jody's blog
random thoughts, ideas and chaos![aldi vs. walmart: a shopping comparison [day 248]](https://i1.wp.com/adventures.jodywissing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/price-shopping-comparison-kroger-aldi-walmart-groceries-toiletries-1024x5591.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1)
aldi vs. walmart: a shopping comparison [day 248]
You asked for it. Here it is. The price shopping comparison between Aldi and Walmart. After my post on day 241, many people asked for a price comparison with Walmart, some because they love shopping there, others because they believe Walmart to have the lowest...
surrounded by plastic [day 247]
Today, just a small collection of odd photos. These remind me of a joke told by Steven Wright a long time ago. He says he owns two rare photos, one of Norman Rockwell beating a child and one of Whodini locking his keys in his car. Photo #1: Protecting the plastic...
recycle freecycle [day 246]
Freeycycle is the modern day dumpster diving, without having to touch a dumpster or trash can. From the freecycle site: It's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse...
mouthblown in china? [day 245]
I can honestly say I've never seen a sticker like this before. Mouthblown in China? TMI. I'm not sure I need to know this was mouth blown.
how many kids does it take to screw in a light bulb? [day 244]
My kids keep leaving lights on all the time. Mostly in their rooms, but also other rooms, where I don't have energy efficient lighting. They weren't always this way. To make a point about electric costs and being wasteful, I used to charge them 25¢ each time they...
anything can be art with a little imagination [day 243]
My son made these cards, inspired by Yu-Gi-Oh and Pokemon cards. The little gun is made from a pencil, a ticket, some tape, a camouflage band-aid and a pencil eraser. A lot of detailed work went into making it. All of the supplies were little things sitting around...
downsizing my girlie stuff [day 242]
As I stated a few days ago, I'm behind on my 2-per-week goal of creating trashograms. Although these are fun to make, I'm finding other opportunities that have much more impact in the trash society world. I have a few trashograms to share, then some news to share....
![a 25¢ lesson cost me hundreds [day 241]](https://i1.wp.com/adventures.jodywissing.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/aldi-sq.jpg?resize=400%2C250&ssl=1)
a 25¢ lesson cost me hundreds [day 241]
Yes, I made a judgement call based on 25¢, a quarter I thought I would loose. Listening to some bad advice, I decided not to try a new grocery store in my area, a store that opened over a year ago. Some person (I don't remember who) told me that the new Aldi grocery...
are you sucktastic? [day 240]
I seem to be self-motivated by imposing challenges on myself, ones to better my artistic ability, to make positive changes or to just do something I feel is worthwhile. Sometimes we get so bogged down with life that we don't make time for the really important stuff....
the ridiculousness of cereal straws [day 239]
I told my kids I would let them buy a box of cereal straws if they promised to blog on the ridiculousness of them. They chose to do it, so I purchased the box of Oreo Funstix cereal straws for $3.50. Joe: O.K. First of all. My mom is making me do this. So I’m not...
recycle your electronics for good [day 238]
I saw this recycling box at the local camera shop. No, I wasn't shopping, I had to go there for work. I was surprised to see the red dot that says, "10% of proceeds will go to charity". 10%? There are a lot of collection boxes where all of the proceeds go to...
the clothing experiment update [day 237]
Here's the experiment. I decided to reduce my wardrobe by 50%. I also threw out a mini-challenge. Take 25 pieces of clothing from your closet, place them in a box or plastic tote. Put it away for a month and see if you miss any of the stuff in it. If not, take it...
monkeying around [day 236]
Retail stores are good for fun! This is me and my son playing with monkey bean bag chairs at Target. Normally I have a rule, it's that you can't touch what you have no intention of buying. I broke my own rule, but my son was having so much fun that he didn't even...
the clothing experiment [mini-challenge]
I'm posting the 25 piece clothing challenge separate from the blog post, as I have a few people that want to participate already. I'll post the results monthly, along with the list of people participating. Check it out. Take 25 pieces of clothing from your closet,...
airing my dirty laundry… and clean laundry [day 235]
I promised you dirty laundry, so here it is. There's actually more of it, but this is my basket. My kids have one upstairs too. So why an I showing you this? I have no idea, other than it seemed like a fun title for this blog post. I was thinking a few days ago...
light bulb! an idea or just simply for light [day 234]
My friend that had the flood finally got to move back into her house yesterday. As I was helping, I noticed the old bathroom light fixture sitting in the trash, with all of the old light bulbs still in it. With the challenge, I can't buy light bulbs, so I gladly...
no retail shopping cost analysis [day 233]
Several people have asked me to compile this information, so here it is to the best of my knowledge. I did not start this challenge to save money, although it's been a nice benefit. Here's a few of the details, and I will be tracking this more going forward. My bank...
build it and they will come… [day 232]
Yesterday I had to shop for work again. I'm designing an interactive wall that unfortunately need some new supplies. I was mentioning the fact that I had to go to the store in front of someone that just heard about my no retail challenge. He asked, "So, if you shop...
11 rotary dial phones & 1296 gift cards [day 231]
A few years ago, in my "excessable" art show, I had a gift card rug made out of 1296 gifts cards from different stores. The show was in July and I left the rug in the car a little too long in the heat, melting a good portion of it. I recently used some of the gift...
when the inside of your house is colder than the inside of your refrigerator… [day 230]
Here in North Texas, we're a little spoiled by the not-too-cold winter temperatures. We get our once a year snowfall, but generally our low's are still above freezing. This was not so 2 days ago, when the low, including the wind chill factor, was to dip into the...