Tag Archives: Inflation

Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge: Do You Enjoy Shopping? Why or Why Not?

Hosted by Long and Short Reviews.

Click here to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and to read everyone else’s replies to this week’s question and here to see the full list of topics for the year.

Generally, no, I do not enjoy shopping because of how consumeristic and expensive it can be.

Closeup of eco-friendly mesh bags. Two are black, two are white, and one is yellow. They are all arranged in a circle against a white background. I replace clothing and shoes as they wear out or no longer fit me, but I find it wasteful to replace perfectly good stuff just because an advertisement says that a certain pattern or colour is no longer in fashion this year. (This is not a criticism of anyone who loves fashion, only of an industry that often strongly encourages people to purchase things they may not need or even want a few months from now).

Due to planned obsolescence and how many items are not being constructed in ways that makes repairing them easy or even possible in some cases, it can be harder to do this with stuff like electronics or small appliances, but I do still try to get as much use out of them as I can.

I used to like visiting the grocery store and occasionally the local chocolate shops before inflation increased the price of  everything so terribly.

It was once relaxing for me to pick out the freshest produce I could find and browse new dairy-free products so long as I went at a quiet part of the day. There was nothing like the thrill of finding a new vegan cheese, dark chocolate bar, or less common fruit or vegetable to try that was only a few dollars but might become a new favourite of mine.

Chocolate shops always smell so good that I used to go there just to sniff around and see if there was any new vegan chocolate for me to buy.

With prices for everything rising and my budget having less wiggle room, I do not find as much joy in these things as I used to….unless I happen to stumble across a fantastic sale or something which does happen every so often.

The only shopping-adjacent thing I enjoy these days is browsing the new section of my local library or the new additions page on their website.

I love the thrill of seeing books by favourite authors pop up in these places and either realizing I can borrow them immediately or that the waitlist for them is beautifully short.

This isn’t even to mention all of the other stuff libraries offer: concerts, authors giving talks, discussion panels, book clubs, job hunting advice, movies, festivals, events, and more.

Thank goodness for libraries, I say!

12 Comments

Filed under Blog Hops