Making Changes - 365 days of reigning in retail spending

Here's the big one you have all been waiting for!

Starting September 1, for the next 365 days we're reigning in our retail spending.

I had started this saying I wasn't going to shop for the next year. I can't say we're "not shopping". The woman I got this idea from wouldn't even buy herself a new bra! That is ridiculous to me. So, I guess, I'm defining shopping as the new sweater hanging on the rack that you think you can't do without. That great new toy that your kid will 'just love'. The 'Oooh, bleach is on sale, I need 10 of those' moments. The $100 limit for Christmas and buying big extravagances for birthdays or just because. I'm looking at the trip to the big bag store only for bread and milk that just cost you $50! That's my definition of shopping. Those are the types of spending I'm looking to eliminate. I'm realizing that it's simply impossible to 'not shop'. For now, we'll call it "reigning in".

I have 3 little nieces/nephews with birthdays and Christmas coming and they don't understand this whole thing. They're 3 and 4. And another that's going to be 14 (makes me feel old - then I think of her 27 YO cousin and I feel like a grandma!). We have set a strict gift limit on these things. I'm not going to disclose that limit but there is one.

We have a trip to Detroit coming up this month. That will happen as planned. I also have an event late winter/early spring that will happen as planned. These were scheduled before this was decided. It is not fair to those involved to force their participation or put in less for they certainly deserve the most.

Clothing for Jacob - I will have to purchase summer clothing for him next year then again for fall and I have a HUGE tendency to go overboard! We're switching over to the 'buy seven' rule. 7 shirts, 7 pants, 7 shorts, etc. He has 7 days worth of clothing and I do laundry once per week. I have been selling Jacob's clothes on an online auction site - and we're having another garage sale to get rid of the overabundance of his clothes - most that he NEVER EVEN WORE! Shoes will be replaced as he uses them up or outgrows them. As always, I will try to do used where I can (he's getting to the age where clothing does wear out), yard sales, second hand stores, etc. I do that now but, really, his dresser is STUFFED!

Halloween: I have Jacob's costume already. We will buy candy and hand out candy. I'm not handing out chocolate this year. Bring on the bulk foods, individually wrapped Smarties. I can't take my kid trick-or-treating and not hand out candy myself. I may get really bitchy and require costumes to get candy too...

Thanksgiving: We're traveling to my sister's this year. One year, I prepared for like 10 people and we only had 3 show up. I'm simply not doing it anymore. I'll make a small dinner for us to have leftovers.

I have Jacob's birthday gifts already. We're not having a party this year. We're having a small dinner with cupcakes, at home with G & G H, G & G S, and I don't know who else. Just a small family deal, on a Monday night.

Christmas: Christmas for us this year is going to be homemade. I bought everything (except the consumables) back in February to make our Christmas gifts. We also pared down the list of people we are giving gifts to this year. Really, if I haven't spoken to you all year or for that matter, if we don't even get together unless it's a forced thing - why do I want to give you a gift? I certainly wouldn't expect one from you!

I do have some rebate money from an on-line auction to spend in October. I will use those rebates to purchase Jacob's Christmas gifts - which has been drastically scaled back from previous years.

Jeremy and I are not exchanging gifts at all this year. As you recall, I got a new camera and signed off on receiving any type of gift for the rest of my life. I really like that camera!

I will only buy clothing/shoes for Jeremy and I as a necessity. Shoes - they have to have no life left. Clothing - we're both set. We will replace Jeremy's work clothes as needed and we will also purchase underclothes as they are thrown out.

Vehicles and our home will still be maintained.

Our cat(s) will not change foods or litter - I may mix a couple brands depending on what is on sale. Sadly, we're about to lose 1 cat and but, that is another post.

No new flowers for the yard and no annuals in the spring.

We will purchase pool filters.

Toiletries will be replenished as they're close to being used up. No more stockpiling!

NO MORE BOOKS! My to read list at the library has 86 books on it. Plus I have 14 on the shelf in our den and another at least 30 on the shelf in the guest room.

Batteries - Wisely, last year, we changed to rechargeable and have been working those in. We will purchase other size batteries as needed - for smoke detectors, flashlights, safety type things.

Meals outside of the home will be limited to once per 2 week pay period. Jacob and I will still do our Sunday supper at "Donald's" on Sunday when Daddy works.

I can't say that I will not go out to lunch from work for the next year. I eat lunch at my desk most days and I do bring my lunch from home or I have stuff in my desk. Going out, isn't really an issue for me. I think limiting eating lunch out to once per month, will be an easy task. Besides, it's the only way I get to see Ember and, I'm keeping that.

No more afternoon trips to the vending machine for chips or chocolate.

No more pop, no more soda, no more buying flavored water at work!

My toughest = coffee. I try to take coffee from home with me in the morning. But some mornings there just isn't time to brew it so I buy coffee from work. I have a refillable cup - that they will refill twice for $1.50. Yet for the $1.50 - I get coffee in the AM as well as PM! I am going to limit my at work coffee expense to once per week. No more foo-foo coffee!

I will continue to send Birthday cards to our families, and Holiday cards to the little kiddies. The good Lord knows I have the cards to be sending!

I will send Christmas cards this year too. Again, God knows the stack of cards is already there. I'm sorry if you get the same card you got last year.

As for Jeremy - he hasn't been allowed to spend money for almost 8 years now. This isn't much of a change for him.

I've allowed quite a few exceptions, and I know that. My goal here is to really curb my spending. To buy less. To waste less. To use things up and wear them out. To not have so much stuff that's just stuff or stuff that's simply for convenience.

Again, I'm happy to answer any questions and if you think I missed something, please say and I'll respond in the comments. I'm also open to suggestions.

Wish me luck!

Making Changes - Trash and Footprint Reduction

As many of you know we are recyclers and we're pretty good at it but, I've been thinking a lot about all that we do recycle and what is still left that we can't. I think about all of the waste leftover, and how do we reduce the imprint left behind. How can we use less?

We will no longer be using paper plates, plastic cups, or plastic silverware. We will use up what we do have but no more will be purchased. I have plate service at home for 19! 19! Plus another 8 for everyday!

At work, I have plates, coffee cups, and utensils and I will use them rather than the paper and plastic provided. I need a small bottle of dish soap for my desk.

I have and will make sure I use my canvas shopping bags rather than the plastic ones offered form the store. In some cases, I will even refuse the bag.

I will also limit the number of plastic take out containers we use. I have read about a woman who brings her own Tupperware rather than use a Styrofoam container. I'm going to try to to reach that level.

We will continue working with Jacob to go #2 on the potty to cut our diaper use by half.

I haven't found a good solution for food wastes yet though. We don't have a garbage disposal or a dog.

I will not go without paper towel but, I will try to use a regular towel when I can.

We do use a lot of flavored water, and I know that is a huge sin in the land of the 'no wasters' and we will work towards eliminating that luxury.

I will also be more mindful of what I print from my computer but, my question is, if I save it for Jacob to draw on, will the wax from the crayon nix it's recycle-ability?

We will also reduce our water usage. I'll do larger loads of laundry, less often. We'll use less water for Jacob's bath. I'll shut the water off while brushing my teeth. I won't let the water run as long for a drink. I'll use less dishwater (we don't have a dishwasher) and shorten showers (though I'm not a long shower taker).

As always, we'll turn our heat down this winter and Jacob has been policing the light switches, making sure we turn them off when leaving a room. I'll use more candles where I can and where it's safe to use them.

I will make a more conscious effort to purchase foods with less packaging or recyclable packaging.

We will spend more time outside and less time in front of the television. We will read more books and play more games.

We will eat at home more and do less takeout.

We will buy more used (when we're buying again). I will continue to Freecycle and or donate my used and unneeded items.

Again, some of these things do cross over into the 365 thing. I'm sure they'll be repeated when I finally get to that post. I'm moving up my deadline to September 1.

As I said in the last post, if you have any ideas about reducing, re-purposing or recycling, I'm open to suggestions - as long as you don't mention that whole flavored water thing.

Making Changes - The Grocery Budget

I decided to start with this one as it's the easiest of my changes - I have to think about some instances with the other 2 before I go forward.

I said I was going to get our grocery budget to $125 every 2 weeks. Here's how:

I'm going to plan menus ahead of time. Not necessarily around the sale ads. I want to eat what I'm hungry for - not what the store says I want to eat. I'm also going to cook in smaller batches as to avoid having to eat one thing for a week and getting sick of it three days in.

I'm going to continue to make meals that can stretch out a few days, like casseroles, pepper steak, stroganoff, Salisbury steak, oh, Reuben casserole and Cabbage Roll Casserole (I haven't made those in a long time)!

I'm going to continue going to Aldi for our staple items - actually for the majority of my list. If I need it and they sell it - I'll buy it there. I do go there first.

I'm going to STICK to my list. The no shopping for 365 will help that, I'm sure. I'm also contemplating to have me do the Aldi shopping and sending Jeremy to the big store with my other list. He STICKS to the list!

We always check the reduced meat sections for deal. When I do buy meat.

No more pop! I'm not buying it. We don't need it!

No more stockpiling! 1 to spare is all. When the spare comes out of the pantry, that item goes on the list. I don't need 3 jars of mayo at a time.

I'm no longer cutting coupons. I spend $1.75 on the newspaper simply for the coupons. I keep a bunch for things I don't normally buy - just to try them. And, I find I spend more if I have coupons. I feel like I'm wasting if I don't use it. So is that coupon really saving me anything? If I happen upon some for items that I normally buy, I'll use them.

I also intend to stay out of our local grocery store. I bought a bottle of Ranch salad dressing there once for $2.79 (store brand), the name brand, at the big bag store = $1.58! Not to mention, they have a fuel rewards system that isn't worth it! Of course, emergency run-outs are the exception. When you need eggs, driving 20 minutes to the big bag store is NOT worth it!

And the kicker - I will only pay for my groceries using C A S H! Think about it a minute - if you only have $100 in your hand - you can only spend $100 right? So, you think long and hard about everything you put in that cart if you only have $100!

I'm open to any suggestions you have or things you do to save money on groceries. I'm willing to share any of my casserole or meal stretcher recipes with you. If you have any that you'd like to share, I'd gladly take them too.

I will be posting the results of my bi-weekly grocery shopping out here. I need some way to be accountable and well, if I have to tell you what I did, then I am. Oh, and this is starting immediately.

Making Changes

I read. I read a lot. I read magazines and I read stories. Lately, the focus of my reading has been articles about reducing my footprint, reducing clutter, reducing spending, so basically reducing, period.

I read an article in a magazine the other night about a family that didn't shop for a whole year. 365 days, they didn't shop. Of course, they bought consumables, food, gas, toiletries type things but, no clothing, no toys, no extras.

In researching this experiment, I also came across a woman doing a 'no plastic for a year' experiment. Again, I was intrigued.

So, here's the deal folks. Starting October 1, this family is not shopping for 365 days.

Starting immediately, this family is going to reduce their landfill garbage by another 20%.

We are also going to reduce our grocery budget to $125 for 2 weeks.

"How?", you ask.

Stay with me and I'll explain each item over the next few days.

BTW - We're doing this to better ourselves, to produce less waste and to cut back to basics. We are not broke. We're not losing our home. Our jobs are secure and our hours at them have not been reduced.

I'd love to answer your questions along the way too, so don't be shy.

Fruit Salad?

This morning amid my hectic, Monday morning preparations, I showered (as I do daily, sometimes more as needed) using Rainkissed Leaves from Bath and Body Works. I love this scent!

After my shower, I went into my room and promptly spritzed myself with Coconut Lime Verbena! At that point, do you wash again? Or just go with what you've got?

The only drawback of Bath and Body Works - if you ever mix up your scents, you end up with Fruit Salad...or maybe Flower Shop...possibly even Grandma's Bakery...maybe some sick combination of them all.

Note to myself: Just because the body spritzes are both green, it doesn't mean they're of the same food group. Check the label, dummy!

Did you know...that I like...

abandoned mental institutions or psychiatric hospitals?

It started when I was in junior high, Edna took me for a drive through the Traverse City State Hospital grounds. I was amazed at the architecture and the abandon of it all. All the things just left behind - like they didn't have time to pack. I even kinda liked the eery-ness of it. When I was in high school, the art teacher did a series of paintings of the old hospital and again, I was intrigued. I've read a few books about the State Hospital but, have never been there since. Now, it is The Village at Grand Traverse Commons and I'd love to get back there again one day.

This past weekend, Jeremy took me to the Kalamazoo State Hospital, which is still in operation, but there is an abandoned section. This is the original water tower.

I believe this was an administration building at one time. I was able to peek through the front doors and these buildings simply amaze me in their construction. The floor in the entry is white hexagonal tile with a dark grout. The walls are white marble panels with a gray marble trim. The stairs are solid slabs of white marble. At the top are two sets of huge oak doors with leaded glass windows from top to bottom. I got a picture of the entry (it's on Flickr) but I couldn't get the shot of the inside doors and the marble to come out when taking it through the glass.

An abandoned shed - the front would have been a better shot - but the briers deterred me!

The crackled fire hydrant.

And what's left of a lamp post.

There were so many paths to explore and I was nervous about trespassing. There is a police station across the street.

The architecture of the Thomas Kirkbride buildings will continue to fascinate me (what is left of the Kalamazoo Asylum in not Kirkbride - the original buildings that have been demolished were). It's such a terrible shame that these works of art continue to deteriorate or simply be torn down all over this country. What also strikes me as strange - is such elaborate architecture to be used in mental institutions...not that I feel it a waste, but more if it's going to be hidden away like that - and then destroyed, why do it?

To the Air Zoo

We finally made our trip to the Air Zoo this past weekend to enjoy the free admission.

Jeremy kept telling me, " they're only open until 5:00."

We got there at 1:29. We were back in the car at 2:07. I'm not sure what he thought we were going to do.

They do have simulators and rides too but, the lines were long and Jacob, too short!



Can you say TOP GUN? I didn't realize how huge these planes are! Wow!

It's a Grumman F-14A Tomcat

I had said to Jeremy - this is only one of these, and they line them up on the aircraft carriers 10 and 20 at a time, whoa, those carriers gotta be BIG!

This was Jeremy's favorite.














Lockheed SR-71B Blackbird
I was just tall enough to touch a tip of one of the wings. It kinda felt like an old tire without the give - from the material giving the SR71 it's stealth capabilities.











This was my favorite. It's a Grumman G-73 Mallard. The wheels slide out from the sides. It's privately owned. It's big and it's beautiful! Could you imagine what it costs to gas her up?











This is a Corsair as she would have been on the flight deck in her day.

Besides all that, it is a fantastic place to visit. Between the 2 buildings the Air Zoo hosts over 50 historic aircraft.

In the building behind Jacob (in the top picture) and the plane, they show a movie about the bombers over Germany in WWII. Also, there is an amazing mural painted around the room showing the B-17 in flight as well as many other aircraft. (More pics on Flickr, of course or better yet - check them out at http://www.airzoo.org/)