Oh yeah, I always tear paper towels in half, in thirds if they're the big Costco kind, before using. Paper towels are pretty expensive so this is one easy way to save money and reduce garbage at once.
If I am looking to buy something that costs more then $50 I always use craigslist first. If it is over $50 it is usually a luxury I don't need right away so I can take my time and scan craigslist for awhile until a really good deal pops up.
Also, I hate spending money on clothing, "garage-saleing" is my new favorite way to buy clothes...4 J. Crew dress shirts for $3, I mean come on how can you beat that!
I have a common short first name, and kids still turned it into "Pewla" When I had my kids, I was careful to pick names that couldn't easily be turned into pejoratives, and that had a choice of nicknames. However, both my birth last name and married last name are often mispronounced and misspelled,couln't do anything about that.
@Katie: how often does Xavier get called EX-avier?
I got the idea of using a towel long ago from a Dilbert comic strip. Still use it to this day...don't have to destroy any trees and the surprise is the same.
Awhile ago, I fell into a discussion with someone who worked in an HR department of a medium sized company. This woman talked about how it throws her to see unusual names on resumés, and how too many hiring managers assign "strangely named" people to different races, genders or cultures without meeting them first, and hence, make a preliminary decision on hiring them or not. It was a conversation that always stuck with me.
As for my name, I'm a 5th generation down my mother's side of the family to be named Barbara, and not only is it rare to find someone my age with my name, but family legacy is something to be proud of :-)
I hate using the AC, even though our place has central air. It takes a lot for me to turn it on. I hate drinking anything but water at home or restaurants, I just can't justify the expense and sugar! Recently, I was quite upset over a restaurant that wanted to charge a corking fee although they had no liquor license.
I hate using the dishwasher, but I cave in after a big meal.
Unless it's ethnic food, which I have a hard time duplicating, I really don't enjoying dining out. Usually I find I could cook something much better and cheaper myself. As a vegetarian, my options are usually pretty limited anyway.
Lastly, although I am frugal, I will not let myself be treated poorly as a trade off. Case in point, I used to shop at an indoor market near my house for produce and spices. Since we cook all the time, I would spend most of my grocery budget there and drop a hefty amount on a weekly basis. The problem is, you have to be very careful to inspect the food for quality. I was inspecting some onions that appeared to have Aspergillus niger fungus (a black dirt-like fungus) by removing the first outer layer. The insane manager/owner(?) started yelling at me in broken english. Apparently, I guess he thinks I am trying to avoid paying for the onion skins? I could have put them in a bag and paid for them, but they are so light they wouldn't even register on the scale. He kept telling me the Aspergillus niger was dirt. I explained to him how much money I spend in his store, and that he needed to apologize for treating a customer that way and he refused. Incidentally, that's what it means to be too cheap for your own good--you're willing to loose a customer over a penny of onion skin rather than reap the thousands of dollars I spend there annually.
Anyway, I refuse to shop there anymore, which costs me a little more, but poor treatment is never acceptable. Plus, there's too many shady practices there---the fake Colgate anti-freeze toothpaste, poor sanitation, etc.
I'm really glad that my parents chose "Andrea" for me. It's not unusual, but it's not terribly common, either. Best of all, it doesn't rhyme with anything. Mind you, "Dickson" really more than made up for the mockery-free nature of my first name.
To be honest, I'd rather have a strange name than a simple one. I don't think that kids with strange names suffer in terms of literacy - if anything, they might be more driven to learn to read and write so they CAN write their name. I remember struggling to write "Andrea", mostly because I had trouble getting the top of the first A "pointy" enough to satisfy my teacher. I worked on that for hours, and was thrilled when I finally got it right.
I doubt my kids will have normal names - I was pretty pissed off when Julia Roberts took Hazel and Phinnaeus, as those were my two favorite baby names. :)
The article was a lighthearted look at what could be a serious and/or costly for a child in the future. I see many, many parents picking names from out of nowhere because they are whimsical, only to find that it is a hardship for the child. This is obviously an issue for quite a few people, and sometimes people get so excited to be creative, cool, or different when picking names that they don't think ahead to the consequences.
I have known people who have named their children after musicians, vehicles, television programs, etc.
and include: Velveeta, Vodka, Loinsworth, Kynda (last name "Boring"), and LaPleasure
This kinda goes beyond the appreciation of culture, free speech, or artistic value. (And I'm sorry if you are named either of the above names.)
Legal name changing is a thriving business, mostly due to the fact that parents are often careless when thinking of how a name will affect their child. The consequences in terms of financial or emotional hardship is a unique perspective I chose to take when including it here on a personal finance blog.
And as far as the jersey name delimma: I am free to take artistic license with my metaphors just as any parent is ultimately free to name their newborn baby boy Scatman .
My children's names are unique enough, and we do get a few questions about them. But I don't think you can hardly compare Micah (my son's name) with Mayonaisse (seriously.)
The author wasn’t preaching conformity or devaluing cultural uniqueness; she was simply saying that there is a point at which a name can move from “engagingly different” to “pointlessly difficult” and parents should keep that in mind (parents might feel like getting creative with their children’s names, but the children are the ones who have to live with the results).
I dwelled and pondered and tried to come up with a first name for my daughter than noone could rhyme (I was called Jill Dill Pickle for too many years for this not to bother me - kids will find a way to do the most awful things to names). I also didn't want something anyone could abbreviate, though it still happens. Now she only has to worry about them demolishing her last name.
I think the worst were the judgemental people who always asked what you would name the baby after it was born while you were still pregnant, then draw judgement on it and tell you it wasn't a good name because of this thing or that thing. I ended up saying the most outlandish names to them (and they typically fell into the category of the discussion here). I think one of them was onimatopia if it was a girl and constantinople if it was a boy, of course there were many others - ha! Of course, it made everyone all the much more happy with the name we ultimately chose to use.
I cannot spend full price on meat. I eat very well usually, I buy what some would call luxury foods like baby back ribs and strip steak. However, I cannot recall a single time in the last 5 years or so where I've paid full price. This takes a little discipline, but the key is a) shop at multiple stores, b) don't plan your menu in advance - plan meals based on what main components are on sale, c) check the online ads for your area. I do one big shopping trip every 2 weeks or so getting meat (most of which I freeze), cleaning supplies, etc. I look ahead to see what Im going to run out of a month from now, and stock up when its on sale. Then, every few days I'll stop at a smaller store on the way home from work/school and get the fresh veggies (again, going by whats on sale). Cashiers are constantly amazed that those club cards knock about 30% off my order every time. Friends are amazed at the meals I can cook for such little cash. And you know what? Its really not that hard.
This hasn't been mentioned as of yet, but the author's own kids have unique and or created names and had all of the above spoken to us at the time the names were decided for our children. Kylin (and middle name) and Matthias were the two names that others say oh how neat or beautiful now, but at the time they were named we took some real grief!
Ugh.. what passes for an article these days. Let's see what the author is advocating here..
1. Conformity: Your kid's name better be very simple otherwise he will develop insecurity
2. Instead of teaching kids to appreciate other cultures and backgrounds, be afraid that your kid is going to teased for his name that is going to scar his confidence.
3. Using a name that doesn't fit on a jersey is a bad name? Is this what passes for selecting a name. How much shallower can it get? How about naming a kid with just single alphabet - A,B,C.. maybe his grades would reflect the name
4. Of course, if have to give a hard name, then give a nick name. That is convenient. Have you considered what happens if kids start asking what the real name is? For example, if somebody asks TJ Houshmanzada his name, and TJ replied 'John'. Ugh..
I know this is a free speech issue that we can write whatever the hell we want, but think twice before you start teaching your kids conformity and familiarity. It kills curiosity.
perhaps should have been my post title. Thanks for everyone's kind comments and more info Ted. I found the varying types of environmental/social screens a bit confusing at first but then I enjoyed learning how these screens are applied. I held a socially responsible fund a while back but it changed fund managers numerous times and I opted for other investments (however it did outperform traditional mutual funds in the rocky 2000-2002 period). The environmental focus is intriguing both socially and financially, and though there is some volatility in these types of funds (as in all investments), they are definitely worth investigating.
What a fun post! My warning to naming parents is that the name you think is going to be unique b/c right now there are no or few ____ (Brittanys in the 80s for example) ends up being a wildly popular name later. I wonder if there is a way to predict that...
Simple names can confuse people though (and I'm moving on to last names now though I could see parallels in first names); my last name stumps people all the time: Raines, Reins, Reigns (my fav), and Ryans are some misspellings.
It's been 4 years since I purchased garbage bags. We used to reuse grocery bags until recently. Now we separate our trash into 3 containers: trash, compost, and recycle. With this system, we rarely need to place anything in a bag, only the occasional chicken bone. Why place biodegradable items in a non biodegradable bag? Why waste the money when a little bit of daily effort on our part eliminates the purpose of the bags?
Since my kids left home I have just kept on preparing the same sized meals. The we either take the extra to work the next day and reheat in a microwave for lunch, or freeze for another meal sometime. It takes no extra time to do and saves extra cooking!
My name is Shyra. I'm named after my aunt, who was named after a character on a radio soap opera; my grandmother guessed at the spelling. It's pronounced like it's spelled/spelled like it's pronounced, but G-d forbid anyone figure that out.
I was a shy child, so having a name that starts with the word "Shy" was tough. I like the name now, though it's still a challenge for some people.
I save and reuse gift bags and bows. And if I have to (gasp!) BUY it, I go the the dollar store. I save all boxes, bubble wrap, paper packing, etc to ship my eBay sales. I rarely have to buy any of that stuff. I always order water in restaurants and sometimes order an appetizer as my entree. I try to avoid paying retail for as much as I can: books, make up, magazine subscriptions. I always check eBay, CraigsList and keep a look out for coupon codes before I lay the money out. I also clip coupons & watch sales ads---it doesn't seem like a big deal but you'd be amazed at the people who stroll through a grocery store w/ no idea that they can find the same thing cheaper else where or at lease w/ a coupon.
My parents gave me a nickname when I was a child- Ronni- and I was never addressed by my full name. The day I started Kindergarten I couldn't find my nametag because there wasn't one for Ronni and I didn't think to look for Veronica.
Plus it's a boy's name.
I don't know what their thinking was- four syllables and eight letters would bee too cumbersome for me in elementary school, or they wanted to avoid Archie and Veronica jokes. Either way, Ronni caused far more problems for me than I think Veronica ever would have. I don't use it anymore at all now that I've moved away, but I'll never shake it back home and with family.
After years of being a scrapbook specialty store customer, I realized how much I could save by:
Trolling aisles of dollar stores
Trolling aisles of big-box stores (-Marts)
Going to clearance sales at fabric stores
Looking for clearance stuff at big-box stores
Looking in storage boxes in my house
Looking at the pile of clothes for buttons and adornments before discarding or turning into rags
Trolling second hand stores for years and collecting those treasures in one place
(Sorry, gas is too expensive for garage sales unless they are in my neighborhood)
Saving greeting cards/wrap/wrapping tissue/other cities newspapers/cardboard backings from packages of new stuff or given to me
Saving any stuffing of packages that were foreign newspapers and/or out of city newspapers
Asking for shopping bags with emblems or buying them for pennies at second hand stores (I cut the emblems and use the rest for backing of scrapbook sheets)
Asking friends and employers who want to toss magazines for them (to cut up for decopauge.
After 7 years, my decopauge items have been sold to friends that see them in my house...boxes, storage boxes, old jewelry boxes, old small treasure chests...and my friends all-time favorite: personalized frame sets. I've literally made dozens of them.
I also decopauged my mail box--and got orders from postal workers who delivered my mail.
I decopauge glass or small metal trays to sit items on. I decopauge storage containers that are plastic for storage of everything from cookies to dog treats to dog food.
Essentially, adding the frugality and recycling and selling paid for my hobby. I even decopauged old jewelry for display. Now I'm decopauging frames with boxes and turning them into shadow boxes for small items.
I purchase lots of things at second hands stores and break them down to reuse them.
Example 1: Tiny old spoons for a quarter a piece plus a shadow box/frame set with glass plus a couple of free magazines equals...
1 cute shadowbox decopauged on the outside with a thin cardboard backing (also decopauged) with a set of tiny spoons as a set (on the top of my microwave oven) AND
1 small art mask (original shadow art in 3D) surrounded by appropriate magazine scraps to match color and theme to make a small wall hanging for another room.
Total cost was less than a dollar and a few cents. To buy any wall art of domestic themed knick knack would cost well over ten dollars.
The point of the hobby business is the get you in the door, and they once did every weekend of the year.
Now I go only to get the emulsion for decopauging and new brushes to paint with. (And paints too...I finally cut down on purchases there by CLOSING THE PAINT BOTTLE CAP.
This article hits close to home for me. I'm the third in my family to have Wesa (sounds like Lisa) for a first name. It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I finally accepted my name and the inevitable misspellings or mispronunciations that comes with it.
Oh yeah, I always tear paper towels in half, in thirds if they're the big Costco kind, before using. Paper towels are pretty expensive so this is one easy way to save money and reduce garbage at once.
If I am looking to buy something that costs more then $50 I always use craigslist first. If it is over $50 it is usually a luxury I don't need right away so I can take my time and scan craigslist for awhile until a really good deal pops up.
Also, I hate spending money on clothing, "garage-saleing" is my new favorite way to buy clothes...4 J. Crew dress shirts for $3, I mean come on how can you beat that!
I have a common short first name, and kids still turned it into "Pewla" When I had my kids, I was careful to pick names that couldn't easily be turned into pejoratives, and that had a choice of nicknames. However, both my birth last name and married last name are often mispronounced and misspelled,couln't do anything about that.
@Katie: how often does Xavier get called EX-avier?
Having a larger chemical cell would be the most profitable and logical design choice for the battery makers
NOT including smaller button cells.
I got the idea of using a towel long ago from a Dilbert comic strip. Still use it to this day...don't have to destroy any trees and the surprise is the same.
But
what about the quality of the batteries that are included in the large one?
Awhile ago, I fell into a discussion with someone who worked in an HR department of a medium sized company. This woman talked about how it throws her to see unusual names on resumés, and how too many hiring managers assign "strangely named" people to different races, genders or cultures without meeting them first, and hence, make a preliminary decision on hiring them or not. It was a conversation that always stuck with me.
As for my name, I'm a 5th generation down my mother's side of the family to be named Barbara, and not only is it rare to find someone my age with my name, but family legacy is something to be proud of :-)
I hate using the AC, even though our place has central air. It takes a lot for me to turn it on. I hate drinking anything but water at home or restaurants, I just can't justify the expense and sugar! Recently, I was quite upset over a restaurant that wanted to charge a corking fee although they had no liquor license.
I hate using the dishwasher, but I cave in after a big meal.
Unless it's ethnic food, which I have a hard time duplicating, I really don't enjoying dining out. Usually I find I could cook something much better and cheaper myself. As a vegetarian, my options are usually pretty limited anyway.
Lastly, although I am frugal, I will not let myself be treated poorly as a trade off. Case in point, I used to shop at an indoor market near my house for produce and spices. Since we cook all the time, I would spend most of my grocery budget there and drop a hefty amount on a weekly basis. The problem is, you have to be very careful to inspect the food for quality. I was inspecting some onions that appeared to have Aspergillus niger fungus (a black dirt-like fungus) by removing the first outer layer. The insane manager/owner(?) started yelling at me in broken english. Apparently, I guess he thinks I am trying to avoid paying for the onion skins? I could have put them in a bag and paid for them, but they are so light they wouldn't even register on the scale. He kept telling me the Aspergillus niger was dirt. I explained to him how much money I spend in his store, and that he needed to apologize for treating a customer that way and he refused. Incidentally, that's what it means to be too cheap for your own good--you're willing to loose a customer over a penny of onion skin rather than reap the thousands of dollars I spend there annually.
Anyway, I refuse to shop there anymore, which costs me a little more, but poor treatment is never acceptable. Plus, there's too many shady practices there---the fake Colgate anti-freeze toothpaste, poor sanitation, etc.
I'm really glad that my parents chose "Andrea" for me. It's not unusual, but it's not terribly common, either. Best of all, it doesn't rhyme with anything. Mind you, "Dickson" really more than made up for the mockery-free nature of my first name.
To be honest, I'd rather have a strange name than a simple one. I don't think that kids with strange names suffer in terms of literacy - if anything, they might be more driven to learn to read and write so they CAN write their name. I remember struggling to write "Andrea", mostly because I had trouble getting the top of the first A "pointy" enough to satisfy my teacher. I worked on that for hours, and was thrilled when I finally got it right.
I doubt my kids will have normal names - I was pretty pissed off when Julia Roberts took Hazel and Phinnaeus, as those were my two favorite baby names. :)
The article was a lighthearted look at what could be a serious and/or costly for a child in the future. I see many, many parents picking names from out of nowhere because they are whimsical, only to find that it is a hardship for the child. This is obviously an issue for quite a few people, and sometimes people get so excited to be creative, cool, or different when picking names that they don't think ahead to the consequences.
I have known people who have named their children after musicians, vehicles, television programs, etc.
Some very real names are listed here: http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/11.html
and include: Velveeta, Vodka, Loinsworth, Kynda (last name "Boring"), and LaPleasure
This kinda goes beyond the appreciation of culture, free speech, or artistic value. (And I'm sorry if you are named either of the above names.)
Legal name changing is a thriving business, mostly due to the fact that parents are often careless when thinking of how a name will affect their child. The consequences in terms of financial or emotional hardship is a unique perspective I chose to take when including it here on a personal finance blog.
And as far as the jersey name delimma: I am free to take artistic license with my metaphors just as any parent is ultimately free to name their newborn baby boy Scatman .
My children's names are unique enough, and we do get a few questions about them. But I don't think you can hardly compare Micah (my son's name) with Mayonaisse (seriously.)
Thanks for your feedback.
To the guest that wrote reply number six above:
That was an unnecessarily harsh response.
The author wasn’t preaching conformity or devaluing cultural uniqueness; she was simply saying that there is a point at which a name can move from “engagingly different” to “pointlessly difficult” and parents should keep that in mind (parents might feel like getting creative with their children’s names, but the children are the ones who have to live with the results).
I dwelled and pondered and tried to come up with a first name for my daughter than noone could rhyme (I was called Jill Dill Pickle for too many years for this not to bother me - kids will find a way to do the most awful things to names). I also didn't want something anyone could abbreviate, though it still happens. Now she only has to worry about them demolishing her last name.
I think the worst were the judgemental people who always asked what you would name the baby after it was born while you were still pregnant, then draw judgement on it and tell you it wasn't a good name because of this thing or that thing. I ended up saying the most outlandish names to them (and they typically fell into the category of the discussion here). I think one of them was onimatopia if it was a girl and constantinople if it was a boy, of course there were many others - ha! Of course, it made everyone all the much more happy with the name we ultimately chose to use.
I cannot spend full price on meat. I eat very well usually, I buy what some would call luxury foods like baby back ribs and strip steak. However, I cannot recall a single time in the last 5 years or so where I've paid full price. This takes a little discipline, but the key is a) shop at multiple stores, b) don't plan your menu in advance - plan meals based on what main components are on sale, c) check the online ads for your area. I do one big shopping trip every 2 weeks or so getting meat (most of which I freeze), cleaning supplies, etc. I look ahead to see what Im going to run out of a month from now, and stock up when its on sale. Then, every few days I'll stop at a smaller store on the way home from work/school and get the fresh veggies (again, going by whats on sale). Cashiers are constantly amazed that those club cards knock about 30% off my order every time. Friends are amazed at the meals I can cook for such little cash. And you know what? Its really not that hard.
This hasn't been mentioned as of yet, but the author's own kids have unique and or created names and had all of the above spoken to us at the time the names were decided for our children. Kylin (and middle name) and Matthias were the two names that others say oh how neat or beautiful now, but at the time they were named we took some real grief!
Ugh.. what passes for an article these days. Let's see what the author is advocating here..
1. Conformity: Your kid's name better be very simple otherwise he will develop insecurity
2. Instead of teaching kids to appreciate other cultures and backgrounds, be afraid that your kid is going to teased for his name that is going to scar his confidence.
3. Using a name that doesn't fit on a jersey is a bad name? Is this what passes for selecting a name. How much shallower can it get? How about naming a kid with just single alphabet - A,B,C.. maybe his grades would reflect the name
4. Of course, if have to give a hard name, then give a nick name. That is convenient. Have you considered what happens if kids start asking what the real name is? For example, if somebody asks TJ Houshmanzada his name, and TJ replied 'John'. Ugh..
I know this is a free speech issue that we can write whatever the hell we want, but think twice before you start teaching your kids conformity and familiarity. It kills curiosity.
father of two..
perhaps should have been my post title. Thanks for everyone's kind comments and more info Ted. I found the varying types of environmental/social screens a bit confusing at first but then I enjoyed learning how these screens are applied. I held a socially responsible fund a while back but it changed fund managers numerous times and I opted for other investments (however it did outperform traditional mutual funds in the rocky 2000-2002 period). The environmental focus is intriguing both socially and financially, and though there is some volatility in these types of funds (as in all investments), they are definitely worth investigating.
What a fun post! My warning to naming parents is that the name you think is going to be unique b/c right now there are no or few ____ (Brittanys in the 80s for example) ends up being a wildly popular name later. I wonder if there is a way to predict that...
Simple names can confuse people though (and I'm moving on to last names now though I could see parallels in first names); my last name stumps people all the time: Raines, Reins, Reigns (my fav), and Ryans are some misspellings.
It's been 4 years since I purchased garbage bags. We used to reuse grocery bags until recently. Now we separate our trash into 3 containers: trash, compost, and recycle. With this system, we rarely need to place anything in a bag, only the occasional chicken bone. Why place biodegradable items in a non biodegradable bag? Why waste the money when a little bit of daily effort on our part eliminates the purpose of the bags?
Since my kids left home I have just kept on preparing the same sized meals. The we either take the extra to work the next day and reheat in a microwave for lunch, or freeze for another meal sometime. It takes no extra time to do and saves extra cooking!
My name is Shyra. I'm named after my aunt, who was named after a character on a radio soap opera; my grandmother guessed at the spelling. It's pronounced like it's spelled/spelled like it's pronounced, but G-d forbid anyone figure that out.
I was a shy child, so having a name that starts with the word "Shy" was tough. I like the name now, though it's still a challenge for some people.
I save and reuse gift bags and bows. And if I have to (gasp!) BUY it, I go the the dollar store. I save all boxes, bubble wrap, paper packing, etc to ship my eBay sales. I rarely have to buy any of that stuff. I always order water in restaurants and sometimes order an appetizer as my entree. I try to avoid paying retail for as much as I can: books, make up, magazine subscriptions. I always check eBay, CraigsList and keep a look out for coupon codes before I lay the money out. I also clip coupons & watch sales ads---it doesn't seem like a big deal but you'd be amazed at the people who stroll through a grocery store w/ no idea that they can find the same thing cheaper else where or at lease w/ a coupon.
My parents gave me a nickname when I was a child- Ronni- and I was never addressed by my full name. The day I started Kindergarten I couldn't find my nametag because there wasn't one for Ronni and I didn't think to look for Veronica.
Plus it's a boy's name.
I don't know what their thinking was- four syllables and eight letters would bee too cumbersome for me in elementary school, or they wanted to avoid Archie and Veronica jokes. Either way, Ronni caused far more problems for me than I think Veronica ever would have. I don't use it anymore at all now that I've moved away, but I'll never shake it back home and with family.
After years of being a scrapbook specialty store customer, I realized how much I could save by:
Trolling aisles of dollar stores
Trolling aisles of big-box stores (-Marts)
Going to clearance sales at fabric stores
Looking for clearance stuff at big-box stores
Looking in storage boxes in my house
Looking at the pile of clothes for buttons and adornments before discarding or turning into rags
Trolling second hand stores for years and collecting those treasures in one place
(Sorry, gas is too expensive for garage sales unless they are in my neighborhood)
Saving greeting cards/wrap/wrapping tissue/other cities newspapers/cardboard backings from packages of new stuff or given to me
Saving any stuffing of packages that were foreign newspapers and/or out of city newspapers
Asking for shopping bags with emblems or buying them for pennies at second hand stores (I cut the emblems and use the rest for backing of scrapbook sheets)
Asking friends and employers who want to toss magazines for them (to cut up for decopauge.
After 7 years, my decopauge items have been sold to friends that see them in my house...boxes, storage boxes, old jewelry boxes, old small treasure chests...and my friends all-time favorite: personalized frame sets. I've literally made dozens of them.
I also decopauged my mail box--and got orders from postal workers who delivered my mail.
I decopauge glass or small metal trays to sit items on. I decopauge storage containers that are plastic for storage of everything from cookies to dog treats to dog food.
Essentially, adding the frugality and recycling and selling paid for my hobby. I even decopauged old jewelry for display. Now I'm decopauging frames with boxes and turning them into shadow boxes for small items.
I purchase lots of things at second hands stores and break them down to reuse them.
Example 1: Tiny old spoons for a quarter a piece plus a shadow box/frame set with glass plus a couple of free magazines equals...
1 cute shadowbox decopauged on the outside with a thin cardboard backing (also decopauged) with a set of tiny spoons as a set (on the top of my microwave oven) AND
1 small art mask (original shadow art in 3D) surrounded by appropriate magazine scraps to match color and theme to make a small wall hanging for another room.
Total cost was less than a dollar and a few cents. To buy any wall art of domestic themed knick knack would cost well over ten dollars.
The point of the hobby business is the get you in the door, and they once did every weekend of the year.
Now I go only to get the emulsion for decopauging and new brushes to paint with. (And paints too...I finally cut down on purchases there by CLOSING THE PAINT BOTTLE CAP.
Hope this helps someone.
JoC
This article hits close to home for me. I'm the third in my family to have Wesa (sounds like Lisa) for a first name. It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I finally accepted my name and the inevitable misspellings or mispronunciations that comes with it.
Oh, here is one if forgot about. Inkjet ink. Buy a printer for $65 and the replacement inks cost $85. Sometimes I would like to never print again...