Keep doin' what I'm doin'

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...

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...

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

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

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

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

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.....