Kristen, over at the frugal girl hosts a weekly Food Waste Friday. She asks fellow bloggers to write about their own food waste, and rewards this with a week long spot on her blogroll. This will be my first week participating. I have pretty much eliminated food waste from my home,...
The following is from a previously published column. Enjoy! I am happy. I am a happy person with a great life. And no, it's not dependent on the price of gasoline. Here's what's currently making me happy: I didn't have to work today. Dinner tonight was healthy, cheap and well received, (pizza from scratch). I...
This guest post is generously shared by Leo Babauta, author of zenhabits.net. Katy Wolk-Stanley "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without." The Cheapskate Guide: 50 Tips for Frugal Living Confession time: I'm a cheapskate. Some would say frugal, which sounds much more positive, but in reality I...
The following is a reprint of an earlier column. Enjoy. My son's 11th birthday is coming up, and it's time to start brainstorming some party ideas. Please put your ideas in the comments section below. A parenting challenge that is sure to rise its ugly head exactly once a year is this -...
Today ended The Frugalista's No-Buy-Month, and with it ended my 28 days of no eating out, no shopping and no movies. Supposedly. Because even though I had signed up for the no-buy challenge, I did slip up a tiny bit. I took my sons to see a second-run showing of The Tale of Despereaux...
The following is a reprint of an previously published blog. Enjoy. What's small, square, flexible and happy to be smeared with food? No, it's not your seventh grade best friend. It's the lowly cloth napkin. We have been greening our house to try and rid ourselves of the disposable goods habit. Paper towels? Adios! Bottled water? Never! Paper...
I love a juicy makeover. It can be makeup and hair or even entire homes, it doesn't really matter as those shows entice me equally. Luckily I don't have cable TV so I'm normally able to resist their opium-like charms. But the rooms at the hospital where I work are all equipped with cable...
The Following is a guest blog by Julia Park Tracey of modernmuse.blogspot.com. Julia is a Compact-chum, and a fellow conscious frugality enthusiast. I really like how she is working to build savings a few dollars and a few dollars there. It's something we can all do. Katy Wolk-Stanley "Use it up, wear it out, make...
One of my goals for the school year was to pack daily lunches for my two sons. The purpose of this was two-fold -- to save money and to make sure they're getting a healthy meal. I started the year out well, but have gradually been letting my my ten-year-old eat a school lunch...
As a member of The Compact, (buy nothing new) I rely on thrift shops for everything from clothing to gifts. I love that by only buying used, I'm not contributing to the consequences of the buy, buy, buy culture. I also love that used things come without unnecessary wasteful packaging. I believe that every purchase...
Want to be more frugal, without sacrificing your generosity? Fear not, fellow Non-Consumers. Frugality and generosity can live together in one happy family. There's no need to become a miserly Scrooge just because you've stopped overspending. And I have a perfect example to illustrate this theory: Today was my mother's birthday. So I invited...
I am somewhat frugal. This should come as no surprise to any of my readers. But sometimes I feel like I've hit the apex. Like there's nothing new to learn, and the fun challenges of finding ways to save money have come to a standstill. Fear not, fellow Non-Consumers, there's always something new to...
My older son turned 13 this week, and it took some extra thinking to figure out a gift to buy that wouldn't break The Compact. (Buy nothing new.) This son is always kind of hard to buy for because, unlike his younger brother, he doesn't crave things. He loves rock music, and has gone...
I wrote a few days ago about how my son chose some rather delicious foods for his 13th birthday supper. The main course was my signature curried lime chicken satay sticks. (Okay, the recipe is really from my friend Tina Bloom, PhD, but I digress.) This recipe is super simple, inexpensive and impressive to...
I just had a momentous day as a parent. My oldest son became a teenager. And I let him choose anything he wanted for his birthday dinner. He chose: Curry lime chicken satay kabobs with peanut dipping sauce. Salad with bleu cheese and shrimp. A homemade chocolate cake. And what the birthday boy/man wants,...
I am happy. I am a happy person with a great life. And no, it's not dependent on the price of gasoline. Here's what's currently making me happy: I didn't have to work today. Dinner tonight was healthy, cheap and well received, (pizza from scratch). I did most of the dishes, but no one cares...
Allison asked this question in response to A Reason For Non-Consumers To Celebrate: "I'm curious how you handle birthday gifts throughout the year -- especially for kids' classmates and others who aren't necessarily aware of the compact. I was comfortable doing this for my kids when they were young (e.g. giving recycled toys for...
One of my personal pet peeves is food wastage. I've written a number of times about my own family's tendency to let perfectly good food go to waste. We've certainly gotten better, but are still far from perfect. Somehow, after a two week visit from my sister and her kids, (which peaked today with a fourth birthday...
My niece turns four this weekend and I am going to be hosting her par-tay right here at the Non-Consumer International headquarters. (Okay. . . my house.) It's going to be spectacular. Will I be renting a bouncy house with farm animals? Not bloody likely. It's going to be cheap, green and fun,...
Because we live frugally, my family has some wiggle room in our finances. Thankfully, we no longer have to count each and every penny. This means we get to make a few fun choices with our money. (Of course, what's fun to me, The Non-Consumer Advocate, might be different from your idea of fun...
What's small, square, flexible and happy to be smeared with food? No, it's not your seventh grade best friend. It's the lowly cloth napkin. We have been greening our house to try and rid ourselves of the disposable goods habit. Paper towels? Adios! Bottled water? Never! Paper napkins? Be gone! Using cloth napkins saves trees and cuts an...
A parenting challenge that is sure to rise its ugly head exactly once a year is this - How do you throw a kick-ass kid birthday party yet stick to your goals of frugality and green living? No one wants to have their child suffer as a result of their parents' idealistic goals. But...
When I started doing The Compact, (international movement to buy nothing new) back in January 2007, I worried about what I would do for gift giving. It's one thing to replace shiny new packaged goods with secondhand items for yourself, but it's entirely different when it's for your father-in-law. Surprisingly, it was pretty much a non-issue....