Nothing New/Mindful Spending Week 16

[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/unnecessary. 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, this week, I bought more yarn and knitting stuff. Yarn is the new Books around here, it seems. I just want all the yarns! I am having an absolute ball learning to loom knit, though. I learned the Celtic Knot stitch, which is perfectly beautiful on a baby hat. So now it seems I'm making Irish baby hats for every baby I know.

 

I bought some extra food for two different events, but this wasn't all that much over regular grocery buying.

 

I bought two gifts for a birthday party my son was attending (boy/girl twins). I also bought wrapping paper. Usually, I use gender-neutral wrapping paper, but in this case, I wanted it to be immediately apparent that one gift was for the boy and the other was for the girl. And it worked out exactly that way, too, because as the girl took the gifts from her brother's hands, she said, "this one is obviously for me!" How glad I am that I did it this way!

[hjffkj]

This week was quite spendy because dh had is tattoo finished to the tune of $300! That darn thing cost 800 total. I do not understand the appeal of spending that much on a tattoo but most of the money was birthday and Christmas money from his parents specifically for the tattoo so it didn't mess up our finances. I do like the tattoo and am happy he's happy.

 

I spent about 50 eating out this week just for myself because I've been staying overnight at a clients house and it has just been hectic. That 50 only eats up a small percentage of what I making on this job so to save my sanity I'm good with spending it.

 

For nothing new, we had to figure out what to do for my sil's bday gift and ended up giving g her an Amazon gift card someone gave us that we had forgot about. The nice thing is she specifically asked for one so she gets what she wants and we don't spend anything. The kids will make her birthday card

[Jane in NC]

I failed to respond to last week's thread since I was off spending money, i.e. traveling.  This is a high priority for us and always has been, even when we were forced into more mindful penny watching.

 

On our trip, we rented a small cabin in the Shenandoah National Park. No kitchen though.  Frankly I don't like eating every meal out so we traveled with provisions.  Prepared food included a breakfast of homemade muffins, strawberries,and hard boiled eggs and two lunches of turkey sandwiches (I cooked a turkey breast beforehand which means that I have a meaty carcass to cook up this week) and apples.  We also traveled with our Coleman stove and had pancakes with chicken sausages and strawberries for breakfast another day.  We had pita chips and hummus for snacking as well as other nibbles for our hikes.  We ate dinner out daily.

 

Other non meal expenses included attending a play at the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, VA--again well worth the dollars.  I bought a book in a used book store and spent about $30 on a Sashiko embroidery kit and some fat quarters in a locally owned quilt shop. (I hear you on the yarn thing, Quill. I am on self imposed yarn buying restrictions until I knit up most of the gorgeous yarn that I bought on my February trip to Saint Simons.)

 

I was reminded though how expensive travel can be for families because of the food thing. You really do need to plan your meals or be prepared to drop some bucks. 

 

[BarbecueMom]

I had sort of an interesting thought about mindful spending and buying used this week. I was sitting at a stop light and looking at the yard sale signs, thinking, "Ooh that looks like fun!" But then I started thinking about it. I end up buying at yard sales things that I do want, but stuff that wouldn't be worth paying full price for. It occurred to me that perhaps a different way of thinking about it is, "Don't buy anything that you aren't willing to pay full price, but do buy it at a discount."

 

I see this play out with my dad a lot. He never pays full price for anything, but ends up getting good deals on a lot of "toys" (boat, bike, etc.) and stuff that he would never get if he had to buy new at list price.

 

It's just a minor tweak in the thought process, but I'm going to try to keep that in mind during yard sale season.

[SKL]

I dunno, I've been too busy to think about money!  We're doing all the stuff we already paid for mostly.  :P

 

Oh, I did have a massive tax bill.  But we won't talk about that.  :/

 

My kids had their scout crossover / recognition on Thursday.  This inspired us to think about more stuff we can do for scout badges/stars/pins.  Most of this is low-cost, but time-consuming in a good way.  :)  One of the things they need to do is find a more regular volunteer opportunity.  I have a lead with an animal shelter that will let them walk dogs / help socialize the animals.

 

I got the flyer for free stuff at our nearby national park.  There might be some hikes we can do.  I will need some more time to look through it.  Unfortunately most of the good stuff is on Saturday mornings, when we have soccer games and horse riding.  Should we reduce the amount of horse riding?  It is a thought.

 

I renewed the annual membership to the rec center.  The price must have gone down, since it was only $355 this time.  It's really a good deal if you use the facility regularly, and we do.  I also bought a $40 "punch card" for 6 yoga classes between now and August.  I can't commit to a regular class due to my crazy schedule.

[SKL]

A couple things I am putting in my Amazon cart:

 

Khaki skirts and sweaters that should go well with them for school.  The kids' new scout level requires khaki skirts, which we don't have in their sizes because they aren't that into khaki.  :p  Figure this is an early purchase for next year's school clothes.

 

And I want to order some bird cage liners that are the right size for our bird cages.  I bought a roll of liner paper, but it is such a pain in the butt that I end up not changing it as often as I would like to, because it requires so much time.  I realize this will sound like a frivolous luxury to some people, but oh well.  :p  I don't like stinky pets.  :)  If anyone knows of any reasonably priced alternatives that don't require much work, let me know.  :)  PS using the newspaper is not an option, since we don't subscribe to the newspaper.  ....  Hmm, maybe I should use some of the school forms and letters etc. that they keep sending which I toss because I don't want them.

Edited April 24, 2016 by SKL

[knoxinsox]

I missed last week, but we didn't spend much--about $140 total for groceries and cleaning supplies. And some fat quarters for homemade pads....fabric is not needed, but super cute, so that was my splurge for the month.  Getting ready to head over to Walmart soon to get a few essentials, like coffee creamer and some coffee.  :hurray: Hoping to spend less than $50.

 

So I am seeing some fruit of examining every aspect of my life and trying to think outside the box, cleaning things that I would have thrown away before, trying to refuse things before recycling and reusing.  Our outside trash can is very empty these days, and its quite gratifying.  Last week, I removed our kitchen waste can to hold dirty clothes and towels in the laundry room and am using just a small trash can to hold one grocery bag and we are emptying it every day or so.  I never thought we could do it, but its working.  I never in a million years thought I would give up paper towels and paper plates.  

 

Planning for next years school books, and it looks like we won't be spending much....I'm reusing my sons textbooks for my daughter, so just a few workbooks for them, and some new science books, a new set of Prismacolor pencils.  

 

 

 

[Baseball mom]

Jane -- when we do get to travel we have always taken food too.  We try to get rooms with microwave and mini fridge.  Before going I grill some chicken, hamburgers etc. and take them with us in a cooler.  We take lots of snacks and drinks (bought on sale) too.  Even when ds had an away ball tournament (day not overnight) we packed a cooler with drinks and food. 

 

I don't think I responded on last thread.  Don't think we have been doing to great either :thumbdown:

 

We have eaten out a few to many times lately.  Crazy schedule and my lack of planning.  Got to get back on the ball. 

 

Bought ds a late birthday/early graduation gift.  Haven't decided when to give it to him.  But found a good deal on some camp equipment he has been wanting. 

 

Ds2 has a birthday coming up.  Haven't bought him anything yet.  Usually he is the easy one to buy for.  This year he hasn't mentioned anything.   

 

 

[prairiewindmomma]

I love sashiko embroidery!!!

 

Ds had his wisdom teeth out this week. We spent extra money on soft and appealing foods for him when I bought groceries.  

I went to dinner with my husband last night.

I bought an instant pot and a companion cookbook.

 

Other than that, I spent little money.  I did, however, spend 6 hours going through insurance statements and bills and discovered that I was owed $$$ in reimbursement for a few different places.  The reimbursement should cover our portion of ds's wisdom teeth removal.  :)

[Guest]

I had sort of an interesting thought about mindful spending and buying used this week. I was sitting at a stop light and looking at the yard sale signs, thinking, "Ooh that looks like fun!" But then I started thinking about it. I end up buying at yard sales things that I do want, but stuff that wouldn't be worth paying full price for. It occurred to me that perhaps a different way of thinking about it is, "Don't buy anything that you aren't willing to pay full price, but do buy it at a discount."

 

I see this play out with my dad a lot. He never pays full price for anything, but ends up getting good deals on a lot of "toys" (boat, bike, etc.) and stuff that he would never get if he had to buy new at list price.

 

It's just a minor tweak in the thought process, but I'm going to try to keep that in mind during yard sale season.

It is an interesting thing to consider. I have long thought this with my mom, although she doesn't yard sale/thrift store shop so much anymore. But she used to get many "bargains" that I would think this about, as in, "Well, yeah, that is a great bargain for a Popcorn Dying Machine, but...do you need multi-colored popcorn?"

[Jane in NC]

It is an interesting thing to consider. I have long thought this with my mom, although she doesn't yard sale/thrift store shop so much anymore. But she used to get many "bargains" that I would think this about, as in, "Well, yeah, that is a great bargain for a Popcorn Dying Machine, but...do you need multi-colored popcorn?"

 

This and Barbecue Mom's post bring home the spirit of what this thread means to me: think before acquiring!

 

There are some things that I rarely find on sale--shoes for example.  I have an odd size foot and require shoes with some arch support. Dear family member who only buys stuff on sale thinks it is outrageous that I pay full price for shoes and choose brands that she says are expensive.  The way I see it, I can have shoes that fit or I can have aching feet.  I choose the former.  And maybe I could drive all over the universe to outlet malls looking for shoes in my weird size that actually fit and are a bargain--but for me this is a waste of time.  Does wear and tear on the car and my sanity equate to real savings?

 

I don't do yard sales but my husband does.  His basic rule is that if he cannot carry something from a yard sale on his bicycle, then he doesn't buy it.  His "treasures" have led me to raise my eyebrows on my than one occasion but I'll be the first to admit that he has found some great stuff.  I have a collection of vintage buttons that he has acquired for me at yard sales--spending less than ten dollars for all of it.  And because I sew, I put these buttons to use regularly.  We regularly laugh though about how holiday gift fads will inevitably make their way to the yard sales by summer--in case anyone missed buying their cake pop maker or whatever.

 

[SKL]

Yeah, my house is full of stuff that someone bought because "it was a good price."  We already have enough or too many of that, but "it was a good price" so we needed some more.  I am really cranky about such things.  The clutter and the difficulty finding a home for more stuff than we need.  I don't care if it was free, please don't bring it home if we don't need it.  (Of course this mostly falls on deaf ears.)

[BarbecueMom]

Yeah, my house is full of stuff that someone bought because "it was a good price." We already have enough or too many of that, but "it was a good price" so we needed some more. I am really cranky about such things. The clutter and the difficulty finding a home for more stuff than we need. I don't care if it was free, please don't bring it home if we don't need it. (Of course this mostly falls on deaf ears.)

I am actually putting the kibosh on unsolicited free stuff for a while, because I have a whole garage full of free stuff (mostly furniture) that ended up being a bigger pain than I expected. I have a large, rectangular shaped living room. The only things in it are a piano, a lamp, and a couch. And it is constantly trashed. If I can't keep an empty room cleaned up, I definitely don't want more stuff in it!

[SKL]

Here's a brilliant idea (which will go nowhere).  How about we all agree that, for our kids' activities, instead of giving each kid a "participation award," the organization donates the would-be cost of such award to a favorite charity?

 

Similar idea for post-game soccer snacks.  I can understand a drink, but let's donate the snack money (or the snacks) to charity!  Win-win!

[SKL]

Here's a brilliant idea (which will go nowhere).  How about we all agree that, for our kids' activities, instead of giving each kid a "participation award," the organization donates the would-be cost of such award to a favorite charity?

 

Similar idea for post-game soccer snacks.  I can understand a drink, but let's donate the snack money (or the snacks) to charity!  Win-win!

 

I have stated a rule that if you bring something into the house, you have to pick out the same amount of stuff to put on the donation pile.  However, nobody takes that rule seriously.  :P  I'm not the queen of the castle apparently.

 

[Guest]

Here's a brilliant idea (which will go nowhere). How about we all agree that, for our kids' activities, instead of giving each kid a "participation award," the organization donates the would-be cost of such award to a favorite charity?

 

Similar idea for post-game soccer snacks. I can understand a drink, but let's donate the snack money (or the snacks) to charity! Win-win!

I know. I don't think much of trophies and I have despised sports snacks for over a decade. Fortunately, the last few coaches have given out tee shirts or sweatshirts or car magnets for the team. And snack duties have lessened as the kids get older. Our current baseball coach never suggests then (YAY!!!)

 

Although for high school soccer with my daughter, the parents *still* wanted to pool money to buy big palletts of waters and Gatorades, which I don't like due to environmental impact.

 

I don't know very many people around here who resist single-use beverages with the fervency I do.

[itsheresomewhere]

Personally, I would like to see participation certificates instead of trophies (now if the teams were the top three of the league/area then give those kids the trophies).  Those printed pieces of paper have meant so much to one of my kids.  Those are cheap, take up very little room and go right in the scrap book.  I am very selective on what charities get a donation from me so I would rather the money go to helping another child in the area be able to play the sport.  

 

I bought DD a new bike and scooter.  She outgrew both of hers and it was cheaper to buy new as compared to craigslist.  This week will be expensive as I need new running shoes and clothes.  Both kids need new swimwear.  I need to find somewhere that sells boys slim suit that are long or we will be making/altering the the swim shorts this year. It is so hard to find ones for a tiny waist and long legs.  

 

 

[Baseball mom]

 

I don't know very many people around here who resist single-use beverages with the fervency I do.

 

I am guilty of buying the single beverages but we are also "that weird family" that takes reusable water bottles to all ball games.  My guys still get Gatorade some but it is  the powder mixed in their water bottles. 

 

Some other "weird" thing we do is use reusable shopping bags, cloth napkins and bring our lunch with us (in reusable containers :eek:  ). :lol:  :lol:

[quietchapel]

Excited to have found this! Will post back after ( ironically) I am finished shopping.

[itsheresomewhere]

I am guilty of buying the single beverages but we are also "that weird family" that takes reusable water bottles to all ball games. My guys still get Gatorade some but it is the powder mixed in their water bottles.

 

Some other "weird" thing we do is use reusable shopping bags, cloth napkins and bring our lunch with us (in reusable containers :eek: ). :lol: :lol:

You would fit right in with us. We do those other weird things. :)

[Guest]

I am guilty of buying the single beverages but we are also "that weird family" that takes reusable water bottles to all ball games. My guys still get Gatorade some but it is the powder mixed in their water bottles.

 

Some other "weird" thing we do is use reusable shopping bags, cloth napkins and bring our lunch with us (in reusable containers :eek: ). :lol: :lol:

All weird behaviours we engage in here, too. The shopping bag thing has become well-accepted here now, so at least I don't get so many looks about that from cashiers as I once did. A lot of places (bookstores, convenience stores) ask now if I even want a bag, which is nice.

[Guest]

Excited to have found this! Will post back after ( ironically) I am finished shopping.

HeeHee! Welcome and do come back for confession! ;)

[BarbecueMom]

I am guilty of buying the single beverages but we are also "that weird family" that takes reusable water bottles to all ball games. My guys still get Gatorade some but it is the powder mixed in their water bottles.

 

Some other "weird" thing we do is use reusable shopping bags, cloth napkins and bring our lunch with us (in reusable containers :eek: ). :lol: :lol:

Do you run into fields that don't allow outside food and drink, including water bottles except for players? Our home field is like this, and while I'm all for supporting the concession stand... that's a lot of foam cups during the season.

 

We're headed to the field now, and I feel like I'm being sneaky just by leaving our bottles in the car.

[SKL]

I buy single-serving stuff for some purposes.  It's another time vs. money [and health] thing.  If I can make the kids a lunch in a few minutes, with relatively healthy fruits and cheese sticks, I can avoid paying $6 per day for relatively junky food.  Though, as my kids get older, I'm letting them have "hot lunch" more often as they independently make healthier choices.  (Or, they say they are.  I'm not there to check.  :P)

 

About half of my "single serving lunch items" are whole fruits and boiled eggs though.

 

I also serve my kids single-serving yogurt drinks with breakfast.  Well, they don't sell that kind of beverage in bulk and I'm not going to stand around and make it.  One of my kids won't drink milk since she is somewhat intolerant.

[knoxinsox]

We reuse the Gatorade bottles in my husbands lunch box because they fit, and the water bottles we have don't.  Usually we fill it with the powdered mix, but sometimes I send sweet tea.  Apparently, he gets comments on what flavor THAT is?  He just blames it on his crunchy wife!

 

The other night the power went out, so he ate his lunch while they were waiting for everything to come back up again. Co-workers were hungry and thirsty, because they rely on the vending machines....he had everything he needed.  I think deep down he does appreciate my cost-saving and environmental efforts.  LOL 

[Guest]

Do you run into fields that don't allow outside food and drink, including water bottles except for players? Our home field is like this, and while I'm all for supporting the concession stand... that's a lot of foam cups during the season.

 

We're headed to the field now, and I feel like I'm being sneaky just by leaving our bottles in the car.

Thankfully, no I don't think we have any fields like that around here. The county where we play is very environmentally conscious on the whole. They do sell concessions, and it generates gobs of trash, but they do have recycling bins for bottles.

 

The trampoline park where DS jumps most every week has a sign on the door that says no outside food or beverages but we bring water bottles every week and so far I've never been confronted about it. They better not go there with me...

[Annie G]

Spent the past 7 days visiting my oldest dd, 4 grands, and my oldest sister. In Florida. And went to Epcot. It was not an inexpensive week, but compared to typical folks, I think we did really well!  I bought the grands two Disney pins each and they spent the day trading them with cast members. They had a ball and never asked for any souvenirs from any of the stores.  We brought a picnic lunch in and refilled our water bottles as needed.  We were there when they opened and were there for the last blast of fireworks.  They collected every stamp on their Epcot passport and spent some of their own money on flattened pennies.  

 

The beach is dirt cheap, and my sister took me to two museums but she has memberships to both so there was no cost for me to visit them. I spent 54 cents on a postcard that I'll use as a bookmark. Took a private tour of the organic farm where her CSA share comes from...free and awesome tour. There were just four of us and I learned so much!

 

Arrived home today expecting to hire a landscaper to do some work after having some concrete work done.  Decided to try to do it ourselves. I think we can do it and that frees up funds to do another project. 

 

 

 

 

[Annie G]

So while I was gone I talked to dh twice a day, usually 15 minute conversations just to keep caught up with what each of us were doing. But one night we talked for 90 minutes....about decluttering and getting rid of things we don't need- he initiated it! His folks are moving and he's expected to take everything they don't want, and he does have a bunch of stuff at their house (1000 miles away) so this was HUGE progress for dh, who is a packrat from a family of packrats. 

[BarbecueMom]

Thankfully, no I don't think we have any fields like that around here. The county where we play is very environmentally conscious on the whole. They do sell concessions, and it generates gobs of trash, but they do have recycling bins for bottles.

 

The trampoline park where DS jumps most every week has a sign on the door that says no outside food or beverages but we bring water bottles every week and so far I've never been confronted about it. They better not go there with me...

As we were waiting tonight to figure out why three teams showed up to one field (our coach messed up, oops), I realized they might be trying to keep people from bringing in alcohol. Some of the fields sell and allow alcohol, ours doesn't. Not sure why you need to drink at a kids ball game, though. Although a neighbor league had their 5yo peewee kids pitching last season... that might require some liquid help.

[Catalytic]

A couple things I am putting in my Amazon cart:

 

Khaki skirts and sweaters that should go well with them for school.  The kids' new scout level requires khaki skirts, which we don't have in their sizes because they aren't that into khaki.  :p  Figure this is an early purchase for next year's school clothes.

 

And I want to order some bird cage liners that are the right size for our bird cages.  I bought a roll of liner paper, but it is such a pain in the butt that I end up not changing it as often as I would like to, because it requires so much time.  I realize this will sound like a frivolous luxury to some people, but oh well.  :p  I don't like stinky pets.  :)  If anyone knows of any reasonably priced alternatives that don't require much work, let me know.  :)  PS using the newspaper is not an option, since we don't subscribe to the newspaper.  ....  Hmm, maybe I should use some of the school forms and letters etc. that they keep sending which I toss because I don't want them.

 

(Disclaimer, our bird is a blue and gold macaw, her cage is huge)

 

We use newspaper, I get it at grocery stores, Walmart, etc, usually by the entrance, they're usually local newspaper type things.  I'd go broke buying cage liner for her cage, if I could even find it 

[Prairie~Phlox]

A couple things I am putting in my Amazon cart:

 

Khaki skirts and sweaters that should go well with them for school. The kids' new scout level requires khaki skirts, which we don't have in their sizes because they aren't that into khaki. :p Figure this is an early purchase for next year's school clothes.

 

And I want to order some bird cage liners that are the right size for our bird cages. I bought a roll of liner paper, but it is such a pain in the butt that I end up not changing it as often as I would like to, because it requires so much time. I realize this will sound like a frivolous luxury to some people, but oh well. :p I don't like stinky pets. :) If anyone knows of any reasonably priced alternatives that don't require much work, let me know. :) PS using the newspaper is not an option, since we don't subscribe to the newspaper. .... Hmm, maybe I should use some of the school forms and letters etc. that they keep sending which I toss because I don't want them.

You could contact a newspaper company & see if they give away the end rolls, which they often do & there's usually a lot left on them.

[quietchapel]

I love this thread! I often feel so slone in my frugalness. I once told my sister that I made liquid hand soap. She looked at me like I had just told her I was aspiring to be an alpaca. We do all kinds of weird stuff, but it adds up to quite a yearly savings.

 

All that said, we are in a position where we are basically replacing everything. We moved in the fall and had to get rid of anything made of fabric. We also had to destroy most of our furniture. I had no idea how much that was until we did it. So... We are replacing stuff , but slowly. We have to buy things, and it's hard!

 

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I also bought 4 books that I am very excited about. Today, after exhausting all other options, I broke down and bought dd a desk for $30. We desperately need a dedicated school space, and dd does in particular. I bought lots of replacement cloth for 'family cloth', a dish drainer, and spice rack thingy. I am so excited to be able to find spices easily. I hadn't come up with a diy for that, either.

 

I am trying to simplify school without buying anything g for this year and next, so that is the next challenge. I also need clothes. Badly. So do the kids, but I have one pair of jeans, so I just need to break down and get some more.

 

Glad to hear everyone else's thoughts!

[Guest]

I love this thread! I often feel so slone in my frugalness. I once told my sister that I made liquid hand soap. She looked at me like I had just told her I was aspiring to be an alpaca. We do all kinds of weird stuff, but it adds up to quite a yearly savings.

 

All that said, we are in a position where we are basically replacing everything. We moved in the fall and had to get rid of anything made of fabric. We also had to destroy most of our furniture. I had no idea how much that was until we did it. So... We are replacing stuff , but slowly. We have to buy things, and it's hard!

 

I went grocery shopping yesterday. I also bought 4 books that I am very excited about. Today, after exhausting all other options, I broke down and bought dd a desk for $30. We desperately need a dedicated school space, and dd does in particular. I bought lots of replacement cloth for 'family cloth', a dish drainer, and spice rack thingy. I am so excited to be able to find spices easily. I hadn't come up with a diy for that, either.

 

I am trying to simplify school without buying anything g for this year and next, so that is the next challenge. I also need clothes. Badly. So do the kids, but I have one pair of jeans, so I just need to break down and get some more.

 

Glad to hear everyone else's thoughts!

Welcome!

 

That sounds like an enormous challenge, having to get rid of and replace all fabric items in your home. Was this an illness or allergic problem, I'm guessing? If you have a Freecycle group and or a Buy Nothing Project near you, this might be a way you could fill in some gaps for needed things - or do the replacements have to be brand new to avoid whatever the problem was? Also, if possible, ther might be a homeschool group or church affiliation that could help you secure replacements. ((Hugs))). That sounds very difficult.

 

I can tell you there are some very creative and frugal ladies who post in this thread.

[hjffkj]

Well I almost bought a Jawbone, fitness tracker, to help me track my progress. It was a great price and I has Amazon credit but since it didn't cover the whole cost I talked myself out of it. Instead, I've decided to either ask for one for my bday, in July, or purchase one as a reward for losing 10% of my body weight, whichever comes first.

[quietchapel]

Welcome!

 

That sounds like an enormous challenge, having to get rid of and replace all fabric items in your home. Was this an illness or allergic problem, I'm guessing? If you have a Freecycle group and or a Buy Nothing Project near you, this might be a way you could fill in some gaps for needed things - or do the replacements have to be brand new to avoid whatever the problem was? Also, if possible, ther might be a homeschool group or church affiliation that could help you secure replacements. ((Hugs))). That sounds very difficult.

 

I can tell you there are some very creative and frugal ladies who post in this thread.

Thank you!!!

 

Yes, things we buy ( fabric. ) need to be new or from well- known environments, unfortunately. The short version is that I have asthma, and we lived in ( unbeknownst to us) moldy homes, so it us an allergy issue. Since all of that, I have asthma that is difficult to control and I am sensitive to everything - even the fragrance in shampoo- so, we are just exceedingly careful now .

 

I appreciate the hugs and empathy! It is sometimes hard for people to understand the whole ' I can 't breathe thing' .

 

We are in a wonderful home now and I am so excited to make it beautiful in an environmentally and consumer responsible way. And, I am so thankful that I can breathe. There's little else that matters in comparison.

[Baseball mom]

Do you run into fields that don't allow outside food and drink, including water bottles except for players? Our home field is like this, and while I'm all for supporting the concession stand... that's a lot of foam cups during the season.

 

We're headed to the field now, and I feel like I'm being sneaky just by leaving our bottles in the car.

 

Our home field isn't like that.  A couple other fields I have been to say "no outside drinks" but I have never seen them stop someone with a water bottle.  I have seen them stop people with coolers, especially at tournaments. 

 

At home field I have been known to take supper (just a sandwich - lunch meat or pork chop or hamburger etc. or a wrap) for 1 of the dss.  If both were playing but at separate times I would take a sandwich and an extra drink.  Whenever the 1st ones game was over he would go put his ball gear in the van and grab his supper and drink and come back to bleachers to watch his brother play.  

And if dh was working over and coming straight to the ball park from work.  I would have him a sandwich and drink ready too. 

 

Some times we got weird looks but other times people would ask "hey which concession stand did you get that from?"

[Baseball mom]

I have been good.  Was looking on amazon, ds2 birthday is coming up.  I put several items in my cart, most for him and a few for me.  Moved most of the "for me"  to "save for later.  And moved several items for ds to "save for later".  Then right before hitting send I moved the 1 thing for me I wanted to "save for later" .  Then ordered the 2 items I know ds wants.