Excessive Behavior

Ten years ago I graduated college, moved to Oregon, had no kids, and found myself spending a long, long time gazing at nail polish in my local grocery store. It was fall and I was picking out what would be my new winter red. I didn't want it to be as brown as last year's, maybe a little more deep and rich looking, I told myself. I gazed at hundreds of bottles, sampled the contenders on my fingernails, debated some more, and then finally bought my bottle. I went home, pulled out my nail supply box, and realized I had bought the exact same nail polish the previous fall. Exact. And the year before that too. I had 3 bottles of the exact same shade and brand of nail polish. Each time I purchased it I thought I was changing things up a bit and had no memory of previously buying that same color. This was the first time I realized I have buying habits. I'm drawn towards the same kind of thing over and over again.

[On a complete side note, this is my new favorite brand of nail polish. Sally Hansen complete salon manicure. It comes on so smooth and quick and dries fast but doesn't dry out my nails. It's worth the extra $3 in price.]

I know I'm not alone in this, repeat purchases. Middle-aged women love to buy capri pants. Men in their 30's love buying chords to attach their electronics. Teenagers buy loads of flip-flops. Everyone has something. At the end of all this you can tell me what you over-buy.

Rather than just being excessive, I think it's more about buying habits than hoarding or materialism. Here is a sampling of what I have caught myself over buying and what I was thinking to justify the excess:


1. Good smelling natural cleaners. It started a few years ago with Method's Pink Grapefruit All Purpose Cleaner. I realized that 1) I don't want all the unnecessary chemicals in my house from regular cleaners, and 2) good smelling sprays made cleaning enjoyable. When you're all done, your house smells good rather than like harsh chemicals. There use to be only a few natural cleaners to chose from, so I'd pay attention to each new one and purchase it. Now there are plenty of choices but I still pay can't help from stopping to smell them all. This smell will inspire me to clean. Good packaging on the bottle adds to the appeal as well. I don't know how any of you using the giant jug of Costco-generic cleaners have a clean house. The cleaner is just so unappealing! I don't even want to touch it!

Because this could be a whole post on it's own, I'll just focus on all-purpose natural cleaners, leaving out hand soaps or toilet cleaners. We have to draw a line somewhere. In short, I haven't found a natural toilet bowl or dishwasher cleaner that works very well.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to give you a quick run down on natural cleaners I have tried. From left to right (if this doesn't interest you, you have my permission to skip to #2):

- Method wood floor cleaner, pretty good if I bother to use it. I do like method products enough that I have finished off a couple of bottles already.
- Biokleen all purpose, really mild, can't smell it at all.
- Meyer's clean day products- very,very fragrant. I recommend their counter top cleaner or others if you like your house scented. The multi-colored first bottle you see, "baby blossom" is my favorite for cleaning our baby's room. On the other hand I bought "lemon verbena" counter top spray and loved it to death, thought it smelt green and herby and citrusy till one day it hit me wrong and smelt like green rot. Don't worry Jana, I didn't throw it out. I gave it to my neighbor.
-Green Works, from Johnson and Johnson. Who knows how green it really is, but it works. I really like the glass and surface spray as it does not contain ammonia, which I hate.

-Caldrea cleaners, now available at Target. These are my new favorite scents. I LOVE the "citron ginger" mix with grapefruit and basil. I bought the "herbs of Provence" for a friend but kept it for myself.
-J.R. Watkins natural home care- I like all their products and packaging. Cheapest price is at Target.
-Seventh Generation- they are a good company. I like some of their products better than others. I enjoy their lavender floral & mint dish soap, but my socks stay on for their bathroom cleaner.

Enough about that. Moving on..


2. Silver/grey shoes. I've known this for a little while, but didn't realize how bad it had become till I lined them all up for a picture last spring. Here's what I was thinking "I want a shoe that goes with almost everything, but not black again.... something lighter, something newer.. hey how about a metallic?! Silver! I'm a silver person. Yes, this will be the the shoe that freshens my whole wardrobe. This will be a work horse of a shoe." Ten pairs later, I can't say that any of these were my go-to shoe of the season. I'm learning. My hands reached for a silver sandal just this past month, but I caught myself and walked away with my head held high.



3. Flowers. This is more of a summer time excess, and I think this is my worst (or best) year. I just love fresh flowers. They elevate the space they occupy. I feel so indulgent having a lush bunch of them. They provide motivation for keeping my house clean. Since they expire quickly, there should be no problem with excess, right? Only sometimes I buy more than I need to, claiming I will give a large portion of them away to friends and people I owe. Then I bring them into my house and I love them so much I can barely stand not to hoard them all for myself.

I arranged 4 bouquets to give away, but rest assured 4 bouquets did not make it out of the house. I need one for my kitchen table of course. And what's a dining room without flowers in it? A couple of blooms on my night stand would look romantic... If you have received nice looking flowers from me, realize the sacrifice and self-control that went in to your delivery.

There's another side to this flower excess, a seedy, shameful side. But that's too much for today so I'll try to take it on tomorrow. You've been warned.

I know it's not just me that does this.
I bet most of you have buying habits that lead to more than you need.

What do you have excessive amounts of??
It feels good to get it off your chest.