As November comes to an end, it’s time to reassess the “November Live For Less Challenge.”
This challenge, put down at the beginning of the month asked Non-Consumer Advocate readers to:
“Try and whittle down one’s set monthly expenses. To bring down how much you life is costing you, without bringing down your quality of life.”
And here we are [...]
I had written a few days ago about how the current recession is being compared to the great depression of the 1930’s.
The comments I received were so moving that I wanted to share them with the Non-Consumer Advocate community.
From “Mama:”
My dad was born in 1922 in a family of seventeen children. He told stories about how [...]
The day after Thanksgiving is referred to as “Black Friday.” It’s the official start of the holiday shopping season, and the day that retailers’ go into the black. (Show a profit.)
It has also become Buy Nothing Day, which is an worldwide anti-consumer effort to get people to think twice about the results of mindless shopping.
Readers [...]
I love the meal of Thanksgiving. That single forkful that includes turkey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and gravy is the apex of perfection.
Mmm . . . .
I am a particular fan of the leftovers. To be able to eat my favorite meal, without the crushing chore of mounds of greasy dishes weighing down on me.
These [...]
I just made a major commitment to a green and frugal life.
I didn’t save a whale, nor did I sew my own underwear.
I got out my trusty screwdriver, and took down the paper towel rack.
That’s right, fellow Non-Consumers. I am truly, officially 100% done with paper towels.
I had written about how I stopped using paper towels [...]
I ran a contest two weeks ago, and all you had to do was to send in some money saving ideas. (The winner was chosen randomly — congratulations to Marj!)
And readers, you did a terrific job!
Here’s an entry from just one person.
So thank you Shannon. Your well written tips are worth sharing with the entire [...]
I spent the better part of today immersing myself in a rare bout of deep cleaning. I swept out the fireplace and set a new fire, spiffed up the living room, scrubbed down the single bathroom in my five bedroom house, and gave the kitchen a thorough cleaning that would make an army drill sergeant weep.
Because yes, [...]
The word “hypermiling,” (Attempt to maximize gas mileage by making fuel-conserving adjustments to one’s car and one’s driving techniques.) may have been chosen as Oxford University Press’ favorite new word of the year, but Natalie McNeal’s new word of “Frugalista“ was a close second.
The New York Times thinks it would have been a better choice, writing:
“Concerned [...]
Times are hard now. There’s no debating this fact.
As an RN, my job is pretty much recession proof. But that doesn’t mean that my retirement is doing better than anyone else’s. Or that food prices aren’t shockingly high.
We are in a recession, and the media keeps making comparisons to the great depression of the 1930’s.
But [...]
The following is a reprint from a blog I wrote in May. Enjoy.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
The Non-Consumer Advocate
I am member of The Compact. And no – it doesn’t involve polygamy and drab clothing. It is a group of people who have chosen to not buy anything new for a one year period. I actually started in January [...]
