Less is more!

Wardrobe perk

2009-06-03T06:51:00.000-07:00

These days I find myself struggling with my strong, strong desire to perk up my summer wardrobe. Clothes weren't an issue when I first started this pledge, since it was winter and I had just bought some new things in December. (an incredible Kohl's sale plus a free $200 Talbots gift card from a credit card reward) The clothing swap in January helped tremendously, too, and I have loved my wardrobe--until it got too hot to wear it. Now those things are put away, and I find myself staring into my closet with dissatisfaction.

The thing is, there is nothing wrong with what I have. A couple cute pairs of shorts and capris, some nice t-shirts from Ann Taylor, several summer dresses with matching shoes and accessories. Its fine. I just want something....different.

Normally at this point, I would hit some sales and use credit card rewards to buy myself some new clothes. But now I'm really, really learning to consider the alternatives. I found that taking the time to go through my closet and try everything on--I'm talking an hour or two--helps me to come up with new outfits and make things feel fun and interesting again. Simply making sure everything is washed and ironed and in tip-top shape helps, too. And finding a source of some different things--that helps alot!

I picked up some clothes on freecycle last week--several bags of items from a teenager my size who was moving and had cleaned out her closet. Normally, I wouldn't respond to such a post and would let someone who needed them more than I do get them. But in this case, the giver needed them picked up IMMEDIATELY or they were going in the trash, and hadn't found anyone who could do it. I was happy to help. Teenagers have such fun taste in clothes, so it was really exciting to go through the bags and try things on. Many items were far too "young" for me, and of course many were too small (or at least smaller than I was willing to wear them!) I did find several shirts and tank tops that I liked, along with the adorable swimsuit coverup dress that I mentioned in a previous post. There was a beautiful classic black and white formal gown--prom, maybe?--that I can wear to my husband's company Christmas party next year, and a few pairs of flip-flops. Even though I don't feel comepletely THERE, I feel much better.

In all, I kept about 15 articles of clothing, and removed that many from my closet to make up for it. I went on to re-freecycle everything that was left, plus what I had added to it, since I had the time to wait for pickup of the items. They went to a nice family in the next neighborhood over with several teenage girls, and the mom wrote me to say the girls loved the clothes.

All's well that ends well, and I'm glad I've had the opportunity to struggle with "want" vs "need". That hasn't come up often during the course of our pledge, since our "wants" haven't been too many and there is always such an abundance of secondhand items.

About birthday gifts...

2009-05-31T10:45:00.000-07:00

When our family first started the pledge to buy nothing new for a year, one of the first things we worried about was birthday gifts. However, I had a large stash of clearance-bought toys and gift items for just that purpose, and once those ran out I figured I could always give gift cards. I also thought that I would have plenty of time to learn some sort of skill, such as jewelry-making, and be able to give personalized homemade gifts. Well, the gift stash is gone. I was able to buy from my daughter a few gifts she got at her birthday party that she figured she wouldn't use, and that got us through another couple of months. Now that those are gone, I have just purchased my second gift card and have yet to learn a new skill. I'm thinking I'd better get going on that, as gift cards will eat us alive at this rate.
I'll be the first to say that I am not a crafty person. Its not that I wouldn't LIKE to be--I just seem to lack that 'big picture" vision that others are blessed with, and when my projects are finished they never turn out like I wanted them to. I guess that's why I've dragged my feet somewhat on learning a new skill. This summer, with my daughter home, I hope to break that psychological barrier and solve the birthday-gift problem once and for all.
I did manage to come by a large stash of gift wrap, gift bags, and ribbon/bows from a freecycler, and a friend gave me a big box of greeting cards she didn't have use for, so that porion of gift-giving is covered. That helps alot!

Frugal Millionaires

2009-05-28T09:03:00.000-07:00

Okay--so I'm not talking about my family. The frugal part, yes. Millionaires--not so much. But I did read a great article about 70 frugal millionaires and how they spend and save their money, and I found it fascinating. What it seemed to boil down to is that these people focused on quality for the money when buying anything, and were able to disregard all social inhibitions regarding new vs. used, designer labels , trendiness and what everyone else was wearing or doing or buying. They most certainly didn't try to keep up with the Joneses, even though financially they WERE the Joneses!
I have found in my quest not to buy anything retail for a year that I have had to disregard all those same things and simply focus on quality for the price. And its amazing to see how little quality there is in some things that are very expensive, and how high quality some things can be that are considered "cheap". And most amazing of all is how willing many people are to disregard the notions of quality and value at all and choose their things for completely different reasons. I was happy to see that poeple who shopped as we now shop are millionaires. It pays to buck the system!
I wrote the other day about how out-of-sync it felt to be at a theme park in our garage sale and clearance swimsuits yet buying season passes without a hint of concern for the cost. Season passes were value for the money and will be used alot. A new swimsuit at $30 when a like-new one costs 50 cents is not. At the time I was still trying to put the concept into perspective, and now I think I really get it.

www.finance.yahoo.com/news/how-to-spend-like-a-frugal-usnews-15357371.html

A busy week...

2009-05-25T17:32:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy, busy week. It seems like everyone needs to fit something in before school is out for the summer, whether it be one last thing from a school year activity or a kick-off for a summer activity. And I don't mind--its fun to have plenty to do and I've been very proud of my daughter on many occasions this week, but I won't be devastated when things wind down.

In a testament to not having cable TV, my daughter received an award at school this week. For those who haven't heard of the "AR" program, children can read books and take tests over them online through their schools, and be awarded points based on the difficulty/reading level of the book and how many answers they got correct. My daughter got a trophy for the 3rd highest points in her grade. (the boy who had the highest isn't allowed to watch TV at home at all!) And okay--maybe there is no correlation between less TV and more reading, but if there isn't I won't tell my daughter! She also won a trip to a pizza place on a school day, and two days later her class held their all-day end of year party. I chaperoned both with my toddler in tow and remembered why I didn't choose teaching as a career I am capable of. (slightly kidding here, because we did have lots of fun!)
On Saturday we had the first swim meet of the season, and therefore the first 5:30 am family wakeup of the season. I probably don't need to tell anyone that my household wasn't thrilled about that one...
Saturday afternoon we left for a family vacation to San Antonio, Texas. We were able to use some rewards points combined with a company discount to get a great deal on a jacuzzi suite at a hotel near Six Flags Fiesta Texas. It included a small kitchenette area, so I loaded the ice chest with food from home and off we went. We bought season passes and a season parking pass, enabling us to visit all the Six Flags parks at no charge from now on. (and to park there, too--LOL) Since we have relatives living near some of the other parks, we hope to visit family AND the theme parks on various weekends over the summer. (if my family members stop answering the phone after reading this blog, we'll form a plan B.... :)
The whole family thoroughly enjoyed our weekend--the hotel stay was one of the best we've ever had, and the kids AND adults loved the two days of theme-parking. We bought only one meal out and ate our own food the remainder of the time. We find that the kids eat better this way anyway.
As we entered the theme park the first day, I thought hard about the money we'd spent on the passes. I wasn't feeling guilty for spending it--I was wondering why I DIDN'T feel bad about it. One sweeping glance at my family, and I chuckled at the reason why. The kids looked adorable--my son in his freecycle swimsuit with matching terry jacket, and my daughter in her 50 cent garage sale swimsuit with matching skirt that looked brand new. . My bag was packed with their freecycle outfits to change into later. I was wearing my Target-clearance swimsuit from the end of last season, and a coverup dress that I absolutely LOVE from freecycle. (I got a compliment on it from a stranger first thing when we arrived!!) My husband looked dashing in his $3 Target clearance swimsuit, also from the end of last year. We had our bellies full of free hotel breakfast and cups for water inside the park, and I can't even add up all the money we DIDN'T spend that freed up the funds for what we did.
The funniest part of the weekend?? My son had "bed hair" that I couldn't seem to control. I started to fret about it, then decided to leave it be. When we arrived at Wiggles World, the newest part of the park with rides for the littlest ones, we stood him against the measuring wall to see if he was tall enough to ride the rides. He was---but he WOULDN'T have been if it weren't for his puffy hair rising just above the cutoff point. We laughed over that one, and my son had the time of his life. I guess some things were meant to be left alone.

Disposing of things responsibly

2009-05-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

In the 5 months since our family started this pledge, the part about not buying anything new hasn't been as bad as we thought. What surprises me is that the other part of our pledge, that I thought was a just a tiny part, has proven more difficult. We are trying to dispose of our unwanted items responsibly. I hate to admit that prior to this, decluttering for me involved going through the house with a big trash bag and mercilessly getting rid of what wasn't needed. I freecycled and I saved some things for charity, but when push came to shove, the trash bag was my weapon of choice.
We have changed all that. I'm proud to say that we put only a half bag of trash by the curb each week. Metal and plastic recyclables go to the curbside recycling, and we take paper to the fundraising recycle bin at my daughter's school. Our metal and plastic varies from week to week. Sometimes we have none, sometimes its overflowing. It depends on how busy we are and how hard I'm trying to keep everything fresh and homemade. I am amazed at the volume of paper we discard. Now that I am really, really trying, we have a large load every week. Not just junk mail and the Sunday paper, but magazines, cereal boxes, my daughter's old school work, coloring pages, even down to the tags on our tea bags. I feel good that at least its going somewhere to do be made into something else.
I have actively tried to find good homes for all of our unneeded/unwanted stuff. Most things have been easy to give away on freecycle. Today we brought several boxes of books to Half-Price books. I have a load of misc things to go to charity, another box of various electronics parts to donate to Camp Invention (where kids will take them apart and invent something new), and just one box of such random odds and ends that I honestly don't know how to dispose of it responsibly.
All this sorting and thinking has made my decluttering job drag out far longer than I thought and is alot more work than I thought, but I need to remember that it is a key part to keeping things out of our landfills and avoiding waste.
Who would have thought that the smallest part of the promise would turn out to be the biggest chore?

Shopping in the attic

2009-05-13T20:12:00.000-07:00

I spent the day today organizing my son's summer wardrobe.....for NEXT year. Now that we have pledged not to buy anything retail for a year, I find myself needing to take stock, plan ahead and be prepared. I am in the very fortunate position of having a brother with 2 older boys. Not only has this paved the way for me to understand why my son needs to climb the furniture and leap from the top of the stairs, but it also provides me with much-appreciated hand-me-downs for my little one. I am doubly blessed that my sister-in-law has an unrivaled combination of bargain-hunting skills and good taste, meaning that her boys--and now my son-- has a wardrobe to die for. Their youngest was wearing a 4T when my son was born, so the "good" clothes trickle in at 3T and hit full-force at 4T. I have diligently sorted and labelled and stored everything they've passed on to us, and I was excited that some of it found its way into the closet today.
My son has grown into a 3T, so today I pulled all of his 2T winter clothes and listed them on freecycle for another family to enjoy. I put his current 3T wardrobe into his dresser drawers, then went to work planning for later.
In his closet, I arranged one area for his 3T winter clothes for the coming fall/winter, and another area for next summer's 4T items. I wanted the chance to go through and take stock of what I have so that I can list what I might need. Once he grows into a 4T, he won't need a thing. I checked his 3T wardrobe for everything I know he will eventually need--Christmas outfits, a Halloween costume, church clothes, dress shoes, socks, soccer cleats for fall, swimsuits, a warm coat, a raincoat, etc and made a list of what was missing. I found that he needs jeans, long-sleeve shirts and warm pajamas. He will also soon need a pair of tennis shoes in the next size up, since he has nearly outgrown the ones he is in and the closest pair in the shoe bin is a size too large.
Now that I know exactly what I'm looking for, it will be easier to buy only what I need at garage sales and thrift shops and avoid having too much of one item and not enough of another. Since I won't need these things until fall, I have plenty of time to be picky and get the nicest things I can find at the best possible price.
My daughter's clothes won't be quite so easy. Now that she's reached the sophisticated age of 8, she is more or less in charge of her own wardrobe and has developed her likes and dislikes. Right now, she has everything she needs but before the summer is over she will have outgrown her shoes and will need some nicer shorts. There are some good consignment stores in our area so when the time comes, we may give those a try. That's about as far ahead as I can plan for her, since styles change and her idea of fashion changes even faster than that.
I spent a small amount of time assessing my own wardrobe, which is so-so. I like what I have, it's all still in good shape and it will get me through another summer if it needs to. I wouldn't mind a few more pairs of shorts and maybe something to perk things up a bit. Luckily, there is another clothing swap coming up and I'm hoping that will do the trick.

A wonderful Mother's Day

2009-05-10T19:17:00.000-07:00

There is absolutely nothing more touching than a gift straight from a child's heart. My kids worked so hard on their creations, all the while filled with the excited certainty that it was the BEST gift a mother could want, and knowing their mother would be thrilled--and tell them so over and over. My daughter closed herself into our home office on Saturday and worked for over an hour on this sweet coupon book, wrapping it beautifully with our freecycle gift bags and bows. My husband undertook the brave task of having the kids each paint a flower pot for me. My son decided it would be much nicer to paint the INSIDE of his pot, so that's what he did. :)

This is my daughter's finished creation. She filled it with cuttings from a plant my husband gave HIS mother 30 years ago. She still had the pot he hand-made as a kid along with the original plant growing in it, and she gave it to us when she moved to assisted living.

My son's finished artwork. I love it! He planted pretty "lellow flallers" from Home Depot.

This has been a wonderful Mother's Day! I feel so blessed to have such a beautiful family.

Glad we were prepared...

2009-05-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

As I mentioned in a previous post, the things I think I need to prepare for aren't usually the things that end up happening. I had my family well prepared to batten down the hatches and avoid those nasty sick people if the need arose. So naturally, we became said sick people. My son and I both have fevers. He has had his since Tuesday and is also coughing and congested. Mine started Friday and seems to be following his progression of symptoms. After running this by his pediatrician, we are pretty sure it is not the flu--but we shouldn't be out spreading it around OR picking up something else. So we are hunkered down at home under different circumstances than I thought. We have plenty to eat, no need to ge the store, and all the medicine we could use. If my son's fever doesn't quit by tomorrow, he will need to go in to make sure he hasn't developed any secondary infection like pneumonia. However, from what the pediatrician told me to look for over the phone, I don't think he has. He is being treated with plenty of attention and TLC at home, which I think is the best thing for him.
Its probably best that we stay in, as a child in our neighborhood DOES have swine flu, prompting the closure of a day care center in the neighborhood that she attended while contageous. Those kids who are now out of school will be out and about at the same places we usually go, so we might as well be inside anyway.
This is going to put a damper on my garage sale habit!!

The best laid plans...

2009-04-28T18:49:00.000-07:00

It always amazes me that at my house, the hours between 3 and 7 p.m. require the planning and precision of a space shuttle launch to run smoothly. Getting one child to and from the places she needs to be, with what she needs to bring and whatever other children I've agreed to take is a chore. Keeping the other child occupied and out of trouble adds a layer. Throw in dinner, homework, baths and bed by 8:00 and I'm doing some serious juggling 4 nights a week. Hubby's new job keeps him gone until after 7 each night, so he's no longer available to help with this routine. These days, I honestly spend half my day preparing for the evening, just so that it can run smoothly and nobody will be stressed. After all, I'm home all day, right?? And our evenings DO go extremely smoothly, for the most part, as long as I stay on top of things.

That brings me to today, and how one 16-minute phone call threw the whole evening out of whack.

The normal routine starts at 3. I leave the house, toddler in tow, and he naps while I pick up kids from school and drive the carpool home. We arrive at 4, at which time my daughter changes into the proper clothes for whatever sport she has that evening and begins her homework while I put the finishing touches on dinner. We eat our meal, grab the bag corresponding to the day's activity (prepacked with everything she needs), bring along something to occupy the little one, and head off. When we return, we have a snack, take baths, lay out clothes for the next day, pack backpacks and put my daughter to bed at 8, then my son a little later. Smooth as silk, right??

Today, the afternoon was humming along nicely. My daughter came home, changed, and got out her homework. I put the chicken in the oven and vegetables on the stove to steam. Around 4:30, the phone rang. With a little time built into my well-oiled machine I answered it, and talked for exactly 16 minutes. I was hanging up when my daughter ran in to tell me my son was throwing water on her. WAIT A MINUTE. Ran in?? From where?? Where was the water?? Well, it was outside in the sandbox, which had filled up from the rain. And my son was right behind her, completely soaked, covered in sand, clothes ruined and with a poopy diaper to boot. I got him cleaned and changed and wait--what's that smell?? The veggies on the stove, burned to a crisp. And who let the neighbor kids in? And why isn't my daughter's homework done? First things first--I took the pan of vegetables and put it outside, then opened all the windows to air out the awful smell. And by now, it's 5:00 and we have to leave in 15 minutes, so who cares abut the chicken. I turn the oven off, shoo the neighbors out and tell my daughter to bring her homework along in the car. On the way out the door, I make the mistake of getting myself a glass of water. Now my son wants a glass of water, but he's having a toddler moment--not THIS cup! THAT one! No, the OTHER one! And finally, happy with the cup, he proceeds to spit the water all over his clothes and the floor lika a fountain. By now, we are late. There is no time to clean it up, so I rush the kids to the car. Backing out, my daughter--homework in lap and realizing Mom might not be in a good mood--asks--do you have a pencil??
WHY WOULD I HAVE A PENCIL???????
I stop the car, go inside, and get a pencil. And in case nobody saw this coming, I run through the kitchen and slip and fall in the water that I didn't have time to clean up. I am so completely frustrated that I actually yell at the top of my lungs--AAAAARRRGH!!!! That makes me feel better for about 2 seconds, until I remember that I had opened the windows and the neighbors were outside.
We made it to swim team a mere 15 minutes late. My daughter jumped in the pool, I kept my son busy, and we were back to our routine.
We stopped at Chick-Fil-A on the way home, maybe just as well since my daughter's school was having a fundraiser there and she had begged to go in the first place. We arrived home at 7:30 to find my husband munching dried-out chicken from the oven, blissfully unaware of the smell of burned vegetables or the water on the floor or the crazy afternoon we'd had. I didn't know whether to hug him or hit him.

Not panicked, just prepared

2009-04-27T05:50:00.000-07:00

I've been reading alot about this swine flu, as I'm sure others have, and it sparked a need in me to be prepared. I'm not panicked, as right now this flu--even if it spreads everywhere--hasn't been so bad in the U.S. and is about like any other flu. But two things bother me: first, I have read that the virus can mutate as it passes from person to person and thereby become more serious. Second-- hurricanes Rita and Ike taught me that often the bigger problem is not the disaster itself, but the chaos created when people panic. It seems to me that some media outlets are sensationalizing this issue, which could lead to unneccessary panic and the spread of misinformation, neither of which is a good thing. So right now, I'm getting myseld prepared so that I can sit back and know that the family I'm responsible for will be fine in the unlikely event of an emergency.
So what did I do? To the tune of $300, I stocked our pantry with non-perishables. We have food galore, diapers, medicine, paper goods, hand sanitizer--anything we might need to hunker down and avoid going out for a while if worse comes to worst. At the very least, it will mean far fewer trips to the grocery store and will eliminate running out for just one thing, which means less opportunity to be exposed to germs. We have hand sanitizer for the car, my daughters backpack, my husband's desk at work and for the house. I hope we don't need any of this, but if we do it is there. And actually, this is all a little less extreme than it sounds because we'd have to do this in about 6 weeks anyway in preparation for hurricane season.
Which brings me to my next issue--what the hurricanes have taught me about the chaos created when people panic. I learned after riding out hurricane Ike that the things I thought I should prepare for weren't the things that were problems. I was prepared with water, batteries, and canned food to get us through the power outage and the week or so that it should take to get things back in order. I figured if things got any worse than that, we could head out to my parents place further inland where they have a huge garden, cattle and otherwise plentiful sources of food. What didn't I anticipate? At the mention of a hurricane, store shelves were wiped clean of perishable items. You couldn't get bread, milk, cheese, anything. Then the stores closed. And people who needed shelter came to stay with us, dwindling our food supply. The hurricane itself was ugly to live through, but the next day we were fortunate to have only minor damage and the power was out for only 24 hours. But that wasn't the end of it. Stores had lost power, and what little perishable and frozen food they had was destroyed and had to be thrown out. They couldn't open, because too many employees had evacuated and they had nobody to work. Trucks couldn't get in to deliver food, so when they did open they had very little to offer and couldn't take credit cards because lines were down. One couldn't get cash out of an ATM for the same reason, and the banks were closed. Schools were closed for a week due to power outages, an inability to provide food service and the fact that so many teachers had evacuated. Once we started to run low on food, we thought about plan B, which was to leave town to head to my parent's place. Well, we didn't realize that traffic would be gridlocked in both directions--inbound, from all the people who had evacuated and wanted to get back in and assess damage, and outbound from all the poeple who had initially stayed but needed to get out of town for the same reasons we did. Gas was in short supply, and grocery stores and convenience stores were out of food. What a mess, and completely different from what we expected the aftermath to be. I learned in all of this how dependant we are on this commercialized way of living modern life, and how much chaos can be caused when the chain of commerce is disrupted. And I also learned, above all else, to be prepared. So that is what I'm doing!

The icky stuff....

2009-04-24T07:13:00.000-07:00

Since we started our pledge not to buy anything new for a year, most things have come easily but just a few have been challenging to find. Men's clothes, for example, don't seem to be out there. I think men wear their clothes until they disintegrate off their bodies! The only clothes we've seen second hand have been things so old and ugly that even the husband was willing to part with them, or something ultra-trendy that a very fashion-conscious man wore and decided was out of style. Neither of these types suit my husband, who just likes your regular shorts, T-shirts and jeans. We haven't solved this problem yet, so he's wearing what he has until we figure something out.
Another issue that has come up is our outdoor trash can. We reached the point where I deemed it a health hazard to take the trash out and risk touching it, and this is the point when we would normally get a new one. Well, used trash cans aren't really out there, or at least not used cans any cleaner than the one we have. After looking and looking I finally got the brilliant idea to CLEAN mine. And I feel a little embarrassed to admit that if it weren't for this pledge, I honestly would rather have thrown the can away than clean it. Shame on me. So I got out the water hose, put my son in charge of squirting in the phosphate-free dish soap, and cleaned the heck out of our trash can. And you know what? It wasn't the end of the world. And now the can is clean and usable and that problem is solved. I even cleaned our indoor wastebaskets while I was at it!
I really learned something about mysef in all this. I considered myself very green, very willing to make do and conserve and rise above the marketing and the social taboos of "used" things versus new. I didn't realize that I, too, had a line I didn't want to cross in the name of conservation. But I've done it, icky as it was, and feel like this is the first time since the pledge started that anything has felt like a sacrifice.

Its Christmas again!

2009-04-22T12:42:00.000-07:00

I have a very thoughful friend. She has just moved out of her house, and in the process realized she had stuff she'd rather give away than move. She set aside some things she knew I could use and would like and called me over yesterday. Pictured above is a set of christmas stoneware with all the accessories. Now I have formal AND everyday Christmas china. How fancy is that?? And the kicker--she wants to start over with her Christmas decorations, so she gave a few boxes to me. This includes rugs, floral items, a giant stuffed snowman--you name it, all following a certain theme. Did I mention my friend is an interior decorator?? I can't wait 'till Christmas--I may just have to decorate in July. :)

Next is a windfall of toddler and preschool educational items. Her daughter has outgrown them but they are perfect for my son. I spent yesterday arranging them in the buffet next to the table so that we can work together on these activities during the day. Not pictured is a crate of project/educational books from when my friend homeschooled her daughter. They are the right level for my daughter now, so we will have lots of fun activities to keep hands busy this summer.

Though you can hardly see it, she gave me the cute little metal sign on the buffet along with the metal basket. The breakfast room is coming along nicely, considering I've spent a grand total of $10 on it. :)

This cute little Melissa and Doug calendar was with the educational items. My daughter claimed it immediately and ran up to her room to organize her month. Its hanging on her closet door.

These pretty decorative eggs are now decorating my office shelves. I have been cleaning and organizing the office this week, so they came at just the right time.

Not pictured is a pretty outdoor rug. We have everything moved from the patio because my husband is going to paint out there, but I can't wait to put it out.

What a wonderful surprise yesterday. my friend was happy to have some things hauled away for her, and I was glad to get them and put them to good use.

Saturday's tag sale bounty

2009-04-20T05:49:00.001-07:00

What's a tag sale without something for the kids?! The ball-drop toy was $1.00 and the tiny rollerblades were $2.00. My son was thrilled! Not pictured is a like-new swimsuit with matching skirt for my daughter for 50 cents.

Welcome to our home! The "new" wreath was $1.00

I love tag sales! The two mirrors above the buffet--solid metal, very heavy, just what I wanted AND with the $49.99 price stickers still attached to each, were $5 each.

Saturday was one of the two days I look forward to in our neighborhood--tag sale day! We aren't allowed to have individual garage sales, so twice a year a tag sale is held at the school and neighborhood residents can rent spaces. I have found that this is when the affluent in our neighborhood (and sometimes us) sell all kinds of great stuff for bargain prices. I went with my list and $30, knowing it would be a treasure trove of household decor and I wasn't disappointed. I came home and put everything in the space where I wanted it to go, and am enjoying the results.

The picture above is actually a plate stand I got on Craigslist the same day with my leftover money. The remainder came from the tag sale.

A nice roomy glass jar for storing treats--50 cents.

A wrought-iron candle stand for the ledge at the top of the stairs--$1.00

Two nice picture frames for the dresser in the master bedroom--$3.00

Two matching baskets for the kitchen--$1.00 for both

My husband went out before I did with his shopping list. He wanted an outdoor light fixture, as he noticed when replacing siding that ours had rusted through. He also wanted a coffee maker for work, since they don't offer decaf and that's what he drinks. He found this coffee maker for $3.00 and its so much better than than the one we currently use that I traded him!

And he found his light fixture for another $3.oo. A little cleaning and maybe a coat of rustoleum and it will do nicely.

So, we spent $26 at the tag sale and the last $4.00 for an item on Craigslist and I am more than pleased with the difference it made in our home. I love to decorate on a dime!

Did I mention it was drizzling, with huge thunderstorms and possible flooding predicted by 10 a.m.? Only a few die-hard sellers were out with tents or selling from the backs of their cars and a few crazy buyers (ahem) were shopping. I made it home before the real rain started.

Bins and baskets and stuff--oh my!

2009-04-16T12:26:00.001-07:00

Toys are in place

Dresser drawers are labelled

Son's closet is organized

Jackets have a place to go

Daughter's closet--smallest in the house and holding the most things!

All that jewelry, makeup and hair stuff in one place!

When things are spaced out in the drawer so she can see it, she wears it all!

Backpacks and purses go HERE, not on the floor!

Ditto for shoes!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, thoughts of spring have got me cleaning and organizing! There is a discussion on a board I frequent about favorite organized spots in the house. I have no idea how to post pictures on a discussion board, so I figured I'd post them here and share them with all of you guys, too!

One of the main reasons our house gets cluttered and disorganized is because an area develops where things need to be or things come in and are put down, and there is no designated spot for them. Sometimes, there is something of a spot for things but nobody knows where it is. I have become a huge fan of bins, baskets, labels and hooks!! They are abundant at garage sales and second hand stores, look fairly decorative and certainly serve a purpose!

The first pictures are of my son's room. The main issue there is with his toys. I try to keep everything out where he can see it and play with it. I have lots of bins to keep his small things together, and they don't have lids so that he can put them away. (and he actually does, though I'm sure he'd quit if he knew we were happy about it!) His closet has an organizer in it, and mainly holds overflow items--extra diapers, clothes to grow into, toys that I don't want all over the floor. His dresser is labelled at each drawer. Not that he can read--LOL--but because we all put his clothes away and everyone would put things in a different place if it weren't labelled and I'd never find anything! We also have hooks for jackets, etc so that they are easy to find and easy to put away. Overall, his room stays tidy so the system works for now.

My daughter's room had different issues. She has the smallest closet and the most stuff--purses, hats, belts, etc. We put in a closet organizer and bought these bins last year at Ikea. They are all labelled so she knows where to find everything. Not only do her accessories go in there, but some hold Barbies and Polly Pockets as well. We put a plastic 3-drawer organizer (lebelled, of course!) for the tons of small things like hair accessories and jewelry. Its nice not to find these things all over the floor!

Her dresser drawers aren't labelled, but I did find that if I arrange things so that she can see everything, it all gets worn instead of just what's on top. Thanks to our quest for simpler living, the drawers aren't crammed full but she has what she needs in there.

It certainly is peaceful having a place for everything and everything in its place, and far less "everything" alltogether! Next post I will show cabinets, pantry and laundry room. :)

Thenext two pictures show where we corrall jackets, backpacks, shoes and etc when the kids walk in the door. If it weren't for these, there would always be a pile in front of the door.

Easter baskets with nothing new

2009-04-12T05:56:00.000-07:00

What a beautiful time of year this is! I just love Easter and spring, with all the hope and promise and new life it brings. I hope everyone has a wonderful day and enjoys this season as much as we do.

Easter baskets this year were the easiest ever! I bought everything LAST year. I stumbled across a clearance after Easter, with items 90-95% off and stocked up then. These items have been sitting in the cabinet since, waiting for their time to shine! We already had an abundance of baskets, easter grass, stuffed animals and plastic eggs in a bin in the attic, so we didn't buy a thing. Every Easter I leave the stuffed animals out for only a day or two, then put them back in the attic, so every year they are "new" to play with and they are gone before the kids get tired of them. The kids went thru the bin, chose their baskets, filled them with grass, and left them out for the Easter bunny. Then they played with the stuffed animals and placed them around the room to "decorate". The only store-bought items were packages of animal crackers and goldfish, boxes of raisins and one bag of sugar-free candy for the oldest who can't have sugar. (The youngest doesn't know what candy is and is too young for hard candy, but was happy with his animal crackers and raisins.)

The kids have had fun all morning with their baskets and egg hunt, and are excited as can be!

Nobody needed new clothes this year. My son has an abundance of hand-me-downs, including nice dress clothes and dress shoes suitable for Easter. My daughter has several dresses to choose from, courtesy of a JC Penney clearance after Easter where I bought $40-$50 dresses for $4 each, using a coupon to reduce them further and paying with a gift card from a credit card reward. :)

Our turkey is in the oven--a free turkey from Thanksgiving that we froze to save for Easter. We will have mashed sweet potatoes, fresh green beans, sesame broccoli and homemade rolls along with it. We will eat in the dining room on our good wedding china, keeping a CAREFUL eye on the 2-year-old!

Out with the old, in with the new

2009-04-10T06:49:00.001-07:00

As I've mentioned before, I seem to be constantly switching out what we no longer need for things we now need. I guess its a never-ending process with growing kids! Now that we've pledged not to buy anything retail, I find that I need to stay a step or two ahead of our needs in order to make sure we have everything. For the most part, nothing has been terribly difficult to locate but it does take more effort than walking into to Target and walking out with the item in a bag.

We have cleared out a good-size space in the attic by freecycling some baby things we've been holding on to. That doesn't mean we don't want more kids--that chapter is undetermined at this point--but we did realize that storage space is very hard to come by and used baby equipment is a dime a dozen, so it really didn't make sense to keep these things that we may or may not need when someone else could use them. I saw a post on freecycle, posted by a woman nearby who frequently gives us clothes for my daughter. She unexpectedly took in the newborn boy of a family mamber who couldn't care for him, and had absolutely no provisions for a baby. (her youngest is 6 and they assumed they were done having kids). I couldn't think of a better place for these things to go, where they will be needed, used and appreciated. I feel good about it.

I also saw a post from another woman with whom I frequently trade items. She had finished potty training her son, and by the time he was out of pullups all the underwear she'd bought him was too small and he'd never worn it. Well, we're about to give potty training another go, and this works out great for us. She gave us the underwear and some leftover pullups. I also happened to find another potty chair in the attic when I was sorting thru the baby things. I didn't realize we still had it, but now we have one for upstairs and one for down, so we have everything we need to get started. (other than a willing child, but that's another story)

So we now have a little more space in the attic, since far more went out than came in. Its a never-ending process, but I'm hoping we can continue to stay ahead of the game!

Having less and enjoying it more

2009-04-07T08:32:00.000-07:00

I read a wonderful commentary on CNN.com by Peter Bregman. (If I could figure out better how to post links I'd do it, LOL, but you could find it on cnn.com if you go looking)

He talked about my favorite topic, which is having less and enjoying it more. Apparently he, at one time, was very wealthy and succesful and enjoying every minute of it. Then, as it has with many people in this country, it all came crashing down. He took the opportunity to learn and grow from it, and feels he is a happier person now. My favorite quote is this:

"Having less forces choices. And consciously making those choices can bring us closer to the things we care about. Which can make a poorer life more rich than a rich one".

I agree 100%, and feel that for us, it becomes more true every day now that we've made the pledge to simplify our lives. I read alot in the paper these days about living frugally, since its such a hot topic. Unfortunately, its always presented as such a BAD thing--doing without, cutting back, depriving yourself. I rarely see it pointed out that an uncluttered life can be refreshingly peaceful and happy. It certainly isn't presented as something one would advocate doing on purpose. Which brings me to another quote that I really liked:

"Above a basic threshold, money doesn't make us happier. But we think it will, so we do all sorts of things that make us unhappy in order to get it."

Isn't that the biggest irony of all?

There is a certain degree to which we need money. For basic necessities,a few luxuires, some comfort. We need it for emergencies, to educate our children and for retirement. But what we don't need it for is lots and lots of stuff, and if it weren't for all that stuff, we'd have it more of it for those other things. So in some ways, a poor economy and forced choices could be a blessing in disguise, especially if people choose to see it that way. I for one certainly hope the economy picks up and things get better, but until then I'm hoping and praying that people will come away from this having learned some good things.

Yard sale extravaganza

2009-04-03T13:35:00.000-07:00

Spring is here! In my little corner of the world, the weather is amazingly beautiful, the windows are open, birds are singing, and I am cleaning and organizing! It is so wonderful to clear out the clutter, whther it be dirt or stuff! All this clearing and cleaning has me motivated to get to that short list of things we need for the house. I have a final, overall picture of exactly how I'd love the house to be organized, exactly how I'd like it to look and what I need in order to get to that point. With hubby working and a tax refund in the bank, I am more than ready to get going and get done.

Today was a very successful yard sale day. It was really fun ( and very unusual) to go with a specific list, come home with several of the items on it, put them exactly where I intended them to go and start enjoying them right away. Two hours, start to finish!

One of the readers left a comment on my post about the freecycle Christmas dishes, suggesting I look for finishing pieces at garage sales now that I know what I'm looking for. Well, I took that to heart and put it in my list. Imagine my surprise when the FIRST thing I saw at the FIRST garage sale was a set of 8 soup bowls and 8 dessert plates to match the freecycle china--for $2.00!!! I honestly couldn't believe it. I'm pretty excited about that find!

The next thing on our list was a VCR. Ours bit the dust a couple of weeks ago. We could certainly do without one if we needed to, but all of the 2-year-olds favorite things are on VHS, so we figured we find a cheapie VCR at a garage sale to get us through the next year or so until we can freecycle the baby videos and VCR in one fell swoop. Well, we manage to find one for $5 and they threw in 10 grown-up videos ffor free, so we're happy with that. The videos were mostly the action-adventure Clint Eastwood kind of things that my hubby loves and I don't watch, so he's got something to watch when he's on his own, and we can donate them when he gets tired of them. Before I put them in the cabinet, I pulled 10 out to donate so that we don't get overloaded.

Item 3--I've been looking for some kind of cute little basket to corral our mail and variou bits of paper that land on the kitchen counter and/or need to be there temporarily. I found this cute little one--still with the World Market $9.99 price tag on it, for $2.

Item 4--we've been looking for a train table for our little guy forever!! Even on Craigslist they are a little pricy, but we've always had it on our list as something to snap up when we found the right deal. We found this for $20. The little guy is beside himself with joy! (and so is the big guy) I figure we can easily sell this when he's done with it for at least what we paid, so its free entertainment.

And last--a garden bench. We've been wanting one for the front yard to sit on when we are out watching the kids play. It was on my wishlist of things for my birthday in February, and hubby had yet to find anything I had asked for without buying anything new. I fell in love with this beautiful bench and hubby is sighing with relief that he has FINALLY gotten me something. We paid $45 for it.

I also got (but couldn't download pictures because I maxed out my allowed number) 2 rolls of shelf paper (on my list!) and some pretty candlesticks for the family room coffee table.

Now that all my pretty "new" things are in their places and functioning, I'm busy clearing out what we don't need. I have boxes in my bedroom for sorting, and hope to finish soon. Our weekend is full, however, with soccer and out-of-town guests and watching some kids while their parents are away, so I guess I'll have do what I can in the time I have, and relax and enjoy the weekend. :))

shopping, reduced-for-quick-sale and menus

2009-04-02T05:48:00.000-07:00

I actually went grocery shopping on Sunday and never got around to posting anything about it, but I was so excited about the deals I found that I figure Thursday is better than never! I seem to be finding plenty of organic chicken marked down these days. Maybe its something people are cutting out of their budget during tough times--who knows. Even though we have plenty, I bought it to stick in the freezer for when the deals aren't so plentiful. I was thrilled to find organic gourmet coffee marked down from $10 to $4.99 a bag--I bought all 3. We will be enjoying this find all month! And the cute little mini pitas were only 99 cents a bag. I never buy things like this because they don't seem worth the price, but at 99 cents I'm willing to spring for them. I put one bag in the freezer and we've been eating the other this week. Hubby and I have been enjoying them as snacks with a white bean and pesto spread I made, while the little one has been eating "spaceship" pb&j sandwiches. I actually bought store-bought yogurt this week. They had my daughter's favorite flavor marked down, which I haven't been able to replicate at home, so I took a break from yogurt-making this week and put these in her lunch boxes. Also pictured with the yogurt were my two extravagant (75% off) finds--some fresh mozzerella cheese (YUM!) and an imported sheeps-milk feta. These are the things that make me feel like a queen--such indulgence!!!

There were some great sales on produce this week. Fresh asparagus was 50 cents a pound! I was so excited I bought a HUGE bag for less than $2.00. I got online when I got home to search for recipes when I got home and we've been really enjoying it this week. I will miss it when the season is over! I rounded out the produce with broccoli, cabbage, bananas, grapefruit, mushrooms and grapes on sale along with sweet potatoes, cauliflower, organic apples and organic celery very much NOT on sale.

My coupon deals--got a bag of rice cakes for free, whole wheat pasta for 29 cents, saved $1 on organic eggs, got a package of Huggies for $4.99 and Kroger-brand diapers for $2.99, cheese $1 for 8 oz (got 3).

Finally I picked up some staples--butter, canola oil, frozen veggies and salt (I went all out for the Mediterranian sea salt) bread, and sugar-free ice cream. My work was done!

In total I spent $104.28. My savings thru sales, coupons and reduced items was $64.12.

once I got home with all these goodies, I revised my meal plan for the week. We have been eating SOOO well, even the kids are happy! We haven't even considered going out to eat. Here's what we have been (and will be) eating:

SUNDAY: grilled pork chops, sauteed cabbage, baked sweet potatoes,

MONDAY: baked chicken legs, suateed asparagus, steamed broccoli, green salad

TUESDAY:steak fingers, mashed potatoes, steamed yellow squash*, mustard greens*,

*from frozen from my parents garden. I also cooked all the rest of last weeks potatoes and froze mashed potatoes for later meals.

WEDNESDAY:salmon topped with sauteed mushrooms and green onions, steamed cauliflower, blanched asparagus marinated in lemon vinaigrette

THURSDAY:chicken breast topped with pesto and mozzerella, whole wheat pasta with olive oil, green beans, roasted asparagus parmegiano

FRIDAY: crock pot hamburger soup, homemade bread, salad

SATURDAY: turkey meatballs, brown rice, sesame broccoli

SUNDAY: lemon pepper pork chops, homemade coleslaw, sauteed sweet potato rounds, corn on the cob

We are still doing the dessert thing and its still keeping the kids eating like I want them to. We've been having either sugar-free ice cream or sugar-free pudding.

Breakfasts have been eggs this week, since my daughter is having achievement tests at school and needs protein to get her through the morning. I am allergic to eggs and the kids don't love them, so this isn't a usual week for us. I've been serving them with either pancakes, home cooked oatmeal or toast. I've been having cooked oat bran and a grapefruit every morning.

Rediscovery

2009-03-31T11:08:00.001-07:00

In the time since we've pledged not to buy anything new, I have rediscovered lots of things in my house. When I need something now, I have to make do. And now that its been 3 months and I'm so used to it, I wonder why I was ever so closed-minded as to go out and buy something for a specific purpose when something else would do. Little things--I got to looking at my cell phone the other day and realize it has the functions of about 12 things I own--camera, alarm, memo, clock, timer, address book... I can do way more on the computer than I ever thought to do before. I can reserve library books and DVDs, watch cable shows and shows I missed on TV, pay my bills. And of course, there was the one time we laughed ourselves silly when we finally used the timer on the VCR to record a show--technology that's been nearly obsolete for a decade but hey, its there and we own it and why go out and buy something else?
The list of rediscoveries goes on and on, but one thing I never realized I would rediscover was my kids. I'm home with them all day, I talk to them and play with them, I KNOW them. But the thing about kids is that they are always changing. They are complex little creatures with thoughts, hopes, dreams, questions, goals and fears. Sometimes we get so wrapped up in our own world that their little protests and questions seem inconvenient or unimportant to us. But I'm finding now that what I learn about my kids through day to day interaction really just scratches the surface of who they are, and who they are becoming.
We've changed our schedule a little in the house recently, which has led me to my epiphany of rediscovery. The kids have always been put to bed at the same time. The 8-year-old gets a hug and a kiss and a "good night", then I go on to rock the little one to sleep. I have always enjoyed the time with him at night--the only time he is ever still enough to hold and talk to. Well, this has never gone unnoticed by the 8-year-old, and she's always wanted her share of the attention to. In the past few months, she's really fussed and complained about wanting me to lie down with her for a few minutes before she falls asleep. After all my thoughts of "She's way too old for this" and "I can't get this started when my hands are full as it is", I finally realized--she needs something from me, and neither she nor I probably know what it is. So after spring break, we decided to put the little one to bed an hour later. He plays with Daddy in his playroom while I spend time with big sister. This has worked far better than I thought, for many different reasons. Now that hubby gets home later, he misses out on time with the kids and they need it. And a later bedtime keeps the little one in bed an hour later in the morning, and I have been able to get the whole day up and running and organized in that blessed hour of peace. The whole day runs more smoothly, and I have more time for him and for everyone because everything is done.
But for the really amazing part--my daughter talks to me. And she is a really neat, really wonderful kid. All year, I have been asking the usual Mom questions--"How was school? Who did you play with today? How was your spelling test?" I pretty much get a shrug and an "I dunno". At dinner we have fun chatter, and we certainly spend time together and talk about lots of other things. But at night, she says she just feels like she needs to be hugged. And if I sit there, not talking, just "being there", her words start to tumble out. "Guess what so-and-so did at P.E.!" and "You know what happened in math?" and after that, there are sometimes questions. "What happens when people die? Are there really UFO's?Why did Grandpa Dan get cancer? Is Dad going to get it? Can we get another cat?" They come at me, no particular order, just a jumble of things she's trying to sort out in her 8-year-old mind. I find I have to answer without any change in tone of voice, because the first hint of amusement or concern will close the door immediately. After the questions often come the things that weigh on her most heavily, probably the real reason she needs Mom and needs to be hugged. "So-and-so yelled at me at recess and called me stupid". "I forgot my math book in the other room and the teacher was really annoyed". And things that tug at my heart--"Am I ugly?" What can I say? "Of course not! Did someone tell you that?" Silence. "Why do you think that?" Silence. But I've been hearing that one alot, and I know she's reached the age where she's self -conscious, other kids' opinions matter, and Mom can't fix everything. But I can listen, I can hug, and I can be there. And I can learn more and more about this wonderful kid, whose thoughts and questions and fears are important and real.
Every day I see neighbor kids coming home at 7 at night, their parents tired and impatient and shooing them in to do homework and get to bed. In the morning I see the same kids, often fussing and crying as their parents shoo them out the door, warning them to hurry up and not make everybody late. And all I can think is that those kids have so much to offer, and I hope their parents are listening. I hope they aren't those gadgets in the house with all those cool features and capabilities that get forgotten and underused because life is just too busy.

Another Freecycle find

2009-03-30T18:01:00.001-07:00

I haven't been paying much attention to Freecycle lately, other than to give things away, because we have just a short list of things we'd like to have and we really don't need to bring anything else into the house. I'm so pleased with all our decluttering and the feeling of everything being in its place--I don't want to lose it! But one of the things I've wanted for a long time is Christmas dishes. Every year I tell myself I'll get some, and every year I decide it isn't worth the money to buy a set of dishes I'll only use for a few weeks. Of course, I always intend to find them on post-holiday clearance, but that never happens either. So I was really excited to see a post offering some on Freecycle--a service for 4, perfect for our family. The giver lived only a few blocks from me, so I was able to have them in my hands in about 15 minutes. I'm pretty excited about this find--too bad I have another 8 months until I can decorate for Christmas. They'll be waiting!

A weekend of yard work

2009-03-29T13:42:00.001-07:00

Despite a cold start, its been an absolutely beautiful weekend--lots and lots of sunshine, warm days and a cool breeze to keep us from overheating. The back yard needed attention and the garden needed planting, so there wasn't much question of what we were going to do this weekend.

Friday, we relaxed and watched "Because of Winn-Dixie", checked out from the library. We hadn't seen it and the kids loved it. Saturday mornings are all about soccer, so in the afternoon we finally got to the yard. My daughter helped spread dirt and transplant our seedlings while my husband took care of other yard work and my son made sure enough mudballs hit the side of the garage. Our seedlings seem to be experiencing some major transplant shock, so in a few days we may need to go back to the mounds and plant more seeds. Fortunately, there is still time! We have a tiny garden, so we tried to focus on what we like to eat and what we've been succesful at growing in the past. We planted zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers in mounds. We made a row for parsley, planted from seed. (I can already taste the tabbouleh!!) and a row of basil (ditto the pesto). I have lettuce already started in a container, along with cilantro in pots. We mulched around the edges to keep the weeds down, and I guess we'll keep watering it and see what happens!

While we had the mulch out we went ahead and re-mulched the little one's playscape. We made this play area last year so that he'd have a place to play and a place to keep all his toddler stuff out of the way of the lawnmower and dog and various other hazards. It didn't need to be too elaborate, since we have 3 well-equipped parks within walking distance, but it needed to be fun. He loves it! We got the landscape timbers and mulch at Home Depot last year with a gift card (credit card reward) and bought the sandbox at Wal-Mart. Our neighbor was throwing away the climber/slide--it was too bulky to bother to take anywhere and she was overjoyed when we said we could use it. My brother's family handed down the picnic table that their boys had outgrown, and the little ride-on toys were another curbside-at-trash-day find. His little Spongebob chair was $1 at a garage sale. We've all had alot of fun in that little area--my husband and the little one scooping sand and hauling it in the dump truck, my daughter and I being served mud pies and "cookie-doughnuts" at the picnic table. I can see the playscape from the kitchen window, so he can play putside while I cook and wash dishes.

Other than the play set, we have two swings for the kids--each hanging from a branch of our pecan tree. My daughter has a trampoline we gave her for her birthday last year which tucks neatly around a corner so that she can play on it but we don't have to see it from the windows. So the kids have plenty to keep them busy while the grown-ups work!

Now that the garden is in, the weeds are pulled and things are in order, its up to Mother Nature to fill in the trees and the plants in the landscaping. When summer gets here, we will be spending most of our time out there!

Menu plans

2009-03-27T05:44:00.000-07:00

I mentioned yesterday that we have bumped up the grocery budget now that hubby has a new job, and that the reduced-for-quick sale and the fresh, in-season produce deals have been great. We have an abundance of food in the house, which I LOVE, and I'll talk a little about what we're doing with it.

I was able to make a complete menu plan for this week, along with a menu plan of entrees for next week. (I'll have to fill in with more fresh produce on Monday) I also was able to make and freeze a few things using the excess. The picture above is of our frozen strawberry treats. I made up this recipe, mainly because the kids like frozen treats and I couldn't find anything sugar free, organic, without artificial coloring or preservatives, AND affordable. I make these whenever we have the ingredients and the kids consider them a big deal. They basically contain yogurt (I use homemade), organic whipping cream, fresh strawberries, and Stevia. I freeze them in cupcake liners (I have an abundance bought after Easter one year for 5 cents a pack). I'll do an e-how on it when I get the chance and post a link here. This made good use of the sale organic strawberries and the yogurt made from the bargain milk!

Another thing I was able to make and freeze was "green potatoes". They are basically twice-baked potatoes with broccoli mixed in and topped with cheese. They freeze well --first on cookie sheets to individually freeze them, then placed in a freezer container--and make a good quick addition to a lunch or dinner when we need a little something extra. These used up about 50 cents worth of my potatoes, some fresh broccoli (.99/lb!) and the sale cheese ($1/8 oz).

I decided NOT to make and freeze pancakes or muffins this week. I found that when cooking from scratch and trying to save money, our diets start to revolve around wheat a little too much. This is probably fine for most people, but for whatever reason my family doesn't do well on too much of it. I especially start to feel lethargic when I eat too much wheat. So we are taking a break from that this week, focusing on all the other goodies we have available.

I'm glad to be cooking less complicated meals, since our evenings are so hectic. Hubby gets home later now and can't help with the shuttling to extra-curricular activities, so 3 nights a week I need to feed the kids early and get my daughter out to swim team or soccer with the 2-year-old along for the ride. Once we get home, we head straight into bath and bedtime routines.

So what have we been eating?

Monday: baked chicken legs and thighs, mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and carrots, green salad

dessert:strawberries and whipped cream

Tuesday: Tuscan bean soup, greek salad, whole wheat artisan bread (reduced/$1) dessert:sugar-free ice cream

Wednesday: grilled salmon, sauteed asparagus and red peppers, spinach/strawberry/walnut salad with homemade honey mustard vinaigrette

dessert: sugar-free pudding

Thursday: beef and pasta skillet, green beans (from frozen), yellow squash (frozen from parents garden)

dessert:fresh pineapple

Friday: homemade cream of broccoli soup, grilled cheese sandwiches, carrot sticks dessert:sugar-free ice cream

Saturday:grilled hamburgers, homemade french fries

dessert:sugar-free popsicles

Sunday: pork chops, blackeyed peas, green potatoes, steamed asparagus

dessert:sugar-free blueberry cake (reduced for quick sale; in the freezer)

Next week's entrees: (will decide on sides once I shop and see what I find)

Monday: chicken breast

Tuesday:turkey meatballs, brown rice,

Wednesday: salmon stuffed with spinach and pesto

Thursday: simmered chuck steaks, mashed potatoes (leftover in freezer)

Friday: homemade pizza

Saturday: spaghetti with meatsauce

Sunday:baked chicken (whole, cut up), blackeyed peas (LO in freezer from previous Sunday)

Normally I would have one or two "leftover buffets" per week. However, since the little one and I eat leftovers for lunch and hubby now takes them to work, I just leave the leftovers alone. A couple of times this week we've had even more than we needed for dinner and the next day's lunches, so I froze them into individual meals for hubby to pull out of the freezer when there is nothing else available.

This week has been my first experiment with offering dessert after every meal, and I'd have to say so far I'm pleased with the results. I have been careful not to bribe the kids with it, but when we sit down I make sure to tell them; "I have xxxx for dessert!" They have eaten all their dinner and all their veggies every night, and it has been nice to linger over the table for a few more minutes over dessert and talk. Since they've been eating their meals so well, they've been snacking less. I'd rather they do this, because I've read studies showing that kids who graze all day tend to take in the same number of calories as kids who don't but not as many nutrients and not the variety of nutrients they need. (probably because they don't tend to snack on sauteed asparagus or steamed broccoli!) And while I suppose this is okay once in a while, its not okay every day and my kids were starting to want to do that. So if some strawberries and whipped cream or sugar-free ice cream helps improve their overall nutrition--fine by me!! :)

For breakfast this week, the kids have asked for exactly the same thing every day:

-smoothies made with homemade yogurt, soy milk, a banana and the ugly strawberries that they won't otherwise eat

-ham slices (hormone-free, nitrate-free)

-cantaloupe or fresh pineapple

They eat every bite!

Hubby and I have our own breakfasts--I've been having the millet cereal and he's been having that along with two eggs every morning. Breakfast has been easy at our house!

Reduced for Quick Sale

2009-03-26T05:48:00.000-07:00

Now that were home and back in the swing of things, its time to deal with groceries again. I had been really cutting back when hubby was job-hunting, since it was something I could do to help our finances. However, now that he is working again we both agree that eating well and eating HEALTHY is our top priority. I have bumped our grocery budget back up! Before the layoff, I really wasn't paying attention to what we spent and was very surprised when I went back over receipts and found we were spending $800-900 per month. Now that I AM paying attention, I think we can eat the way we want for $500-600 per month. This includes all health/beauty items, diapers and vitamins/supplements as well.

As I've mentioned before, we try to buy mostly organic and mostly fresh items to cook from scratch. That makes it hard to use alot of coupons, thought there are some out there. I concentrate our organic items to milk, eggs, flour, pasta, the "dirty dozen" fruits/veggies, meat when I can find it cheap enough, and whatever cereal or crackers we buy. I have found that the best way to get deals on these items is to find them reduced for quick sale. We have popped in and out of grocery stores more often than usual in the past week due to all the traveling and party preparations. This gave me alot of opportunity to scour the aisles for reduced items, and with good results. One store tends to mark down the organic milk every so often, and when they do I stock up. Another has a large organic section and periodically marks items down on the shelves because they aren't selling. I have also found that when regular milk or meat are on sale really cheap, people buy less of the organic and if I go in towards the end of the sale cycle, I'll find that they have marked down the organic stuff since it didn't sell. This week, I got 4 packages of organic chicken, 5 half gallons of Horizon milk ($1 each!!), and 4 boxes of organic cereal. I was happy to find a coupon for one of the brands of cereal online and print it, so two of the boxes cost only 99 cents each. I also got a 10 pound bag of potatoes for $1.00. I made organic yogurt from some of the milk to stock us up. I later went to Target and bought 4 pounds of Laura's beef for $2.99 a pound and 3 packages of frozen wild-caught salmon, 1 1/2 pounds per package, for $6.99 each. At a third store we had popped into, 8 oz packages of shredded cheese were $1 each, so I stocked up on those. This will really help with entrees for the next couple of weeks!

For other shopping, I focused on fresh fruits and veggies in season. I LOVE spring, since all our favorites are in season and on sale! Fresh asparagus, broccoli crowns and tomatoes were all .99 per pound. Organic strawberries were $2.99 per pound, and cataloupe were 2/$1! ( I bought 6--my kids love cantaloupe!) I also got mangoes 3/$1 and a fresh pineapple for $1.25 after a coupon printed online. I rounded it out with 6 pounds of organic apples that cost way too much and some regular bananas. We are fortunate to have fresh organic spinach and lettuce from my parents garden, so we are in good shape.

My only other great find was diapers. The Kroger brand were on sale for $5.99, and I had printed two coupons for $3 off, so I got them for $2.99 each. I was pretty excited about that.

After a quick run through the aisles for brown rice, beans, a few frozen veggies, some pesto, coffee, etc we are set on groceries. This was on Monday, and I made a menu plan of entrees to last two weeks. I will need to restock fresh fruits and veggies this coming Monday. I total I spent $143. The total saved through sales, coupons and reduced items is $92. I'm glad to be eating a better variety again!

In my next post, I'll run through our menu plan and talk about some of the items I was able to batch-cook and freeze using these sale items.

What makes a house a home

2009-03-22T14:39:00.000-07:00

I mentioned in my last post that part of our whirlwind week was a trip to New Orleans. I mentioned that it was a special place to me, but I'd like to say more about why. My mom was born and raised there, and though she moved away when she married my dad and had all of us, we grew up visiting regularly. To us kids, New Orleans wasn't about the French Quarter or Mardi Gras or seafood--it was about "Grammy and Pawpaw's house". It was the most magical place on earth.

I can still remember the excitement of a visit. We'd be almost crazy with anticipation during the 6 hour drive, and we always arrived at night. We'd wake up when we felt the rumble of the bridge beneath the tires, and would sprint from the car to be the first to ring the distinctive doorbell. I can still see the terra cotta tile on the porch, hear the bark of their old poodle, and smell the wonderful smells of our favorite foods waiting for us inside. Our grandparents' faces would light up when we came in, and the smiles never faded. During the whole visit, we felt like the most important people on earth. Looking back now, I realize that though we always felt spoiled rotten on our visits, nothing that my grandparents did to show their love for us was material. They didn't buy us things, there were no shopping trips or piles of toys. We just knew, minute by minute, that they were happy to see us. My grandfather liked to take us for walks, chat with all the neighbors about what we were doing and how we'd grown. When we entered a room, he smiled and greeted us, no matter what he was doing. When we talked, he looked us in the eyes and listened. My grandmother knew what everyone's favorite foods were, and they were always ready for us along with a smile and a hug.

Even as an adult, I'd visit New Orleans and it always felt the same, no matter my age or circumstance. I brought friends to visit, and boyfriends. As I mentioned in the last post, during one visit with a friend we returned to Grammy and Pawpaws house and she exclaimed "I think I've met the man I want to marry!" I had met his friend, and was pretty impressed with him too. Within two years, we'd married those men we came home to talk about that night. My grandparents loved my husband, and the magic of their house was there for him too.

We lost my grandfather in the year 2000 after a long and well-faught battle with cancer, and we adjusted to a "different" New Orleans--no less loving, just with a small ache in the heart. There was never a time we visited that we couldn't feel him there.

In 2004, hurricane Katrina roared through and destroyed my favorite house. Thankfully, my grandmother had evacuated safely, though she lost everything she had. We siblings were devastated, first of all for her, but also for all the memories we held so dear. It seemed unthinkable.

On the first day they allowed residents back to see their homes, my husband drove through the night with my grandmother to be one of the first let in. He called me from the bridge, and I could only imagine the butterflies in her tummy as she sat on that bridge, much like the excitement I had felt crossing it but for a very different reason. She bravely went through the house, found what she could, whispered a peaceful goodbye to the cat she'd had to leave behind, and moved on to a new life here in Texas.

We visited the remains of her home on our trip last week. That terra cotta tile is still there, and seeing it still brings me back to those special days. I chipped up a few pieces and brought them home. A few days later, I visited my grandmother in her new home. Amazingly, though it is a different home with different things, it feels just the same. When I walk through the door, I could be 8 years old again, ready to be hugged and loved and taken care of by the people who love me. Its not the house and its not the stuff that make a home a part of your heart--its the love that's shared. That goes with you wherever you are. I'm so thankful to have "New Orleans" in my heart, and I can only hope I'm doing the right things so that someday my own children will feel this way about the home I am making for them.

Whirlwind week

2009-03-21T19:23:00.000-07:00

Its been a busy week! We spent Friday the 13th on all things birthday. I went to school with my daughter in the morning to watch as the headmaster gave her a much-anticipated birthday pencil in chapel. (amazing how excited the kids get about this!!) Later that morning the whole family visited her classroom to bring sugar-free popsicles to celebrate her birthday, then we left school with a car full of kids to enjoy the skating party. It was tons of fun--one small sibling of a party attendee came up to me and exclaimed "this is the best day of my life!" We had friends sleep over, and wouldn't you know the stomach bug that's been going around decided to hit my house at about 10 p.m. My daughter and I both spent the night being sick. Luckily, her friends were so worn out from skating that they fell asleep early and nobody but my daughter was upset about it! She says that her birthday was great despite its fateful ending.
We had no sooner cleared kids out of the house than we packed up and headed out for a spring-break vacation. I found an incredible last-minute rate on a very nice hotel in New Orleans, so we made the 6 hour drive with the kids and dog and enjoyed several days there. My husband and I have a special connection with New Orleans. My mother's family is from there, and that is where my husband and I met. We had our first date there, were married near there and have always loved it. We stayed in the French Quarter and I'd have to say it was certainly very different being there as parents as opposed to newlyweds! Different things were interesting and fun. The kids enjoyed the ferry rides across the river, the horse-drawn carriage ride and the hotel pool. We adults loved the sights and sounds, the restaraunts and the memories brought back by familiar places. It was a wonderful few days. We came home just long enough to unpack and repack, then drove 1 1/2 hours in another direction to visit my parents and the 5 nieces staying with them. My kids absolutely love their cousins and don't see them often enough, so for them it was Disneyland. They had a ball.
We finally came back Friday night and slept soundly in our own beds. This morning, I had to face reality! I spent a solid 9 hours unpacking, cleaning, cooking, putting things away and washing 10 loads of laundry. Luckily, the kids were happy to be home and played contentedly all day. The two-year-old had grown weary of traveling yesterday and had been throwing tantrums at the drop of a hat, but he transformed instantly once he got home and back into his routine. He played so long in his sandbox today that he fell asleep in my lap after his bath!
We had a wonderful week, but I am ready to slow down and get back into our routine. Hubby starts his new job Monday and my daughter goes back to school, and life will be calm and quiet again.

A birthday with nothing new

2009-03-12T13:04:00.000-07:00

As I look back over my old posts, I realize that alot has changed in the way we think about things. In the first days of our pledge not to buy anything new, every time we worked our way around something it was a big deal, something fun and new. Now its just normal. I don't even think to write about it, even though some big or small challenge seems to hit us most every day.
This week has been a bit of work as we've tried to prepare a wonderful birthday for my daughter without buying anything new. I can't say its been hard, since luckily my daughter is very much on board with the nothing-new concept, but it has tapped a bit at our creativity.
Luckily, now that hubby has a job we could take the money issue off the table and simply focus on the "nothing new" aspect.
Her gift was pretty easy. She desperately wanted a Nintendo DS and has made sure to mention it every chance she's gotten for months. We managed to find a like-new DS with 2 games on Craigslist, so that was taken care of.
Her party was easy as well, for the most part. She wants a skating party, so we have booked that and it doesn't involve anything new. We sent out "e-vites" via e-mail, so there were no paper invitations needed. The only difficulty there was convincing her she couldn't invite every person she's ever known in her life--LOL. With much prodding, we managed to pare the list down to 16 of her closest friends. (!) We thought that with it being spring break, lots of kids would be out of town and the party would bring itself down to a reasonable size, but it didn't quite work that way, as 14 have RSVP'd. But I plan to take full advantage of these younger days when all the girls are best friends and the world is perfect, because there will come a day when they won't see it that way anymore. So 14 it is, and they will have a wonderful time.
We had to purchase the cake, since it needs to be sugar-free and I've had terrible luck baking sugar- free cakes in the past. Luckily, this is in the category of food and doesn't count against our pledge. We already had candles for it, so we didn't have to buy anything there. That left us with only the gift bags to deal with. Luckily, we had a package of white paper lunch bags on hand, so I will bring those along with markers, stickers and etc for the girls to decorate when they take a skating break. I have assembled a "treasure basket" so that they can choose their own goodies to go into it. I filled it with all the misc toys and treasures my daughter has brought home from parties and events, Chuck E Cheeses and the like and has never touched again. I was surprised at how much there was once I started looking, and am glad to have found a use for it other than taking up space in the house! I finished the basket off with lots and lots of candy that my daughter has brought home both from recent parties and as a prize she got at school for reading. Again, I'm glad to have found a use for it, since nobody in our house eats candy.
So there we have it, a birthday with nothing new! It seems so normal to do things this way that I really didn't think much of it until one of the mothers asked what we had gotten my daughter for her birthday. Without a second thought, I answered that we had found a great DS on Craigslist. There was a surprised silence until she finally mustered an "Oh, that's....nice" and changed the subject. I have to remember that not everyone "gets" this, and not everyone wants to get it. But for those who do, I hope we can set the example that it CAN be done, and it can be absolutely wonderful!

A new job!! (and more free-decorating)

2009-03-09T05:55:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, we are thankful that hubby has found a new job and will start work at the end of the month. There's more of a commute than we would like, but the pay is good and in this economy (and with the competition from all the OTHERS in his field who have been laid off) we are grateful for it. The kids and I have most certainly enjoyed having him home and its been a wonderful experience for all of us. And now, with the job hunt out of the way, he can move from being a man on a mission to a man taking a well-needed rest. We will certainly miss him when he goes back to work!

Last week, hubby spent his time replacing siding on the house (we had to buy those materials, unfortunately it went to the category of "urgent home repair") and the little one and I spent time at a friends house. He played with the daughter while I helped my friend clean her garage, pack boxes and prepare her house for sale. I am always happy to help friends who need it, but in this case it was especially nice because when a person is moving, their "stuff" quickly becomes "junk" to them. No matter how much they loved it before, the thought of packing and moving it quickly turns them around. So at the end of the week, I hauled home that cute little stand that I put in my bathroom, a desk for my daughter's room, and lots of nice wooden storage crates. The storage crates inspired a pantry redo, and they are now labelled and organizing the pantry, with quite a few to spare for organizing the garage. The wicker stand inspired a bathroom "freedecorating" spree, which was much-needed. We have never done anything to decorate the bathroom, since I have never liked it. Its oddly-shaped and not quite functional, with little storage and a blue slate floor that completely clashes with the warm colors in the rest of the house. Well, once I put the stand in there, I was thrilled with the storage it opened up and the way it warmed up the room. I dug out some pretty metal sconces that I had found on clearance once and didn't know where to put, and I also added a garage-sale lamp, a rug not being used, a garage-sale plant and wall hanger and the extra hand towels from the half-bath. I am pleased with the result--it is now warm, functional and more in line with the rest of the house.

Spending time in my friends impeccably-decorated house really gave me a shopping itch. I appeased it by visiting some garage sales on Saturday morning. Wouldn't you know, the first sale I happened upon was that of an interior designer, clearly selling of the excesses of her trade. There were granite slabs, tumbled marble tile, tons of pictures and decorative items and paint. They happened to want far more for their stuff than any garage-salers are willing to pay ($300 for a picture? $100 for a globe?) but the paint was well-priced and we desperately needed some for our kitchen and breakfast room. . We were beginning to wonder if paint for the kitchen was going to fall into the "urgent home repair" category, but I kept giving it more time. Now, luckily, I found the perfect paint--a full $50 gallon of paint that I picked up for $7.00. Our kitchen is now painted and I am amazed at how perfect the color is. I also bought a large planter for our ficus tree in the living room for $15. That has cured my shopping itch for now, and we have a beautiful kitchen! I'll post pictures once we get everything put back in place.

Nelson's lesson

2009-03-05T19:45:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking alot these last few days about our cat, Nelson. We're approaching the one-year anniversary of when she died, and those who have loved and lost a pet will know that they hold a permanent place in your heart. Ironically, the most valuable lesson about thrift and frugality was learned from my cat, as it was because of her that one day it all came together and made sense.

To tell you about Nelson, first I have to tell you about Blackie. Back in my husband's apartment-dwelling bachelor days, he got out of his car one day and found himself followed by a cautious but friendly cat. She parked himself outside his door, and the next morning was there to greet him and follow him to back to his car. When he arrived home again, she was there to follow him to the door. Soon he began to feed her, then took her in, and eventually she crawled under his couch and delivered 7 kittens. The runt of the litter was Nelson. She couldn't nurse well and Blackie didn't show much interest in her, but she was full of fire and my husband loved her immediately. He bottle-fed her, found homes for the other kittens, and brought her with him into our marriage.

For the first 7 years, the cats were our kids. They wove themselves so subtly into our lives, we simply couldn't remember when we'd ever slept without a cat on our feet or watched TV without a kitty in our lap. When my daughter came along, Nelson provided comic relief on those long, colicky nights when we'd go to slip the baby in the bassinet and find a warm furball in the way.

When she was a year old, Nelson disppeared. The next day, a freak snowstorm passed through and we were worried sick. After a week, we started to lose hope. On the 14th day, she pulled herself through the kitty door, weak and sick and cold. After a trip to the vet for antibiotics and some time in front of the heater she was fine--but the tips of her ears and the tip of her tail had been frostbitten and fell off. From that point on, her ears were octagonal and she was quite a funny-looking cat!

Blackie died of kidney failure at the age of 10, and Nelson became an only cat. By that time, I honestly couldn't remember what it was like NOT to have her. Life marched on, we moved, had another baby, and Nelson marched right along with us.

When she reached 14, we noticed Nelson was slowing down, and for the first time getting a little pudgy. When she grew lethargic and started to hide from us, we took her to the vet. The news was bad. She wasn't fat--she had a malignant tumor the size of a grapefruit in her belly. If we didn't have it removed, it would rupture and kill her within a few days. If we did have it removed, one of the other nodules near it would grow to that size and do the same thing, but in the meantime she'd have her life back. They suggested euthanizing her, because the surgery would cost nearly $1,000 and she'd need a blood transfusion before she'd be healthy enough for surgery.

My husband and I didn't need to discuss it. Occasionally in the past, I'd wondered to myself if we really needed to be frugal. I'd hear my friends say "what's money for, if not to spend it?" and I'd wonder if they were right. But that day, as I stood there in my clearance-rack jeans and freecycle shoes, it all came together. I reached into my thrift-store purse and gave my cat her life back. I didn't even blink. THAT'S what money is for, and I'll never regret it.

Nelson returned home from her surgery and was herself again--jumping into cabinets and causing mischeif, sneaking around outside after birds and of course, occupying any lap that happened to look empty.

Another tumor did take over, far too quickly for us. As she grew sicker, we knew we should think about euthanizing her, but we couldn't--not when she still had life left. On her last night, when we knew it was time, my husband still couldn't do it. He stayed up with her all night, and in the morning went to the vet only because I insisted. Nelson knew it would be too hard for him. She died in his arms before the vet arrived to administer the shot. It was her gift back to him for all he'd done for her.

More Freecycle bounty

2009-03-02T17:10:00.001-08:00

I saw a post today on Freecycle offering a bag of clothes the next size up from what my daughter wears. Since I know she will grow before the end of the year and we won't be buying anything new, this provided a great opportunity for me to stock up in anticipation of need. That way, I'm not in a bind when she hits her next growth spurt. I always wait a little after a good item is posted before I ask for it, since someone may need it more than I do and I'd like to give them a chance to get it. Luckily for me, the original person it had been promised to never showed up to get it, and the giver was glad to let me take it off her hands. She lived only a few blocks away, so in a span of 5 minutes I was able to go out and get my daughter a whole new wardrobe!

My daughter wasn't home when I arrived with the goodies, so I arranged everything like a store and surprised her when she got home. She was thrilled!! She "shopped" carefully, deciding what she loved and what didn't suit her, what fit now and what she'll save to grow into. A small pile was separated out to bring to her cousins. The brown dress was the hit of the day, and she changed into it to eat dinner. She was also especially excited about the bathrobe. She's been asking for one since I finally gave away her 3-sizes-too-small former robe, and it just hasn't been easy to come by used. What a bonus to find one in the freecycle bag, looking brand new!

What a lovely surprise on an otherwise routine Monday!

Couponing at Randalls

2009-02-27T10:05:00.000-08:00

Now that its the end of the month, I can tally my grocery spending and see that $100 per week was a lofty goal for the way we want to eat. Since February is exactly 4 weeks, I should have spent $400 but came closer to $450. Now, this is much better than the $600 + last month and the $6-700 per month of the past, but I think I can do better. I'm going to give it another try.

My strategy for February was to try to buy just what I needed each week, and to learn to make as much as I could homemade-- in batches for convenience. I also stocked up when I found great deals on things I regularly buy, such as organic milk, eggs and cheese. One thing I didn't think about was that we drastically cut back on our meals out, and that hubby would be home and I'd be cooking more lunches. I also did alot more baking, and found myself running out of things like flour and oil mid-week because I'd underestimated what I'd need.

For March, I'll reintroduce coupons and the "shop in anticipation of need" strategy and see how well that works. There are very few coupons out there for the things we regularly buy, but there are some. The ones we can use the best are store coupons and promotions, especially in combination with MFR coupons. I hadn't been taking the time to work out those deals, so I'm going to put some effort back into that.

My first effort at this new strategy was at Randalls today. I normally don't shop there because they are so overpriced, but today they had a coupon to save $10 off a $50 purchase. I happen to know that the $10 comes off the pre-coupon total, so if they take off $10, THEN subtract the coupons, one can do pretty well. They don't have all the organic things we buy, but I was happy to see that the small list of things we buy non-organic were on sale, AND I had coupons for them. They also had some good prices on pot roasts and chicken breasts. These weren't organic, but we go about 50/50 on that. If I find them on sale organic I buy them. Otherwise, we eat non-organic and it might as well be as cheap as possible--LOL.

So here's what I got:
25.5 oz box Kelloggs Raisin Bran
2 boxes Triscuits
1 2-liter bottle diet 7-Up (was free, so I got it for my daughter's birthday party in a couple of weeks)
1 bottle Joy dishwashing liquid
1 lb real butter
3 loaves 100% whole wheat bread
2 pot roasts, 4 lb each
2 pkg boneless, skinless chicken breast, 2.5 lb each
2 lb broccoli crowns
2 lb roma tomatoes
2 lb zucchini squash
4 lb bananas
3 lb organic onions

I spent a total of $35.52 after coupons. The total before discounts was $100.04. Considering this includes 13 pounds of meat (!!) I was satisfied.
This may seem a little lopsided for a grocery list, but we are stocked up on milk, eggs and cheese. We have 6 pounds of organic apples in the fridge left from a good sale, and a new bag of organic flour for baking. We were also fortunate enough last week to get garden produce from my parents, avid organic gardeners, so we have lots of lettuce and some bags of frozen yellow squash and swiss chard. I made a new batch of yogurt with our bargain milk, and we have some salmon and a few other meats in the freezer.

Monday is my usual grocery shopping day, and this Monday I will go into it not needing anything. At that point, I can stock up at my leisure and at the lowest prices I find, putting us that much further ahead for the following week. Its my hope that the snowball effect will keep the grocery bill down without compromising the quality of our diets.

We'll see how March works out!

Affluenza

2009-02-24T12:42:00.000-08:00

One of the message boards I like to frequent posted a quote from this book, which I'd never heard of. I immediately did a search on "Affluenza" and found all kinds of fascinating topics and opinions on the subject. I connect so fully with this way of thinking, and am so glad to have this now as part of my vocabulary and way of filing opinions and ideas in my mind.

There is a PBS special by this title, and the website defines "affluenza" as this:
1. The bloated, sluggish and unfulfilled feeling that results from efforts to keep up with the Joneses.
2. An epidemic of stress, overwork, waste and indebtedness caused by the dogged pursuit of the American Dream.
3. An unsustainable addiction to economic growth.
Of course, it goes on to prescribe the cure to be living a simpler life with less consumption and less stuff.

After much, much thinking the last couple of months, I've been able to pinpoint why our new house (of 4 years) never really brought us the happiness we thought it would. When we moved here, my husband had gotten a new job with a bit of a raise, and we had made a little money on our old house. Like most people 4 years ago, we were able to buy a much nicer and larger house than we'd thought. We liked the neighborhood for its sidewalks, parks, ponds, pool, and sense of community. The houses are all new, nice and huge. We liked what it had to offer our kids, but we didn't think about what little it had to offer our spiritual growth and sense of self. We quickly learned that despite all the parks and all the childrens play equipment in the backyards, actual children were never home. They were at day care and their parents were at work. The kids we met at the park were with nannies. The few stay-at-home moms I met took great pride in making sure I understood that they were "never home". They had full calendars of Gymboree, swim lessons, dance lessons, and lunch every day at McDonalds. Nonetheless, we made friends and joined groups and got on with our lives.
But as we got to know people, I found that I didn't really connect with anyone in the neighborhood. I felt stuck between feeling like I should try to fit in, and not really wanting to. This accounts for all the things halfway done in the house-the decorating, the landscaping, the organizing. I've been caught between what made us happy and what I thought I was "supposed" to do. And ironically, the more money my husband made, the less happy I became, because there became less and less of a reason for our family to forgo what everyone else has. I would simply look around and wonder what was wrong with me that I didn't want those things.
I'm glad we never jumped on the spending bandwagon, but I do wish I'd been bold enough to lead my family in the way I felt best a long time ago. Once we made the decision to get off the merry-go-round in a drastic way, by not buying anything new for a year, I felt the weight of the world lifted off my shoulders. Our whole family was free to do what we always felt was best. Moreover, we were free to have fun with it. Our "affluenza" was cured! And looking back over the weeks since, I see how it unlocked everything for us. We decorated, organized, rearranged and did everything the way we thought it should have been done in the first place. We found more time for each other and for rediscovering the things that make us happy. We all feel more connected to to each other and the to the lives we live than ever before.
So I'm wondering--much the way second-hand smoke affects the lungs, was this a case of second-hand affluenza?? LOL

Some other facts I found in my searching (I'd love to give the credit but can't remember the website):
1. Americans spend more for trash bags each year than 90 of the world's 210 countries spend on everything.
2. More people in the US file for bankruptcy each year than graduate from college
3. The average rate of saving has fallen from 10% in 1980 to ZERO in 2000.

Today I feel like once and for all, I can push the Joneses aside and not only enjoy the way we live, but know deep down that its the best way and that we can be proud of it. And I'd like to thank everyone who visits this blog for your affirmations and support and for leading me to the place I have finally found!

Swagbucks and a shameless plea

2009-02-20T10:04:00.000-08:00

I tend not to like promotions in blogs and want to stay away from them myself, but I discovered a new source of free gift cards and want to give it a go. Hopefully, we can all help each other because others out there might want to do this too. Have you ever heard of Swagbucks? I heard about it just the other day from a reputable source. She's already gotten a $5 Starbucks card after 1 week, so I figured I'd look into it. Swagbucks is a search engine that you can use instead of Google or whatever. You sign up (all you need is name and e-mail, no street address) and start earning points for using the search engine. You redeem the points for prizes, one of which is gift cards. For 50 points, you get a $5 Starbucks card. I've got my eye on the $20 Target card for 220 points, which I will use at the nearby SuperTarget for groceries.

The points are randomly awarded as you search. You don't get something every time, and its not always the same number of points. The person I know got 50 points in a week. I signed up about 3 days ago, have used it about 5 times, and have 16 points. I figure its really no big effort on my part, and if every few months I can get a $20 Target gift card, what the heck!!

Okay, for the shameless plea. If people sign up thru your link, you get a point to match every one of theirs. I LOVE that! So if someone uses my link to sign up, I get one point for every point they get. And they can go on to give the link to others, and get matching points for those people. So if you are at all inclined to sign up, please do it thru me! I'd encourage you to go tot he website on your own and check it out. If you like it and want to try it, I would be eternally thrilled if you come back to my blog and sign up thru my link. Every little bit helps!

There is also a section detailing how you can get points for sending in old cell phones, MP3 players, video consoles and games, etc. We don't have anything like that around, but for those who do it might be of interest to check out. You can also do other things like internet shopping thru their links to get points, but we don't shop so we won't be doing that one either.

Thanks for reading my shameless plea and best of luck if you decide to give Swagbucks a shot!

Here's the referral link:
http://swagbucks.com/?cmd=sb-register&rb=345987

Clutter vs. stuff

2009-02-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

"Junk is the stuff we throw away. Stuff is the junk we keep."

Our garage sale success the other day got me thinking--it seems I am constantly switching things out--clearing out one closet and getting rid of clutter, then bringing someone else's unwanted stuff and putting it right back in the closet. And though it sounds like it would be a counterproductive idea, its been very helpful. How could that be?
Well, last night, in light of our current temporary state of being a no-income family, I got out my trusty Tightwad Gazette. This was my constant companion throughout the 1990s and is the reason for the financial stability we have today. But anyway, a quote in there really caught my attention--
"Junk is the stuff we throw away. Stuff is the junk we keep."
Isn't that the truth?? All the "stuff" I'm keeping is stuff that will have a use, if not now, then later on. Having it now, for cheap or free, will save us money when we need it. This goes for things like wrapping paper and greeting cards, clothes a size or two too big for the kids, toys and games in a box in the closet to bring out when the kids are climbing the walls and need something "new". Junk, on the other hand, has no conceivable use to us. Empty peanut jars, princess dress-up clothes that my daughter wouldn't be caught wearing and my son shouldn't be caught wearing, books we've already read and nobody wants to read again, movies and games nobody likes, etc etc. Its interesting to me that no matter what one person's junk is, it could always be someone else's stuff. Thank goodness for Freecycle, Craigslist, thrift stores, and all the other places that put these still-useful-to-someone items into the hands of those who can use them instead of in the landfill. And thank goodness my family has no issues with hand-me-downs and second hand items, because who knows how much we have saved over the years this way.
I haven't always been in love with being thrifty, but I'd say 90% of the time I've been content with it. The other 10% has generally come on when I've spent too much time with people who have homes decorated like magazine covers, the most expensive car they can buy, designer labels on every item they or their kids own, etc. Sometimes I'll come home and look around and think "We could live like that. Why don't we?" The answer always comes to me when I come back down to reality. And these days, I've never more grateful for those thrifty days before and the thrifty days now. When hubby got laid off, and we could sit back and genuinely say--"We'll be fine. No worries" and go on about our business. I can't imagine anything I could have owned or bought or experienced with our money that could equal that feeling of relief. And in that way, this experience has been very good for us.

Celebrating Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T09:31:00.000-08:00

At this point in our lives, my husband and I have given in to the fact that Valentine's Day is a family affair. Not that we don't celebrate it as a couple as well, but we most certainly don't have the kind of evenings we did before the kids came along. And that's fine, because our love created this family and it is wonderful to celebrate it as such. This year, we had the challenge of creating a fun and memorable day without buying anything new, and so far I'd say its been a wonderful success.

I awoke today to a dozen roses (from the grocery store--this is a gray area, hubby thinks they don't count as something new and I'm in no position to disagree!) and the most delicious cup of coffee I've ever had. He bought me 2 pounds of organic gourmet coffee as well as the organic beeswax moisturizer I've been wanting but won't buy myself. I'm not sure if this is what all wives want, but my wants are simpler these days and I was absolutely thrilled. My daughter handed out the valentines she made for us in computer class at school, and we put them on the fridge for all to see. As a fun treat, we decided to go visit some garage sales and I told the kids they could each pick put a present from me. My daughter brought her own money, and decided she'd like to buy gifts for us as well. Luckily, the only two garage sales we saw happened to be treasure troves--for us, anyway. At the first, my daughter found the 4 National Lampoon Vacation movies, which happen to be hubby and my favorite movies of all time. She bought them for us at 25 cents each, for a grand total of $1.00. While she was at it, she found 3 Caillou videos, which happens to be our son's favorite show, so she bought those as well for a total of 75 cents. For the $1.75 she spent, she made everyone happy! We bought my son a pair of like-new Nike sandals for 50 cents and a Caillou coloring book and Barney puzzle for 35 cents. He was very happy with his gifts! At the next garage sale, we found a Baskin Robbins smoothie maker that my daughter went nuts over. They were asking $3 but accepted $2, and our outing was complete. All in all, I think our $2.85 was well spent. :) And the smoothie maker will be make wonderful use of all the homemade yogurt and bargain organic milk we have in the fridge.

On the way home, we stopped at a charity's donation box and dropped of two bags of clothing and household items we've cleared out, so I believe more went out than came in.

Now that we're home, the kids are happily drinking smoothies and playing with their "new" stuff. I have a special dinner planned--chicken cacciatore with whole wheat pasta (one of hubby's favorites) with green beans. I will make some sugar-free brownies for dessert, and my daughter and I will melt down a few of the chocolate candies she got at her class party yesterday to make chocolate-dipped strawberries. We always have fun decorating for dinner and making a big to-do of it. Hubby and I plan to make popcorn and enjoy our new "vacation" movies tonight. And for the grand finale--last year on clearance I picked up the most hilarious red grass skirt with matching heart-shaped cococut bra. Enough said, and everyone will be grateful to know that there will be no pictures posted of this one......

Organic grocery bargains and homemade food

2009-02-12T18:40:00.000-08:00

I have really had to struggle to keep the grocery budget goal of $100 per week while still eating a healthy diet. I'm committed to organic foods, and what we eat is mostly fresh--fresh fruits, veggies, meat, dairy products. Very little is processed or precooked. I went shopping this morning, and as of today we've spent $217. This should take us to the 18th or 19th of February before I have to do another major shopping trip, so I guess I'm about on target.

I was overjoyed today to find markdowns on 2 of the most expesive things I buy on a regular basis. Horizon Organic milk was reduced to $2 per gallon for containers with a sell-by date 4 days from now, and Organic Valley Organic egg whites were marked $1 per carton. (each carton is the equivelent of 8 eggs) I snapped up 5 gallons of milk and all 6 cartons of egg whites, no questions asked!! The egg whites have about a week before they expire, so I left one carton out and froze the remainder. I did some batch cooking with the milk and froze the rest of it. (did you know you can freeze milk??) This will save me quite a bit on future shopping trips!!

Once I got home with the groceries, I spent the day cooking. I made hummus from garbanzo beans cooked from scratch (recipe in the ehow section), then cut up carrots, celery and cucumbers to serve with it. I also made pimento cheese spread with shredded cheese (sale), a jar of pimentos (free after coupon) and mayonnaise. This spread is wonderful on celery! I put on a batch of yogurt using 8 cups of milk and some starter from my last batch. I use a crock pot recipe I found on another blog that is easy and works well every time. Tomorrow, when the yogurt is done I will make frozen yogurt treats for the freezer. (I'll post a recipe tomorrow) Last, I made a double batch of homemade whole wheat waffles (recipe in the ehow section) and froze them for breakfasts. The kids just love these! We will be having waffles, sugar free syrup, fresh strawberries ($1.77 a container) and milk for breakfast quite a bit this week! Tomorrow I plan to make blueberry muffins from the sale blueberries, and some sugar-free peanut butter cookies. All this cooking should keep us supplied in breakfasts, snacks and treats for the week. Since the 3 of us at home will be eating leftovers for lunch and only my daughter needs a packed lunch, I hope to only have to spend time on dinner for the rest of the week.

Today was my husband's first day at home since the layoff news. His employer had given him 2 weeks of notice, during which he had to work, and yesterday was his last day. I enjoyed having him home today and it was wonderful to have two sets of hands to entertain the little one --that's how I managed to get so much done! We are trying our hardest to make the most of his time at home, and to keep it as stress-free as possible. When we look back on this time in our lives, we don't want to wonder why we didn't make more of it, or to wish we hadn't spent the whole time stressed and missing out on the joy in life. We want to look back and say "Boy, that was fun!"

Like mother, like daughter

2009-02-10T19:16:00.001-08:00

I mentioned a few posts back that lately, as soon as I've determined that I need something, a source for it seems to appear. I guess the same holds true for my daughter. She and I have been talking this week about what she'd like to do for valentines for her class party. She's perfectly happy to make them herself, but thus far less than thrilled with her choices of craft materials. I had a few boxes of clearance valentines from years past (3-D bugs and Cartoon Network) but none were really her cup of tea. We have construction paper, but not alot of pink and red. Nonetheless, we were brainstorming and planning to get to work tomorrow night on our best option.

Well, today she went to a friend's house to play, and the mother brought out valentine craft materials to keep the kids busy. To any other child, this is just a fun activity. To my daughter, it was a dream come true!! She got to work and made a valentine for every child in her class and one for each teacher. She was beaming when she arrived home--SO proud to have contributed a solution to our family pact not to buy anything new.

I'm not sure what the other mother thought when my daughter turned her craft project into an assembly line, but I will call her tomorrow and thank her for her patience. Our kids frequently do craft projects together, so I'm sure she found it amusing and was glad the kids stayed entertained for so long!

More "Free-decorating"

2009-02-09T16:54:00.000-08:00

We finally found time this weekend to paint and organize my daughter's room. We should have done it a long time ago--the room needed painting when we moved in--but every time I thought about it, I'd get so carried away with ideas and thoughts and Pottery Barn catalogues that I'd end up too frustrated to even start. I don't know why I thought we needed a major re-do into a magazine quality room, when all my daughter wanted was colors she liked and some space to organize her things. Once I looked through what we actually had, we had all the makings of a wonderful room, and to top it all off, my daughter already LIKED it. The only things she asked for were a desk, a bulletin board and a place to get away from her little brother. We already had the bunk beds (great deal from Pier 1 Kids a few years back) and all the matching linens, curtains, rug and accessories (Ikea a few years back). We just needed to pull it together--without buying anything.

First, we painted the room using the last of the green paint we got on Freecycle back in January. We mixed it with some white paint both to lighten it and to make sure there was enough to do the whole room. We fashioned a desk out of the two night stands she wasn't using with a shelf board across the top, and used a chair from the attic. (we're going to paint it) We found a shelf in the closet that had been in her room in our old house, and hung it over the desk for her treasures. I painted the edges of a bulletin board and covered it with fabric from a pillow case that matched her linens (casualty of a nocturnal nosebleed last year) and hung it under the shelf. We took the lamp from her brother's room (note to self--never leave a 2-year-old in a room with a lamp that you don't want broken--LOL) and put it on her desk. On the opposite wall, we hung the white-framed full length mirror that was in my way in my closet, and repurpose our wicker laundry basket for her stuffed animals. We got two old easter baskets, a pink one and a white one, and put them on the "desk" shelves for storage, along with some boxes she already had that matched her linens. She decided what would go in each box, we labelled them, and she organized her things. I made it clear that nothing without a place to go was coming back into the room, so she chose carefully and left a small pile of "stuff" behind, which will go to charity.

We took the wooden letters that spell her name--we had bought them and let her paint them several years ago, then forgotten about them---and painted them white and hung them over her top bunk. We also hung two flower lamps over her top bunk and a wall-mounted reading lamp over her bottom bunk, both bought at Ikea some time back with good intentions but never used. Last, we took her fluffy pink blanket and wrapped it around the lime-green body pillow that no longer matched, and placed it along the top bunk to give it a sofa-like feel. We made sure not to put the ladder back, so that she can go up there to read and hang out and have one private place where little brother can't bother her. (though I'm sure he'll try :)

I've never seen my daughter so excited. She has never complained about her room and always been grateful when she's gotten something new for it, but she was overjoyed to arrange her shelves, organize her desk and decorate her bulletin board just the way she wanted it. Last night, she voluntarily went to bed 30 minutes early! And today, she had a friend over to play and painstakingly cleaned her room without being asked after her friend left. (no easy task after 2 hours of playing rock star-veterinarian-fashion models!)

Ask and ye shall receive

2009-02-07T10:52:00.000-08:00

I find myself constantly surprised so far that as soon as I start thinking of an item that I need but can't buy, a source of the item seems to appear. I don't know how or why this is, but most likely its simply because I'm looking for it now, whereas before I would have just gone out and bought it. My two most recent identified needs were towels and greeting cards.

My husband was getting a card ready to mail to his mother for her birthday this week, and I noticed that our stock of greeting cards was very low--basically down to the stuff that doesn't really suit anyone we know. Now, I'm a big fan of homemade cards, especially for kids' birthday parties and for people like grandparents who get a kick out of them. Otherwise, I'm not that crafty and would really need to do some learning (and come across some second-hand materials) to pull off nice cards for adult friends and such. We were also out of envelopes, and had to scrape to find one to mail a bill. So I had my thinking cap on, but wasn't coming up with much.

The second need I had identified was towels. When we moved into our house 4 years ago, we not only needed towels but lost some to various purposes during the move. We redecorated the kids bathroom and bought new towels to match, but have yet to redecorate the master bath and are still using the 3 or 4 ratty towels that remained. We've always intended to buy some, but have been waiting until we redid the bathroom. After drying off with a hand towel for the hundredth time, I finally decided I needed to find a source of second-hand towels, and I wasn't sure how excited I was about that.

Well, lo and behold, I was helping a friend unload some things from her car when I saw a box brimming with brightly colored towels. I aksed her about them, and she said the box of stuff had more or less been pushed on her by a family member clearing out clutter, and she took it to be polite but didn't want it. She nearly jumped for joy when told her I'd take it. The towels were clean and in good shape, and also contained a new-in-package bundle of washcloths. The bright colors work in the kids bathroom, so hubby and I will be using their towels in our bathroom. Problem solved! I forgot to take a picture before I washed them and put them away, so everyone gets to enjoy a view of the kids' bathroom cabinet--LOL.

The crown jewel to it all was what I found in the bottom of the box--a grocery bag full of over a hundred greeting cards and envelopes for every occasion! I was very surprised and couldn't believe two such hard-to-find items were taken off my list with one fortuitous glance into the back of a friends car. My daughter immediately confiscated the box, since I have a birthday coming up. I happened to notice that when she returned it to me, the Mother's Day card I had seen in it had dissappeared too. :)

More "Free-decorating"

2009-02-06T19:59:00.000-08:00

I mentioned earlier this week that I've been keeping myself busy rearranging downstairs, trying to make the house into just what I want without buying anything new. Earlier in the week I finally got the idea to move our oversized contemporary furniture out of the family room, where it never really fit, and move our more traditional formal living room furniture in. I absolutely love the results, and have been happy every day since. That left me with our burdensome rejects in the formal living room, where we began to question the function of that room and whether we even needed that furniture at all. Well, after quite a bit of thinking and deciding I dreaded all the "craigslisting" that would be required to buy and sell things for the room, I panicked and called a friend. Luckily, she's a good friend and has been for years, and also has a business "remixing" people's homes to redecorate at minimal expense. And luckily, we do favors for each other all the time so she was glad to come over and check out my situation, and even brought a friend. I heaved a sigh of relief when she looked at the furniture and said "Oh sure, this can work". We spent the afternoon moving pictures, mirrors, plants and other items from room to room so that the formal living room got what it needed and no room was left lacking. I am able to use the large pieces of furniture, and have a only a coffee table and end tables along with a piece of contemporary art to put on Craigslist. I LOVE the result, and it didn't cost a cent!

We also managed to find time to rework the formal dining room adjacent to the living room. We removed the small mirror that was over the buffet and relocated it to the space above the office desk. We replaced it with a much larger and more dramatic antique mirror that my parents had given me when they moved. I don't have table linens other than holiday, so my friend grabbed one of the long sheer scarves from the window swag and fashioned something out of that, topping it with my breadbasket and some silk ivy that had been on a shelf. We pilfered buffet lamps from my breakfast room (where they never really looked right) and added height with a few books. And for the grand finale, my friend remembered a rug she had stored away unused and offerred it to me, since she was moving and didn't plan to take it with her. It just so happened to coordinate perfectly. Now I love the room!! I"m beginning to feel like I have a new house!

Shopping at home for groceries

2009-02-04T17:02:00.000-08:00

I'm so glad I spent the month of January learning to resist the temptation of sale ads and make do with things I have at home whenever I need something (or think I need it--LOL) because I am now using the concept to try to cut our grocery bill while still eating a healthy diet. At one time, I was a coupon queen--one of those people who can walk out of a grocery store with a hundred dollars in groceries for free. Over time, our budgets and diets and health needs have changed, and I have become pretty picky about what I bring into the house, and pretty laid-back about what I pay for it. And since I never really LOVED to cook, I've gotten a little lazy. But in looking at what we spent on groceries in January ($633), I decided I needed to put a little effort into trimming that back. My goal for February is to cut back to $100 per week. I realize there are people out there who can feed their families on $100 per month or less, but my family has its particular set of challenges. We have, among other things, an egg allergy, lactose intolerance, hypoglycemia, reflux, and a sensitivity to food additives and coloring. Two people in the family have to follow a low-carb diet, so I can't base meals on pasta or other starches or even serve too many of them in one meal. It is quite difficult to put a meal on the table that everybody can eat, so I try to stick with what works. For the most part, our household is 100 % sugar-free (with a tablespoon or so of honey used in baking) and about 80% organic. I don't buy many prepackaged or processed foods, and try not to buy anything individually wrapped.

I've had to stop looking at the grocery sale ads and coupons, because what I am tempted to buy right now is nothing we should eat. I mentioned in my last post that when I feel a little stressed, I love to bargain-hunt because it brings me a measure of control. Well, I've had to stop myself more than once from getting out the coupons and making my list of all the foods I can get for cheap or free, because once I got them home I'd spend all my time keeping the kids out of them. Crazy, huh? So here's what I did--I shopped at home first. I looked through everything I had on hand and decided to go ahead and use it as long as I can to avoid having to buy anything. I spent a day cooking, and made a quadruple batch of pumpkin muffins using a large can of pumpkin still hanging around from the holidays. We all love these, and they make good breakfasts, snacks and lunch-box fillers. I also made 2 loaves of very easy whole wheat bread, a double batch of homemade whole wheat waffles for the freezer, and a double batch of frozen yogurt treats . I cooked down a chicken carcass and froze a couple of quarts of broth, then used all the leftover odds and ends of vegetables in the fridge to make soup. (which I froze in individual containers for lunches). I made homemade popsicles with the juice drained from a can of pineapple and also with some leftover yogurt. And over the last couple of days I've been cooking dried beans as I have the time and getting them into the freezer so that we can stretch the meat that I put into our entrees. We've even been using all those hotel packets of coffee in the morning, just to use them up. So all in all, these things stretched our groceries out for several days past when I normally would have decided we were "out" of food. And luckily, since we had so many extra homemade things around, I was able to pare the grocery bill down to $91 while still buying everything organic.

My sister and I were discussing the other day how ironic it is that when you "simplify" your diet, it becomes more complicated. There is nothing easier about baking a batch of cookies or a loaf of bread when you could simply rip open a bag and be done with it. But there is nothing quite like those times--the kids "helping" at the counter, the little one climbing on a chair and sneaking his chubby fingers into the bowl for a taste of whatever he can get, the smell of baking permeating the house. Opening a box or bag robs you of all of that. So in a way its easier, but look at what you've missed. The camraderie in the kitchen and the wonderful smells of food are things that make a house a warm and loving home. I'm glad to have these times!

Freetail Therapy

2009-02-02T18:21:00.000-08:00

With my husband out interviewing for jobs and the idea of unemployment still settling in, I learned somethng about myself--this is when I normally shop. And its not for the reasons that others might seek retail therapy--I'm not looking to spend money or buy some wonderful thing that will make me feel good about myself. This is when I go into super-bargain-hunting mode, because when I find that incredible deal or two I feel like I've regained a measure of control. Well, I'm glad for the opportunity to understand that part of myself, but it still didn't keep my hands busy while hubby was interviewing and the little one was napping. So I focused my attention on something in the house that has always bothered me--our family room. This room is not terrible, but it has never been what we want. Its a hodgepodge of styles--the traditional style entertainment center that had gone so well in a different house, the oversized contemporary furniture and art that we bought when we moved in and were trying out a different style that we turned out not to like--LOL. So the room isn't awful, but its always been "off" and its always bugged me. What we really needed in there was some smaller furniture, like what's in the formal living room. And something traditional, like what's in the formal living room. So finally, after 4 years, I got the brilliant idea--why don't I just move what's in the formal living room into here?? So move I did. And I'm finally, finally happy with that room. As I seem to be continually saying since I started this blog and this new way of "shopping at home", I don't know why I didn't do this a long time ago! My daughter came home and said she felt like she was in a completely different house. And somehow, that's how I wanted it to feel. Its too bad the pictures don't show the extent of the change! And after moving the other furniture into the formal living room, hubby and I were struck with a thought--why do we even have a formal living room, anyway? We never use it. We don't want to mess it up! It is a large area of our home devoted to no actual purpose. So we started thinking of better uses for it. The ideal thing would be to make it into a library. We are a family of avid readers with tons of books and no space devoted to them, so this would make the space usable and create efficient storage of the books that are currently all over the house. We can accomplish this by culling furniture and other items from throughout the house, so we can actually just put that oversized furniture that never worked for us on craigslist and be done with it. So we'll get working on that next.

Again, why didn't we do this a long time ago??

Keep doin' what I'm doin'

2009-01-30T10:10:00.000-08:00

Well, in light of the unwelcome (but not devastating!) layoff news that I mentioned yesterday, I realize that the best thing I can do right now is to just keep doing what I'm doing. So that's what I'm doing! And here it is:

Yesterday, I saw a post on freecycle offering gift bags and gift wrap. This was wonderful timing, because when wrapping the teacher's gift this week I realized I was about out of both, and started wondering how I could be creative enough to make homemade gift wrap. Now, I realize it can be done but a large haul of someone else's unwanted giftwrap and bags really frees up alot of my time for other things...LOL. The giver lived right in my neighborhood, so I had the chance to go over and meet her. She was as thankful to get the bags out of her closet as I was to receive them! She also warned that some of the bags even still contained forgotten gifts. So things worked out well for both of us!! I won't need to even think about gift wrap again, and even have some gifts on hand now for birthday parties and such.

The next thing on the need list was diapers. They aren't neccessarily on the "do not buy" list, since they are a neccessity in our house. And I wish I had made different choices and thought more about the environment when I started diapering my son 2 1/2 years ago, but right now the situation "is what it is" until he is potty trained. (and if you read one of my previous posts about the last attempt, you'll know what a challenge that will be!!) So anyway, the best diaper deal I could find was at CVS combining a sale, coupons, and extra bucks back. On my way to CVS today, I noticed a newly-opened thrift store affiliated with a nearby church. I considered not stopping, since we don't really need much, but I decided to pop in and check it out for future reference. One of the first things I saw was a table of diapers, new in the package! I found 3 packages of diapers in my son's size, priced at $2 each. So luckily, I walked out with 3 packages for less than the lowest price I could find on ONE package at CVS. So I'm glad I stopped! And in a fit of total extravagance (LOL) I bought my daughter a cute little top for another $2.

I had wondered if any of the fulfillment from not buying anything new would be diminished by the fact that for now I HAVE to do it this way. And surprisingly, it hasn't! Its actually MORE fun!

NOW its about the money...

2009-01-29T07:29:00.000-08:00

Life certainly is crazy with its twists and turns. I am so, so glad my family has taken this pledge and learned so much this month about how much happier we are with living with less, because my dear, sweet, hardworking husband was laid off yesterday. In some ways this was expected and in some ways it wasn't. He is in a volatile field of work which has been hit hard in this recent economy. On the other hand, he's been gainfully employed for the last 20 years and things like this "just don't happen to us". Luckily, we've always done what you are "supposed" to do and kept a fund for living expenses set aside. Between that and our newfound freedon from stuff, we will be fine--just shaken up a bit. I have faith that everything happens for a reason, just as this blog has clearly happened for a reason, so I know everything will be okay.
This will certainly be an adventure! Stay tuned as we continue to find freedom from our stuff, as well as kick frugality into high gear!

When baby ain't happy...

2009-01-28T05:42:00.000-08:00

Just a little twist on the old sayng--when the 2-year-old ain't happy, ain't NOBODY happy! That would be the case in our household the last couple of days. Cold and flu season is in full swing. We big people in the household have managed to ward off illness with healthy doses of vitamin C and zinc, but the little one isn't quite ready for that, so his cold hit him full force. I've been up most of the night for 3 nights in a row with a congested baby. And I don't mind a bit--there's nothing a child needs more when he's sick than to be comforted by his mother. But all this brings me to a point--I'm TIRED. And I'm not sure my post will make sense--LOL--but I'll give it a shot.
We've had to put our thinking caps on a couple of times this week, but thankfully we have managed to do everything we needed to do without having to buy anything. The first thing we had was my daughter's science fair project. I was a little concerned that her creativity would be hampered by the restriction of using only the things we had on hand. Luckily, this didn't turn out to be the case! She came up with her idea and got to work with cardboard from the garage and our containers of markers, stickers, glue, etc. We didn't have a small piece of poster board to mount her report, but she used construction paper and stickers and it looked wonderful. She presented it to the class on Tuesday and says it went very well. The second thing to come up was her teacher's birthday. I usually take her to the store and we pick out a candle or other such gift to bring the teacher on her special day. This is important to my daughter, but I'm usually cringing because I know the teacher will get 30 similar gifts and will have to figure out what to do with them all. And usually, when I pick my daughter up from school and ask if the teacher liked her gift, she'll respond with "I don't know. I guess." Well ,this time we got out the craft materials and my daughter made a picture frame with popsicle sticks and a hot glue gun, with a hanger on it crafted out of pipe cleaners. She decorated it and wrote a sweet message to the teacher. When I picked her up from school and asked how the teacher liked it, she lit up. Apparently, the teacher oohed and aahed and hung it up by her desk. My daughter was absolutely thrilled. It was probably the best gift-giving experience she's ever had, and I think it taught us both something.

Lunch and shopping

2009-01-25T12:29:00.000-08:00

One of the things I always loved to do on a Sunday after church was to go out to lunch, then shop while my husband took the kids to the mall play area. Well, lunch still works out fine but now we have to take shopping out of the equation. Or so I thought...

After organizing all my "new" clothes into the closet yesterday after the clothing swap, I made a short list of the things I'd like to have to complete my wardrobe. I'm pretty happy in general with everything in the closet right now--it all fits, I like it, everything mixes and matches well and right now I could probably find an outfit for any occasion neccessary. All that, and my very small closet is neat and organized, with space to spare! WOW! The short list of things that would make my outfits stretch further: white shirts, a pair of black pumps to wear with winter dresses, and a roomy dark brown purse for church and outings. (roomy enough for an extra diaper and snacks)

One item bumped from the "want" to the "need" list was a pair of tennis shoes for my son. We can't find one of his shoes, which has been missing for about a month, and have come to the conclusion that it fell out of the car or met another such permanent fate. Its been warm, so he's been getting by with his 2 pairs of sandals. Well, a cold front came through and his chubby little feet were cold in those sandals, so it was time to find him some shoes!!

We went to lunch today at a favorite seafood restaraunt, and it just so happens that the thrift store that benefits the Women's Shelter was on the way. So I popped in with my list, and was lucky to find 2 of the things on it, along with a bonus! I managed to find a pair of Nike tennis shoes, missing one shoelace but otherwise looking brand new, in his size for only $3.00! (I pulled laces from another pair of shoes when we got home, and they are good as new)Further searching turned up a high-quality, well-made dark brown leather purse with all the features I was looking for priced at $2.00. I also found some wrought-iron candlesticks for the mantle for 50 cents each. There were similar great bargains on toys, but after some deliberation I passed on them, because right now we just don't need to add to the toy pile. So anyway, not only did I find the shoes my son needed and 2 things I wanted, but I walked out for less than $6.50 after tax. Even my husband was excited!

The Clothing Swap

2009-01-24T06:54:00.000-08:00

Last night, I attended an annual clothing swap with a wonderful group of women. The concept is simple--everyone clears their closets of clothes and accessories they no longer wear, and brings them on hangers to the party. We arrange our clothing "store", then after sharing a meal and conversation, we all "shop"--for free!!! It serves the dual purpose of cleaning out our closets for the new year and providing something new for everyone. I went with a friend and even brought my daughter this time, since she is one of our family partners in the "nothing new for a year" pledge. I brought 25 items of clothing and 6 pairs of shoes to donate to the swap. (top photo)Most were nice and hard to let go of, but everything had a reason why I didn't wear it. Many were clothes I treated myself to after I had my son, but are now a size too big. Some were expensive clothes from my pre-kid working days, which are now a size too small. It was much easier this time to let them go, knowing someone else would have a chance to take them home and actually enjoy wearing them. It was fun to see someone choose an item I had brought and show their delight when it fit perfectly!

I returned home with 19 clothing items, 3 pairs of shoes and a pair of sunglasses. It was my goal to take home less than I brought! I was very careful this time in choosing the items. I made sure everything was a perfect fit, and that I could visualize it as part of a complete outfit using either things I already had at home or items from the swap. I was very, very lucky to find so many items that I absolutely loved and to find complete outfits, even down to the shoes! My daughter enjoyed the accessories table and came home with some cute necklaces and earrings along with a watch. Someone brought a tub of baby toys, and my daughter chose a few to bring home to the 2-year-old, and even found him an adorable Texas Longhorns jacket. And lastly, another attendee who was moving brought a box of household items that she no longer needed. One was a beautiful ceramic platter, still in the box, that matched my kitchen and another was a lovely angel statue for the garden.

All in all, we had a wonderful time. I will be busy today organizing my "new" wardrobe into my closet and will be enjoying new outfits for weeks to come. This really takes the sting out of passing up all those clothing sales this month!

Breaking old habits

2009-01-23T06:16:00.000-08:00

When we first made the pledge to forgo retail shopping for one year, I really thought the only difficulty would be in finding the things we needed second hand. And that has proven to be true in the one instance of something we needed--a converter box--but that was quite an unusual circumstance. Other than that, we haven't actually needed anything, and of all the things we've wanted we've gotten our hands on them easily. The real challenge, surprisingly, has been reminding myself not to buy the things I don't need.
"Clearance" is a powerful word! I'm always sucked in by it. (that's why we have so much stuff!!) I never realized how much of a habit it was until now. I'm continually navigating away from the 90% off Christmas stuff at the grocery store, pinching myself not to click on the Ann Taylor link when they advertised 70% off and I had a coupon code. (that one still hurts) It's gotten easier NOT to click on the Gymboree and Children's Place links when they e-mail me about their HUGE SALE. I delete the Kirklands e-mails and printable coupons without looking at them now. The Bed ,Bath and Beyond coupons go straight to recycling and I just don't look at the sale ads anymore.
There's also been quite a shift in our perception of what we need. At this time last year, we "needed" a new TV because ours was so old. And a new entertainment center, because a new TV wouldn't fit in the old one. And new appliances, because ours are ugly and stainless steel is so much better. I'm certain that if Circuit City had gone out of business last year, that would have been all the encouragement we needed to replace all of these things. How could we not--all those things we "need" at clearance prices!! Well, out of everything, all we really "need" is another bottom dishwasher rack, because ours is beginning to rust. And even so, we can still use it. A good detail cleaning of our appliances will be enough to make us happy with those again. And the TV--the converter box solved that problem.
All in all, its been quite an interesting learning experience for me to get to the bottom of where our consumption habits really lie. Who would have thought that the biggest problem was actually with what we never really needed to begin with???

Meet the Flintstones

2009-01-22T05:48:00.000-08:00

My husband and I agree that our household is on the cutting edge of technology---- if it were still 1990!!! We are not techies. We've never been big on TV, we don't buy lots of gadgets. Some has to do with lack of interest, some is lack of time and somewhat that these things are low priority. Regardless, we manage to muddle through life in the stone ages. One thing that people are always shocked to hear is that we don't have cable. We used to have it, and we thought (as everyone else expresses to us) that there would be nothing to watch if we got rid of it. Well, about 4 years ago we sat down and realized that it cost us money every month to maintain what we considered to be a nuisance. Our daughter spent all her time begging to watch TV, and even refused playdates or interrupted dinner shouting "Spongebob is on! I have to go watch it!" Hubby and I spent hours desperately flipping through channels and hoping something "good" would finally be on. Later we'd realize we wasted 2 hours with nothing to show for it, not even entertainment or relaxation, and we could have been doing other things.
So anyway, we cancelled cable and while my daughter complained for a while, we have never missed it. We can watch anything we want online, and the benefit to that is that we can watch what we want, when we want, commercial-free. My daughter has figured out how to navigate the Disney Channel and Cartoon Network online, so her life isn't as miserable as it may seem.
Even more stone age than that? We still have the huge clunker TV that my husband bought in 1990. And it still works. We have a dual VCR-DVD player, and we have LOTS of VHS tapes. We can pick up nearly anything we want to watch on VHS for about 50 cents at Half-Price Books, so we find it entertaining and useful. Not long ago, I wanted to watch something on TV and I wasn't going to be home. We came up with a brilliant idea--lets set the timer on the VCR and tape it!! WOW!!! So we did, laughing hysterically the whole time because we'd finally caught up to the technology of the 80's and 90's. (and hey, maybe around the year 2025 we'll get a DVR!)
So all this brings me around to my point today. We had to buy something retail, because we had to get a coverter box for the TV before the national switch to digital. We thought long and hard about this and tried to come up with other options. We could get cable, and that would solve the problem, but we didn't want it. We could look for a used coverter box, which we did exhaustively, but they are not really out there yet. The only ones available thru Craigslist and other non-retail outlets are new ones that people bought with their coupons and are trying to make a profit on. We didn't really feel that buying that way would further our cause. We could have gotten a used digital TV and we considered it. However, that would ultimately render the current TV useless and create waste, which again wouldn't further our cause. We could have simply quit using the TV until a used converter box came along, and this may have been the option that best fit our pledge. However, that option met with a firm "NO WAY" from everyone in the house but me. So converter box it is. One small step for man.....

The story of stuff

2009-01-19T08:31:00.000-08:00

I was asked today what exactly was "green" about not buying anything new. And I know the reasons deep down, but I struggled to put them into words. Or at least to put the full impact into words. So I realized I needed to refresh myself on this, and I'd like to share it. "The Story of Stuff" is a wonderful explanation of where stuff comes from, what happens to it and ultimately the toll it all takes. I'll warn you that its 20 minutes long and there are some comments about the government that won't be everyone's cup of tea, but if you watch it I can guarantee you'll never look at "stuff" the same way again. Check it out at www.storyofstuff.com

I can summarize a couple of facts that impacted me the most. One fact was that the average person consumes twice what a person did 50 years ago. Most alarming is that of all the things bought, only ONE PERCENT is still in use 6 months later. Meaning 99% of stuff we buy ends up in the trash. Can we make it worse than that?? For every 1 can of trash we put by the curb, the equivelant of 70 cans of trash was discarded in making it. WOW.
Another interesting point, which mirrors my own observations these past couple of weeks, is that national happiness is declining. People work more hours and have less leisure time than 50 years ago. And according to studies, the top two things people do with their leisure time is watch TV and shop. We all know what happens when we shop--but what about when we watch TV? The average person sees more ads in one day than a person 50 years ago saw in a lifetime. And what are the ads designed to do?? Make you want to buy stuff. How do you pay for it?? Work more. And what do you do when you are exhausted from working so hard? Watch TV and shop. LOL.
I really didn't think I was in this trap because our family was frugal and we were good bargain hunters. I felt like we stayed ahead of the game, planning well and watching the deals so that we had lots of stuff for very little money. I never realized that we were in the trap. We didn't buy any less or discard any less or spend any less time on it than anyone else. I was just as stressed as anyone else. I'd never have believed it until our family made the pledge not to buy anything new, and I still can't believe the sense of relief and peace it has brought to our household. I may not be able to explain it well, but today I can understand a little better why that is.

Finally finished with the office!

2009-01-18T13:39:00.000-08:00

We finally hung the curtains in the office and other than a little straightening up and arranging the shelves, we can say we are finished! I'm so thankful that we were able to pull together those last details without buying anything new. As I mentioned in earlier posts, the paint was from freecycle, the light fixture a $5 Craigslist treasure, and the lamp in front of the window was pulled from the "broken" pile and fixed. The little kiddie table was in the attic sporting a bubblegum pink coat of paint. We all pitched in to paint and glaze it using some materials we already had in the garage. And while we won't be featured in Better Homes and Gardens, this room looks many times better than it did before!!!

Planting seeds

2009-01-18T11:11:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was such a different kind of Saturday for us. We're usually going non-stop all day. Of course, it helps that its not soccer season and there weren't any birthday parties scheduled. But since there was no shopping to do and no need to go out, we had lots of time to focus on "being home". We had a leisurely breakfast, and afterward my daughter and I made a batch of cookies and also a batch of frozen homemade strawberry treats that the kids love. My husband finished up detail work on the new wood floor while I spent time in the back yard with the kids. The mild, pleasant weather put me in mind of spring, so it seemed like a good time to start some plants in pots for our spring garden.
I should emphasize that my husband and I are terrible gardeners. We get excited every spring and buy stuff for a garden. We always plant it too late, care for it too little and are thankful to get anything out of it at all. Really, its all been a by-product of being too busy and spending too much time outside of the home focusing on what we don't have. Now that we are focusing on what we DO have, I hope this can change!
I was pleasantly surprised to find everything I needed in one place in the garage--potting soil, pots, and seeds. I planted zucchini, yellow squash and cucumbers in some cute little terra cotta pots that my daughter had once painted and put them in the kitchen windowsill. I labelled them with a sharpie so I'd now what was what. They actually look pretty cute there! I found 2 larger plastic pots and started some cilantro and parsely in those. Our unused wrought-iron plant stand was in the corner of the garage, so I pulled it out and arranged the newly-planted items on it along with some aloe vera and other things I had scattered in various places. In all, this took half an hour. And it felt SOOO good!! We still have lettuce seeds to plant in our big terra cotta pots that currently house dead tomato plants from last summer. In our mild climate, lettuce will grow all winter as long as we move it indoors in the rare event of a freeze. Now I feel like I have breathed new life into another of our piles of "stuff"!!

Taking the day off.

2009-01-16T19:18:00.000-08:00

My husband has every other Friday off, and today was his day off. These Fridays are usually a blur of trying to get things done--household projects and trips to Lowe's for him, trips to Target and Hobby Lobby for me, whatever errands we've had waiting to be tackled. We usually run out one at a time, leaving the other parent behind to watch the little one. Well, today was different. There was no need to go shopping, no need to go to Lowe's. We have lots of little projects going on around the house, but first and foremost we are SIMPLIFYING, so we decided to take the day off. At first my head swirled with all the things we could do--go to lunch, see a movie. Then I thought about it again--we are simplifying. So we went to the gym. Each of us usually goes to the gym, but he goes before work and I go later in the day. But its good for us, its relaxing, we enjoy it, and who couldn't stand a workout?? So we went together, and since our son is allowed two hours in the child watch (which he loves) we spent one hour exercising and the other in the hot tub. We actually got to talk without being interrupted by kids, and to talk about things that didn't involve the house or our finances. It was like a date, only better!! When we came home, completely and utterly relaxed, we had leftovers for lunch and then got the little one down for a nap. Then WE took a nap. On most days off, even if we aren't doing anything we don't feel relaxed. But today we did, through and through. You just can't buy that kind of feeling.

Tonight, in the spirit of having the night off, we made homemade hot chocolate and had family game night. We wanted to do something we could all play, so we played charades. We made everything up ourselves and had such a ball. Even the two -year -old had fun being a cow, a dog, a dinosaur. My husband had to be Hannah Montana and I spent about 15 minutes acting out my daughter's brainchild, a "wild cow". We had a ball.

And while I will say again that this is about simplifying our lives and not necessarily about saving money, I have to share this--I opened my purse today and noticed that I still have the same $20 that's been there since New Year's Eve. I don't know why that was a surprise to me, since I haven't bought anything, but I guess I'm just not used to seeing cash hang around so long. I like it!

The closet is half empty

2009-01-15T06:33:00.000-08:00

Does that make me an optimist???
I spent yesterday clearing out the--what else--STUFF in the closet of what is now the new playroom. I thought I'd need to get rid of alot of things but really, everything just had one or two small obstacles preventing it from being somewhere more useful than the closet. The clothes that the kids need to grow into could go in the attic. I just needed to rearrange a little up there so that they would fit. The clothes for me to shrink into--they can go on Craigslist for a while, then charity or Freecycle if that doesn't work. The Barbie tent--Freecycle. The 5 or 6 various broken things? Fixed 'em. The pictures that needed to be hung? Hang them. All those misc bins? Consolidated them down to one. In short, there was plenty of room in the closet for me to take half the kids toys and store them away for when the other half gets "stale", so that I can rotate them out. And there's room to spare.

Now that so much of the kids stuff has been moved into the playroom and so many of their outgrown/unworn clothes have gone to better places, THEIR closets are half empty too. It is such a relief to open up a closet and see it neat and tidy and reach in for just what I need without 10 other things falling out. I don't know why I didn't do this a long time ago!

The last thing I did for the playroom was to dig out the huge white board that someone had given us several years ago. We'd used it for a while, but found we had no place for it and its been in the garage ever since. Well, now we have the perfect wall to hang it and it is in its new spot, ready to become permanent. Here's the interesting observation: my daughter had a friend come over to play yesterday, and her friend showed up with her Nintendo DS. I can't tell you how much time my daughter has spent begging me for one. Did she play with it? NO. Did she even look at it? NO. The DS was pitched into a corner while they spent an hour playing "school" at the white board. And her friend forgot it when she left.

and lastly, when cleaning out the closet I came across my daughter's ice cream maker--a kid version she'd gotten for her birthday many years ago. I can't remember the last time we used it -- its been at least three years. Well, as luck would have it our grocery store had Horizon organic cream marked down to 99 cents. So after dinner, the kids and I had a great time making (and eating) ice cream. It was so much fun that we all wondered why we hadn't been using it all along. I suppose it was because its alot of trouble, and a mess, and I haven't wanted to deal with it. But the "new" me has alot more time on her hands to spend with the kids!!

All we could have hoped for...

2009-01-13T19:14:00.000-08:00

Writing the previous post about my son got me thinking about my daughter as well. Alot of people have asked whether my kids are on board with the concept of not buying anything new for a year. My 2-year-old is oblivious. Nothing has changed in his world. And my daughter, surprisingly, is even more gung-ho about this than we are! She gets an allowance, but she is responsible for buying anything beyond the necessities. After a big disappointment with some Blendy Pens and one overpriced jumbo pencil that she regretted buying, she learned a good lesson. Stuff is usually not as great as it looks on the box. She has figured out that a Barbie costs $10 at the store and 50 cents at a garage sale. She has also learned than when she saves up for something, she waits for it to go on sale before she buys it. I'd say she's very responsible with her money. So the other day, she came to me and told me she'd been saving and had $50 she wanted to use for something. I cringed. I couldn't imagine what it was. And then she explained--she wanted to donate it to help save gorillas. She'd seen a special on PBS about their plight, and wanted to help. We located a charitable organization and she begged to donate to them. I gave her a week to cool her heels. I made sure she understood that this was ALL her money. What if she later wanted something else? "I don't need anything else". And she means it. She's not a trendy kid. She's goodhearted and kind, and would give the shirt off her back to help someone else. In this day and age, a kid with $50 could buy alot of fun and useless things. But she wants to donate it. So as far as wondering if she's wishing we could be out buying new things??? I'd have to say no. Not at all.

The Potty Fiasco

2009-01-13T18:08:00.001-08:00

Today we decided to see if our 2 1/2 year old ball of fire was ready to potty train. After a long day of wet pants (and worse), tears (mostly his), a few attempts to fool me with a stuffed teddy bear and finally a potty chair hurled across the room with all his toddler might, the answer is a big fat "NO". He's not ready. Now I know. We'll try it again in a couple of months.

We brought home another Freecycle treasure today. Our glider/rocker in our son's bedroom was hardly usable. It had a squeak that constantly had to be oiled, and the other day something broke loose from the bottom and now it grinds loudly. But we weren't going to do much about it, figuring that the "baby" is 2 and any day now we should quit rocking him to sleep. But here's the thing--I love it as much as he does. After a full day with active kids, it is a blessing to have a few quiet moments to hold him before putting him down for the night. I can stop thinking about grocery lists and chores and just relax, put my face against his chubby cheek and remember that my husband and I created this life and would do anything for him. Its a wonderful way to end the day for both of us, and neither of us is ready to give it up. So we had to do something about the chair. I saw a post for this a while back--a glider/rocker without cushions--but didn't ask for it. In general, I try to wait a while before responding to posts for things like this, just to give someone who needs it more than I do a chance to ask for it. But in this case, nobody seemed to want it without the cushions so we gladly picked it up today. And it is SOO much better than the one we had!! We switched over the cushions from the old chair, and our pleasant nighttime routine will go on, better than before. Just as long as I don't mention the potty....

Stuff of another sort.....

2009-01-12T20:19:00.000-08:00

A I mentioned yesterday, I needed to revive two beanbag chairs that had gone flat so that I could set up a reading area for the kids. Today I picked up freecycled styrofoam peanuts and as luck would have it, half of them had come out of a beanbag chair to begin with! The two chairs that we have, which have been in a closet for probably a year, are functional and now being used. The kids were thrilled.

I always go over bills and assess our spending around the middle of the month. Today I was pleasantly surprised. Over the last two weeks, we have spent only $184. This includes gas, groceries, a trip to Incredible Pizza, and the two light fixtures we got on Craigslist. This is what we paid for. If you read the other posts, you'll see it also includes a a day at the zoo, new paint for our home office and my daughter's room, 6 adorable lunch trays from Pottery Barn, clothes for my son, and clothes for me. (my sister brought "hand-me-ups" from her trendy young neighbor--a cute pair of boots and 2 dresses!!) These are things we got for free. It also includes a playroom, an ironing board, a lamp, two beanbag chairs and the infamous roll of tape. These are things we gave back to ourselves with a little elbow grease. (I feel happiest about these!)

I sold a clothing lot on Craigslist for $120, and my husband returned some leftover flooring materials for $50 so all in all this has turned out to be a great couple of weeks for us. I've said before, and I mean it, that this isn't about money but about simplifying our lives and reducing waste. But the fringe benefit to it all IS saving money, and that's great!!

What a difference a day makes!

2009-01-11T19:24:00.000-08:00

As I mentioned yesterday, we are changing our spare bedroom from a guestroom to a playroom for the kids. Now I should clarify that the "guest room" was really a junk room with a bed and dresser buried somewhere underneath our layers of ---say it with me--STUFF. We frantically cleared it out every time we had guests, only to throw everything back in when they left. Time for that to stop! Now that our furniture is happily serving its intended purpose in someone else's real guest room, its time to deal with our piles of stuff and make the room functional. WITHOUT BUYING ANYTHING. To furnish the room, I pilfered shelves from the kids rooms and used the bins they already had, which made sense since I was moving their toys into this room anyway. I then went thru the bedroom decor that I bought when Pier 1 Kids went out of business. (Got an amazing deal BTW!) I'm saving it for my son's "big boy" room, but since we still have a while until he's ready, I used those things to give the room a theme and a color scheme. I managed to get a cute airplane poster on Freecycle, and reposessed a frame for it from the attic off an old poster from my first-apartment days. (why did I still have that??) I found some old cabinets we had taken down from the laundry room when we redid it, and cleaned them up to use as sort of a window seat area, with storage for games underneath. So we have a start on a fun room! There is more to do. We have a huge white board in the garage that I plan to hang at kid level on one wall to appease thier artistic urges. I want to set up a reading area with their bean bag chairs, but the chairs are flat as pancakes. Luckily, someone posted a ton of styrofoam peanuts on Freecycle and I have arranged to pick them up tomorrow, which will hopefully bring the bean bags back to life. And we need a table and chairs for their puzzles, games and etc for the other wall. I'm sure I'll figure someting out! And I still need to clean all the STUFF out of the closet and better organize their toys. But hey, its a great start and now its a room we can actually use!! For FREE!

Other breakthrough events today:

The ironing board you see in the picture has been stuck in the "open" position for months. We had been planning to get rid of it and get a new one for who knows how long but now we need to make do. My ever so patient and loving husband hammered and pulled on it (I think I may have heard something to the effect of "why the @#$& did we decide to do this, anyway) and finally fixed it. I found, under our piles of STUFF, an new cover that I bought for it who knows how long ago. So we replaced the cover, folded it up, and that's that. And my beloved is actually glad now that he did it. In fact, he was so pleased with his progress on the ironing board that he got online to see if he could find out how to fix the lamp you see turned over in the "before" picture. It is a touch lamp, which unfortunately got stuck in the "off" position when the touch function stopped working. Well, he did some tinkering and its not perfect, but it is now stuck in the "on" position. So we can put it back where it was and it will still serve its purpose. He plans to install a switch so that we don't have to plug and unplug it to turn it on and off. So that's a second thing that would surely have been in the trash if we'd gotten around to it a month ago, and I'm realizing that we did way more of that than I thought.

The Tape Incident

2009-01-10T19:46:00.000-08:00

Today I had to mail a box. No problem finding a box, there was one ready and waiting in the garage. But the packing tape... couldn't find it. I remembered using it at Christmas to wrap the last gift because we had run out of scotch tape, and it was a pretty good-sized roll. The "old" me would have simply gone out for a new roll of tape. And while I was at it, I'd have checked out all those bargains I've been hearing about. I'm sure there would have been a few deals too good to pass up. So I'd have brought more tape into the house, along with some more stuff. The new me wasn't going to do that.
I finally realized that the tape had probably been put in the attic with the christmas wrapping paper. Now that was a problem. Our attic isn't easy to get to--its in the garage, which is full of--what else--stuff. And the attic is full of more stuff. Nonetheless, I enlisted my dear and very patient husband to navigate all this to find the tape. And of course, after all that, IT WASN"T THERE. My compelling argument about all the hassle we were saving quit working. I was on my own with the tape situation.
I finally found it in a random kitchen cabinet, and I'm glad I kept looking. This explains why, when I was looking for painter's tape one day, I found 7 rolls. And why we have about 30 screwdrivers. And 10 flashlights. And so on. When its so easy to buy things, it really seems to make more sense to go the store and get a new thingamajig the minute you hit the first obstacle to using the old one. And it is definitely easier, but big or small, now you have two thingamajigs.

The other biggie today--we moved the furniture out of our guest/junk room and are turning it into a playroom for the kids. Luckily, my sister's family consolidated kids into fewer bedrooms and freed up space for a guest bedroom at just the time I was planning to find a new home for our furniture. So it worked out perfectly for both families! Now I am faced with the huge task of sorting through all the--you guessed it--STUFF--left in the room. And creating a fun and inviting playroom without buying anything new. The old me would have been eyeing the Pottery Barn catalogues and shopping for shelves and bins and other fun stuff. The new me will go shopping in the attic. (and hey, maybe I'll find some more tape!)

Out with the old, in with the (sort of) new..

2009-01-09T12:33:00.000-08:00

I never realized how much time I spent bargain hunting--reading sale ads, browsing/shopping online, etc. Now that there's no reason to pick up the Target ad or click on that Gymboree sale link, I have more time on my hands than I thought I would. I'm no longer telling the kids "Just a minute, I'm doing something!"
It is warm here, close to 80 degrees, and when I dressed my littlest one in shorts and a t-shirt that hadn't been out of the drawer in a while, he looked like Richard Simmons! Time to move up to a 3T! Luckily some larger 2T clothes still fit, but I realized I needed to do something about his summer wardrobe. I put a post on Freecycle asking if anyone had some outgrown clothes in the size I needed. Luckily, someone e-mailed right away and had a bag of 3T clothes that no longer fit her little one. My hubby is going to pick it up after work, as she is located near his office. I went thru and removed 5 pairs of shorts and 15 shirts from my son's dresser and found a taker on Freecycle for those. She will pick them up tomorrow.
While I was on Freecycle I saw a post offering 6 adorable Pottery Barn retro lunch trays. The giver lived just a few blocks from me, so I picked those up and they couldn't be cuter! They will be perfect for serving meals outside, which we frequently do in warm weather. And they come just in time for a visit from my nieces tomorrow!
What am I finding a new home for today? In addition to the clothes I gave on freecycle, I have 2 boxes of books and misc to go to charity in the back of my car right now. I also collected a box of magazines, phone books and misc recyclable paper to go to the fund-raising recycle bin at my daughter's school. Lastly, I have yet more clothes and shoes culled from my daughter's room to pass on to my nieces when they visit. So I think I've made up for the lunch trays!!

A week in the life...

2009-01-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

Our first week as non-consumers:

January 1:
We visited the zoo for free zoo day. We brought a cooler with our snacks and lunches and enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon. I made it a point not to buy a newspaper and look over the ads for bargains. It was almost a relief!!

January 2: We resumed work on our downstairs floor. In October, we bought all the materials to put engineered hardwood downstairs, and finished all but one room. We removed the carpet and pad in this last room, and I found a new home for it on Freecycle. (http://www.freecycle.org/) When the room was empty, we decided ("we" being ME) that it would be best to go ahead and paint it. I've been secretly wishing for a warm, deep sage green in there. I put a post on freecycle asking if anyone needed to dispose of leftover paint in that color, and lo and behold we found a couple gallons of it! When we got it home, it was a little too "lime-green", so I mixed it with a rich golden brown that we had leftover in the garage. It came out PERFECT! We found all the materials we needed in the garage (some required some searching--ordinarily we'd have just bought new stuff) and painted the room. We put the floor down, and it is beautiful. I'll post pics when I figure out how to do it!

January 3: Received a check in the mail for $120 for clothes of my daughter's that I listed on Craigslist. They were nice Gymboree clothes that I got at bargain prices and took good care of.
I also brought a bag of clothes to my neices along with some workbooks and study materials my daughter no longer needs.

January 4: Bought 2 new light fixtures on Craigslist--1 for the room we just re-did and the other for the sitting area in our bedroom, where the fixture was falling apart. Paid $5 each. We got a bargain--they are very nice! Changed them out today and they look wonderful.

January 5: Took the kids to Incredible Pizza Company for the last day of Christmas break. Spent $25 on all-you-can-eat buffets for the 4 of us, and used a coupon to get a free $20 game card. It kept us busy all day. We took frequent snack breaks at the buffet, and I was able to get by without making lunch or dinner. A great day!

January 6: Back to school. My daughter needed more school supplies. Luckily, I had just gone thru the house and organized our hundreds of random pens, pencils, and misc office items so I was able to easily put my hands on everything she needed.

January 7: Grocery day. Ran into Target to look for good prices on organic meat. Normally I would scan the ends of the aisles for bargains, but didn't do it today. Saved time, money and space!

WHAT??? WHY?

2009-01-08T10:00:00.000-08:00

Our family has decided not to buy anything new, (as in retail, from a store) for one full year. WHY?
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY.
1. Like most people, we have too much stuff. We spend too much time on it. We are always shopping for it. When we aren't bringing in new stuff, we are organizing the old stuff. When we get tired of organizing it, we get rid of it. Then we get more stuff. We're tired of our lives being a monument to our stuff. We want to enjoy something else.
2. The world doesn't need any more stuff. The stores are full of it. People are going into debt for it. Ultimately, it ends up in the trash. There is too much stigma in this country regarding "used" stuff. Who knows how many people throw away a perfectly good item while someone across town is out buying the exact same thing? We don't want to be a part of this any more.

Our family would like to live more responsibly. We'd like to consume responsibly, to dispose of our old things responsibly, and ultimately reduce our carbon footprints on this earth.

OKAY, SO ITS A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE MONEY.
In this economy, who has money to throw away? I'd have to say we've always been frugal. I am a seasoned sale shopper, I enjoy finding a bargain and we have lots and lots of very nice things bought at bargain prices. I don't mind shopping garage sales and resale shops. But really, we don't need half of what we have. Regardless of what a bargain anything was, I could just as easily have done without it. So not only did I spend money on these bargains, I have spent countless dollars on bins and baskets and closet organizers and magazines and other things to control the clutter in the house. We even contemplated moving. Did this stuff really make our lives any better? Wouldn't that money have served us better in the bank??

Our pledge:
1. For one full year, we will not buy new items from retail stores. If we really, really need or want something, we will find it used/second hand. Of course, there will be some exceptions--groceries, health and beauty items like medicines and shampoo, underwear. We will use all of what we have to the best of our ability before we consume any more of those items, though.

2. For every item we buy, we will get rid of something. And we will dispose of it responsibly.

Join us on our journey and wish us luck!