April is Buy Nothing Month

I’m depressed. Or maybe it’s an anxiety attack. I have a hard time telling the difference.

Whatever it is, it hit me like a USPS truck when I opened my mail this morning and discovered an unexpected doctor bill for $164. Doesn’t sound like much, but combined with all my overdue medical bills dating back to a leg-threatening staph infection two years ago, plus my son’s little accident last week putting the Volvo out of commission [requiring me to pay a $100 towing bill--forget about repairs, the car is on an indefinite hiatus], add in a $34 NSF charge thanks to a $5 check I’d forgotten to account for–oh yes, and don’t forget the $200/mo rent my son can no longer afford to pay because his hours have been cut at work–well, it all adds up to a mild sensation of panic.

Thus, Crunchy Chicken’s Buy Nothing Challenge to buy only food and medicine for the month of April sounds like a plan.

This is like Buy Nothing Day. Except that it lasts all month long. Sort of a mini-Compact. A compact Compact. A sub Compact.

Anyway, this means none of the following:

• No new clothes
• No new gadgets
• No new furniture or housewares
• No salon services
• No makeup
• No tools
• No whatever the hell else people buy

I’m in.