Now That's a Wrap!

I'll admit it. I'm a bit frugal. In fact, a friend yesterday called me a miser. It's not that I don't like spending money. Trust me, I've got the TJ Maxx shoe department delivery schedule memorized. However, Alex and I save a lot of our income. There are retirement accounts and house and emergency funds that get a boost every month. Our desire to save money reveals itself in various ways. A lot of times, it even helps the environment.

Since Alex and I have been married, I'm proud to say I have bought nary a gift bag nor sheet of tissue paper. How? We got tons of gift bags when we got married, and we get them at each birthday. I stock up. I smooth out tissue paper, fold it and slide it into a zippered bag that I think at one time a shower curtain or sheet set came in.

You can start your collection of gift bags and tissue paper this year! (It really is quite exciting.) After the presents are opened, as someone comes around with that big garbage bag, quietly gather the bags, tissue paper and even bows! Bows are a bit harder to keep from squishing from year to year, but a little tape does wonders!

I also save Comics out of the Sunday paper. Well, we don't subscribe to the paper, but if I ever get my hands on one, I pull out the Comics first. My Granny Bea used to wrap birthday gifts in the funnies. What a great idea!

Can you think of any ways to reuse or repurpose items for wrapping or gift-giving in general? I would love to hear your ideas in the comments!

Merry Christmas!

We went to Cordell Hull Lake during Labor Day weekend for a family get-together at Granville Marina. Cordell Hull is beautiful, with rolling hills rising on all sides of the water's smooth surface. Unfortunately, the view below distracted from the beauty.








This was taken with my cell phone camera, so it's not the best photo, but you can see how all the trash has washed up from the lake. Doesn't it make you sad? If this is just what's washed up at Granville Marina, think what else is still out there or washed up in other areas of the lake.

We've got to spread the word about caring for the environment. Tell your children. Don't let them grow up in a world that is overflowing with garbage on every street corner or in every lake and river. But landfills aren't the answer either. Within 50 years, the approximately 2,216 landfills that exist today will reach full capacity, according to Science World.

First: Reduce (what you use)!
Second: Reuse (what you can't reduce)!
Third: Recycle (after you've reused all you can)!

I heart freebies

I've been using an online-based service Freecycle for quite some time now, and I want to share with you because it's pretty cool. The Freecycle Network claims to be made up of 4,749 groups with 6,737,000 members across the globe.

Basically, it's a grassroots and entirely nonprofit movement of people who are giving (and getting) stuff for free in their own towns. It's all about reuse and keeping good stuff out of landfills.

You have to set up a Yahoo! username if you don't have one already, but it's an entirely free service that helps you get rid of things you don't want by matching you with people in your own community who need those items. Or, you can post a "wanted" item, and group members will e-mail or call you with offers. It really is that easy.

First, you'll want to go to the Freecycle home page and search for the city (or county) and state where you live. Don't be surprised when something pops up. Freecycle is everywhere! Click on that group page, and then click view page. You'll be taken to the group page, where you can click the button that says "Join this Group!" You will have to go through a few steps where the group moderator asks a few questions through e-mail to verify you, but after that, you're free to post wanteds or offers on the wall. (Just be smart and meet people for items in public places.)

The basic rules are that everything listed must be free, legal and appropriate for all ages. I check the Lebanon (where I live) and Franklin (where I work) Freecycle pages daily.

Things I've given away:

• When my mom got a new kitchen table, I gave away her old one to a family with two little girls who didn't have a table big enough to eat dinner together.
• Old tennis balls to a teacher for placing on the bottoms of chairs
• Small propane grill good for camping (We used it when we lived in an apartment.)
• Bowling ball with bag
• Portable garment rack
• Small Lexmark printer
• Large Toshiba office printer

I've also gotten some great stuff from Freecycle:

• A working hood to go over our stove
• Three large metal shelves to go in our storage building
• An answering machine for my mom after my dad passed away

Remember the old addage: One man's trash is another's treasure. So, get out of your neighbor's trash can and get Freecycling!