Everything these days is commodified. Things that we used to just make out of whatever we had to hand are now manufactured and sold. It's hard not to fall for these, appearing in our various feeds or aggressively marketed by Temu. I always think it's an act of resistance to reject this dark side of consumerism - I see you, I think, and I'm not emotionally responding to you and hitting the 'buy now' button before having a damn good think about it.

• Do I actually need it?
• What are my motivations for this 'need'?
• Can I reuse or repurpose something?

In Australia we have a DIY store called Bunnings, whose tag line is 'the lowest prices are just the beginning'. We have a love affair with Bunnings. A sunny Saturday in Spring calls for an outing to this mega store, buying plants, paint, or whatever DIY tool we think we need. I still affectionately remember the ironmongers - traditionally, a shop that used to sell tools that morphed into a place where you'd get all kinds of handy things from laundry baskets to shovels and pipe fittings. Bunnings took that model, swallowed up the small business, and became a lot more - it has a garden center, a paint centre, tiles and bathroom and kitchen fittings, flooring, tools, plumbing equipment, and more.

What a glorious place.

It's probably why Amazon hasn't gained the foothold is has in other countries - when you can nip into Bunnings, why wait for the post?

I really, really wanted to buy a nice firepit. Something like the one below, available at Bunnings. They're on trend for posh gardens around here (and believe me, Australia has space for gardens, and fire pits) and I thought it'd look lovely in our new-old garden area:

Fire Pit from Bunnings

It's not ovely expensive at $129 bucks. I actually preferred a much larger one with a flatter bowl, but that's $250.

My first thought is usually, well, perhaps someone has a second hand one on Marketplace. That's usually the case - especially if I'm patient. My son waited six months for a pair of vegan Doc Martens in his size, and hit the jackpot. It might take a little while, but eventually some one will offer up just what you're looking for, at a much, much cheaper price. Last week I found a bread cloche for $30, when normally they're around $120.

However, there was nothing I was prepared to pay for. Some really cool fire pits and braziers, but if you're coming from a minimalist mindset, you're thinking not only about having less stuff, but minimal spending.

So for now, we are continuing to repurpose a perfectly good fire pit - a truck rim we've had for years. Jamie plans on welding some feet onto it maybe. It casts a good light through the holes and burns really, really well.

All I had to do is let my minimalist voice be the strong one, not the voice that really wanted a super cool trendy fire pit. A fire pit is just a place to have fire - it doesn't have to be designer, for goodness sake. What was I thinking?

This post is written in response to this week's Minimalist Living prompt about wasting less here.