuses on the three R’s of environmentalism (Reduce, Reuse and Recycle).   But interestingly, Recycle come last, after a fourth R, Repair.   The initiative asks consumers to pledge to take action, and Patagonia agrees to do the same.

As we wrestle with ways to manage expenses better, particularly during economically difficult time, it’s sometimes easy to forget that it’s a lot easier to track spending when we spend less.  The Common Threads initiative is a good reminder to buy less stuff, get more out of the stuff we have, take better care of our stuff, and finally, pass our stuff along to  someone else when we can’t use it any longer.

Of course, Lemon is there to help when you do need help tracking spending and managing expenses.  But we won’t mind if you get more out of the stuff you already have!