The intersection of my mouth and my money

I'm a fairly thrifty person. If I were to guess, I'd say that both nature and nurture have conspired to make it thus.

Now, as I am on the brink of finally making a salary of my own (oh, glorious day!), I would like to advance a new ethic of financial expenditure.

My current system is such that I buy the things I need (or want), and try to buy them for as cheap as possible.

This system is lacking. It is lacking because it fails to incorporate other values that I hold into the equation.

For example, I care about the environment, and about sustainability. I remember I had a friend once who bought two printers at the same time. There was sale on, so it was cheaper to buy an entire printer than it was to buy ink cartridges. By my previous financial paradigm, this makes awesome sense. But if I take into account the extra waste created ... maybe it'd be better to just pay more and buy refill cartridges.

You get the idea, I hope. Here are a few guidelines I was hoping to adhere to:

1. Buy local whenever possible.
2. Repair instead of replace when possible.
3. Buy used when possible.

In such a capitalistic society, our money talks louder than just about anything else. It's time that my money say something worthwhile.