They Call 'em "Stick Ups" Because They're Stealing Your Money

Remember when Air Wick first brought out their Stick Up air fresheners, and their tagline was "this is a good place for a Stick Up." Clever. I remembered it just now after more years than I care to remember. They're not terribly expensive (I just checked on amazon.com, and they run less than $2 for a 2-pack), until you realize that they're nothing more than some fragrance and maybe some baking soda.

Here's my super-cheap way to keep your smelly kitchen (or bathroom) garbage can under control: sprinkle plain old baking soda liberally on the bottom of the garbage can itself (not inside the bag). I cover the bottom of my can completely with a thin layer. It absorbs odors exceptionally well, and lasts a long time (several months, if not longer, depending on the thickness of the layer. Switch it out when it starts not doing its job (trust me, you'll know when it's time).

Not only are you saving money, this is easy on the ol' landfill, too, as you aren't having to toss little plastic containers.

Better Product/Better for the Environment

A few weeks ago, I read an article about disposable razors and how much waste they generate. I had been using them forever because they were cheap, and never really thought about the waste. "Hmm...isn't real-life frugality about saving the environment AND saving money?" I asked myself. Well, yes it is!! So, I switched to a system where you only toss the blade, and I feel much more environmentally-friendly. In addition to generating less waste, the blades actually last for more than just one shave.

If any of you are interested, I'm now using the Venus Divine by Gillette. The cartridges are not terribly cheap, but I do make sure to only buy them when they are on sale and/or I have a coupon. While doing some web research for this post, I came across a host of articles on the topic. Just go out and type "disposable razor landfill" into Bing! or Google and you'll see what I mean. One of the most interesting articles I found was this one, which tells you how to sharpen your razor blades on the leg of your jeans. I am so gonna try this one, but maybe I will use an old pair of jeans that I don't care much about. I'm also thinking that it would be best to do this with regular denim, not stretch denim like most women's jeans are made of.

SwapMamas.com

Swapmamas.com, like Kashless, is another way to get rid of things you don't want and pick up some nice freebies that you could use. What I find most useful about the site is that the items for trading are listed in different groups, or circles, as SwapMamas calls them. So, if you are only interested in baby clothes or craft supplies, you won't have to slog through a whole bunch of listings for old windows and broken computers. You can also swap items like gift cards and grocery coupons. I joined the gift card swap circle, and offered up a $15 Best Buy gift card, looking for Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, or similar cards in return. So far, no takers. But, the idea is cool.

You can work out a trade with someone who has what you want and wants what you have, or you can give your items to one swapper and get items from another. The giver pays shipping, and gets karma in return (their wording, not mine). The hope is that swappers would be both GIVERS and GETTERS.

SwapMamas goes one step further, adding a social component. To quote from their website, "It's about getting to know other parents, making connections, and doing a little old school trading with friends." I'm not wild on this aspect of the site, to be honest. If I want friends, I'll log in to Facebook. I don't have time to build a social network on a site that is solely for swapping freebies.

I'll let you know if my gift card swap ever pans out. But, in the meantime, take a look at SwapMamas.com and see what you think!

Kashless.org

(Real-life Frugality has been overrun with real life lately. While I'm always busy, the past month or so has seemed particularly overwhelming. With things calming down a notch or two, I am once again making a committment to devote more time to this blog. Wish me luck!)

Recently, I've come across a number of websites for trading, bartering, and giving things away for free. I'll be profiling one such site today, with more to follow.

The first site I investigated is Kashless.org. You have to become a member (sign up with an email address and password) to view details on any of the items listed. Once you join, you find the Kashless list for your area, and start browsing. There's everything imaginable on here, from free fill dirt to baby clothes to car parts. Lots of the things that I've seen are listed as broken, or needing some sort of part. (One person listed a printer because it ran out of ink--OK, whatever!) But, if you are willing to search and really get into it, you can find the gems. Kashless also has a reward point system, where you earn points for doing things like posting items to be given away, inviting people to join Kashless, etc. You can then redeem these points for products and coupons. This is Kashless' incentive for extending the life of a product and eliminating waste.

I haven't actually listed anything, or found any thing I needed, but that's only because I haven't had the time. Give it a try, and let me know what you think!

A Simple Trick!

I recently found a great way to wring the last little bit of cream or lotion out of a container, and it was so simple, I don't know why I never did it before! Normally for things like toothpaste or foot cream that come in tubes, I use these little gadgets that slip over the crimped end of the tube, and you gradually slide it down and it helps move the product down into the dispenser end (sorry, no photos, but I hope you know what I mean). Well, I had one tube of foot cream that was too wide to slide into the opening of the slide-thingy, so when I got to the point that I couldn't squeeze any out on my own, I cut the tube in half and used a small rubber spatula to scoop out all the remaining cream and put it in a little Tupperware midget container. I must have used that extra cream for about 2 weeks.

Like I said, really simple, but it had never occured to me to cut the tube open before. I'll do that every time from now on. It won't save enough money to cover the braces my youngest son will need this year, but like I have said many times before (and will say again), every little bit helps!

If It Still Works, Don't Upgrade

I hold firmly to the belief that if something still works, it doesn't need to be upgraded. This flies in the face of the prevailing sentiment in advertising these days, especially when it comes to technology. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to have the latest phone, MP3 player, or what have you.

Case in point #1:
Probably 10 years ago, I bought a compact (at the time) CD boombox for my desk in my office so I could listen to the radio and to my holiday CDs. It works great for my needs. As I was lugging it to work to put in my new office the other morning, I realized just how HUGE it really is. The remote control that comes with it is larger than most MP3 players these days. For a moment there, I vacillated: was it worth hauling this piece of antiquated equipment into the office? Wouldn't I much rather have a tiny MP3 player and stereo sound dock for it? Sure, maybe. It would take up less space. But, why bother when what I have works just fine?

Case in point #2:
For years, I used an old Nokia cell phone (see below, left) that my kids affectionately called "the brick." It was rather big and thick and didn't have any bells and whistles. No camera. No email. No MP3 player. No Internet capabilities. But, it placed and received calls just fine, thankyouverymuch. And, quite honestly, it was really all I needed.


This summer, a friend of mine, whose husband works for my cellular provider, offered me a free phone after seeing what I was still using. So, I upgraded to this little Motorola number (above, right). It's very nice, and it does have some extras, like a camera and an MP3 player. She had offered me a better phone with a full QWERTY keyboard and Internet-ready, but I chose not to take it. For starters, I didn't want to pay extra for a data package every month, and, as my husband so tactfully reminded me, I am online enough as it is without being able to get online from my cell phone. I do like the newer phone. It has better sound quality, the battery stays charged longer, and I was able to get a cuter ringtone (Blue Rondo Ala Turk). I wouldn't have gotten the phone, though, if it hadn't been free, because my old one worked just fine.

Not only is upgrading electronics unnecessarily an expensive proposition, you are also faced with the problem of disposing the old items in a safe, ecologically friendly manner. I'd rather have my 10-year-old boom box sitting on my shelf playing music than sitting in a landfill somewhere, or even sitting in my garage gathering dust. And, I am still looking for a way to dispose of my old cellphone in a responsible manner.

Printing Coupons

You can print coupons from any of the sites I've mentioned in the past few posts on either a black & white or color printer. I prefer a color printer, as there are several security features on the coupons that I think look better in color (and are therefore more easily redeemed).

One thing I ALWAYS do when printing coupons from the Internet is print them on the back side of paper that has already been used. In so doing, I make sure that there is no information on the scratch paper that could identify my family.

Assessing Your Wardrobe

As I got out my warmer-weather clothes recently, I was struck by how many of them are more suited to working in an office than what I am doing now. I kept asking myself, "will I even wear this shirt/skirt/whatever" this summer? So, I decided to implement a little trick that I learned from the book "It's All Too Much" by Peter Walsh. I organized everything in my closet by color, then I turned all the hangars around so they are hanging backward on the bar (the opening on the hangar hook facing forward instead of facing to the back). Every time I wear something new, I can then hang it on a hanger that faces the normal way. At the end of the season, I will be able to determine what I wore and what I didn't, and can decide if I really want to keep all the things I didn't wear. While I probably will keep most of the things, in case I ever go back to work and need a business-casual wardrobe again, if you are suffering through having too many clothes in your closet/dresser drawers, this is a really great way to determine what you are really wearing and what, as Peter says, is just too much.

Speaking of different types of wardrobes, I remember reading articles or books about how it is actually cheaper to stay at home (as a woman) than have a job, and one of the things that was always cited was saving on your wardrobe expenses. I always rolled my eyes at this one; I never wore $1,000 power suits, or $450 stiletto heels, so how could that possibly apply to me? Well, it does. I can get by on 3 pairs of jeans and a handful of season-appropriate shirts or sweaters and a couple of pairs of shoes. In fact, right after I got laid off, I received 4 pairs of work-appropriate slacks that I had ordered online. I debated keeping them; after all, I had gotten them on a GREAT sale (about $9.00/pair) and they could come in handy in the future, right? I decided not to keep them. In fact, when they arrived, I didn't even open the package, I just went straight to the local retail location and returned them, sight unseen.

Getting the Most Out of Your Inkjet

A friend and reader of this blog gave me this great idea for saving ink when printing out things on your inkjet printer that don't necessarily need to be at photo quality. She uses the draft black & white mode for printing things like online shopping receipts, boarding passes, etc., essentially anything that doesn't need to be in color. I like this idea! I'll be using it lots, I am sure, especially for those things that I mentioned in a previous post that I print on the backside of previously used paper.

She also had a question, which I will post to all of you to see if you have an answer (because I don't). She wanted to know if there's a good source for getting refills of your inkjet cartridges. I used to go to Island Inkjet (when they had a location in my mall) when I had a Lexmark printer and the refills worked just great. However, my HP 3-in-one machine is very particular about what ink you use. I tried a refilled cartridge once, and it gave me a warning error that I had to clear for each page of a print job. I didn't even use up the entire cartridge!

So, if anyone can give some advice on reliable sources of refills for inkjet cartridges, give a shout and I will post them here.

Overeating Is Wasteful

Overeating is wasteful. Most people only require between 1200 and 2000 calories per day to maintain a healthy weight. If you consume more calories than you require for weight maintenance, you are wasting money, time, and resources (both the food you eat and the packaging it comes in).

Think about it. I have. And no matter how you look at it, this statement is fundamentally true. If I splurge and "treat" myself with junk food, I am wasting the money I spent to buy the ice cream, for example, the ice cream itself (which is serving no useful purpose other than to make me fat), and the resources used to produce the packaging and the product, and all for something that I ultimately don't want: extra weight. And, that extra weight causes me to need to purchase larger clothes. Again, a waste, considering all the clothes that I have that fit me when I am at my healthy weight.

By consuming only enough calories to maintain health and weight, I am also going to be choosing fewer packaged items, saving money and resources. By not having seconds at dinner, even if we have plenty, means I both stay within my calorie range and have enough for lunch the next day.

There are probably more examples of this, but this entry should be enough to get you all thinking. I've been pondering and planning this blog entry for a while, but wanted to wait until I was ready to walk the walk as well as talk the talk. Today is that day: I am recommitting myself to correct eating principles (can't say it's a "diet," because it is how I am going to eat forever) and exercise. And I am making sure that all of you know it. Please feel free to ask how it's going.

Another Use for Stale Bread

In response to my post on making French toast out of bread that is getting stale, a friend asked if I had any ideas for using up stale hamburger buns. That's a problem at my house, as even with 4 of us, we rarely go through 8 buns at a time. You can approach this from two angles:

1. When you buy hamburger buns, divide them into zip-top bags and freeze. If you normally use 4 per meal, put 4 in a bag. Only thaw as many as you need at one time.
2. Toast them on a cookie sheet in a low oven (about 250 degrees) for about 10-15 minutes. Allow to air-dry, then break into small pieces and use your food processor to pulverize them into bread crumbs. Store in an airtight container and use in recipes that call for plain bread crumbs.

Yes, I know, hamburger buns are pretty cheap, but neither idea is all that difficult. And, to me, saving is saving!

Lessons In Savings from Cathy Guisewite

The comic strip, Cathy, has a very funny series going on right now about "lessons in savings." I can relate to many! I particularly like this one, as it deals with something that I do (you may need to click on the image to be able to read the text):

Using the back of envelopes for lists and notes is one of my favorite ways to get another use out of something destined for the recycle bin. I open my envelopes with a letter opener so the edge is nice and neat, then I use them for my grocery lists when I am going to the store. The envelope is the perfect place to put all my coupons (and those of you who read my blog know how many coupons I can be carrying at any time), plus the envelope is sturdier than a single piece of paper which makes it easier to cross off the items on the list.

While I do embrace many technological advances, I still have a Franklin planner that uses paper (amazing, huh)? I save my daily pages and use the blank side (if I haven't written notes on them already) for making my menu list to post on the fridge, as well as the running grocery list that I keep on the fridge between trips to the store (before I transfer the list and the coupons to the envelope), as well as for general notes that I need to take or leave around the house.

Things I Never (or Rarely) Buy

As promised, I'm going to start listing things that I rarely or never buy. Here are three that might surprise you.

Trash bags. I think in the 13 years we have been in our current house, I've bought 2 large, Costco-sized boxes of the large black trash bags. We don't line our trash can with them, and I've just never had much use for them. In fact, I think I use the large garbage bags more for non-garbage uses (bringing dirty laundry home from vacation, keeping things clean in the attic). In the house, even in the kitchen where we only have a small trash can under the sink, I have always used plastic grocery bags. Now, one might think that because I bring my own reusable bags to the grocery store that I would at some point run out of plastic grocery bags, but so far, that has not seemed to be the case. They must multiply like rabbits! I don't know how much kitchen trash bags cost, so I can't estimate how much money I have saved over the years by not buying them, but I suspect it is substantial.

Paper Towels. Yup. Seriously. I can't remember the last time I bought paper towels. When we emptied my grandparents' house 2 years ago (after they had both passed away), I brought home a package of 8 rolls. I think I still have 7 left. We lived with my husband's parents when we first moved back to town, and she never uses them, either, which is how I got out of the habit of using them. I learned from her that it really is just as easy to use a dishrag or kitchen towel for most messes. There are times when I will go out to the garage to get a paper towel, but not very often.

Paper Napkins. Another habit I got into while living with my in-laws was using fabric napkins at the dinner table. Everyone has their own customized napkin ring, and we use the same napkins several times before washing. 4 little squares of fabric do not take up any room in the washer and dryer, and are a breeze to fold (I draw the line at ironing them, as my MIL does). For those times where a paper napkin really would be easier or more convenient (packing in a lunch, etc.) we have an ample supply of napkins leftover from visits to fast food places.

Like I said, I don't know how much I have saved by not buying these things for the past 13+ years, but it has to be a fair chunk of change. Plus, I'm not adding products to landfills! I'd be interested to hear what you never/rarely buy, as well, and why.

Shout-Out for ShoeMall.com

I ordered these great Reef flip-flops using an amazon.com gift certificate, and they arrived yesterday. I had never bought anything other than books from amazon.com before, but I couldn't find anything I really wanted (though I did buy Twilight in paperback to see if I liked the premise before buying the whole series). Then I stumbled on these flip-flops. I have been looking for a pair of black ones all summer long. These were in my very hard-to-find size (11) and reasonably cheap considering they were name brand ($19.95--thought I found out today that is the regular price, so I am not feeling quite so smug). So, I ordered them. I didn't have to pay shipping (USPS Parcel Post ground) or sales tax (which saved me 9% right there).

I must say I am really impressed. Not only are the flip-flops extremely comfy (they even have arches in the soles--important for my old feet), but they came in very minimal packaging. Everything you see here: a gray shipping pouch, the shoes inside a clear bag, a receipt, and an ad for Proactiv. I was really appreciative that they were able to spare all the extra packaging. Not only does this save on shipping (and fuel for the Postal Service), but there's less for me to have to dispose of. The only way the packaging could have been any better is if there were recycling symbols on the bags, so that I could recycle them.

On the packing slip, I got a code for 15% off my next order at ShoeMall.com (obviously a partner of amazon.com). I'll definitely use it!

Printing on Both Sides of Paper

It's been about 30 years since the term "paperless office" was first coined. I remember quite a few years ago Bill Gates declaring that the paperless office was just around the corner. Well, maybe not so much. For a while, if anything, I think computers, printers, copiers, and fax machines caused people to use more paper, not less. This article, though a couple of years old, was very interesting to me as I researched this blog entry. It talks a lot about the advances that have happened lately to make the paperless office more of a reality.

I work in the publications department of an environmental consulting firm, and over the past 14 years I have definitely seen a trend away from generating multiple copies of a 500-volume in favor of sending the same information electronically in PDF form. Still, our office tends to go through an incomprehensible number of reams of paper each year.

For years at work, and more recently at home, I have been saving paper that has been printed on one side, that would normally just be headed to the recycle bin, for use a second time. I keep the paper in a tray on my computer stand, right next to the unused paper. Here's some of the things I print on the backside:

• E-mail messages (though only when absolutely necessary)
• Online banking confirmations that I am just going to shred when the statement arrives
• Online shopping receipts
• Weekly lists from the Grocery Game
• Grocery coupons found online
• A copy of my boys' weekly schedule I give my mother-in-law
• My weekly Young Women's lesson from lds.org
• Directions that I have searched for online
• Grade reports for my kids.

You get the idea. Essentially, if it is anything that I need for personal use that will likely just end up in the recycle bin anyway, I toss it on the backside. Even if I decide to save any of these things, the fact that there is something on the backside is usually not that important.

Freezing French Toast

Believe it or not, even with a teenager and a tween-ager, bread is one thing that I really have to keep an eye on to be sure it doesn't go stale (or, in our climate, moldy) before it gets used up. Earlier this summer, I stumbled on a great way to be sure that leftover bread doesn't go to waste. I was making French toast for breakfast one Saturday, and decided to just keep making it until the egg mixture ran out (not wanting to waste that, either). I then decided to lay out the leftover pieces on a cookie sheet and freeze them. Once they were frozen, I put them into a ziploc-type bag. This worked so great, that I now make French toast whenever I notice there's a partial loaf of bread in the pantry that we haven't touched for several days.

Just pop the frozen French toast into your toaster like you would frozen waffles--it works great, and your whole house smells like french toast. My oldest particularly likes to pop a couple in the toaster before he heads off to his lifeguarding job.

I'm sure many of you have been doing this for some time, but I was quite excited when I figured it out.

188 Disposable Spoons, Forks, and Cups

Over the course of a year at work, I figure I used 188 disposable spoons, forks, and cups. This is based on using one each per day, 4 days per week, 47 weeks a year (allowing for vacation and sick time). What a waste! I finally figured out that I could bring a set of mismatched silverware and a Tupperware tumbler from home and wash them in the kitchen in the break room.

This is one of those uber-obvious things that took me a while to figure out. But, it is a good example of how changing small habits can have large effects over time.

Technology Reuse--A Great Deal for All Involved

On Tuesday, I took a little trip to the SoDo area of Seattle to buy a used HP LaserJet 1100 at a great place called 3R Technology. I needed a new laser printer for the swim team, and with little budget and the constraint of having to connect it to an antiquated laptop loaded with Windows ME, I decided to go for a used printer. 3R Technology had posted the 1100 on craigslist.

Not only am I thrilled with getting a great deal on the printer ($15), I was really impressed by their entire business. 3R Technology provides technology recycling and remarketing services. Their primary focus is developing donation and reuse channels, and proper handling and recycling of computer equipment. I'm a big believer that, even with computers and peripherals, one ought to "use it up, wear it out." Why pay big bucks for a brand new printer when a used printer with plenty of life left will do the trick?

Plus, Andy was incredibly friendly and helpful. I'll definitely be doing business with them in the future (come to find out, even though the 1100 was originally supported on ME, HP no longer provides ME drivers...a good excuse to finally upgrade to a laptop running XP). If you are in the Seattle area, I highly recommend them.

Start Spreading the News(paper)

Friends in the neghborhood have recently re-done all the flower beds and planting areas in their yard. They were going whole-hog, getting all new plants and ordering a huge load of beauty bark. The person helping them plan the project suggested that instead of using landscape fabric to control weeds, to use newspaper instead. Not only is it cheap (or free--I saved about 10 days' worth of daily newspapers for them, and it was more than enough), it is easy to use...just tear a hole where you want your plant to come through, controls weeds every bit as well, and eventually decomposes, adding nutrients to the soil. I asked yesterday how the project was going, and they were very pleased with how easy the newspaper was to work with, and how well it controls the weeds.

A friend in Utah says that she takes her newspapers to the school recycle bin, because the school makes money from it. She keeps a bin in the back of her Suburban, and once it's filled, she drops it off at the school. I know around here, with curbside recycling being so common, many schools don't use newspaper recycling as a fundraiser anymore, but in places where curbside recycling is in its infancy, taking the newspapers to school is a great idea.

One little anecdote about newspaper recycling from my husband's growing-up years. When he was a teenager, Bellevue was in the Oakland, California, temple district. To raise money to go to the temple to do baptisms, the youth in his ward did a newspaper drive. They each were assigned a huge amount (tons, I believe) to collect. Time was drawing short, and my hubby, despite his best efforts, had not met his quota. One day, he was out in the neighborhood and for some reason decided to stop at a house and ask about newspapers. The homeowner was thrilled, and said: "Boy, do I have newspapers for you!" He proceeded to open his garage, which was stacked floor-to-ceiling with old newspapers. It took his mom several trips in her old Pontiac station wagon to collect all the newspapers.

Reusable Shopping Bags

I've become a huge devotee of reusable shopping bags, especially for groceries. I have about 10 that I keep in my car at all times, so they are always ready to go in to the store with me. They only cost about 99 cents, and most grocery stores give a bag credit for using them. You would have to use the bags a long time to recoup the costs, but that's not why I use them. They are stronger than either paper or plastic, hold more groceries, and don't clog up the landfill when you are done with them. I've washed them when they've gotten stained or dirty and my mother-in-law has sewn up the side seams when they've split. I think it was Fred Meyer that was advertising that you could save 400-600 bags per year just by using 3 reusable shopping bags. What's not to love about that?

I have always reused my plastic grocery bags as trash bags throughout the house (even in the kitchen, where our trash can is under the sink), so I was afraid that I might run out of my supply at some point. That hasn't yet been a problem, and I've been using the reusable bags for at least 6 months now. Every now and then we will find ourselves in a store without a reusable bag, and whenever we are at Target, I always get their bags because they are thick and easily the best quality bag out there--perfect for kitchen trash!

I have a really cool reusable bag that I got from Dress Barn (Target also carries them) that collapses and snaps into a very compact, easy-to-carry square. I keep it in the passenger door of the Sienna so I can pop it in my purse when I am heading into a store for some non-grocery shopping.

If you haven't started using reusable bags, I challenge you to get a few this week and give them a try. Your landfill will thank you!