Don't Just Sit There, Fix Something!

I've never been able to just sit and watch television.  Maybe it's because I learned to read before my parents got a television set, or maybe it's just a personality quirk.  Either way, the only exceptions are Friday night movie nights with my Mom and sister, Saturday night movie night with friends (and sometimes we play board games instead), and the rare times when I'm just too sick to care.  Even when there's something I've been waiting / planning to see, like a new Dr Who episode or a new Discovery Channel or History Channel documentary, I still need to be doing something while I watch it.

The result is that I get a lot of things done in front of the television ...
Knitting.  Paperwork.  Coupon clipping / organizing.  Garden planning.  Writing.  Quilting. Wrapping gifts.  Grooming the cats.  Doing beadwork / embroidery / Fimo work for the craft fairs.  Folding laundry.  Rolling coins.  Reading.

I also love to do challenging crosswords and jigsaw puzzles.

But my personal favourite  -  the in-front-of-the-idiot-box activity I get the most satisfaction from  -  is mending.

Yes, mending.  By hand.

Mending really warms my frugal soul.

Replacing zippers.  Replacing buttons.  Repairing buttonholes.  Patching jeans.  Fixing gaping seams and sagging hems.  Replacing worn-out pockets (Big Guy is really bad with pockets, for some reason). Re-hemming frayed linens.  Fixing snagged sweaters.  Altering thrift-store finds.  Even darning socks.

Last night I was asked why I bother, and it got me thinking.  Why do I bother?

First of all, I love to sew.  I always have, ever since I was a little girl  -  I think I was about five or six  -  and Mom got tired of my constant demands for more doll clothes and started teaching me to make them myself.  I was hooked from the very first lesson!

I hate waste in any form.  I just don't understand a mindset that says it's okay to throw something away that only needs a couple of buttons, or a new zipper, or a few minutes with a needle and thread to make it perfectly good again.

As strange as this will surely seem to many people, I hate shopping.  I especially loathe shopping for clothes.  I'm kind of an odd shape  -  extremely short-waisted, short-bodied, short-armed and long-legged, and also quite overweight  -  and it's unbelievably difficult to find off-the-rack clothes that fit properly.  So being able to stretch my wardrobe budget by fixing things instead of replacing them has a lot of appeal.

I feel a deep sense of accomplishment whenever I turn a basket full of unwearable garments into a neatly folded pile of clothes that are good again.  Especially when Big Guy comes to me complaining that he doesn't have any heavy work socks, or any coveralls,  and I can say "Oh, yes, you do!" and hand him half a dozen pairs of socks or a stack of coveralls with newly reinforced side seams and nice new hole-free pockets.

I'm contributing to my family's financial well-being by getting more of our money's worth from our clothes and linens.

I'm improving our living conditions by keeping our sheets and towels from getting ratty.

I'm keeping more things out of the landfill.

So the next time you're faced with an evening (or morning, or afternoon) of so-so shows, boring reruns, or that vague nagging feeling of guilt over "wasted" time ... don't just sit there, fix something!

Job Hunting Surprise

This morning I was going through my daily job-hunting routine  -  checking all the job boards, looking for possibilities on industry / company websites, checking in with all the placement and temp agencies I'm listed with  -  I spend an hour or two at this every morning, and the results have been uniformly discouraging.

Until this morning ... on the second job board I looked at, what did I find?

The company I was with until August 2009 is hiring again!  Ironically, for every department except the one I was in at this time last year.

Well, I dithered for a while, and then called a friend who still works there to get her opinion.  And she advised me to go for it.  So I did; in all I applied for five different positions.  Of course, there are pros and cons ...

The cons: 

A much lower salary than I previously enjoyed, since I'd be a "new hire".
A $151 transit pass to be bought every month.
The standard three-month "probation" before benefits kicked in.

The pros:

The salary would still be substantially more than I currently receive from E.I.
We already have medical coverage through Big Guy's union.
The fact that I'd need minimal training is a point in my favour.
I know the jobs, I know I'd enjoy the work, and I (and they) know I'm good at it.   I know the systems, I know the customers, I know the vendors, I know the procedures and company policies.
I know and get along really well with everyone I'd be working with.

The bottom line is that I'd rather go back to work there than start at the bottom at a completely new company where I'd need much more training and be getting it from total strangers. 

From my perspective  -  and I hope it turns out to be theirs as well  -  hiring me would be a win-win situation.

Wish me luck!

Updates

You may have noticed I've added a few things on the side.

The bookshelf is because these are books I've not only enjoyed but find useful to refer back to.

The personal and financial reports are to help me hold myself more accountable, and  -  I hope  -  motivate me to do better and be more consistent in my efforts.

Variations On A Frugal Theme

I read a lot of blogs (and books) on frugal living, green living, and money management.  I like to see what other "frugalites" and "greenies" are doing and how it works for them.  Comparing their methods with mine to see which would work better for me, picking up useful new tips and sharing my own  -  I feel like I've joined a community that's so much bigger and more diverse than I imagined when I first set out!

There are two strategies that almost everyone seems to have adopted that just don't work for Big Guy and me.

The first strategy is couponing.

I have to admit, I feel more than a touch of envy when I read about how much other bloggers save by using coupons; I especially envy what they can achieve on "double coupon days", on "stacked" coupons, on coupon-plus-store-rebate/reward deals.  We can't do those things here; stores in Canada  -  or at least here in our little corner of Canada  -  just don't do things that way.  The most we can do is watch the store flyers and not use a coupon until the item it's for goes on sale.

Some of our stores do have loyalty programs, though I'm never really sure whether the "member" price is lower than the "real" price, or whether the non-member price has been jacked up a bit ... hmm, maybe more comparison shopping is in order.  I have cards for Safeway, Save-On/Price Smart, Shopper's Drug Mart, and Zeller's/The Bay.  At the grocery stores, the bottom of the receipt always shows my "member savings" and coupon savings, and as soon as I get home I put that amount of cash in my Can't Touch It jar.  (This is also where all the can & bottle deposit money I bring home goes, and all the loose change that comes into the house.)  Save-On and Price Smart give points which can be redeemed for staples like eggs, milk, bread, etc.  Safeway gives Air Miles; we've never been able to rack up enough miles to actually go anywhere, but the miles can be redeemed for small appliances, various gift cards, and so on.  I do quite a bit of gift shopping with Air Miles!  Shopper's gives points; it doesn't usually lower the prices I pay, but the points add up fairly quickly and can be used for a lot of non-food necessities such as cleaning products, paper products, and occasional OTC medications.  The Zeller's card doesn't lower prices either, but again gives points which add up fairly quickly and are redeemed for Christmas and birthday gifts.  Still, I can't help a twinge of jealousy when I read about my American counterparts bringing home free or almost-free groceries and goods!

The second strategy we don't use is full-on meal planning.

I can hear the cries of horror ... so before they get any louder, let me explain why what we do works well for us.

Big Guy does pretty much all of the cooking here; he's a much better cook than I am, because he likes to cook while I am about the most reluctant cook you'll ever meet.  (I can cook, and in fact did most of the cooking during the early years when I didn't have a full-time job outside the home.  But I really, really hate day-to-day cooking.)  He's a spontaneous cook; when it's time to start dinner, he decides what he feels like doing and that's what we have. (That's why we try never to be without a microwave, for fast safe defrosting.)  The mere suggestion that we think about planning meals a month at a time has him staggering off into the middle distance mumbling to himself ...

We buy almost everything on sale, in bulk, and almost all generics; the only exceptions are milk, eggs, fresh produce, and the odd loaf of French bread or bag of rolls  -  and even there we look for the best possible price.  We have a 24-cubic-foot chest freezer (so much cheaper to run than an upright!) and we try to keep it full.  We watch for case lot sales, we keep an inventory of the freezer and pantry contents, we garden, and we do a lot of home canning. We're always on the lookout for good deals and freebies, and we trade with neighbours and friends  -  this fall, I'll be helping a friend pick all their pears and plums in exchange for a share of the crop, and we hope to be trading tomatoes and apples to the folks across the street for green beans and cherries.  Our "big" shopping trips are, on average, once a month; we make a list of what we're running low on that's on sale, and then do the circle:  Costco, the other grocery stores, the bread outlet, the produce market, and every six months there's a trip to Bosley's for the sale priced 20-kilo sacks of guinea pig pellets and a big bale of sale priced pine shavings.  Oh, and at the produce store we'll score at least three big boxes of free fruit and vegetable "trimmings" and discards  -  mostly for the guinea pigs, but I'm not going to throw away an orange or a grapefruit just because there's a mark on the skin ... What's not edible at all will go into the compost.

Now, although we don't set a menu in stone, he often cooks with several days' meals in mind.  When he cooks a turkey, a big roast, or a ham, he's already thinking of all the meals that will come from it  -  hot and cold sandwiches, casseroles, soups, stir-fry creations, pot pies ... And he often cooks in bulk; if we're having meat loaf, he'll make three or four more for the freezer; spaghetti sauce gets made by the gallon and frozen; once a year we'll set aside a long weekend and make hundreds of perogies.

On Thursday he found a killer deal on fresh-caught sockeye salmon, so we spent all day yesterday canning salmon in our usual assembly-line fashion  -  I do all the jar prep while he cleans & cuts up the salmon, then we pack the jars together and run them through the pressure canner.  Now we have 25 pints of fishy deliciousness in the pantry, and fresh salmon to barbecue tonight, for $45 (including the cost of the new jar lids, and the power used in the canning process).  The same amount (by weight) of canned sockeye in any grocery store would cost, even on sale, at least $180.

Though I don't do the day-to-day cooking, I do like baking and canning.  I'll make six loaves of pumpkin bread or lemon pound cake and freeze them; at Christmas I bake massive heaps of shortbread cookies and trade with family members and friends for other goodies.  I'll go out back and pick enough blackberries next week for a year's worth of jam and syrup plus some to trade.  I'll take a weekend in September to make a year's worth of pickles.  We're hoping he gets to go hunting later in the fall; if he does, we'll, skin, cut, and wrap what he kills ourselves.  I kind of hope he just gets a deer or two; if he brings home a moose as well, we'll need another freezer!

The results of the way we do things?

We eat whatever we feel like eating, without spending any more than people who do the meal-planning thing.
We always  -  this part IS planned  -  have really good, healthy meals, lunches from the leftovers, and sometimes another evening meal or two (or three or four).
We always have a wide variety on hand to choose from. 
We spend less per meal than almost everyone we know.
We waste nothing and produce very little garbage, and our compost is the envy of gardeners all over the neighbourhood.  (Insert smug grin here, LOL.)
Even though we're both unemployed right now, we haven't had to make drastic changes in the way we shop or the way we eat.
If there's a major emergency  -  earthquake, long power outage, whatever  -  we will not only be able to feed ourselves, we'll be able to help friends and neighbours if they need help.  And because we have a woodstove, a propane barbecue, a wood-fired barbecue, and large stocks of firewood and canning jars, in the event of a long-lasting power outage we'd simply yank all the meats and vegetables out of the freezer and pressure-can them.


Granted, our methods work in part because we have a lot of storage space and a big freezer  -  I know that not everyone is so fortunate.  But really, for me that's what frugality is all about  -  doing the best we can with what we have, and finding the best way to make what we have work for us.

Why Do You Do That?

I get asked "Why are you doing that?" a lot lately.  My stock answer is "Because every penny counts."  But sometimes there's a lot more to it than that.

I love my family, immediate and extended, I truly do.  But I've pretty much given up trying to get across them just why I do things the way I do.  If I give an answer involving money, they accept it; if I give an answer involving the environment, I either get a blank look, or a dismissive hand-wave and some variant of "Why bother? One person can't change anything."

Well, actually, one person's changes can make a difference.

Case in point:

A few weeks ago we had a water meter installed by the city.  The meter itself is free; still, Big Guy wanted to know what the benefits would be.  Once I explained to him that the flat yearly rate for homes without a meter was about double what we'd pay if we were metered, he agreed it was a good idea.  What I didn't say was that paying for the water we use is also good for the environment because it will encourage us to use / waste less water.  Don't get me wrong; it's not that he doesn't care about the environment, because he does.  It's that he's firmly in the "one-person-can't-make-any-difference" camp, and nothing I say will change his mind.

So as soon as the water meter was installed, I changed the way I do the dishes.    I used to fill up one sink right to the top, then rinse the dishes under the tap and let all the rinse water go down the drain.  Now, I have two kitty litter pails that fit nicely into the sinks.  I fill one with the hot soapy water, wash all the dishes in it, and then use it to flush the toilet, which has the added advantage that my toilet is always clean without having to scour it with harsher chemicals.  I still rinse the dishes under a running tap, but it's running into the other pail instead of down the drain.  When it's full, it's used for watering the garden, or flushing the toilet, or washing the car, or mopping the kitchen floor, or it goes into the washer to wait for the next load of laundry.  In Big Guy's mind, I'm saving money; in mine, I'm also conserving resources and doing my little environmental bit.

Side note:   Yes, I am one of those oddballs who has never had a dishwasher and will never have one.  I find washing dishes to be both relaxing and therapeutic; it's also the one thing I know I'll get to do in peace, uninterrupted.  I do some of my best thinking while standing over a sinkful of suds.

In the same spirit, I often find myself about to do something, and stopping to try to think of a way I could do it differently and save a few pennies, or a little water, or even a little time ... because every penny, every drop of water, does count.  Instead of scooping the last serving of yogurt out of the tub into a bowl, today I ate it straight from the tub ... one less bowl to wash doesn't seem like it would make a difference, does it?  But look at it this way  -  one less bowl to wash every five days (five servings in a tub of yogurt) equals seventy-three bowls a year.   How many loads of bowls in the sink would that be?  How many gallons of wash and rinse water?  How much dish soap?  That's an amount worth saving, isn't it?  It is to me. 

Chipping Away At Things

Every time I make plans, something happens to change, disarrange, or nullify them.  Heavy sigh.  So I've decided that instead of announcing any intentions ahead of time, I'm going to focus on what I'm actually doing and what I've managed to get done.  Take that, Raven, Coyote, Loki, and whoever else has been throwing sand in my gears!  I'm also going to stop restricting my posting to twice a week; from now on, if there's something I want to post, I'm going to post it right then.

Yesterday was a fairly lazy day compared to most Mondays.  My poor knees were still protesting the hike through the provincial park on Sunday, so I mostly did things I could do sitting down ...

I gathered all of my makeup and related items on the desk  -  for someone who doesn't wear makeup often, it was suprising how much I had  -  sorted out stage/costuming/special effects makeup & tools, and  set all that to one side to go back into my "conventions and costuming" bin.  Then I weeded through everything that was left, tossing out whatever was too old or was a shade I knew I'd never wear again.  There were a few items in the "toss" category that were still new/sealed  -  they are all now in a bag for either the local women's shelter or Dress For Success, depending on which end of town I have an errand in next.  What's left now fits nicely in one smallish basket in my top dresser drawer, and is all stuff I know I will use.

Then I did the same thing with all my hair ties, clips, headbands, and related odds and ends.  Now, instead of an entire dresser drawer where I can never find the one thing I'm looking for, there are two small baskets in the same drawer with the makeup.  That frees up an entire drawer for other things, and there's still room for one more basket, which I think will be all my nail polishes and manicure tools  -  once I put that collection through the same weeding process, that is.

I downloaded all the pictures I took yesterday ... most of them are so-so, but I was really pleased with these three:

This fellow was determined to get every last bug out of that stump no matter how close I got:

The island seems to be all sandstone and there are some interesting formations, especially at the tide line:

And the arbutus trees are all twisted and sculpted by the wind:

If I ever come into a lot of money, I'd love to invest in some really top-of-the-line camera gear and take some photography courses.  For now, I'm happy playing with my little Nikon.

Apart from that, I finished a library book, started another one, and did some mending in front of the television.

So far today I've gone through my dresser and the "casual" half of my closet, and have filled two big bags with donations for the local thrift store.  I don't know if I'll get to the "office" clothes today, but I'm pleased with the results of my weeding so far.  When I finally get to the point where I'm ready to start using my patterns-and-fabric stash, I'll have plenty of hangers for new pieces, and enough space in the closet for them too!

Of course, there are the usual everyday chores ... dishes, cat care, weeding & watering what the squirrels have left of the vegetable garden, and so on ... let's just take it as a given that those are the things that happen every day and don't need to be detailed in every post  :-) 

More Plans Gone Awry

I begin to feel as though my life is just one long series of interruptions ...

All those plans I had for Thursday, Friday, and the weekend?  The Domino Effect intervened ... again ... ::sigh::


On Thursday afternoon, our youngest daughter was offered a job in the kitchen of a tourist resort on one of the Gulf Islands.  Woot!  She was thrilled  -  the pay is good, she loves the location and has friends there, the staff housing is incredibly cheap, and it will be an impressive addition to her resume.  Most important to her was getting out of the pizza place she'd been miserable working at, and getting a chance to do some "real cooking with real food!"  Currently the job is scheduled to last until at least the end of September, but it could go longer because the current head chef is talking about leaving at the end of tourist season ... here's hoping!

Of course, that meant she had two days to do laundry, organize everything she wanted to take with her, and get all her packing done.  She had to be there by Sunday, to get her housing sorted out and get settled in before doing all the paperwork today (Monday) and starting work tomorrow (Tuesday) morning.  And she had too much stuff to carry, so that meant loading up my car to drive her there.  Which meant going on-line to reserve my car spot both ways on the very small, no-cars-without-reservations ferry for Sunday.  Which meant using my just-zeroed-out Visa to prepay the fares.  The only times I could get were going over on the 3:00 p.m. sailing and coming back on the 9:30 p.m. sailing.  No problem; that would have put me back at home by 11:15 Sunday night ... a bit later than I'd have preferred, but not too late to do my regular Sunday night post here.  Older daughter decided to come along, which was really nice; I don't get to see much of her lately, and she was really good company on the trip home. 

I actually did make it to the consignment store on Friday, to find they had nothing in my size that I liked (I don't do plaid); I'll try again in a few days.  And some cleaning did get done in the workroom, though not nearly as much as I'd hoped.  A lot of time was taken up with helping Daughter get ready to go, including several variations of "No, you are not taking my/our _________ !"  Of course, she waited until Saturday evening to bring me an armload of clothes that needed mending so she could take them with her. I didn't really mind that at all, but her timing could have been better, and I ended up hemming the last pair of chef's pants on the ferry on the way over.  (I love to sew and hate to cook, so I do everyone's mending and they do all the cooking  -  works for me!)

The trip over was good.  The ferry was on time, the rain stopped, the sun came out, and we saw our local pod of orcas playing in the strait and got a couple of good pictures!  It didn't take long to get Daughter settled in, so we had time to visit the provincial park on the island, where I got some terrific (to me, anyway) pictures of arbutus trees and odd tideline rock formations, and one very single-minded pileated woodpecker.  Then we grabbed a bite to eat at the local store, dropped our budding chef off at the staff house, and Older Daughter and I headed back to the ferry terminal.  Overall a very enjoyable day.  So far.

Remember I said we were booked on the 9:30 p.m. sailing?   Yes.  Well.

We were supposed to be there 30 minutes before sailing time, and we were.  As soon as we were through the gate and in the loading line, the terminal staff announced that the ferry was delayed (I still don't know why) and would be up to an hour late.  And then they promptly closed the one and only food stand  -  I couldn't even get a cup of coffee!  The ferry actually didn't come in until 11:15 p.m., so we got back here at 1:00 a.m., wolfed down a sandwich apiece, and went to sleep; Daughter went home this morning.

So now I'm undecided.  Do I plan out the next few days and hope nothing interferes?  Or do I just wing it, do everything in no particular order, and hope for the best?