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 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 18, 2010 | Dumpster diving, No retail shopping |
Dumpster diving. I have to say, I really love those two words together. It never ceases to amaze me what retailers will throw away, expensive stuff, stuff that could be used elsewhere or repurposed. The corporate blockheads force them to throw everything away...
Sep 18, 2010 | No retail shopping, Read the fine print
I’m disappointed. I can’t shop at Aaron Brothers now because of my challenge, however I do recommend the place for art canvases, especially when they have the ‘buy one, get one for a penny’ sale. A friend of mine forwarded me an email about...
Sep 11, 2010 | No retail shopping, Recycle
I love to ride in Elizabeth’s car, as it’s nice and clutter free, unlike mine that my kids help keep in a state of ‘trashed’. She picked me up to go somewhere and she had a bunch of plastic water bottles on the floor. Of course, I had to ask....
Sep 10, 2010 | No retail shopping, Thrift store |
My friend bought me a sweater from Plato’s Closet a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t think to try it on because I was familiar with the brand and it was my size. The person that owned it before me must have washed it and dried it (high maintenance sweater)...
Sep 8, 2010 | No retail shopping, Read the fine print |
I was reading in Romans yesterday morning in The Message version of the Bible. I had to do a triple take. Did they actually use a brand name in the Holy Bible??? Romans 8:3-4 (The Message) 3-4God went for the jugular when he sent his own Son. He didn’t deal...
Sep 7, 2010 | Ideas, No retail shopping, Save $ |
Insomnia. I don’t like it, but when I get it, I deal with it. Sometimes that means watching TV at 2:00 am. Infomercials. Are you really awake and seeing this or is this some crazy dream? Maybe I’m still asleep, becasue there’s no way that could...
Sep 6, 2010 | Ideas, No retail shopping, Salvaged |
So my friend Diane calls yesterday and says, “I thought about painting the kids bathroom with black and white stripes. I painted over wallpaper, what do you think?” What I think is that’s a great opportunity to brainstorm great ideas and use...
Sep 5, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $
Although most of my ideas are pretty good and most of them work well, occasionally I implement one that doesn’t work. In my recent cooking efforts, I needed to steam some seafood. I have awesome Le Creuset cookware, and a steamer insert, but I don’t have...
Sep 1, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $
One of my favorite websites, and has been for many years, is toothpastefordinner.com. A collection of funny little cartoons that are way to close to reality. My subject today? Leftovers. For just about everyone, they either love them or hate them. After spending...
Aug 21, 2010 | No retail shopping, Recycle |
Paper plates. Can you call them that anymore? Most of them are made from paper with plastic coatings, foam or plastic. I choose not to use them most of the time, but going camping, I figured that’s not a bad idea. I thought back to my girl scout days and...
Aug 19, 2010 | No retail shopping, Thrift store |
I was able to find a lot of supplies at thrift stores and I also pulled from the stuff we still have from last year. Again, this was a lot of work. I see why people just buy new stuff each year. It’s easier. It took several hours shop at resale places, find...
Aug 13, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $
You know, there’s just not a lot to blog on with the no shopping challenge. So how is it going? Really well. I guess I don’t like to shop too much. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve had my days of too much shopping in the past, purchases heavily...
Aug 12, 2010 | No retail shopping, Read the fine print, Save $
I guess you could call it shopping. I shopped around for renewable energy plans and solar energy systems over the past two weeks. Here’s what I found. My utility provider is Stream Energy. My one year contract was up last month, so I decided to shop around....
Aug 11, 2010 | Cultural chaos, Just plain good, Trying to matter
You know I have a difficult time doing anything simple. I started painting these hearts, and was about halfway done, when I had an idea. Yes, I usually change direction midstream on art projects. :) The hearts have meaning because we love all of the kids at Casa...
Aug 11, 2010 | No retail shopping, Recycle, Save $ |
I shopped at the Soriana while in Mexico, only for food and toiletries. It’s similar to a Kmart here in the states. They have the best bakery there, aisles and aisles of breads and pastries as far as the eye can see. I had fun messing with my kids since all...
Aug 11, 2010 | No retail shopping, Read the fine print
Let me just say, if you are making a donation of any type of stuff, and you happen to have have a leftover stash of biohazard bags, please don’t place your donations in them. I’m quite sure there are other uses for biohazard bags besides putting...
Aug 5, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $ |
I usually don’t allow my kids to use vending machines or candy machines. 25¢ for a piece of gum? Let’s do the math. For 89¢ I can get a 10 pack of these same gum balls, which is still a lot in my mind. Anyway… I used a vending machine yesterday....
Aug 2, 2010 | No retail shopping, Read the fine print, Save $
I’m power cleaning my house and working all weekend, so not much time to even think about shopping… not that I would if I had time though. It takes a lot of motivation and energy to clean the house. Having less stuff does make it easier, as there’s...
Jul 27, 2010 | No retail shopping, Recycle, Salvaged, Save $ |
I’m always yapping to people about my blog and the challenge, but most people will not remember the website name or think about visiting it. I would like to eventually turn this into a resource of ideas, from easy to radical, on making life changes to become...
Jul 26, 2010 | Dumpster diving, No retail shopping
We had our light painting photo safari last night. If you want to entertain a bunch of kids, give them a box of toys and some flashlights. If you want to entertain a bunch of adults, give them the same stuff, but add a camera. So what does this have to do with trash...
Jul 25, 2010 | No retail shopping, Save $
I have a small contain spice garden in my very small backyard. I had every intention of making a garden this year, but I ran out of time, money and space. Time, I could make time if I really wanted to. Money? Probably would have paid for itself many times over....
Jul 24, 2010 | No retail shopping, Read the fine print, Save $, Thrift store |
Houston, we have a prob… challenge. It’s time to buy school supplies. The boys dad is buying their new shoes, which is good, because I have had a difficult time finding used ones for them. I suppose it would be helpful if I knew what size they wore! I...
Jul 23, 2010 | No retail shopping, Recycle, Salvaged |
I found this listing under ‘free stuff’ on craigslist.org. It made me smile. This is a great example of being mindful about our resources. Reply to: sale-qathe**********@craigslist.org for some reason i own 2 blue fuzzy lined little boys crocs size 9....
