Farmer's Market 07/26/2009

The Farmer's market had a million things to buy but I didn't need much of anything. Honestly, I'm not sure what I ate last week because it seems like there is still lots of food left in the refrigerator.

So, I pretty much limited myself to eggs, milks, rhubarb (yep, they still had some), cantaloupe and and adorable eggplant. My total was $14 so I splurged and got an iced coffee for $1.50.

Splurging is a funny thing. For a long time, I spent some money every single day. Even if all I bought was a soda or a cup of coffee or tea; pretty much no day went my without spending something. In the last few weeks the number of says that I haven't spent any money at all has outnumbered the days I did spend significantly. I didn't really even notice. But, I was also getting a bit obsessive about not spending anything at all just so that I wouldn't be spending.

Yesterday, I volunteered at a small local festival. It's a fun day and bring sin a very diverse crowd which always makes me happy. There are always a few vendors and I never know how well they do so I usually try to buy a few little things to support them, but I've gotten into such a frugal state of mind that I couldn't convince myself to buy anything yesterday. Now I'm sorry because they had falafel sandwiches from the best place in the city for $5 and I love a good falafel.

I had a similar ambivalence earlier in the week when I went to a donation only performance. I want to support that kind of endeavor and make it worthwhile for all involved but I also don't want to break my own budget. As it happened, I forgot my wallet (hmm, what would Freud have to say about that?) and couldn't pay anyone anything. I was mortified and will find a way to make it up to them.

These events raise an issue I struggle with frequently: supporting events that I think are useful without sacrificing my budget. Volunteering is one way to do it. But many of the events rely on people who need to make something back on their investment (even if it only means breaking even). I make an effort to find inexpensive things that I can buy to show support. but i also don't want to end up with a bunch of things I don't need and, sometimes, the less expensive food items are things I don't eat (soda or high sugar foods).

I suppose that I will continue to struggle with this and will just have to take it on a case by case basis.