It’s January 30, and the last thermometer I saw said it’s 37 degrees, but it really is time to start thinking about gardening again. For me, this is complicated by the fact that we’re thinking about moving (not out of Portland, just someplace cheaper and/or possibly a different neighborhood). So I don’t want to put [...]
My six year old daughter has a talent for hitting a baseball. She naturally uses the correct form and follows through and everything. We’ve been thinking about signing her up for Little League, which (if I remember correctly; they don’t post it online) costs over $50, plus required fundraising. My nine year old daughter enjoys [...]
January 17th to 24th is National Thrift Week, which actually became defunct in 1967. There’s a campaign on to bring it back, though. J.D. Roth explained a bit more about it over at Get Rich Slowly. “they saw it not as a way to encourage miserly behavior, but instead to cultivate responsible consumerism and civic [...]
Tags: cooking, Economy, food, freezer meals, frugal cooking, frugality, national thrift week, thrift
Posted on January 07th, 2009 in Economy
You’ve probably heard that traditional daily newspapers are in trouble. Newspapers have been laying off and buying out employees to cut costs. The Seattle Times Sunday and daily editions have shrunk significantly in recent weeks (the January 7 edition was reportedly 18 pages long), leaving Seattle residents wondering whether the paper will survive the year. [...]
My kids have plenty of stuff. We could stand to get rid of a good portion of the stuff, in fact. But what did I just buy for them? Yep. More stuff. Why didn’t I make a better choice? It’s about the money. I’d rather give them something like good arts and crafts supplies or [...]
Posted on December 13th, 2008 in Economy, Sustainability
Food is one thing that everyone needs. And as the recession (currently one year old) has gone on, food prices have gone up, and people’s resources for buying food have dwindled. How will food work in the economy of the future? As it’s a basic need, we should be making sure everyone has enough to [...]
Posted on December 01st, 2008 in Economy
After reading my previous post, @tylerinCMYK asked about my definition of a need, as opposed to a want. We all know about the most basic needs of human beings: food, water, clothing, shelter. Technically, anything beyond these could be considered a want. But our ideas about what is a basic need have changed over time, [...]
Posted on November 28th, 2008 in Economy, Sustainability
I did not shop today. Well, I did have my husband stop for some milk; I figure that doesn’t count. Will I be shopping tomorrow? Nope. Not unless it’s for a necessity. Cyber Monday? No again. Am I totally un-American? Do I want the economy to fall even further down the hole? No. What I’m [...]
