If you’re a homeowner, you’re constantly being told which improvements increase the value of your home the most.
I believe your home should reflect your own style and taste, and to not worry about whether it is bland enough for Mr. and Mrs. Average-Joe.
Is it all about the cash value of your home? Or about having [...]
I like the green life. And that means both the eco-friendly stuff and being a total tightwad.
My favorite is when the two intersect.
I call it a venn diagram occurrence.
Examples include:
Buying only used clothing for my family.
Concocting meals from odd ingredients in the fridge.
Biking or walking for errands.
Being an excessive library patron.
Stay-cationing.
Only giving used gifts.
Hanging dry [...]
It’s the last week of summer, and I wanted more than anything to go to the Oregon coast or Mt Hood. Something, anything to hang onto the loveliness that is summer. Alas, my kids had soccer practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week. And when your husband is a coach there’s no playing hooky, [...]
I got a short comment on the blog today from frequent reader “Shymom.” She wrote:
“Saving money on things that aren’t important to you so you can spend them on things that are important is, in my mind, the cornerstone of frugality.
Of course, what is important to one person may be close to meaningless to another.”
Ah-hah! [...]
There was an article in the paper the other day titled, “Decide travel is a priority, then start saving to make it happen” by Shawn Donley, about how he makes travel a priority in his life. Apparently, people are always telling him how lucky he is. However, Shawn has a different method beyond dumb-luck to [...]
Leftovers. They sit in the refigerator and mock us. Taunting us each time we reach for something new.
“Why are you opening a new yogurt/bag of mini carrots/package of cottage cheese/ when you could be reheating me?”
General rule of thumb is to bring leftovers to work for lunch, or to toss them into a soup. But what [...]
I used to feel guilty when evening would roll around, and I’d realize that the walk onto the front porch for the morning paper was the farthest we’d ventured from the house.
No longer is this the case.
My favorite days tend to be those where we hang out in our pajamas until the clocks reaches far [...]
Disgusted by the sheer volume of food in my refrigerator, I declaired a Buy No Food Challenge for my family on August 17th.
I climbed up on my Non-Consumer soapbox (bought used, of course) and proclaimed:
“I will buy no food until we eat up the bizarrely massive amounts that already grace my refrigerator!”
(You’ll just have to imagine [...]
Today marks the 100th blog entry on The Non-Consumer Advocate.
So in the tradition of television, it’s time for a show of flashbacks. A best of, if you will.
(The special effects department is suspiciously absent, so you’ll just have to imagine the wiggly lines across the screen.)
I remember it as if it were yesterday. . .
I’ve [...]
At the suggestion of my friend Kathy, I had written a blog about where the furniture in my living room came from. Kathy, an old high school chum is visiting me from Vermont, and had noticed how tours I give of my house sound a little something like this:
“Oh, [...]
