Consumerism. . .

Last night I read an article by Kym Croft Miller called Our Year Without Shopping. Ms. Miller and her family were living a very comfortable upper middle class existence when they decided they'd attempt to "tame impulse buying and refocus energy on things that gave them greater contentment. In a word: Happiness. Or the quest for it."

Hmmmmm. . .I thought. I'm always interested in happiness - how to get it, how to share it, how to keep it, and admittedly - on occasion, how best to buy it.

Ms. Miller gives a light-hearted and at times, warm-fuzzy narrative of her family's journey from rather isolated emotionally numb conspicuous consumers to industrious, caring, and even inspirational members of society.

She claims she was personally panicked at first but they all adapted rapidly. She earned a bit of "buy-in" from me. She discussed how they did do things together as a family more - and they still spent money on family outings, etc. They also had interesting ways to acquire holiday gifts - making them, bartering, or trading services for items. . .All of this appeals to me - at least on an abstract level.

C says he's game. We did 10 years without cable. We've done several years without meat. Can we survive 6 months without purchasing? That means if my camera breaks, I can't run out and get a new one. If this keyboard stops working, I'll be blogging by blackberry exclusively. . .It is rather panic inducing in some regards.

We need rules. . .And maybe a friendly wager?