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I gave something away – and lent something. And it felt really good to be doing this.
Lending our car
Firstly, the lending. One of our friends needed a car as his car broke down unexpectedly. He needed to be able to get around, and more importantly, he needed to be able to make deliveries for his business. We didn’t even think twice at lending our car for a week. In fact, this isn’t the first time we’ve done this. About the third time at last count.
Can you exist without a car? Well, if we’re not travelling and not needing a lot of groceries it’s fine. We live inner city and we didn’t go out to visit my inlaws on their property. We kept our grocery spending to a minimum as well; I did one ALDI trip and filled up the back of my bicycle. Neil gave me a bit of grief as he suggested I buy chocolate hazelnut spread for the boys but I said no as I didn’t have enough space.
Clothes swap
My friend, Ming, came around to buy a book from me. And as often happens when friends drop around, we got to chatting. I noticed she was wearing a lovely blue and white suit. Suddenly, I had a thought.
“Ming, would you like to try on a suit I have?”
“Sure,” she said.
I worried she would think I was a bit crazy. Most of my Chinese friends won’t wear second hand clothes; it’s not really part of their culture. But I love a good clothes swap. And I had just the item in mind for Ming – a suit that I purchased from an op shop. It was always a bit tight on me (even before I packed on weight), but I loved the colour and the style – and the fact that it originally cost $529 and I knew that because it still had the tag on.
I knew I had to part with it as it would be a long time until I slimmed down to wear it. And on Ming, it was a perfect fit.
“You know, I was trying on grey suits this morning and I couldn’t find anything I liked – but this fits me perfectly.”
Ming works at a major department store, and earlier that day she had asked one of her friends (a personal shopper) to go shopping with her for clothes. They had no luck, but it turned out I had a suit that fit EXACTLY in my closet.
#joyfulgiving
- Car (for a week)
- Blue pinstriped suit.
What a lovely thing you have done for your friends! I have recently been decluttering my apartment too, it feels nice to be able to move things on that you dont use, and that others will get a lot of value out of. I find I actually only wear a very small range of clothes anyway haha!
Sounds like you have your priorities right:)