The Fridge that Ate Cinncinnati

Eric Schmuttenmaer/Flickr/Creative Commons license

Okay, my fridge isn't really the star of a B movie.  But it could have certainly been mistaken for one if you took closeups of the mold and ooze growing there.  I bet what happened to me has happened to many of you as well.

I thought that I had a fair amount of food in the fridge.  But once I removed the desiccated peas, slimy peppers, furry sweet potatoes and other lovely tidbits I found myself staring at a carton of eggs, half a gallon of milk, and condiments.  I did compost most of what I pulled out, so that was some help.  But it was still disgusting and it was still a waste of food.  I'm not bringing this up so I can whine about my first world problem (that I could have enough food that it would actually have time to spoil in the refrigerator).  I'm bringing it up so that I can share the situations that seem to lead to Furry Fridge Syndrome in our house and some possible solutions I've brainstormed.

Situation 1:  single serving leftover

A lot of our toxic leftovers come from when have had a family supper and there is enough food left for one serving (or maybe two).  So we wrap it up and stick it in the fridge.  Then the next day, we prepare an entire new meal because the leftover isn't enough for everyone. Eventually it gets pushed to the back of the fridge and is forgotten.

I've thought about a few different ways to solve this issue, such as freezing the food immediately, or packing it in a plastic container right away for my husband to take into work the next day.  But I really think the best solution is just to prepare smaller meals.  This also means less overeating.  If we are still a little hungry at the end of a meal, we can supplement with something like a piece of fruit.

Situation 2:  the new food

I have been known to buy food because it is something new or unusual.  Sometimes this is a new piece of produce or an ingredient that I've heard about on a cooking show and so I buy it on impulse.  But then I get it home and don't know what to do with it.  And so the strange vegetable or new condiment sits there until it expires and I admit defeat.  The solution for this is simple.  I won't buy anything I'm not confident about cooking unless I've got a specific recipe and a plan to use it.

Situation 3:  overbuying

Sometimes I get a really good sale and buy more than we can eat right away.   Again, the solutions here are simple.  Buy non-freezable things like cucumbers and lettuce in small quantities.  With freezable items, I need to avoid buying large quantities unless I have a plan and the time to divide and freeze everything.

Situation 4:  the feast that doesn't leave
When my family gets together for holiday meals, we have a LOT of food.  I'm sure we aren't the only ones that find ourselves on day 3 of leftovers with no end in sight.  I think the best plan for this must be to create an exit plan for leftovers before the meal is started.  Buy plenty of freezer bags or containers and be prepared to divide and conquer that afternoon.  Also be careful of how many dishes you prepare that don't freeze well and have a short refrigerator life.

Hopefully these solutions will prove useful for your family.  It would be great if you would share the situations that lead to Furry Fridge Syndrome in your house, and strategies you've used to overcome the ick.

Unwrapping the Holidays

Image courtesy of Whitney at Reviving Homemaking

As I write this, the 7th night on Hanukkah is almost here and Christmas is only a few weeks away.  This means LOTS of presents and LOTS of paper.  I'm not advocating a move to naked gifts, but if you are like me it is a little painful to spend all that money for shiny new paper that is going to be ripped to shreds and discarded.  Additionally, according to Earth 911, gift wrap is usually unable to be recycled because of the colors and textures added to it.  (You also shouldn't burn it in a fireplace or stove for the same reason; it clogs the flu.) So about 4 million tons of gift wrap and bags end up in landfills.  Here are some ideas that can save both money and paper.

Image by House of Humble

1. Repurpose other paper.  Wrap gifts in newspapers, old maps, or paper shopping bags.  For a more festive touch, you can dress these up paper cutouts, paint, stickers or stamps.  Look to old magazines for a variety of images and colors.


2. Opt for gift bags and boxes instead of wrapping paper and reuse them.  I have an old suitcase where I store all the boxes and bags from gifts I receive.  Then when it is time to give a gift, I try to find what I need in the suitcase.  I also try to buy gift bags that aren't clearly connected to a particular holiday or occasion.  That way a single bag could work for a birthday, and anniversary, or any other special occasion.


3. Consider making the wrapping part of the gift.  So you might wrap a pair of mittens and hat inside a scarf. Or you could give a quilter a gift wrapped in fabric.


*image by katorisi, creative commons

Junk Your Junk Mail.

*image mirvettium, creative commons

Most people are no fans of junk mail. Besides all the clutter it causes in your house, junk mail can be a big waste of paper and resources. One way to manage all that junk mail is using the reduce, reuse, recycle model to effectively attack the pile.

1. Reduce the amount of mail coming into your house. You can go to the Consumer Credit Reporting website to opt out of receiving pre-screened credit card and insurance offers (for five years or permanently.) You can go to the Direct Marketing Association to request all mail stopped from businesses that belong to the association. Not all companies will be connected to Consumer Credit Reporting or the DMA, but taking those two steps should reduce your volume.

2. Reuse your junk mail when possible. Use the backs of envelopes for shopping lists. Let your kids make collages, papier mache or other crafts. Running it through a shredder adds to the possibilities. Paper shreds can make packing material, hamster cage lining, or campfire starters.

*Paper beads, Creative Commons Image by Bernie Jersey 

3. Make sure to recycle whatever is left. For a doubly positive effect, take your paper recycling to a Paper Retriever bin. Organizations like schools and churches often have these big green bins in their parking lots. The Paper Retriever company periodically picks up the paper and gives the organization a portion of the money raised by selling the paper to recycling centers. That way you have recycled the paper and have contributed money to a good cause at the same time.

 

Leftover Reclamation: Sweet Potato Pancakes

My kids aren't crazy about sweet potatoes.  The baby tried one, and then spit it out and handed it back to me.   My middle guy says "ewwww!" because that's the phase he's currently going through.  My oldest will eat a few, but doesn't seek them out.But they all chowed down on these that I whipped up from Thanksgiving leftovers.  We covered them in honey and syrup this time, but you could make them even healthier and put applesauce or other fruit on top.

Recipe:
2 cups wholewheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt
1 cup pureed sweet potatoes
milk, variable (see below)

Mix the dry ingredients and add the sweet potatoes.  How much milk you need is going to depend on how liquidy the sweet potatoes are.  Just whisk in the milk a little at a time until the batter is about the consistency of shampoo.  Then fry them on the griddle or skillet like normal pancakes. 

I don't have any pictures of the process because it didn't occur to me until the batter was already mixed.  But I do have some pictures of the finished product.  I hope you find this recipe helpful, and that you will share your favorite reclamation recipes as well.

 

 

Mr. Ewww

 

 

 

Wasting Food Isn't Very Thankful

In the aftermath of the Thanksgiving feast, most of us still have some leftovers in the fridge.  But it is getting to the point that these things need to either quickly be eaten, frozen, or end up turning into a furry green monster.  Food waste is a serious problem.  According to some estimates, 40-50% of food in America is wasted.

Some of this comes in the field and at the grocery store, but a lot of this comes from waste in our home.  We let ourselves get distracted and burn the rice.  We prepare too much.  We aren't diligent about eating leftovers.  We don't properly store it.  This wasted food causes a lot more problems than a smelly Tupperware container.  It means wasted money, wasted water, wasted fuel, and wasted land use.  With a little diligence, I believe that we can do better.

What are some ways that you have found to cut down on food waste?



*Artist A Hendree for U.S.Food Administration during WWI

Healthy Eating On a Small Budget

*Creative Commons image by Yvon

Recently some folks in the St. Louis community took something called the "Food Stamp Challenge."  This meant that they would be living on the standard food stamp allotment for one week, which worked out to $1.50 per person at each meal.  This made me curious to see what our family spent on food and so I got the bank records for the previous month,  did a few calculations and came up with about $1.19 per person at each meal.  This included my son's school lunches, as well as Thanksgiving shopping.  And while my mom often gifts us with food, such as her special muffins, we did not rely on free food sources this month.

I understand that if my children were older, they would be consuming a lot more food and so some expenses would be higher.  But I also know that most months we wouldn't be spending so much on special foods like turkey, cranberries, chocolate chips, etc.  There are actually places that I think we could cut expense without nutrition suffering, and those go on my future goals list.  At any rate, I think it is safe to say that (by American standards) this is a relatively frugal food budget.

Some people think that with a budget like this our family must be eating macaroni with catsup, but that simply isn't true.  We have fresh fruit nearly every day.  We eat brown rice and whole grain breads.  We eat good quality meat.  We drink fresh milk and use real butter.  We eat lots of vegetables.  This isn't to say that we are nutrition saints that lead lives of diet perfection.  For example, my kids love hot dogs on white flour buns and occasionally they get to eat them for lunch.  But on the whole, we have a very healthy diet.

There isn't a single magic trick for creating healthy meals without a lot of money.  It is something that I constantly work towards.  I'll be using this blog to occasionally share tips, tricks and recipes to eat healthy without breaking the bank.  I look forward to learning more from my readers as I go forward.

Governments need to tend their own gardens (and stay out of ours!)

An Orlando man has been ordered to destroy his small vegetable garden.  You can read more details about this case here but the basic gist is that the city didn't consider his front yard to be "finished" and "inviting" so they ordered him to pull up his crops.  Unfortunately, this is not an aberrant occurrence.  Across the nation, homeowners have been cited, fined, and even had their vegetable gardens mowed down by dictatorial cities and homeowner associations.  The waste here is plain to see.

First, there is the destruction of all that food.  I was raised in a household that always avoided food waste.  We tried to never put more on our plate than we would eat.  Table scraps were given to the dogs (or pigs if we happened to be raising one at the time).  Vegetable scraps were fed to chickens or composted.  Garden produce not immediately eaten was canned or frozen.  I try to raise my family with similar values.  The idea of destroying that much fresh produce sickens me.

Second there is the waste of so many of this man's resources.  This man put together an irrigation system, bought seeds and plants, and put in hours of his time to create this garden.  Additionally, you have to consider all the money he will have to spend in replacing the lost food.  He's also (indirectly) paying the fuel costs for trucking veggies and fruit from distant destinations.

Finally, there is also the ridiculous waste of city resources.  If I was a tax-payer in Orlando, I would be completely disgusted by the idea that instead of spending their time arresting murderers, thieves and crack-dealers, the police are busy cracking down on unlawful lettuce.  It seems to me that city officials, police, and courts all have better things to do with their time.

I recognize that when folks live in proximity to each other, there have to be some rules for the good of all.  But I think those rules should be geared towards basic health and safety concerns, not towards preventing sustainable, health living practices in order to satisfy the esthetic whims of city hall.

Saving at Schnuck's

In addition to watching for weekly sales, here are some ways to save money at Schnuck's:

1.  Bring your coupons.  Okay, you would probably do that anyway.  But the nice thing about Schnuck's is that most of the stores double double manufacturer's coupons up to 50 cents.

2.  Check your weekly circular that comes in the mail.

• Not only will you be able to see what sales and specials are running that week, but you will also get coupons good at your local store that weekend.  Note that you cannot get these coupons from the circulars at the front of the store.  They are only on the ones mailed to your house. 
• Additionally, you get a heads up if they are running a "meal deal" that week.  With the meal deals, you purchase one item and then get some others free that are meant to go together for a meal.   For example, this past week if you bought smoked sausage, you got a free noodle side dish, a package of frozen veggies, and a brownie mix.

2.  "Like" the Facebook page.  This will give you access to special deals that you can't get otherwise.

• Every Wednesday around 8 am, the Wednesday WOW coupons are published.  The WOW coupons are four coupons that can be printed and redeemed until Sunday of that week.  Note that even though they can be redeemed until Sunday, you must print them on Wednesday.  One of the nice things about the WOW coupons is that they are frequently for fresh meat, produce, or bakery goods whereas most manufacturer's coupons are for processed foods.
• Every Friday, the Drive Time Specials are posted at around 11:30.  The Drive Time Specials are a bundle of items for a reduced price, intended to make your Friday night supper.  An example of Drive Time Special would be spaghetti noodles, garlic toast, spaghetti sauce, and a bag of salad.  You must redeem the Drive Time Special coupon between 3 and 8 on Friday evening.  We are hit and miss about redeeming the Drive Time Specials because they often feature convenience food and soda and I try to avoid both in the house.  But, if they feature food that you would purchase anyway, they can be a really good deal.  I was really happy with the one last week that had ground turkey, cheese, and bread crumbs, along with a recipe idea for meatloaf that used all three.
• Sometimes there are random things that show up as well.  When the Cardinals were in the playoffs, there was a Game Night special for party food.  Once there was a coupon for a free 2-liter of soda.  I also won Cardinal's tickets and vouchers for two free hot dogs and sodas at the game.

3.  Sign up for "Schnupons" and have texts with coupons sent to your smart phone.  Unfortunately, I don't have much detail on those because we only have a TracPhone that we keep for emergencies.  

4.  Sign up for the weekly newsletter.  You get a copy of the circular, menu ideas, and a coupon.    

Why Our Family Shops at Schnuck's

This next few entries will be geared toward my readers that have access to Schnuck's grocery stores.  Folks in other regions, bear with me.  :)

For those in the St. Louis area, you might wonder:  If someone has little money, or is generally frugal why would anyone shop at Schunck's?  Why wouldn't you visit a bag-your-own store such as Shop N Save, Aldi, or Sav-A-Lot?  For many years, I was of the same opinion until I actually took the time to compare the stores in a more systematic fashion.  I understand that not everyone makes the same sorts of purchases that our family does, but for us Schnuck's has proven to be the best choice most of the time.

First, with rare exception, I gave up shopping at Aldi and Sav-A-Lot some years ago.  I did a direct comparison of the items we buy and found prices to be comparable at Shop N Save.  So the idea of paying for a cart, paying for bags, and giving up selection just didn't make sense.  Additionally, I am a big union supporter and so being able to shop at a comparably priced union grocery appealed to me.  Then, for a long time, I primarily shopped at Shop N Save.  I never really bothered to try out Schnuck's because I just assumed that it would always be more expensive.  I can't say at exactly what point I decided to give Schnuck's and Shop N Save a side-by-side try.  Maybe it was due to the frustration of trying to bag my own groceries while shopping with small children that pushed me into it.  Here are some things I discovered:

Shop N Save often has prices that are comparable to, or more expensive than Schnuck's.  The issue is what sorts of food you are purchasing.  Of course, every week there are different sales and specials but in general, Schnuck's tends to have better prices on staple items.  If you are looking to buy highly processed foods like frozen dinners, hot dogs, chips, and soda then the prices at Shop N Save are better.  If you are looking to buy flour, sugar, meat, and produce, then the prices as Schnucks are comparable or better.  Essentially, if you are someone that typically cooks from scratch, then Shop N Save isn't that good a bargain for you.

Schnuck's meat department is far superior.  Prices are comparable or cheaper than Shop N Save, and the quality is MUCH better.  The meat is fresher; there is a greater variety of meat that has never been frozen.  The cuts also tend to be better, which further affects the price.  Often the quantity of usable meat is greater  at Schnuck's.  When you have to trim fat, bones, or connective tissue at home, you must realize that included in the cost per pound is the cost of unedible stuff that ends up in the trash.  We have been particularly pleased with the sausage and bratwurst made in the store.  It is freshly made, has no fillers, and no MSG.  If you are a label reader, you know this isn't the case with most pre-packaged sausage in a tube.

Schnuck's produce department also tends to be better.  Now, Shop N Save often appears to have better produce prices.  But, like the meat, when comparing the cost of fresh food it is important to compare the cost of usable food.  Schnuck's produce is usually fresher and better quality, which means that your family will have less waste in trimmings and less waste from food that spoils before it has a chance to be eaten.  I think this is due in no small part to the fact that Schnuck's has a greater commitment to buy locally grown produce from places like Thies farm and Eckhart's.  It also makes me feel good that waste is being reduced in another way, and that there are fewer shipments of food being trucked across the country, being doomed to rot before ripening.

Besides these general trends, Schnuck's also runs some very good weekly specials through Facebook, e-mail, texts and their weekly circular.  (I will be covering this in a separate post.)

Additionally, the customer service at Schnuck's is far superior to that of Shop N Save.  Some folks might not see how this is related to avoiding waste, or saving anything.  Let me explain my rationale:  even though it doesn't show up on our receipt, we are paying for customer service.  We are paying for the salaries of the cashiers, butchers, bakers, and stockers.  We are making an investment, and we have to decide what sort of service we want.  Schnuck's advertises itself as "the friendliest stores in town" and I have found this to be true.  The folks working at the registers and the service departments have almost always been smiling and kind.  They give FREE cookies to small children (a lifesaver for my crew).  They offer free knife sharpening. Some of the stores will cook fish or other meats purchased for you.  Shop N Save has no comparable programs.

And when problems have shown up, they work quickly to have problems resolved.  For example, a cashier at Schnuck's was confused about the expiration date on a "Wednesday WOW" coupon I brought in.  She called over a manager and the matter was quickly and politely resolved.  At Shop N Save, there was a special where if you bought a certain number of a particular brand of items you were supposed to get a rebate coupon.  When I didn't get the rebate coupon, not only did the clerk not know what I was talking about but he made no attempt to resolve the issue on the spot.  I had to go to customer service and wait several minutes before the problem was finally solved.  I think this isn't even necessarily a matter of kindness, but of training and experience.  I typically find the folks at Schnuck's to be better informed about not only the current store specials, but they also seem to be better able to efficiently handle special circumstances such as a charity purchasing with a tax exempt letter, or a family using WIC vouchers.

Also, Schnuck's bags your groceries and for many folks, this is a huge part of customer service.  Getting three, extremely active boys through our weekly shopping trip is hard enough, without trying to bag groceries as well.  This is also important for elderly or disabled folks for whom bagging groceries could be a real imposition.  I also got offers to help me to the car with my purchases when I was hugely pregnant, and I am sure that other folks got (and appreciated) similar help.

Finally, I shop at Schnuck's because it is a locally owned store that invests in our community.  Again, this isn't directly related to how much money I keep in my pocket but a matter of the value I'm getting for my money. I see the Schnuck's family name again and again in places like the Botanical Gardens and the Zoo.  I understand that Shop N Save also contributes to charity so I'm not faulting them.  But it does put Schnuck's above other, nationally owned chains like Wal-Mart.  I feel like Schnuck's really cares about its customers and its community, something I cannot say about Wal-Mart.

Wasted Vote?

When you look at the raw numbers, your vote usually doesn't matter. I could have stayed home yesterday, or even voted exactly the opposite and it wouldn't have made any difference at all.  I understand this, and still I vote.  I vote in every primary election, every municipal election, and every statewide and national race.  Why do I vote?  Why don't I see this as a waste of time?

There is the argument that if most folks think about the worthlessness of their individual vote, then they wouldn't bother and a relatively small coalition will rule.  There is the argument that in local elections, or crazy anomalies like the Bush v. Gore election that your individual vote DOES make a difference.  But that isn't why I vote.

I vote because voting is a duty.  As a citizen of the United States (and someone attempting to be a generally decent human being) I have a responsibility to care for more than myself and my family.  I have a responsibility to serve.  That's why I teach.  That's why I volunteer for my congregation.  That's why I help run a recycling mailing list.  That's why I give a smile to the Salvation Army bell-ringers, even when I can't afford to give them a dollar.

Voting is just one more way that I care for my community and my country.  Perhaps my vote is largely symbolic, but symbols are important.  It is also symbolic that I would never let an American flag touch the ground.  Symbols mean something.  This is one more way that I demonstrate my love for my country and my fellow human beings.  This is one more way that I show my children we are obligated to respect and care for those who came before us, and those with us now.

Changing time, a waste of time?

So today was the end of daylight savings time and I have to wonder again what is the purpose of this exercise.  The only thing I'm certain about setting the clocks backwards for forwards is that it means that everyone's sleep cycle is disturbed for a week or so.  This leads to a groggier, crabbier, and less effective work force a couple of weeks out of the year.  And the benefits are what exactly?  It seems to me that a better solution than forcing the entire country to reset their clocks would be for more businesses to allow flex-time.   That way, folks could adjust to their individual circadian rhythms as needed.

I suppose I do know of one benefit of changing the clocks twice a year.  For clocks not synchronized with nuclear clocks, periodically adjusting them helps fight time drift.  When I attended Purdue, Indiana did not follow daylight savings time and the clocks in different rooms and buildings across campus would gradually drift faster or slower until they were several minutes apart.  Other than that, I'm stumped to find a concrete benefit.

What about you?  Do you prefer the time shift?  Why or why not?

Couponing: It is Worthwhile?

*Image by SDC 20207

Those of you that know me well understand that I'm a tight-fisted sort of person.  I don't enjoy shopping for the sake of shopping.  My rooms are filled with yard sale treasures, hand-me-downs from friends and family, and items rescued from dumpsters.  I hate wasting money, and I love a good bargain.  You would think that this makes me a perfect fit for the current coupon craze.  While I do occasionally use coupons, I would not call myself a "couponer."  Here are some of the reasons that I choose not to devote much time to the pursuit of coupons.

First, having a coupon doesn't guarantee the best deal.  In many cases, you can get a better deal by buying a generic product than you can by using a coupon.  This is true even when you shop at groceries like Schnuck's, that double coupons.  There are a few products that I really prefer the brand name, such as Campbell's condensed soups.  But for the most part, I am just as happy with the store brand.

Second, coupons are often for products I would never buy.  I remember reading a couponing site about doing the "register roll" at Walgreen's where you could buy products in a certain order and through the use of coupons and register rewards you could get several items without paying any money at all.  That sounded exciting until I looked at the list and realized there wasn't a single thing I wanted or needed on the list.  While it is tempting to get something just because it is very cheap or free, my house is already cluttered with too much stuff.

Third, getting the coupons has proved problematic.  I do not subscribe to the paper.  And while it is possible that I might save much more money from coupons than I would spend on the paper subscription, I have a very hard time making myself subscribe to the Post Dispatch.  Ever since the paper was sold and the newsroom slashed, I feel that the quality had plummeted and have a hard time supporting shoddy journalism. Getting coupons online is also a problem.  Almost all coupon sites (like coupons.com) require you to install a printer before you can use the coupons.  My tech-savvy, security minded husband tells me that these printers are really a bundle of malware that will track your every move.  So installing these printers is a no-go on our home computers.

Finally, I am simply not organized and enthusiastic enough to make couponing worth my while.  I have friends and family that are very good at this and that save a lot of money.  Searching, calculating, and organizing coupons is not fun for me and I'm not good at figuring out how to get the best deals.  It seems to me that it takes a certain type of mind to enjoy couponing and to be good at it.  And I don't think I possess such a mind.

So to answer my original query, I think that the answer must be both yes and no.  For some folks, it is absolutely worthwhile.  They are using coupons for products they would ordinarily purchase.  They have established systems for organizing and using the coupons, and many people enjoy couponing as others enjoy games and hobbies.  For my family, it is not worthwhile for the reasons mentioned above.

What about you?  Do you use a lot of coupons?  Why or why not?

Democracy Inaction

With the election coming up, waste seems to abound.  I wonder how many hours that our elected officials should be spending on serving their constituents are spent washing clean dishes in soup kitchens and kissing unhappy babies?  I understand that we need time to listen to all the candidates and examine their positions, but election season seems to get longer and longer every year.  Other democracies have much shorter campaign lengths and manage to function just fine.  British are closer to 1 month and I don't hear the good folks across the pond clamoring for more time to make a decision.  Let's be honest.  Those of us who aren't political wonks don't really pay much attention to national or local elections until a month or less before the election any way.  It isn't just wasting the candidates' time, either.  It is wasting OUR time with the onslaught of ad after melodramatic ad.

*image by 401(K)

Speaking of ads, this leads me to the other huge waste of American political campaigns:  money.  I suppose on one level, political money isn't wasted.  Money spent on advertising has a huge effect, and can sway elections.  But on another level, it represents a fantastic waste.  Most of money is going to line the pockets of  the CEOs of media corporations, or executives of ad agencies.  Just imagine what our economy could be like if the billions of dollars poured into vicious television and radio ads were invested in small businesses.

Halloween Part 2

Becoming dependent on the corporate world for Halloween costumes, decorations, and candy can be an example of waste in another way besides money.  It is a wasted opportunity for creativity.  

Getting kids involved in the process of making costumes, spooky decorations, and creepy holiday treats gives them the opportunity to express themselves in new ways.  It also provides an opportunity to build skills that will be useful in other situations.  Bringing their costume ideas to life involves being able to envision a plan and then collect the materials to make that plan come to fruition.  Using scissors and glue can be opportunities to practice fine motor skills.  Measuring and baking can provide opportunities for following instructions and improving math skills.

Losing these creative skills can be problematic for adults as well.  You might find yourself at the mercy of an industry that really doesn't care about you, and isn't so creative itself.  Witness the rise of "Hookerween."  Grown women are supposed to brave a brisk Autumn night in tiny scraps of cloth bearing descriptors like "sexy" or "naughty."  Now please don't take this as prudishness on my part.  I don't mind if women want to dress in sexy costumes.  The problem I have is that this is almost the only option available in many costume shops.  I also have a problem with the fact that these little snippets of cloth foisted on women cost the same amount as full coverage men's costumes.  Selling 1/3 of the costume for the same price means that these companies are making an exorbitant profit on women's costumes.  I have no intention of letting the costume industry fleece me out of that kind of cash.  My costume this year?  A (full coverage) velvet, medieval style dress from a thrift store...$4.95.

Halloween Costumes

Somewhere along the way, Halloween (like so much of our lives) has been co-opted by big corporations.  In the same way that people have become convinced that they can't cook without a prepackaged, freeze-dried miracle in a box, our society has increasingly become convinced that Halloween is something better left to the experts.  And when people become incapable (or believe they are incapable) of creation, then they are left to the mercies of the creators.  

If you go to a costume shop, you can easily expect to spend $50-60 for a costume.  Even many children's costumes will run $40+.  In a time when so many folks are struggling to keep the lights on and food on the table, spending that kind of money just isn't feasible.  Don't be convinced that costumes must be expensive or elaborate for a night of trick-or-treating.  Below are some of the costumes that we have created for little or no money:

Batman:  already owned pajama top and a $3 mask.

Robot:   $5 worth of dryer vent hose, $3 can of spray paint, duct tape and recycling bin scrounging

Plants vs Zombies:
sunflower:  green pajamas, fabric scraps from sewing box, Easter headband (no new spending)
zombie:  jacket and tie from thrift store (about $5), soccer practice cone (already owned) and grey face paint (about $2)

Wasting Time on Perfection

So my last post on this blog was in July (yikes!).  Now, I have been out of town and busy and dealing with kids and all that.  But that isn't really why I've had such a long hiatus.  I had such a long hiatus because I wasted time wanting to create the perfect next post.  I didn't just want to fix the faucet; I wanted to fix the faucet and take pictures and document and etc.  And what actually happened was that because of this, the faucet never got fixed and I didn't start blogging again.  It is important to remember that sometimes the perfect is the enemy of the good.  And sometimes perfect is the enemy of getting anything at all accomplished.

An obsession with perfection has been the source of a lot of waste in my life, mostly wasted opportunities.  I have often had a fear of look foolish or just not being good enough, and so I just didn't try.  I suspect I'm not the only one.  I realize that this is a silly way to waste my time, and it is a lousy example for my kids.  So, I'm jumping back into this blog with the idea of failing better, having fun writing, and sharing with my friends and family.

Wish me luck.

My good intentions OR The road to Hell is paved with leaky faucets

Creative Commons Image by Droidicus

So my kitchen faucet has been dripping for a long time.  I'm not exactly sure how long, but it would be safe to say that it has certainly been dripping for months.  My usual technique for dealing with malfunctioning plumbing or appliances is to wait and see if they heal themselves.  (Don't laugh!  It has worked more than you would imagine.  Certainly at least once!)  Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case with this faucet, whose drip is even more constant than before.  I did a little measurement today and it looks like it is dripping at the rate of about 1 and 1/3 cups of water per hour.  That's about 32 cups of water per day (or 7 1/2 liters) per day.  Yikes! 

So even though I think that water conservation is important, why hasn't this been fixed?  I even bought the rubber washers that should do the job.  It is at this point, gentle readers, that I should let you in on a secret.  I have virtually no spatial skills.  I'm one of those people that have to turn a map in the direction I'm facing before I can read it.  So the idea of taking apart  a faucet is a little intimidating to me.  This is especially the case when I start researching the solution and get diagrams like this one:

Image used by Creative Commons License

I even tried looking at the This Old House website for advice.  Those folks seem so friendly!  And they even wear the common folks' plaid shirt and jeans uniform.  But I couldn't even tell which faucet we have so I could get started.  I understand the instructions were theoretically in English, but it might as well have looked like this:  τον καθορισμό ενός βρύση.  But obviously, losing nearly 8 liters of water per day is unacceptable.  So I'm going to enlist my much more handy husband and hopefully this problem will be solved over the weekend.  I will do my best to document the process in such a way that even technologically challenged folks like myself will feel able to take on the job of their own leaky faucets.

There are no concrete flowers OR That asphalt jungle is metaphorical!

Honestly, I've never seen the point of watering lawns in the first place.  When it gets hot and dry enough for the grass to turn yellow or brown, that means you don't have to mow it.  But IF you feel compelled to water a plant that gives no sustenance and scant beauty, please don't do this.  Watering the pavement is worse than a waste of water.  Spraying water on to roads and parking lots is a good way to shunt toxic runoff down the storm drains.  It's also a good way to encourage an accident as people happen upon puddles and slick spots that shouldn't be there. 

If you can't manage to go a week without fighting the lawn wars, please consider investing in a drip irrigation system.  It uses less water.  It doesn't soak the sidewalk.

Photo by jellyluna via Creative Commons license.

Tote your own bucket.

Even though water is one of our most precious resources, it is also one of the most squandered.  Why is this so?  I contend that it is because with modern wells and modern plumbing our water doesn't seem so valuable.  It is cheap.  It is plentiful.  It is safe.  It is easily obtained.  Unfortunately, our brains are wired to see things that don't require significant effort and resources as valueless.  I think that my background (almost unknown in modern America) is part of the reason that I value water so much.  Between the ages of 6 and 13, my family had no running water.  Every bit of water we used either came from a hand drawn well or out of the nearby creek.  When you have to carry a bucket with all the water that you drink, cook with, or wash with, you start to look at water differently.  You see it as a precious thing. 

While I don't advocate everyone disconnecting from their well or city water supply, everyone should have some experience supplying their own water.  Try camping at a site that is distant from water.  Or, if you aren't ready to "rough it" yet, at least try this experiment:  Limit water usage to a single tap in the house for a few days.  Carry water for your bath, for your dishes, your laundry and so on.  Not only will this give you a much better idea of the huge volume of water used in most homes, it will teach you the value of every drop.

Try carrying your own water, and share the results of your experiment here.

Photo by Ganesh K through a creative commons license.

Water, water, not everywhere...

Like most of the Midwest, St. Louis is currently suffering from an extreme drought.  This lends to thinking about one of our most precious (and most squandered) resources...fresh water.  In the coming days, I will be spending a lot of time talking about how water is wasted and ways that we can reduce that waste.  I'll be spending some time on my water wasting pet peeves (golf courses, I'm looking at you) and also 'fessing up to some of my own water sins.  (Yes, the kitchen sink is still dripping.)  Return to this spot soon for more on water issues.

Image by D. Sharon Pruitt via a creative commons license.

Social Media: Time Waster or Social Enhancer?

In the past couple of years, social media has exploded.  There was some movement in this direction with things like easily accessible blogs, LiveJournal and others.  But with platforms like Facebook, G+, Twitter, Pinterest and others, social media is much more important in the lives of every day folks than it was even 5 years ago.  The impulse for many folks is to denounce these platforms as taking away from the “real” world and wasting everyone’s time.  Other folks argue that people were pretty adept at wasting time before Facebook was ever invented and that it is a great way to share and interact with other people. 

I’m torn.  I suspect that both camps are correct in some respect.  I’ve been trying to find ways to maximize the gain from these platforms, especially Facebook, while reducing the amount of time and energy wasted.  A few things I have done that seem to help: 

1) I stopped playing any of the games.  Most of the games (especially from Xynga) are only games in the loosest sense of the word…sort of like “War” is a card game.  They don’t require any real skill, nor even luck, but instead constantly sitting in front of the computer sending out requests and pestering all your friends.  I’m sure I annoyed some people before I stopped playing them.  I AM SORRY.  As an aside, another reason to stop playing is that these games and apps are notoriously full of viruses. 

2) While I do post a lot (probably more than I should) I typically try to repost bits that I think are truly informative or interesting.  I (mostly) avoid music videos, memes and the like.  I also don’t have my Spotify or Pinterest accounts linked to share my moves on other sites.  I also don’t link FB to my moves in other places.  I will admit that this is as much to protect my privacy and to avoid annoying others as it is to keep from wasting more time than is absolutely necessary.  But it’s a start.

I will admit that I spend much more time on social networking than I should.  I can’t imagine that on my deathbed I will regret reading to my kids instead of updating my status.  But I also very much enjoy the things I learn from social media.  I just need to keep finding a way of striking the best balance between finding and sharing useful information, and piddling away my time.  I’m not there yet.

Birth of this Blog

This blog was inspired by a photo posted by my friend Kathy.  It was from a collection of posters from the World Wars that discouraged food waste.  It looked like this:

I loved it immediately, for the font, for historical aspect, but mostly for the message.  People worry about how we can possibly feed all the people that are scheduled to show up on the planet in the coming decades.  We could currently comfortably feed all the folks that are currently on the planet, plus a good chunk more with the farmland currently in production if we didn't waste so much food.  Feeding the starving isn't that complicated, we just need to stop wasting food and distribute it more appropriately.  I tracked down the source of the poster and found this great website:

http://www.good-potato.com/beans_are_bullets/index.html

Reading over all the posters made me turn the thoughts over in my mind and realized that there are a lot of things that are important to me, but that many of them are tied to the idea of not wasting things.  In some cases this includes tangible items, like food or water.  In others, this is more ephemeral, like time or effort.  I figured that I couldn't be the only person with such concerns and so I decided to start a blog.  I look forward to sharing ideas and getting your input.