My oven is broken. The burners are fine. (Yay). The pilot light is on . (Yay.) But the oven itself won't catch fire and burn, baby, burn. My landlord is on top of the situation -- I've now spent more time in the last two days talking with him about... Continue reading

Ah, little thrifting blog, I have severely neglected you. My very bad. With the return of my summer (non)-schedule, however, I thought I'd try to get back to posting here every once in a while. Although I haven't been posting, I have been continuing my quest to live a more financially stable, debt-free life. The biggest change I've made, honestly, is to just spend within my income. Stopping the habit of pulling out my credit card, and switching to using my debit card, has made a huge impact on my life and sanity level. This has so much to do... Continue reading

I know, I know. It's been too long since I posted! Sorry! The good news is that I'm still trying to lead a thriftier, less waste-producing, less debt-producing lifestyle. I am thrilled to report that I haven't put any new purchases on my credit cards since I started this blog in January... whoops! That's a bit misleading. I did buy bus tickets to DC to see my brother for a weekend, but I paid the credit card back out of my bank account. And then, after a feverish back and forth with the bus company over the many ills they... Continue reading

And I could afford take out from the diner. We're talking $10, so, sure. But I had just done my grocery shopping and I feel like I throw out more food than I eat, sometimes. So... BLT on multi-grain bread, with homemade "French fries" (I cut up a potato into slices, add a slug of olive oil and some kosher salt and leave in a 400 degree oven for an hour). Not bad, right? Continue reading

This is the great big project of my Winter Olympics viewing. It took me about 10 hours, all together (not in one sitting), to sew those buttons onto the pillow in a big "S" form. I'm really proud of how it turned out! I saw the idea in a magazine, and bought the materials to do it the next day. (This is something to contemplate about my idea of moving out of New York City and back to Pennsylvania -- is the proximity to craft supplies and ease of getting them a good or bad thing?). The flannel, the same... Continue reading

The life of semi-frugality continues. Today, I went to my local housewares store (it's two blocks away, veerry local) to buy a cake decorating supplies. I wanted to make deviled eggs for the Oscar party I'm going to tomorrow and since it's the Oscars and they are FANcy, I wanted to pipe the egg innards into the egg whites with a rosette tip. I also want to learn to make French macaroons (which I fell in love with in Paris and which are EXPENSIVE here [and there, for that matter]), so I needed a straight-up round hole tube tip too.... Continue reading

I haven't posted in this blog recently, but I decided I'd better get to it today. I wanted to let you know that I have not given up nor been done in by the concept of living more simply. In fact, I find myself more and more in tune with it. I am, at heart, an anxious person (aren't we all?) but I'm finding that feeling I have a grasp on how much money I have, what bills I need to pay and how I'll use any money coming in is giving me a sense of comfort and control. Control... Continue reading

And it nearly did me in, the lamp buying. I'm in Pennsylvania this week, visiting my folks, and registering the siren call of the economically-depressed, no-sales-tax Pennsylvania shopping trip. Dear reader, stuff here is cheap. I knew I wouldn't be able to totally hold back on all purchasing (as I've mentioned before, going to Jo-Ann's and Michael's is a major bonding opportunity for my mom and me), so I set aside a small amount of money to purchase with. All was going well. I got materials to make two pillows (and actually began making one, details on that soon). The... Continue reading

I was hit by an urge to send Valentines this year. Who knows why? I usually make my own Christmas cards and didn't have time to this year (nor did I last year, but I made them anyway, crying quietly to myself late at night whilst doing so -- this year I forced myself to purchase cards early, which solved the problem), so perhaps the card-making urge was just too strong. And, of course, I wanted to tell a few people who I love that I love them. So I decided to challenge myself to make no more than 6... Continue reading

I woke up happy today. This is not a small thing. I've not been very happy lately. But today, I woke up to the sun shining through my blinds. I knew I had plenty of time to get to church (instead of traveling almost an hour to get there, I was going to a church about a brisk 15 walk from me). I only have a week of school and then a week off. I had spent the morning of the day before at the library and writing, and the afternoon with my best friend, seeing a good a movie... Continue reading

The robe over which I agonized (see below) arrived on Tuesday afternoon. It is sooo soft. The color is flattering. It fits. It does not have, um, chocolate stains on the front. It does not, um, have a hold in the right underarm. It is really, really nice and warm, and did I mention, soft? It was well worth the $25. And I think it's worth noting that I've truly taken notice of this purchase. It's not an acquistion that just came into my life and made little impact (like, say, a book I forgot I bought two months ago... Continue reading

I've had to buy a bunch of things today. It's Saturday, so it's grocery day for me, and farmer's market day, and drugstore day, and laundry day. I try to run a big chunk of my errands on Saturday mornings, before too many people are out and about and while my energy level is still relatively high. I also tend to purchase things online on Saturday mornings -- that mental list I've been compiling in my head all week about what I need to get hits me hard on Saturday, and I often sit down and make a few online... Continue reading

So, I went to the drugstore to get a few needed things, including picking up a magazine to send to a former (male, African-American) student who is now in prison. I don't really understand what happened, because I was looking at VIBE and I put my hand out to pick up VIBE, but somehow I bought ESSENCE instead. When I got home, I realized that ESSENCE not only is not VIBE, but is also a magazine for African-American ladies. I do not think I have ever felt as stupidly white as I did in that moment. *sigh* I can't even... Continue reading

I was worried about spending too much this weekend. It has been a very bad week at school, with fighting amongst the kids, a continual struggle to hold their attention, inexplicable events and continued bad faith efforts. I'm also almost plan-free this weekend (a deliberate attempt to get some writing done), which leaves me with hours of unscheduled time. This is the perfect combination for acquiring -- wandering about in New York, discovering someplace new and buying knick-knacks from it. Weekends like this I'd often come home from one event I really enjoyed (say, a movie, or a trip to... Continue reading

I have a hard time saying no. Oh, not to you, or to any other person. I seem to have been born with, or developed, the exact opposite psychological system than most women are supposed to have. I don't particularly have issues with saying no to people, but I do have trouble saying no to myself. I have a feeling that this is a later-in-life tendency developed after teaching for a few years. Yes, yes... my memory is reminding me of some incidents early in my teaching career in which I said yes to some pretty dubious proposals from students... Continue reading

Have you noticed, as I have been noticing for a few years now, how often people instruct us to reward ourselves by purchasing something? I think every article I've ever read on either getting yourself to write or losing weight (or, I suppose, any other long-term project, but it seems I'm only interested in getting myself to write or losing weight. :)) includes the admonishment to reward yourself along your path -- with a new magazine, a coffee from Starbucks, or a some other little trinket. Wow, no wonder I've been buying myself little things after school for so many... Continue reading

What's negotiable? What is non-negotiable? That's what I've been thinking of lately as I ponder how to reduce my debt. I'm blessed to not have to economize too much, at this point. I don't need to worry where my next meal is coming from, nor count pennies at the grocery store. My problem, thankfully, is not extreme, except in that I've let money flow out of my pocketbook like it's my job to get rid of all of it by next pay period. (Thank goodness for automatic debit plans, which have kept my savings/retirement up, since I surely would not).... Continue reading

Craft books and craft magazines are my crack. Well, maybe not. No. Immediately after typing that, I thought, "No, craft supplies are my crack. No, ALL magazines are my crack. No, chocolate chips are my crack." So maybe it's fair to say that I'm addicted to many things. But for present, let us focus on craft books and magazines. I love them. I love them. I probably have over 100 in my apartment at present. They are, to me, the perfect treat: They make me think of my grandmother. They make me feel industrious. They pay off over and over... Continue reading

A lot of this spending less thing comes down to really looking at your habits. By "your habits," of course, I mean, "my habits." I'm seeing repeated evidence that, as I noted yesterday, I acquire when I am bored or sad. Instead of developing more long-lasting habits to deal with my boredom or torpor, I get something shiny and/or new. Bad habit. (And also one that is slightly ridiculous when you consider the amount of reading material I have in this apartment, not to mention the amount of crafting materials that lie about. I could probably spend a week just... Continue reading