Check out Kim Robinson's latest blog posting (see sidebar for link). Kim and I did indeed have a long discussion about frugal vs. cheap and anybody here in Barriere who knows me well, may very well have had similiar conversations with me. Why pay more something new when there is something used (free even) that will do? Save money, save resources, save just a tiny little bit more of the planet.
I've written before on this blog about our society's stigma when it comes to frugality and the confusion with "cheapness". It's all a matter of quality of life and if your quality of life is that much better for frugality, then you are doing something right for everyone!
So check out Kim's posting and let me know if you've ever scavenged for "throw away" items, been aggressive about getting something for free that might otherwise have been tossed, or simply refused to buy something because it simply did not bring you resounding satisfaction!
I KNOW there are more of us out there...come on out!
Thursday, December 3, 2009
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2 comments:
I love love love scavenging for stuff and getting used things.
I live in the house I grew up in and probably 3/4 of the stuff I own has been owned by other family members first. Some of them are beautiful antiwues passed down 3-4 generations, but we also reuse some odd stuff. For example, my kids have the rainbows and unicorns sticker album I got for my seventh birthday and they use the pencil box I took with me to Kindergarten.
Once, when I didn't have much money, I bought a second-hand bracelet at a flea market for my sister who owns an art gallery. Her friend, who curates at the Getty, saw it and was fascinated. Apparently it's several hundred years old from Mongolia and very rare. He took it to have an expert translate the inscription. Try finding that at the mall!
I have the Battleship game that my brother received when he was about 8! Even though it is plastic it is such better quality than the Battleship game you buy now.
My biggest "free" item to date is a $500 compost tumbler from freecycle...
We re-use wood like crazy in our house. Any "junk" wood from our former business as log home builders gets recycled into window frames, barn doors, etc. This is wood that, had we still been running the business full tilt, we would not have had time to deal with and would have gone in our "firewood" pile!
Most of the cardboard used in our tire walls come directly from the "cardboard" recycling bin at our local landfill!
I'd love to hear more stories!
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