Nothing New/Mindful Spending Week 51

[Ginevra]

The "rules" of this challenge are self-defined. Anyone can join in at any time. The aim of the challenge (for me) is to combat consumerism, wastefulness, mindless buying, and overspending. It is meant to nurture creative problem solving, ecology, frugality, intentionalism, and resourcefulness. To support these goals, I seek to buy nothing new. I aim to use existing resources, borrow, hand-craft, and buy existing second-hand materials to the greatest extent possible. However, I recognize that life is unpredictable, and family life increases this factor exponentially, so I will buy new in the following cases, when a non-buying option does not present:

 

Food, health, and necessary household goods excluded.

Requirements for school, work, or health and well-being which cannot be obtained used.

Gifts, when a creative non-commercial option will not suffice.

Anything animal or gardening related that cannot be obtained used.

Fuel/energy sources.

 

Posts will appear each Saturday, referring to the week that is ending. Post your successes, creative solutions, relapses and weak moments. It doesn't matter if you have a weak moment! Just keep swimming!

So - Christmas week! Any unplanned spending for you? My washing machine started burning up on Monday. Never a good sign. Sucker is only a few years old, too. I had our repairman out Wed and the problem is too $$ to repair. I ordered a Speed Queen, which is due to come this Monday. Repair visit was $120; new machine will be $850- ish. :( Not something I planned to buy.

 

Had more Christmas spending, but nothing unusual. I bought a mini-quad RC helicopter for DS11 for Christmas; this turned out to be his favorite gift. However, the wire broke today and it is now unfliable. He is seriously sad about it; tears were shed, though he tried to keep this from notice. :( I don't know if this is returnable for this reason; I doubt it. I am highly likely to replace it with another similar gift.

 

I need to order uniform pants for DS (yes - again) before school resumes in January. Lands End is on a first-name basis with me now. I'd like to try to sell the outgrown pants, as they are practically brand new. I'm not sure about this though; I am no greater seller of goods.

[Jane in NC]

Lunch out today when we met with friends whose daughter is in town for the holidays.  I slipped the girl a check because when I was her age (23) I would have loved it if someone had handed me some unexpected dollars.

 

After lunch we stopped at Michaels and World Market.  I wanted a pompom maker for finishing one of my knitting projects. I left Michaels with some festive snowflake adorned baking papers.  My gift to one family member is a delivery of baked goods throughout the year.  I figure the snowflakes will be lovely to use in January baking--although it is sort of a joke as it has been in the 70's here!  (I used a coupon at Michael's--of course!)

 

At World Market I also took advantage of the post Christmas sale, buying some wrap for next year as well as some of our favorite European candies. They were half off plus I had a 15% off coupon to apply.  We need more sweets like holes in our heads so I have stashed some things away for Valentines.

 

We have tons of holiday leftovers so some of the meals that I have planned will wait.  My freezer still contains a number of good things for future consumption.

 

Our holiday festivities will continue.  Next week we meet up with family members who live in another part of the state.  I promised to bring a blueberry pie to the event, something that I will make with blueberries that I picked last summer.

[Jane in NC]

Hard to "like" your post, Quill, with the washing machine and helicopter toy both breaking.  You know I am doing it for support!

[MomtoCandJ]

Got some stuff today on clearance, bought some navy blue long sleeve fitted t shirts to use as "sub scrubs" (bought 2 at Old Navy for $3 each and 1 at Walmart for $5, wish old navy had more in my size), two clearance shirts at old navy (one for dd1 and 1 for dd2), a few other things for me for school and an out fit at Gymboree for dd2 (this outfit and her shirt are for her birthday on Jan. 23rd)

Edited December 26, 2015 by MomtoCandJ

[Annie G]

Typical Christmas spending, though on Christmas Eve we went shopping for a few things. Dh and I each needed one last item for each other and the two youngest tagged along. One needed a pair of work pants and the other needed jeans and we picked up the tab for those. Then we had lunch out. That's unusual for us but it was fun. 

 

We go to the movies on Christmas Day and I spent $ on snacks...which meant I ended up not cooking yesterday except for a breakfast casserole. So we had Christmas dinner tonight- schnitzel and spaetzle.  We barely did any holiday cooking so I have plenty of food for this week. Yippee!

 

Dh and I went out this morning to pick up sale items. We ran out of gift tags this year and bought more. Spent a whole dollar.  Bought no gift wrap- this year I bought some from Walmart and dh hated it- it smelled like gas and tape didn't stick well to it. So even at half price he said no thanks.  I suspect by the time I get to a town that has a Target there won't be any gift wrap left. Where do you folks buy your wrapping paper?  Don't suggest reusable gift bags- dh is a traditionalist and prefers wrapping paper. Ugh. 

[Annie G]

Quill, the washer dying is sad but kudos for weighing the repair price against buying a new one. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and replace things but it sure is hard to know when to repair and when to replace. 

[Guest]

Quill, the washer dying is sad but kudos for weighing the repair price against buying a new one. Sometimes you just have to bite the bullet and replace things but it sure is hard to know when to repair and when to replace.

Yeah, I feel like we are lucky in that we have had the same repairman to our house for the past 13 years. We have a good rapport with him and I generally trust the info he gives me...especially since it jives with other information I have.

 

I would FAR prefer to repair something than throw it away; it bothers my anti-trash standards to throw away stuff that seemingly should last for a lot of years. However, when he explained to me what was wrong with the machine, he told me straight that this repair would make no sense. I would have to replace the tub, which is leaking, and the motor, which is burned up from operating with water and soap running onto it. Obviously, that might as well be the whole machine. :( So i'm mostly just hoping the Speed Queen will indeed last and work much better than this one did.

[Prairie~Phlox]

I plan to join this thread for the new year, but I might as well post now as well.  We've not had to go to the store the last few days, but I will go this week for pork loin, apples & sugar.  We're having friends over from out of town on the 30th and I'm making this: http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/farmhouse-pork-and-apple-pie I've made it quite a few times and it's always yummy.  I also have some gift money that I plan to spend this week.  Our goals for the new year are to get our credit card paid off (dh started a new job in June and we had a few weeks that he was out of work, Thankfully we'll be all caught up by March and then should also get a decent tax refund that we'll put some of it into a savings account.  Things are looking SO much better than years past, we're so blessed!!

 

I've always been frugal and I love saving money.  I have a friend/neighbor that is a spender and spends more than they make, and does not disclose things to her husband. Another good friend that wants to start tracking her finances, she's a spender as well and said her husband doesn't realize how depleted their savings is from taking money from it to pay bills.  I'm trying to set a good example, and encourage her to track.  We've tracked our finances since we've been married.

[Melinda in VT]

I've been reading this thread all year, and I want to jump in for next year. My goals are to be better about repairing things instead of replacing them and to be more mindful of purchases so I reduce the number of things I buy that end up being a bad fit.

 

My success this week is that I stumbled on a leather shop that can fix one of my favorite purses. I've hung onto it for 5 years since the strap detached from the bag, in the hope that I could get it repaired. It was about $40 brand new, and it's not very old. It is also the perfect size and style for traveling. I am very excited.

[Annie G]

I've been reading this thread all year, and I want to jump in for next year. My goals are to be better about repairing things instead of replacing them and to be more mindful of purchases so I reduce the number of things I buy that end up being a bad fit.

 

My success this week is that I stumbled on a leather shop that can fix one of my favorite purses. I've hung onto it for 5 years since the strap detached from the bag, in the hope that I could get it repaired. It was about $40 brand new, and it's not very old. It is also the perfect size and style for traveling. I am very excited.

 

Thanks for putting that idea into my head! I bought a lovely leather purse on a dream trip to Italy with my sisters a few years ago and the stitching on the strap is coming out. I know my machine would have trouble going through it and I never thought to find somewhere to have it fixed! Duh.  The purse wasn't expensive but it means something to me. And fixing it would be a way better option all around! 

 

I think replacing things is such a default mentality here. My niece moved to NYC a few years ago and she wears out the soles of her shoes because she walks everywhere...so she gets them resoled. And her friends in Atlanta tease her because they never wear out shoes- they just buy new ones when they want new shoes.  How sad that dear niece is seen as the odd one. 

[Garga]

I ordered a $10 toy on Amazon yesterday for ds13. I had talked about getting it for him for Christmas, but when I saw it wouldn't be delivered until January I didn't get it. I didn't realize how much he was looking forward to it, and when I assessed what we got him for Christmas, we didn't get him any toys. Just other stuff he wanted. I think he was pretty crushed not to get a toy. He's in that in-between age and the little kid part of him was upset that there were no toys at Christmas. He tried to hide it, but he was sad.

 

So, it won't be here until late Jan or even early Feb now, but I feel much better after having gotten it for him.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Garga

[itsheresomewhere]

Quill,

 

Look into selling the pants on thredup.

 

I need to stock up on flour and stuff while it is on sale through the 2nd. Other than normal expenses, hopefully this will be a nice wallet week.

[Luckymama]

We spent more on Christmas food this year than usual because (1) I had to take dairy-free chicken piccata, roasted broccoli, and a dessert to dsil's Christmas Eve Italian feast (2) I had to make more for Christmas brunch than usual since we did not go to my sister's (they went out of town this year) and (3) I had to cook the entire Christmas dinner (see no sister; we usually split the dishes) for the five of us plus other dsis and her boyfriend (they live in CO)

 

I bought 3 kindle books yesterday, just for enjoyment, totaling $6.97.

 

I can't remember when I last posted. On Tuesday we saw Star Wars (bought tickets a long time ago) with the girls; dh treated them to popcorn. Yesterday dh and dd15 saw the last Hunger Games movie at a matinee; dh treated her to Starbucks for the movie. He also bought a pound of Sumatra coffee for me as a treat.

 

Ahead this week---dd's 16th birthday! I purchased all her gifts already. She has to decide what she wants to eat that day (birthday person chooses all the meals). She and ds (he's home for until next Sunday) are going to see Star Wars again that day as her gift from him. Tomorow dh and I are going to a dinner cooked by ds and his girflfriend (she lives in an off-campus house; they met right before he graduated and moved across the country!) so I expect we'll take something as a hostess gift :)

 

Add us to the leather repair/shoe resoling (ok, that word looks weird) crowd. We have a shoe repair place right downtown. I count it as a perk of living in a university town smack in the middle of east coast suburban sprawl. The dude is seriously cranky, so much so that every time dh and I say "that's it!", but we keep going back because he does beautiful work.

[DawnM]

I am joining back starting in January.  I am not spending much this week, but just can't deal with even thinking about posting or tracking this week.

 

 

[Artichoke]

You ladies have been an inspiration this year.  I'm thinking of joining you in February since January is one of my largest spending months.  We tend to take advantage of the sales for dh's work clothes, household items, and shoes.  I sometimes buy gifts needed for the next year as well.  

[Annie G]

You ladies have been an inspiration this year.  I'm thinking of joining you in February since January is one of my largest spending months.  We tend to take advantage of the sales for dh's work clothes, household items, and shoes.  I sometimes buy gifts needed for the next year as well.  

 

Join us in January anyway- what you're doing is mindful spending so it fits in perfectly!  

[Artichoke]

Join us in January anyway- what you're doing is mindful spending so it fits in perfectly!  

 

 

Ok, i will.  

Thanks for the reminder that it's mindful spending as well. 

Edited December 27, 2015 by Artichoke

[knoxinsox]

Finished the last bits of Christmas shopping and we ate out.  Not happy about that, but hubby wanted pizza on Christmas Eve.  I just find that eating out quickly blows the budget and we had done really good.  We'll be back to following the budget for January.  I do have 2 big ticket items for January--but I'm already planning for it.  New work boots for hubby and I have my eye on a massive laundry drying rack.  Right now, I'm hanging laundry in the half bath, and clipping everything to hangers--works well, but it takes some time and I can only do one load per day.  

[Guest]

Quill,

 

Look into selling the pants on thredup.

 

I need to stock up on flour and stuff while it is on sale through the 2nd. Other than normal expenses, hopefully this will be a nice wallet week.

Oh! That is the perfect idea for selling the pants! Thanks!

[Guest]

Ok, i will.

Thanks for the reminder that it's mindful spending as well.

I totally agree - that is mindful spending.

 

Also, I never want this thread to be a sort of chastisement. :) I am not perfectly frugal, perfectly up-cycling, perfectly buy local and hand-make/home-make everything at all times. My two biggest times this year when I really didn't adhere to my ideals at all were 1) my DD's graduation party, and 2) when said DD was leaving for college. In both cases I bought a LOT of things that were either totally unnecessary or not super-necessary; i.e., I have sheets she could have put on the bed, but I let her pick out her own new sheets in the print she desired. So, I truly hope everyone feels free to post and to define what changes will be right for themselves and their family. It's not a competitoon to see who can be the most extremely frugal, so if one of our posters starts posting how she supplements her family's meals with fresh roadkill, rest assured I am not going to attempt to top that! :D

[Annie G]

Quill sums up how I feel. I want to be deliberate with my spending and get the most happiness from my buck. That doesn't mean I want to eat beans and rice every night. I love beans and rice but I also love avocados and good chocolate.  For me it's not at all about spending the least amount of money and that's what's cool about this group- sometimes others post something that inspires me to make a change and other times I can give them kudos for their good work without adopting their habits.   

 

I want to cut in ways that won't hurt my quality of life. I want to improve things that will enhance my life.   

 

Biggest changes I made this year: drastically cut back gasoline usage and fast food.  Reduced the amount of trash we haul to the curb by half.  But we recycle more things.   

 

Biggest challenge I want to conquer next year: eat all the groceries I buy and eat all the leftovers we have.  I throw away an obscene amount of food and it's mostly due to overestimating how much we will eat for a meal and not insisting the family eat leftovers. 

[SKL]

Nothing unexpected really.  We're in Barcelona and we expected to be spending money.  :)

 

Didn't really do any unexpected spending last week, either.  Too busy working.  Actually I saved a little money by having to go to plan B with my kids' camps.

 

I don't really count pennies while traveling any more.  It takes half of the fun out.  Because one way or another, money is gonna be spent.  Might as well do it happily.

 

We did save some by only booking one flight and renting a car to go from city to city in Spain and Portugal.  And by sharing a hotel room among 5 people.  We hired a guide / driver for Morocco since it is not legal to take the rental car over on the ferry.  They quoted us a fee of over $6,000 at first, then ended up around $450, LOL.  I assume some people just accept the first price they offer, or bargain down 25% and feel they got a bargain.  :P  We have gone the guide/driver route before so we know it isn't that expensive.  Otherwise we would have rented another car in Morocco and driven ourselves.

 

I'm not gonna say we travel on the cheap.  We have in the past, but now it just isn't worth it.  I am working every day so I need and deserve some amenities.  And traveling with kids is expensive just by virtue of the plane tickets.  Even if they didn't eat and slept on the floor, it wouldn't make much difference.  Leaving them with someone at home wouldn't be free either.  My other option is to not travel until they are grown up, but I'll be nearly 60 then, and who knows what kind of shape I'll be in?  So I call this "mindful spending."  Others may disagree.  :)

[Jane in NC]

Quill sums up how I feel. I want to be deliberate with my spending and get the most happiness from my buck. That doesn't mean I want to eat beans and rice every night. I love beans and rice but I also love avocados and good chocolate.  For me it's not at all about spending the least amount of money and that's what's cool about this group- sometimes others post something that inspires me to make a change and other times I can give them kudos for their good work without adopting their habits.   

 

I want to cut in ways that won't hurt my quality of life. I want to improve things that will enhance my life.   

 

Biggest changes I made this year: drastically cut back gasoline usage and fast food.  Reduced the amount of trash we haul to the curb by half.  But we recycle more things.   

 

Biggest challenge I want to conquer next year: eat all the groceries I buy and eat all the leftovers we have.  I throw away an obscene amount of food and it's mostly due to overestimating how much we will eat for a meal and not insisting the family eat leftovers. 

 

Once upon a time I had to pinch pennies.  I no longer need to do so but given that I have a finite pot of money (as most people have ;) ), I see many of my financial choices tied to ethical choices. 

 

When my son was young and our cash flow was sometimes a dribble, we were not spending money on the fads of the time.  Instead we chose to make a stop at the thrift shop for a dollar board game or borrow videos (hey--we are talking about a while ago) from the library. Today I can afford to buy more stuff but frankly I don't want more junk!  I'd rather spend my money on travel.  Or help someone who needs a hand.

 

I think that it is really easy in this culture to get on the stuff bandwagon.  For me this thread is about making choices that lead to less waste so that might mean I spend a little more to buy local or to acquire a better quality product.

 

Annie brings up a good point about food waste.  The statistics on American food waste are appalling!  One of the things that I started doing was making my own stocks.  This means that I am not only using up some less than desirable carrots or celery, but also boiling up things like shrimp shells which add great flavor to a seafood risotto.  Nonetheless things get hidden in the back of the fridge, then are found and tossed with a sigh...

 

[prairiewindmomma]

Sorry I missed last week's check-in. End of the year holiday craziness has me only lightly checking in on the boards.

 

We had some continued unavoidable expenses due to our relo.  I think we are FINALLY through the end of those (driver licenses, retitling the cars, etc.)

 

I went to IKEA on Monday and bought some inexpensive curtain rods so that I could reuse curtains from our old house in this one. I also picked up 2 more Trofast systems so that my middle kids can do school on a workbox type of system. Right now they are completely dependent on me, and this was the best idea I had for transitioning them towards more independent work given the needs and abilities of my kids. All in all, it was about a $200 trip to IKEA, but planned for and mindful of all of our resources. (My time has increased in worth as the demands on it have increased.)

 

I *still* haven't purchased dress clothes for my younger son.  He is down to one polo and one pair of dress pants, but I am going to make it through the year!  I found the extra Lands End dress slacks I ordered for older son a year ago. I order four pair--two hemmed, two not.  I now need to hem those last two pair as he has grown several inches this year.  I plan to check out the local thrift stores tomorrow, and am hoping to luck into some well made clothing.  

 

We went to go see Star Wars 7 yesterday.  Dh and the boys really wanted to, and so we did.  We're headed to the beach sometime this next week for a day or two. I'll hit the grocery store on the island and I might take a cooler down for our beach bonfire.  It should be an <$50 trip including gas.  The kids want to do some shelling, and we're taking some books for fun.

 

I've been thinking about my 2016 goals for this challenge:

*continued mindful spending

*continued building of a capsule wardrobe

*better meal planning

*more creative, low cost gift giving

 

We need a new HVAC and new roof in 2016.  We have our budget for 2016 laid out, and I'm hoping to make it work so that we can do HVAC, roof, and continue saving for replacement vehicles since ours are both approaching the end of their expected lives.  

[Luckymama]

Part of our mindfulness for 2016 will be shopping locally. We began today by getting new sneakers at the locally-owned running store downtown (mine were causing shin splint pain this week and dh's were a year old!). Dh and I will be going out for a late dinner tonight at one of our favorite locally-owned, non-chain restaurants (kind of a farm-to-table-meets-Italian-food vibe).

[Jane in NC]

Love the local thing, Luckymama! 

 

I am usually not tempted by threads on Internet chat boards to go out and buy (fill in the blank). Today though a thread on purses caught my eye since I have been wanting a new one.  I just ordered a bag from a small business based in Pittsburgh called Moop.  They use US sourced materials! 

 

There was something on the website that I want to quote since it ties in with my form of "mindful economics":

 

 

By choosing to purchase from a small business you are not buying only because you like a product, you are buying because you also want to support something greater than yourself.  Your purchase from a small business helps that business and everyone who works in it.  Supporting small businesses empowers other small businesses to open up, and take a chance, and hire employees and make great things...and on and on.

 

[Guest]

Quill sums up how I feel. I want to be deliberate with my spending and get the most happiness from my buck. That doesn't mean I want to eat beans and rice every night. I love beans and rice but I also love avocados and good chocolate. For me it's not at all about spending the least amount of money and that's what's cool about this group- sometimes others post something that inspires me to make a change and other times I can give them kudos for their good work without adopting their habits.

 

I want to cut in ways that won't hurt my quality of life. I want to improve things that will enhance my life.

 

Biggest changes I made this year: drastically cut back gasoline usage and fast food. Reduced the amount of trash we haul to the curb by half. But we recycle more things.

 

Biggest challenge I want to conquer next year: eat all the groceries I buy and eat all the leftovers we have. I throw away an obscene amount of food and it's mostly due to overestimating how much we will eat for a meal and not insisting the family eat leftovers.

This. I was just looking at my fridge contents this morning because there is a LOT of good food from Christmas that has just about peaked. I bought too big a ham for Christmas Eve and, though all of us have eaten from it, there were lots of other leftover things to choose from as well. I just threw most of the loaf of GF bread I had made for my sister away because it was furry. That particular recipe makes me sad, because it is rather good the day it is baked, but becomes drier and more crumbly by the second until it's just not appealing to anyone but a die-hard celiac.

[Guest]

Once upon a time I had to pinch pennies. I no longer need to do so but given that I have a finite pot of money (as most people have ;) ), I see many of my financial choices tied to ethical choices.

 

When my son was young and our cash flow was sometimes a dribble, we were not spending money on the fads of the time. Instead we chose to make a stop at the thrift shop for a dollar board game or borrow videos (hey--we are talking about a while ago) from the library. Today I can afford to buy more stuff but frankly I don't want more junk! I'd rather spend my money on travel. Or help someone who needs a hand.

 

I think that it is really easy in this culture to get on the stuff bandwagon. For me this thread is about making choices that lead to less waste so that might mean I spend a little more to buy local or to acquire a better quality product.

 

Annie brings up a good point about food waste. The statistics on American food waste are appalling! One of the things that I started doing was making my own stocks. This means that I am not only using up some less than desirable carrots or celery, but also boiling up things like shrimp shells which add great flavor to a seafood risotto. Nonetheless things get hidden in the back of the fridge, then are found and tossed with a sigh...

 

Me, too! One thing I notice a lot with other kids who play with my 11yo (generally not so much the hsed kids) is how much consumer expectation they have. One kid in particular thinks water only comes bottled, it seems. When I tell him we drink the water from the tap, he looks at me like I have three heads! ;) They want soda and Gatorade, too; they are unaccustomed to a humble pot of iced tea or lemonade. Same with clothing expectations - it "has" to be head-to-toe Underarmour or whatever. Same with entertainment or tech goods. It's a trend that bothers me every time I see it and - maybe this is just typical of my area - but the HSing community has far fewer kids like this.

 

Anyway, didn't mean to get on a big soapbox there and I hope it doesn't sound like I'm disdainful or superior. It just concerns me that as a nation, we seem to be breakneck consumers. I think a lot of kids are totally disconnected from the concept of making things or using what you have or not just rushing off to buy something else. I just think it is important to "Hurt not the Earth."

[Annie G]

 Same with clothing expectations - it "has" to be head-to-toe Underarmour or whatever. 

 

 

I'm glad my kids were grown before the Under Armor craze hit. My niece sent a pic of her three kids- ages 8-14- and all three were totally decked out in UA stuff. Wearing pricey shoes, iPhones in their hands. And the three of them were in the family custom golf cart (Customized to reflect their favorite college football team) driving through their neighborhood to where their friends live.  Yup, they need top notch athletic wear to play video games! They're really sweet, polite, smart kids and I've never seen them act entitled at all.   I feel like a crabby old lady being all negative about  conspicuous consumption. 

 

I'm not trying to dog on my niece, it's just a startling departure from when she was a little kid and I spent hours tossing a wiffle ball while she tried to hit it with a plastic bat. And when she got thirsty she grabbed a sip of water from the garden hose.   

[prairiewindmomma]

We moved to a part of the world this fall that is very brand conscious and consumer oriented. It's hard. I find myself having all kinds of mental contortions in fighting the expectations of those we find ourselves associating with.  Add to that a few layers of racial complexity and I'm kind of in a culture shock.  

 

As an example, we went out today to go shopping because I needed some hair product to control the frizz that pops up with having curly hair in a high humidity environment.  I also needed some sensitive skin face wash (neutrogena) and a couple of other things. I had to do some grocery shopping as well, so we went to our usual store at one end of my neighborhood. I was not the target demographic audience for the beauty products, and it was obvious.  There were no choices for fair skinned/sensitive skinned people there.  Tons of hairspray (even in the high end salon brands--Tigi, Redken, etc.), no mousse. So, I had to schlep to the other end of our neighborhood to hit the Target.  I found all that I needed there....but all of the cars in the parking lot were sports cars/land rovers/escalades, all of the kids seemed to be high maintenance (toddlers on iPads, teens in $300 shoes), and the range of items in the store were clearly different than those carried at the Target from our previous home.

[prairiewindmomma]

Can I do my week 52 confessional here?

When I was at Target, I bought valentine's day cupcake liners and decorations, and a felt banner with the word "celebrate" on it.  I could have made those things myself, but I would've had to make a trip to Michaels to buy felt, and the time/money tradeoff felt fair. Each was $3, so a total of $6 + tax was spent.  The banner will be re-used for each of our birthdays this year.

 

Should I feel guilty about this? Should I be glad that I found a great trade-off for my time?  I don't know....but the question is bothering me, so I'm sure there's something I'm meant to understand by the experience.

[Jane in NC]

You know, I am not sure that I would even recognize a $300 pair of shoes on a teen!  Brands don't impress me; quality does so I am willing to pay more for a high quality product.  But when my son was younger (and before we paid college tuition) I was certainly not tossing money on disposal type things.  Having my kiddo graduate debt free from college was a priority. 

[Annie G]

Can I do my week 52 confessional here?

 

When I was at Target, I bought valentine's day cupcake liners and decorations, and a felt banner with the word "celebrate" on it.  I could have made those things myself, but I would've had to make a trip to Michaels to buy felt, and the time/money tradeoff felt fair. Each was $3, so a total of $6 + tax was spent.  The banner will be re-used for each of our birthdays this year.

 

Should I feel guilty about this? Should I be glad that I found a great trade-off for my time?  I don't know....but the question is bothering me, so I'm sure there's something I'm meant to understand by the experience.

 

The banner sounds awesome!  I think Valentine themed cupcake liners are great- sounds like you're going to make a treat which is always a good thing. Money well spent!  Now, if the money you spent meant you had no gas money this week, that's different. But it's ok to enjoy life.  Do you always struggle with 'fun' expenditures or do you think trying to be more frugal has swayed you to the point where now it's making you question anything unnecessary?

 

My confession: I save change in a jar and decided to cash it in today so I can start the year fresh. Put the change in the coin counter at the bank and it spit out 81 cents in a mixture of mangled US coins and Canadian coins.  I should just throw it away but I can't bring myself to do that.   

[HS Mom in NC]

I've made changes for next Christmas and I'm letting the relatives know this week.  I'll remind them next Thanksgiving too.

I made a chart of all the relatives on both sides and highlighted who all gets gifts from us.  Then I matter of factly presented to some of my extended relatives (I'll get to the rest in the next week or so) that we are no longer going to buy Christmas gifts for the adult sibling exchange and for nieces and nephews.  We have  been buying for 18-20 people total each year and we're not going to any more.  We're only buying for direct descendants and direct ancestors. That cuts it to 11.   It's not that we don't love everyone, but we aren't buying for everyone.  

 They took it well. 

[Jane in NC]

Food waste is an issue that I tackled a few years ago.  It meant freezing more--either ingredients or cooked items.  The latter is particularly helpful in the spring when my husband works long hours and may leave the house with both lunch and dinner. 

 

Freezing requires that one label containers, rotate items and use them in a timely fashion.  I had a chat with my husband about this recently.  I love the fact that he roasted a ton of peppers, cut them in strips, wrapped packets in freezer paper.  But he did not label them so I don't know which are sweet, which are medium and which are hot.  Sigh.  So I pulled some out for chili and then adjusted the seasoning accordingly. 

 

To be fair, I will also note that I could not find the hazel nuts yesterday when I wanted to make a pesto condiment for our salmon.  They were in the freezer--just not where I would expect them to be.

 

Conquering food waste seems to require a certain amount of thoughtfulness and organization. And maybe not taking one's first choice at lunch in order to use something up.

 

Also, there are the "bits".  I made barbecued pulled chicken sandwiches for dinner tonight.  Some of the leftovers went into the freezer; another container in the fridge.  But there was about a cup of leftover liquid with chicken bits.  My usual tendency would be to toss it.  Tonight it went into the freezer because I know that it would be a great addition to tortilla soup.  I just have to remember to make it!!

 

 

 

[HS Mom in NC]

Food waste is an issue that I tackled a few years ago.  It meant freezing more--either ingredients or cooked items.  The latter is particularly helpful in the spring when my husband works long hours and may leave the house with both lunch and dinner. 

 

Freezing requires that one label containers, rotate items and use them in a timely fashion.  I had a chat with my husband about this recently.  I love the fact that he roasted a ton of peppers, cut them in strips, wrapped packets in freezer paper.  But he did not label them so I don't know which are sweet, which are medium and which are hot.  Sigh.  So I pulled some out for chili and then adjusted the seasoning accordingly. 

 

To be fair, I will also note that I could not find the hazel nuts yesterday when I wanted to make a pesto condiment for our salmon.  They were in the freezer--just not where I would expect them to be.

 

Conquering food waste seems to require a certain amount of thoughtfulness and organization. And maybe not taking one's first choice at lunch in order to use something up.

 

Also, there are the "bits".  I made barbecued pulled chicken sandwiches for dinner tonight.  Some of the leftovers went into the freezer; another container in the fridge.  But there was about a cup of leftover liquid with chicken bits.  My usual tendency would be to toss it.  Tonight it went into the freezer because I know that it would be a great addition to tortilla soup.  I just have to remember to make it!!

 

That's a big project in itself.  You go, girl!

 

I've been collecting "use it up" recipes.  I have a recipe for Indian Curry that uses an apple, an onion, a bell pepper, a potato, a large carrot and chicken scraps (optional or more potatoes if we want it vegetarian.) It's served over rice or with naan.

 

There are several barley or minestrone recipes that use up veggies too.

 

I have a bean soup recipe that requires no soaking and uses the Christmas ham bone. It freezes well.

 

I have a Chick Gremolata recipe where the leftovers can be layered with cheese, pasta, canned sauce to make a tasty Chicken Parmesan the next day.

 

Leftover baked chicken scraps get turned into a curried chicken salad for sandwiches.

 

3 of my recipes call for basil so I buy the big package and serve each of those meals within 3 days.

 

It feels good to maximize resources like that.

 

I keep forgetting to have my husband grill several chicken breasts so I can freeze them for Caesar Salads and tacos. 

[prairiewindmomma]

I think part of my struggle is that I've had a radical shift in living this year, and I'm repatterining a lot of my thought re: purchases.  We downsized to a much smaller home with limited storage.  I'm trying to find the correct line between "enough" and "too much".  In my old house, I might have a whole tin of cupcake liners with fun patterns as my daughter likes to make cupcakes, and that's more manageable than a cake.  Here, I don't have room to store things like that.  Likewise, the kids went from having 20 linear feet of closet space in each bedroom to having about three.  No basement, no attic, no third car garage, no 500 square foot storage room....  So, my younger dd has about four long-sleeved outfits and that's it.  In our previous colder climate, I would've had to buy her more winter clothing as she is still mastering toilet training.  Here...I hear that I have four weeks of cold weather left. I spent about ten minutes today trying to decide if I was going to buy her more clothing.  

 

I think once I get the hang of downsizing, I'll be more sure of myself....but for now, I'm changing all of my shopping patterns and it's a shift.  Even going to Costco is different--storing bulk toilet paper is a challenge, but in our family of 6 people home all day....

[Guest]

Can I do my week 52 confessional here?

 

When I was at Target, I bought valentine's day cupcake liners and decorations, and a felt banner with the word "celebrate" on it. I could have made those things myself, but I would've had to make a trip to Michaels to buy felt, and the time/money tradeoff felt fair. Each was $3, so a total of $6 + tax was spent. The banner will be re-used for each of our birthdays this year.

 

Should I feel guilty about this? Should I be glad that I found a great trade-off for my time? I don't know....but the question is bothering me, so I'm sure there's something I'm meant to understand by the experience.

Oh, sure, don't worry about it...week 52 is practically clean slate time. It's like Mardi Gras coming before Ash Wednesday. :)

 

Also, I totally bought a set of adorable paper cupcake baking cups for DD and 90% of the rationale was that they said, "Le Petite Gâteau" on the side and it was so cute for her.

[Guest]

I'm outta likes so I can't praise all this great conversation about food waste. :) sometimes I am better about staying on top of the organization and other times, not so much. This seems like a silly excuse, but one thing that impacts food saving procedures is that cleanup from dinner is rotationally shared between my kids. They vary in how competantly they do this job, and none of them do it with as much of a planning mentality as I do. I am basically trying to get them to simply write in Sharpie the date and the contents on the food container. That would go aways as it is...not unlike Jane's DH and the pepper labling. :D

[Annie G]

I'm outta likes so I can't praise all this great conversation about food waste. :) sometimes I am better about staying on top of the organization and other times, not so much. This seems like a silly excuse, but one thing that impacts food saving procedures is that cleanup from dinner is rotationally shared between my kids. They vary in how competantly they do this job, and none of them do it with as much of a planning mentality as I do. I am basically trying to get them to simply write in Sharpie the date and the contents on the food container. That would go aways as it is...not unlike Jane's DH and the pepper labling. :D

 

Exactly! When I was the one cleaning the kitchen I handled leftovers by putting them into lunch size serving containers so people could grab and go...reheat at work or school.  It worked well for years. So now my adult kids have taken over kitchen duties and they don't do this- they just save each item separately. Yeah, I know we all *could* combine things in a to go container each morning...but we don't. I know I *could* go behind them and do it or tell them to do it my way. But they're adults and I'm trying to step back. But I think it's time to step back in again. But I waffle...

 

And honestly when I'm not the one doing the clean up, I rarely even know what we have in there for leftovers. And that's part of the problem.

 

Those of you with adult kids...suggestions??