Go old school. Use a basket

My daughter grabbed a basket at the supermarket.

“Let’s get a cart in case we want to get something big,” I said.

“But this basket holds less. I’m trying to save you money,” she insisted.

And so we shopped with a basket.

We found a few things that weren’t on our list (pretty typical when shopping with a child). However, since we had less space and had to carry everything, many purchases were averted.

The basket forced us to carefully consider our purchases. We stuck to our shopping list like glue.

Which got me thinking… when were shopping carts invented? Shopping carts first rolled into stores in 1937. The concept was delightfully simple: make shopping easy for customers so that they’ll visit often and buy more.

Ah, but of course!

If you want to put the brakes on your spending (and improve your upper body strength), go old school. Use a basket.

What tactics do you use to buy less?

Dream Save Do – Amass the cash to live your dream

I just finished reading ‘Dream Save Do’ by Betsy and Warren Talbot. Betsy and Warren spend their days meeting people, traveling the world, and trying new things. Sounds pretty fun huh?

How did Betsy and Warren become world travelers? Betsy and Warren were your basic corporate drones, who on the cusp of turning 40 stopped buying things and started saving for their dream. Traveling the world.

In two years’ time they saved $75,000, more than enough to fund their travel budget of $100 a day (read Dream Save Do for all their money saving details). Last fall Warren and Betsy packed their backpacks and traveled to South America, then Antarctica, Europe, and now Thailand. They’re living their dream and inspiring others to do the same. Very cool!

Are Betsy and Warren the real deal? Yep! A couple of years ago I met Betsy when she was stockpiling cash and selling her possessions. I thought Betsy was fun and full of interesting stories (and this is before she started traveling!).

I love reading about people following their passion because they inspire me to do the same. Reading ‘Dream Save Do’ got me thinking about my dream.

What does my ideal day look like? If I could live anywhere, where would I live? What would I do? And what can I do today to make my dream reality?

Good stuff.

You can read all about Warren and Betsy’s adventures at MarriedwithLuggage.com.

Life is short. Live your dream.

Giving thanks

A grateful heart is a happy heart. I’m counting my blessings today…

• Clean drinking water
• Warm and dry home
• Amply stocked kitchen
• Cup of coffee in hand
• Plenty of books to read
• 4 days off from work
• Hot breakfast prepared by my daughter

There’s so much to be thankful for!

I need nothing.

Black Friday deals have no luster, when you take into account what you already have.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Quatchi likes pancakes

Kindle library books

A few weeks ago Amazon added library books to the Kindle. Yes!

Now you can browse and download library books to your Kindle from the comfort of your own home. While I enjoy reading on my Kindle, the price of Kindle books has inched upwards since they were first introduced. I haven’t used my Kindle a ton, because it’s expensive to feed. Kindle library books are great because they’re free and sometimes available instantly.

Don’t have a Kindle? No worries. If you have a smartphone, you can use the Kindle app to read Kindle library books on your phone. At first I scoffed at this idea thinking the screen size was too small, but I’ve found that reading books on my phone isn’t that bad. Having books on my phone is handy when I’m waiting for an appointment to start, or my daughter’s piano lesson to end.

To see which Kindle library books are available – go to your library’s website. The downside?

• You can’t download library Kindle books over 3G (you need to use Wi-Fi or a USB cable connected to your computer).
• The lending period is 21 days, so read fast.

My public library also has eBooks in PDF and Adobe ePUB formats, which you can read on your computer. So check out the ‘Downloads’ section on your library’s website. You never know what you might find.

Ted Talk: Wearing nothing new

An idea worth spreading: Not buying new clothes was presented as a Ted Talk! Check out this video:

Here’s why designer Jessi Arrington shops at thrift stores and flea markets:

• To reduce her impact on our environment and her wallet.
• To meet all kinds of great people.
• To support a good cause.
• To dress in a unique way.

Jessi says “shopping at thrift stores is like a personal treasure hunt.”

So true! You never know what you’ll find.

Another great reason to buy used clothes… You don’t have to worry or wonder about how something will ‘wash up,’ because it’s already been through the ringer (or at least a washer).

Why do you like or dislike buying used clothes?

Cold-brewed coffee

It’s July in Seattle and we’re experiencing the occasional summer-like day, which means it’s time to switch to iced coffee beverages!

A couple years ago I discovered the joy of cold brewed coffee. This super smooth coffee magically brews overnight, allowing you to wake up to tasty coffee goodness. I got this recipe from Rachel Meeks at Small Notebook. (Thanks Rachel!)

Cold-brewed coffee

1. Add 1/4 cup coarse ground coffee and 1 cup cold water to a container (I use a French press, but you could use a glass jar).
2. Sleep 7 hours (ideally).
3. The next morning, add 1 cup of water to the container.
4. Strain and pour the coffee over ice.
5. Add milk and sugar as desired.

That’s it!

With a little night-before planning, you could be drinking smooth iced coffee in seconds (without a trip to a coffee shop).

Here’s to fabulous summertime coffee. Cheers!

My 365 photo blog post for today:

Rethinking gum

In the back of my mind, I’ve always known that gum wasn’t healthy. Not healthy for me or our environment. I noticed that gum wasn’t sold at ’natural’ grocery stores and the ingredients, well ah… they are suspect (i.e. polyvinyl acetate anyone?). All that said, I still chewed gum.

That is, until I read ’Chewing on Plastic? Yum!‘ back in January, and my gum buying days stopped. Wow!

The past few months I’ve been in many checkout lines, surrounded by gum, AND I’ve resisted the temptation. Yay! Once I bought some Peppermint lifesavers, but no gum.

Thanks to Beth Terry at My Plastic-free Life for inspiring me to kick my gum habit! I aspire to live a plastic-free life, and while I have a ways to go, reading blogs by plastic-free bloggers are great motivation for me.

Have you kicked the gum habit? Which alternatives do you like? 

More about gum: Behind the label: Chewing gum

My 365 photo blog post for today:

Memberships: Use them, or lose them

I’ve been paying monthly gym fees for years. And years. I probably could have bought my own pool by now. OK, maybe not – but it feels like it sometimes.

Some months I swim a lot. And then there are months where I… um, don’t go at all. The bummer about memberships is that you pay whether you use the service or not. So this month I gave myself an ultimatum – use my gym membership, or lose it.

I decided that 10 visits a month is a reasonable goal.

Sounds simple, but 10 visits is much more than I’ve been doing in the past. To meet this lofty goal, I’m doing a couple things:

• I have a white card on my fridge to track my visits (goals that I don’t track are forgotten).
• I set up a regular time to swim (2 pm) and blocked it out on my calendar.

I’m happy to report that the regular calendar appointment and the card on my fridge are helping me reach my goal. I feel much better about my gym membership now that I’m using it.

What memberships or subscriptions do you have? Are you getting your money’s worth?

Any time is a good time to reevaluate memberships and pull the plug on the ones you’re not using.

My 365 photo blog post for today:

Walking your city

I recently found an app that got me thinking. ’City Walk‘ divides your city into sectors, with your goal being to walk all the sectors in your city. There are fancy leaderboards and your progress is magically tracked by your phone and gremlins in the sky.

I think City Walk is a fun idea. I’ve lived in a Seattle suburb for 20+ years and City Walk got me thinking about walking my city. All of it. I can get a city map and walk different areas each week or month, marking off the completed areas.

Walking is a great way to learn an area. You might drive a route every day, but you see different things when you walk. You notice things that are overlooked when you’re speeding through life.

Walking has so many benefits…

Want to escape your busy life? Walk. Want to lose weight? Walk. Want to decrease stress? Walk. Want to solve problems? Walk. Want to reconnect with nature and your community? Walk.

It’s simple, free, and available to all. Walk your way to better health and well-being.

One street at a time.

How about you? Have you walked your city?

My photo blog post for today:

Carrots galore

Carrots are a great frugal food. You can buy a big bunch of large carrots for just a few bucks at any time of the year. I recently discovered an excellent recipe for marinated carrots. It’s so good that I’ve been eating more carrots than I normally do (plain ol’ baby carrots get old pretty fast).

Here’s the recipe:

Marinated Carrots from ‘Mediterranean Harvest’ by Martha Rose Shulman

1 pound of carrots cut into sticks
2 T sherry vinegar
2 T olive oil
coarse sea or kosher salt
fresh mint, finely chopped (optional)

Steam the carrots for 5 to 6 minutes, until just tender. Refresh with cold water and toss with the oil, sherry, salt, and fresh mint. The carrots will keep in the fridge for a week, standing ready when you need a snack, lunch, or a dinner side dish.

That’s it!

Super easy, tasty, and frugal. Also plastic-free, if you buy individual carrots and bring your own reusable produce bag.

How do you like to eat carrots?

My photo blog post for today: