i have to take several momii (that there's my brand-new plural of "moment"...LIKE IT?!) and sing the praises of FREECYCLE. if you're new to freecycle, think craigslist, only everything's free. so you post things you want to get rid of to the freecycle website. a brief description, maybe a photo. you present your things as "gifts." then, people email you and tell you why you should pick them as the recipient of your gift. you pick the person you want (often, this is based on nothing more than "this person sounds nice" or "this person lives close by" or "this person can spell words properly"). then you arrange a meeting time and give your gift to the good speller man, et voila! your stuff has a new home.
i've been using freecycle a lot in the few weeks since we moved. i've acquired a litter box, given away a table. given away a CD player, acquired a poster frame. it's really an amazing little community built on simple eco-conscious principles and just plain good karma.
what i love most about freecycle is the notion that everything you need already exists. someone in this city of three million has got whatever it is you're after. sure, it's a bit of extra work to find that person, but it's oddly satisfying if and when you do. much like life itself. WHAAAT!! BAM. NAILED IT.
the other day we were trying to get rid of an old coffee table. i suppose we could have made $25 off it, but in the end, it went to a woman on freecycle who sounded like she really needed it. and that just felt better.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
like a bat outta debt!!!
today is a joyous, glorious, glorious, joyous day, because today, i am finally free from the evil clutches of student loans! it only took 4 years, 10 months and 17 days, but it is one of the greatest feelings EVS.
and i have to acknowledge that my year of buying nothing new is probably the reason i pulled it off. it's only three months in, and i've saved a whole bunch of money, paid the aforementioned loan, and started an RRSP. REAL GROWNUP ALERT. LOUD SIRENS.
getting organized financially has been a sort of unexpected side effect of this year. i figured i'd save a bit of cash by doing this experiment, but i've been surprised by how even a tiny pile has inspired a totally new mindset. it's amazing how once you've got a even couple hundred bucks saved, you feel super motivated to keep at it. it really doesn't take much money to get the momentum building. and, as my father-in-law liked to advise, "always pay yourself first!"
and i have to acknowledge that my year of buying nothing new is probably the reason i pulled it off. it's only three months in, and i've saved a whole bunch of money, paid the aforementioned loan, and started an RRSP. REAL GROWNUP ALERT. LOUD SIRENS.
getting organized financially has been a sort of unexpected side effect of this year. i figured i'd save a bit of cash by doing this experiment, but i've been surprised by how even a tiny pile has inspired a totally new mindset. it's amazing how once you've got a even couple hundred bucks saved, you feel super motivated to keep at it. it really doesn't take much money to get the momentum building. and, as my father-in-law liked to advise, "always pay yourself first!"
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
emergency room
there is verrrrry little room for emergencies when you're not buying anything new. if your tights rip at work, if you get totally splashed by a bus in a rainstorm on your way somewhere and your socks are soaked, if your cat's litter box gets lost during a move....there's no nipping across the street to grab a new one.
this year, buying something requires foresight, planning, and patience -- i've gotta search for the item on craigslist, maybe wait a few days and check back until someone posts the item i need, arrange the meet-up -- so it's hard to know what to do when say, you're in beautiful belize in a tiny town and it's 40 degrees out and you're gonna be in the sun all day BUT you've somehow lost your sunglasses AND your boat's about to leave!! when you don't have three days to solve the problem, what do you do?
if it hadn't been for that teeny emergency, i would have made it through my vacation without buying anything new. but that day, i caved and ran across the street to a wee shop and purchased its only pair of lady sunnies. i suppooooose this could be considered an "essential" -- i mean, it's not healthy to spend the entire day in blaring sunlight without any eye protection. OK, maybe that's bull roar. but it did get me thinking about how much i rely on stores for those moments of desperation.
this year, buying something requires foresight, planning, and patience -- i've gotta search for the item on craigslist, maybe wait a few days and check back until someone posts the item i need, arrange the meet-up -- so it's hard to know what to do when say, you're in beautiful belize in a tiny town and it's 40 degrees out and you're gonna be in the sun all day BUT you've somehow lost your sunglasses AND your boat's about to leave!! when you don't have three days to solve the problem, what do you do?
if it hadn't been for that teeny emergency, i would have made it through my vacation without buying anything new. but that day, i caved and ran across the street to a wee shop and purchased its only pair of lady sunnies. i suppooooose this could be considered an "essential" -- i mean, it's not healthy to spend the entire day in blaring sunlight without any eye protection. OK, maybe that's bull roar. but it did get me thinking about how much i rely on stores for those moments of desperation.
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