Shampoo

A little over a year ago, I went through a phase where I was labeling many products in our house with the date we began using them.  My goal was to track how long it took us to use a product so I could build an appropriate stock of products by getting the best deals with coupons and sales.  I did learn from my dating, but I didn't follow through enough to really take full advantage.  I still buy things when I can get a great deal, but I often have to buy things full price because we need them.

All that dating has helped me use better portions of products so not to waste.  My best example is my shampoo.  Today, March 31, 2012, I used the very last of the shampoo in the bottle that was dated March 28, 2011.  Yep, I used the same bottle of shampoo for one year and three days!!  Justin and I use different shampoo, so this one was all mine.  It was a 32 ounce bottle that, at full price, is $2.97 at Wal Mart.  I don't remember if I paid full price for that bottle, but even if I did I spent less than a penny a day on my shampoo for the past year.  That's quite the deal, in my opinion!

A few months ago I bought another bottle of shampoo because I knew this one was almost out.  I didn't imagine it would make it to a year, but it kind of became a quest for me.  It forced me to actually use all of the shampoo instead of throwing it out when it got near the end.  I also have started using less of other soaps around the house.  I usually am bad at wasting dish soap.  I always squirt way too much in the sink because I like the bubbles.  Now, I've learned I can get by on a lot less.

On a side note, in Aria's 2+ years of life, we have never bought soap or shampoo for her.  We got so many bottles at my baby shower and when she was born that we just haven't had to buy any.  And, we won't need to any time soon.  I guess our family will be extra efficient with shampoo for many years!

All this rambling about shampoo actually does have a deeper purpose.  We are so fortunate here in America.  We are blessed with so much and often take it for granted.  Sometimes I get irritated with myself because I can be so stingy with shampoo, yet I stand in the shower forever, wasting water.  Clean water that many people around the world don't have.  I need to be better at being efficient with my possessions and not wasting things.  I need to work on not taking things for granted and being thankful for all the simple blessings in my life.  Learning to use less shampoo is just a small first step.