A Review of Not Buying New
I have found {Not Buying New} very liberating. There is something very freeing about knowing you can go anywhere, anytime and not be tempted to make a new purchase. If I see something I want it gives me time to decide if it is really worth the effort trying to find it used. If I do determine that it is a need (this happens very rarely now) then I add it to my post-it note of things to look for at goodwill, ebay or to trade for. But most of the time I decide that we really don’t need it.
Not only are we trying not to not buying buy new, but we are also getting rid of the old. We have downsized the items in our home by about 50% in the last year. We spend less time dealing with clutter, picking up unused toys or sorting through clothes to find the same old ones we wear all the time anyway. We feel less tied down to our stuff.
I need to throw in a disclaimer here. Because I started this post a while back and since then I have purchased a coffee pot and blender, 2 sports bras and 6 pairs of underwear, some maternity clothes and a pair of black athletic pants. Want to make sure I am completely honest! But I will say that I did my research and purchased those items at a huge discount! When did undergarments get so expensive? I also stepped back into a Target for the first time in 19 months. And let me tell you that have this consumerism thing down pat…most of the above items came from Target on one shopping trip!
So if you know me at all you probably realize that I take things pretty seriously, you might even say a little over the top. And I’d agree with that. I enjoy challenging myself and taking things one step further.
My desire to buy less comes from a need to be frugal and a conviction that there is just too much stuff out there.
It’s more than recycling.
It’s discovering the things we need among the things no one else wants anymore.
It’s finding pleasure in the things we already own.
Or simply living with less.
Advent Conspiracy
Interested in slowing down and enjoying this Christmas season?
Watch This Video
One of the ways that our family is slowing down, spending more time together and putting our focus on our savior’s birth is by making gifts for those we love. We are upcycling some of our favorite things into something special and new.
Upcycled Crayons
Preheat Oven to 200 degrees. Peel and Break Crayons.
Spray pan with cooking spray. Fill to the top with broken crayons.
Place in oven until crayons are melted. You may have to add a few crayons.
Allow crayons to cool and seperate from pan.
Kids love banging the crayons out of the pan!
Put a smile on someone’s face!
Upcycled Shirts
Any t-shirt will work. Find an item you would like to scan or a photo from the internet.
Print the image (you can always increase or decrease the size)
Cut out the image
Use template to cut out felt patterns. Add embellishments if you want.
Sew onto the shirt with embroidery floss.
Other Shirt Ideas
I am sure that washing on a delicate cycle or by hand would be the best method. But we just throw all of our clothes into the same wash with no problem!
Upcycled Clocks
Select an item to upcycle into a clock…the possibilities really are endless. You can buy clock mechanisms for around $5 or use one out of a used clock (goodwill and grandma’s attic have them for less than $1)
Remove the clock mechanism, the pieces just pop apart!
Use the center of the old clock to determine which size drill bit to use.
If making a book and you want it to close, you can cut a square out for the base of the clock mechanism.
Snap all of the pieces back into place. You have a clock!
Coming Soon!
Buy & Sell on Ebay
Thrifting for Gifts
Have Kids and Save Money
God Came Calling…
…at the Goodwill again. I have been saying that a lot lately. God Came Calling is something my great grandmother would say when she would receive a blessing or answered prayer. She would say “God Came Calling” and I would come waiting to hear what magnificent thing God had done in her life. Most often it was a 2/1 deal at the save-a-lot or the extra checks she had ordered from the bank arrived a day earlier than she had expected. But what God Came Calling with wasn’t as important as the fact that GOD CAME CALLING. He comes in the huge and tiny, powerful and gentle, moments of miracles and moments of silence.
There are a few reasons why I shop at Goodwill.
It is right by my house, cheap and I like the hunt.
God always blesses us with something we really need.
But the other reason is that God always puts someone in our path that we can bless. When Carter and I go by ourselves he heads right over to housewares because he is drawn to the older men that are standing around talking, discussing the weather, electronics, or the economy (he also knows that there are usually a few toys there too). He has one liners for these older men like “do you have a tractor”, “are you a grandpa”, “Goodwill is cool isn’t it”. You know, all the normal things a 5 year old says to a male stranger at the Goodwill. But the truth is that God uses Carter to bless these men. There also times that I take all three kiddos with me to the Goodwill, which is minor miracle in itself. And Elizabeth is equally as chatty with many of the people who are obviously needing some love, while the baby strapped on my back always makes someone’s day. Shopping at Goodwill is more than simply buying cheap stuff. It is an experience that I can provide for my children and the people shopping there. We come through the door like a tumbleweed in a cowboy movie, stick around, make people laugh, and always leave praying for others.
God may have some rocky paths planned for us in the future because he keeps blessing us with shoes. A couple of weeks ago the men at our church were getting together to play some basketball. I wanted to go because I love, love, love my church family and they have become our community. But Nathan just wanted to spend time as a family, equally important so I didn’t think more about it. We went fishing and stopped by church on our way home. The boys were still playing ball so we stopped and Nathan ended up playing in his dress shoes. It didn’t occur to me until that night that Nathan didn’t have any tennis shoes. And because he is very selfless, and a little cheap, he didn’t want to spend money on shoes for himself. So I guess you have already guessed what I found at the Goodwill.
A gently used pair of size 12 New Balance tennis shoes.
Praise God. And I must add that Nathan needed God to come calling with something just for him. You know, God loves us like that. He wants to provide for our needs, but we have to let our needs last longer than a trip to the Target or a click of the mouse.
The Saying is True…
Kids really are just as happy with a cardboard box. So we were at Sam's and Carter had already mentioned how excited he was to scope out the cardboard bin for boxes to store our recycles in. Our plan is to use the boxes to make the roof, but for now they are storing our cleaned items very nicely out in the garage. So we approach the checkout line and this is what Carter says, "Mom!!! Wait till you see what I see. Just what we've always wanted. A table for our house." Now I've got to tell you that I was pretty excited that my kids are more excited about the free box than the rows of toys (we have had many conversations over the toys at sams). As they drooled over the colorful boxes and dreamed of what they could "be" in our house I found myself pondering the educational opportunities here: counting, measurements, stewardship, architecture, keeping home.... And then I realized that a few people were looking at us (and let me tell you, we looked rough, just out of the garden). And I went back to Carter's comment and realized that they may just think we are homeless.
Living with Less
We are in the beginning of making the transition towards living lighter through buying less. What that looks like for us may be different from what it looks like for you, but we feel like it is a necessary change. The Compact was one of the original groups to actually challenge lasting change. Here is a quote from their site.
Tie Dye Fun, Yummy Soap and a cup of Joe!
What a great day we had today at the SKY Farmers Market. We always love going to see daddy and our friends at the market. One thing I love about having my kids experience the market is that it becomes a community. A fun, spirited community of different people, tastes and adventure. Watching my kids float in and out of everyone’s booth eyeing their goodies. Even better my kids “know” that those people have worked hard to bring those items to the market. Our kids helped seed, plant, care and pick our produce. They have watched their daddy work even harder each week preparing for market day. So they respect those people and their items for sale.
Trading at the market makes the experience even more meaningful. We are blessed that there are not a lot of things that we have to purchase since we grow almost everything ourselves. But you won’t just find produce at SKY. You can find clothing, jewelry, woodwork, coffee, soaps and the list goes on. The kids were so thrilled to trade for tie dyed t-shirts-even Lilah got one. And Carter and I have been dying to try the orange/lavender soap in our guest bathroom. The soaps from LazyBFarms are wonderful. And we traded a hefty heirloom tomato for a cup of Joe! No photo because I drank that up really quick.
And on a side note: look at those yummy baby thighs!
Our First Trade
Here is our first trade, a ton of books from our good, gracious friend Beth. Carter was so excited as he stacked the books up one by one (where does he get that from??) and yelled SCORE when he saw this one. We looked through the books, played with them, smelled them and some of us laid on top of them…I let the kids pick out a few of their favorites and I picked out the more educational one’s and they went up to our future school room.
The rest of the books will be donated to Newborns in Need to be passed out to families with pre-school aged kiddos.
We are so excited to add these fun books to our collection and even more excited to officially begin homeschooling. We took our letter of intent to the school board today, so we are official!
I have to share one more thing about our trip to visit Beth at TC Cherry. Carter and I have been talking for a while about Broadway’s partnership with TC Cherry school. We are praying about partnering up with another kiddo Carter’s age so that we can read, play and study together. He has had tons of questions about this partnership and we have answered all of them from the heart.
So as we were entering the school Carter asked me, “mommy, is this where grown up’s come to learn about God from kids like me?“.
And I answered, “yes buddy, you are very right about that”.
Living Light
The Three Most Important Steps Towards Living Financially Light
Housing-Renting can sometimes be a good option for living light (especially if you choose a small space that will lower your other bills). But in our situation we decided to make an investment with our home. We bought a great home with 13 acres at a great deal. We knew that we would be able to sell the land at a great price if we needed to. When we started praying about me becoming a stay at home mom we were lead to sell the land and pay of a huge chunk of our mortgage. We also made extra payments with tax returns and larger payments whenever possible so that we could be freed from home debt.
Vehicles-When Nathan and I were married we both owned our own vehicles which was a great way to keep us on track. We did purchase a brand new vehicle at 0% interest and used savings to pay it off (since it was a 0% loan we kept our money in our account to draw interest and made payments each month from that account until it was paid off). Future vehicles will be paid for in full and we will probably never buy new again. Food & Eating Out
I believe that food (especially eating out) can be the number one contributor to debt. Since it’s food, something we need, we can easily convince ourselves that it is a reasonable purchase. And the little things add up fast (not just on our wallets but on our backsides too).
Meal Planning-The single best thing we do to save money on food is to purchase only what we will eat. And my strategy is to purchase a little less than what I think we will need. Here is my reasoning on that: we almost always have some sort of interuption from our dinner plans during the week (meeting, working outside until late, being invited to eat with someone else) and then that food is wasted. So by limiting what I buy at the store we always have enough, but not too much. There are few things I love more than a near empty fridge or pantry.
Eating Out-We like to eat out so we do. But very rarely and just the two of us most of the time. When we have gone out to eat in the past at a sit down restaurant as a family we normally find ourselves wondering what we were thinking. The kids don’t appreciate it and we do not get to talk When we do take the kids out to eat we focus on what they really want. They are more than happy to have a healthy snack at home and just french fries or ice cream when we go out.
Not your Mama’s Cloth Diapers
I have always been drawn to things of the past. Antique’s, old books, shows on TV about history (especially the early 1900’s). And so as I started to right this post about cloth diapering I started to wonder about this new surge in cloth diapering that is considered a “new” practice. Which in fact is a very old, traditional way of doing things. Cloth diapers have come a long way-even the past couple of years. The main reason we have choosen cloth diapering is to prevent the thousands of pounds of extra waste in our landfills from diapering three kids. But an added benefit is how cute they are.
And for the frugal shoppers out there you can even make money with cloth diapers. I buy low and sell high (as may of you know from my kids clothing purchases) so I have actually made money from cloth diapering.
Here is a short tutorial for anyone interested in getting started.
The first step is to decide what type of diaper you are wanting to use. I actually use a combination of a few differen types.
All in One’s-these are the easiest most “disposeable like” diapers. They either velcro or snap on just like a sposie. You wash the entire diaper after each use and then re-use.
Pocket Diapers-these are very similar to all-in-one’s except they have a pocket so you can stuff it at nap or bedtime for more absorbancy.
Fitted Diapers and Wraps-the fitted part of the diaper goes on similar to the all-in-one but requires a wrap or cover. The benefit is great absorbancy from the fitted and the wrap can be used over and over again without washing.
Pre-folds or flats–these are your grandma’s diapers. There are dozens of different fold techniques and you use a pin or snappi to hold it on. These diapers require a wrap or cover also. They are also the most econimical.
Wool-this is a great option for the winter months. Wool is very absorbable and is used just like a wrap over a fitted diaper, prefold or flat. Watch out because it can become very addicting!
My Diaper Stash
Elizabeth is now potty trained so she is only using fitteds and wraps or pocket diapers at nighttime. But until recently we also used lots of flats with wraps just because they are so economical. And the wraps are so cute!!!
For the newborn joining our family soon I have already started to stock up on fitteds, wraps, flats and all-in-one’s.
Where to get the deals
Washing Instructions
For newborns and pee only diapers I just rinse them in a cold water cycle. For older babies I will plop the poop (gross sorry) into the potty and then do a rince cycle. Then I wash the diapers with washing soda, a few sprays of simple green and a capful of bleach. This has always worked for me but there are lots of washing methods available on the net.
Storing between loads
Wetbags are a great way to store soiled diapers. Once the wetbag is filled you just put the entire thing including the bab into the washing machine.
Going out
I started out using sposies when we went places. But small wetbags make it very possible for you to store soiled diapers in your diaper bag until you get home. Just make sure that anyone who might be changing your child know’s they are cloth diapered. I always use my easiest diapers when going to church or play dates to that no one has to “figure it out the hard way”.
Other tips and advice
A Fair Trade
In an effort to live lighter I have been getting creative with trading. My latest trade is fresh flower arrangements for my favorite cup of joe! Here is my latest Starbuck’s arrangement. All of my designs for Starbuck’s are made from “green” materials. The flowers are from my own gardens and I enjoy using recycled containers or of course the great Blumebox.
And another benefit of the great coffee at Starbuck’s is that you can get free coffee grounds to use as a mulch in your own gardens. Just ask your favorite Starbuck’s server for your own bag of ground’s.
Farm Fresh Lilies
These are farm fresh lilies grown at Sullivan Farms here in Kentucky (my husband surprised me with them tonight). A trade of course. They are in a tall glass vase that has been lined with dried ornamental grass. The paper art was created with Apricot Appeal cardstock Sweet Shop Ribbon and Stickers by SU!
There are so many Farmers and Horticulturists growing fresh cut flowers in every state. For a complete list you can go HERE. If you don’t see your favorite grower please leave a comment and let everyone know about them. There is nothing like arranging fresh flowers that have been grown on local soil. Even better, your own soil. Can’t wait until my little babies start producing beauties like this.
I used this opportunity to use the free features atPicnik. If you have checked it out yet you should. During their beta trial you can use all of the features free.
be Fresh be Simple 