Oct 13, 2010 | No retail shopping
The challenge seemed to go quickly at first, now it feels a little slower. Things I might buy if I could, right now: A gas regulator for my grill. It’s still having some issues. Stain for my house. I want to stain my bright orange bricks like I did in the back....
Oct 12, 2010 | Ideas, No retail shopping |
These small pieces of art are made on painted MDF panels that were about to be thrown in the trash. The words are cut out of magazines, the leftover magazine skeletons went to the recycling bin. Most of the paint is leftovers from other art projects. Most of the...
Oct 11, 2010 | Ideas, No retail shopping, Save $ |
My friend Becca, out in California, had a great blog post last week. cookieandclaire.blogspot.com She said my blog had inspired her and she’s planning to do Christmas a little differently this year… all handmade gifts. Well she has inspired me back! Last...
Oct 10, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $ |
I’m all about shopping for the best rates on anything I have to pay for. Electric, gas, water, pest control, phone, internet… all included. I asked my financial advisor if I should refinance my house. He said to look into it, as the percentage rates are...
Oct 9, 2010 | Ideas, No retail shopping, Salvaged, Save $ |
Back on day 103, my friend across the street called asking for some ideas about painting her kids bathroom. I’m sure Diane is thinking… *note to self*, don’t ask Jody a decorating question unless you want to remodel your entire house. The bathroom...
Oct 9, 2010 | No retail shopping, Salvaged, Thrift store
So… I don’t get it. I can see a chair with speakers, but I really don’t get the speaker under the butt, or between the legs design here. Does anyone else understand this? If so, please comment. This is what I love about thrift stores though. So...
Oct 8, 2010 | No retail shopping, Read the fine print |
My friend down the street told immediately when “The Book” came out, and as she said, “This is so everything you’re against.” I really don’t like being against things, I’d rather be for things that are good, but it’s...
Oct 7, 2010 | No retail shopping |
Not much to report on the shopping front. I did take these photos a few weeks ago. I just thought it was a little bit funny that they look like a little flower garden of retail shopping, entertainment options and restaurant opportunities… I’m glad the...
Oct 6, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $, Thrift store |
I really like my house. I’ve lived here for almost 4 years now and I’ve remodeled 95% of it myself. The one downside about my house is the lack of windows, resulting in low light in most of the rooms. On top of that, I have large trees outside blocking...
Oct 5, 2010 | No retail shopping |
I’m spoiled to my 1.5 mile drive to work. I have an SUV and I fill it up about every 3 to 4 weeks, unless I have some unplanned trips to Dallas or something. I decided to walk to work a couple of days ago. It takes just under 30 minutes to walk to work. I...
Oct 4, 2010 | Ideas, No retail shopping |
Today is my oldest son’s birthday. We had a barbecue for him last night with some of our close friends. It was great! So you might be curious, wanting to know what was different about his birthday with the shopping challenge. Here they are. Gifts. I gave him...
Oct 3, 2010 | Ideas, No retail shopping, Read the fine print |
Is charitable marketing good? I’ve been thinking a lot about this lately, as it’s a huge and fast-growing trend. It works, but is it ethical and trustworthy? As David Frey wrote on frugalmarketing.com, “Many savvy small businesses are affiliating...
Oct 2, 2010 | No retail shopping
I ran out of propane for my grill, however I did have a back up tank. I do the Blue Rhino program since it’s easy to get the tanks at any local store. I use my grill pretty frequently, as it’s pretty much the only cooking skill I have, thanks to my good...
Oct 1, 2010 | No retail shopping, Thrift store
I went to the thrift store a couple of days ago. I really didn’t need anything but winter coats for my boys, but I was also kind of looking for a chair for my kids loft room. I bought the following: Winter coat for my son (he outgrew the old one) Winter coat...
Sep 30, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $ |
Yes, I’m a fan of apple products. In the graphics world, their products are far superior and much more dependable than PC’s. With one exception. Power cords. My G4 Powerbook went to my kids after almost 5 years. It still works great, and it was my...
Sep 28, 2010 | No retail shopping |
Yes, in my house, if you couldn’t clean it with Windex, it wasn’t meant to be cleaned. I’m pretty sure I had a bigger addiction to Windex than the guy on My Big Fat Greek Wedding. All was well until I ran out of Windex one day… I mixed...
Sep 28, 2010 | No retail shopping, Read the fine print, Save $ |
Today I decided to do a little bit of landscaping now that the weather is a bit cooler. Frying in my yard is not at the top of my happy list. I started pulling weeds in the front, working my way around the house. When I was over by my bedroom window, I heard a...
Sep 27, 2010 | No retail shopping
Just a few updates today, no rants. ;) Birthdays. My son’s birthday is next week. We shopped on eBay for gifts or I told him he can have some money to spend. He doesn’t want a party, but just a barbecue with some of his neighborhood friends. Other than...
Sep 25, 2010 | No retail shopping |
Halloween is right around the corner. It’s not even October yet and I’ve seen several houses that have already started decorating with the orange and black ghoulish accents. Thinking ahead on halloween and my shopping challenge, I pondered the whole...
Sep 24, 2010 | No retail shopping |
Fast food condiment packets. Messy editable liquids in convenient, tiny portions, designed for eating ‘on the go’. My favorites are the Taco Bell sauce packets with funny sayings on them. I still feel like fast food eating is similar to retail shopping...
Sep 23, 2010 | Dumpster diving, No retail shopping |
For some people, that’s a completely insane question. After all, who would pull food out of a trash can? Especially if you don’t need it? Well, someone I know did just that. To protect my friend, who did what I probably would have done, I will change...
Sep 23, 2010 | Ideas, No retail shopping |
I went to the store yesterday… for my son. My oldest lost his Gameboy charger and has been begging me for the past few days to take him to Game Stop so he could buy a new one. He knew he would have to pay for it with his own money. He looked around the store...
Sep 21, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $, Thrift store
I finally finished cleaning out my garage! I still have tubs of stuff to go through, but at least I now have space to create art. Last Saturday I brought 2 carloads of stuff to the local thrift store, Frisco Resale. Normally my routine is to drop off a load, then go...
Sep 20, 2010 | No retail shopping |
Yesterday, I was explaining my no shopping challenge to some friends. Apparently this was the first time my oldest son has heard the details of this. The only retail items I can purchase are groceries and toiletries. He asked, “Why would you buy toilet trees?...
Sep 20, 2010 | No retail shopping |
This weekend I would have shopped if I could. I had a little time to work on some projects in my house. I needed a gallon of paint to finish a few walls and a ceiling that needed to be touched up and painted. I had to make due with the paint I had. Let me just say...
