Sep 24, 2012 | A better way, Am I still here?, Creative weirdness, Downsizing |
The garage (cleaning) art project. My garage is always a diaster area. I couldn’t fit a car in there if I tried. Heck, I’m not even sure a bike would fit. Now let me be clear. Even if I could fit a car in my garage, I wouldn’t put one in there....
Jun 4, 2012 | A better way, Downsizing |
Why didn’t I just say, “No thank you?” It was nice that the doctor gave each of my kids a plastic sports bottle, but I knew as he was offering them that we’re not keeping these. Why did I not speak up? Would it have been rude to say no? Do...
Oct 6, 2011 | A better way, Cultural chaos, Downsizing, Just plain good
Over the past week, most of my blog efforts have been going to launching projectwarm.us. It might be crazy to try an collect 5,723 coats and blankets for the homeless by Thanksgiving, but that’s not going to stop us from trying! I started this with my friend...
Sep 23, 2011 | Cultural chaos, Downsizing, Flashback
I don’t usually blog about food, but clearly this is a topic that falls into the “living differently” and “downsizing” categories. Flashback to 6 years old. I remember eating cereal called Kaboom. Do you remember it? The cereal itself...
Aug 31, 2011 | A better way, Downsizing, Ideas |
I recently looked into downsizing my house. This idea came into my head for many reasons, which we can visit another time. I decided to do a little research and see if this was feasible. First, there’s a few things you should know about where I live. Frisco,...
Jul 19, 2011 | Downsizing, One year of downsizing, Save $, Thrift store |
With a goal of 365 items, downsizing one item a day over a one year period, has proven to be more difficult than I imagined. With the exception of my garage, there’s just not much left to downsize in my house. When I open a cabinet or a drawer, thinking I...
May 19, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping, Repurposed
One of my neighbors was talking about getting rid of some planters and clay pots that have been sitting on the side of her house for a while. She said her husband was going to throw them out if nobody wanted them. I have no idea if that meant the trash of the thrift...
May 6, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping |
In efforts to continue the downsizing of my possessions, I had another opportunity yesterday to do something good with them. I gave a bunch of stuff to Jason and Carrie for a yard sale, one that will help fund their mission trip to Uganda, Africa. I really thought...
May 3, 2011 | Downsizing, One year of downsizing
[item] 6 burner Pro-series Brinkmann gas grill [purchase info] Purchased at the thrift store [time in my possession] Approximately 2 years ago [last used] 3 months ago [difficulty level in getting rid of it] Medium [destination] Craigslist [info] I bought this grill...
Apr 29, 2011 | Downsizing, Ideas, No retail shopping
They say a picture is worth 1,000 words. I’ve never actually tried to type that up to check it, but it seems accurate. What if we take that one step further… a picture is worth 1,000 things? So what do I mean by this? If you own a camera, you can snap a...
Apr 26, 2011 | Cultural chaos, Downsizing, No retail shopping
I met Dave Bruno several weeks ago at SXSW. He’s the author of The 100 Thing Challenge: How I Got Rid of Almost Everything, Remade My Life and Regained My Soul. The basis of the book is simplicity, minimalism and living with less stuff. I finished reading his...
Apr 25, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping, Thrift store
This morning, all I heard was, “Mom! Where are my Crocs? I can’t find any shoes to wear!” My kids only have 2 or 3 pairs of shoes at a time. They’re not only growing fast, but boys shoes are hard to find used and in good condition. I try to...
Apr 18, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping
I miss my grill. A lot. I’ve been researching grills. A lot. After careful research and deliberation, I narrowed it down to the modular Minden gas grill. Simple, now all I have to do is find a used one. Well, that was the plan anyway. The grill is so new...
Apr 17, 2011 | Downsizing, One year of downsizing
[item] Red with white trim glass vase [purchase info] Purchased at a thrift store [time in my possession] Approximately 8 months [last used] 4 months ago [difficulty level in getting rid of it] Easy [destination] Given to a friend [info] I bought this to use in my...
Apr 16, 2011 | Downsizing, One year of downsizing
[item] Half bag of Flexbond tile and stone mortar [purchase info] Purchased new at Home Depot [time in my possession] Approximately 1.5 years [last used] 1.5 years ago [difficulty level in getting rid of it] Easy [destination] Given to a friend [info] I didn’t...
Apr 15, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping, Thrift store
About 2 weeks ago, I decided to downsize my wardrobe again. Why? I realized I still have too many clothes I don’t wear. I started by purposely wearing things toward the back, things I haven’t worn in a while. That led to either realizing I really...
Apr 15, 2011 | Downsizing, One year of downsizing
[item] Various books and magazines [purchase info] Mostly purchased used or at a discount [time in my possession] A year up to 10 years [last used] 5 months to never [difficulty level in getting rid of it] Medium [destination] Sold to the used bookstore [info] I...
Apr 14, 2011 | Downsizing, One year of downsizing
[item] Black metal coffee themed bookmark [purchase info] Purchased at Barnes and Noble new, with employee discount [time in my possession] Approximately 17 years [last used] 16 years ago [difficulty level in getting rid of it] Easy [destination] Thrift store [info]...
Apr 10, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping, Recycle, Repurposed, Save $, Thrift store
There’s a lot of stuff that might be considered trash, but before you throw something away, think about the possible uses for it. These are partially full cleaning supplies and pesticides, well, there’s also a random bottle of unopened champagne too....
Apr 8, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping
I love actsofsharing.com, where you can share all your stuff with your friends. I’ve been using this quite a bit and I think it’s great for many reasons, one of them being the organization of sharing. How many times have you gone to lend a book or a...
Apr 8, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping, Repurposed
While in the process of ridding my house of many unused things, I received a Facebook message about a garage sale. This is not just any garage sale, it’s a sale to help someone in need. Here’s the info from Facebook. We will be holding a HUGE Charity...
Apr 6, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping, Thrift store
I found myself at a thrift store about a week ago, one that I haven’t visited in a long time. I really didn’t need anything, but since I was on that side of town, I decided to check it out. In the past, any good must be purchased, but now I apply my new...
Apr 5, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping
When you own a lot of stuff, especially anything with electronic parts, you’re going to have some maintenance to do. Some will be planned, some will not. Here’s a few things I’ve been thinking about buying if I could. Car fuses. I blew a fuse in my...
Apr 2, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping, Save $ |
Deciding to get a pet of any kind is a big decision, not only for the responsibility associated with them, but for the expenses you will incur. A couple of weeks ago we adopted Zuri, a 6 month-old kitten. She’s precious and is the perfect fit for our family....
Mar 28, 2011 | Downsizing, No retail shopping, Thrift store |
It starts when we’re born. Accessories. “My daddy is the best” and “My mom is better than your mom” on our shirts, iconic pacifiers, hair bows in more styles and colors than Baskin Robbins has flavors, complete ensembles of coordinated...
