Thrift-o-rama

I am garden-obsessed lately. Here are the coupon codes for two garden companies. I have used a couple of them with success:

Burpee seeds: FC53,BF18, or BN53. All good for $5 off orders of $30 or more.

Johnny's seed: 09-1014,09-1100. Good for free shipping

Also, in other news, I earned a whopping $3.18 in interest on my checking account. I can retire early now...

I just posted that I ordered the seeds last night. here is the plan!

(this originally appeared as part of a longer post on

http://www.middlepathfinance.com

Last August, I drew out a plan of what I wanted the gardens on our half-acre lot, surrounding our 1957 ranch house, to be like. I live in the city, on a typical used-to-be-suburbs but now I'm in the city limits lot. I grew up in the country, in wide open spaces with plenty of sunny room for a garden. Not so here, but despite its limitations, I am determined to convert as much of our land to agriculture as possible.

I'll tell you what I am going to plant on my modest lot, in the flower beds I have reclaimed from lawn.


* Mary Washington asparagus. An heirloom variety, to establish a bed.
* a hot pepper garden, so that we can dry them and use them to flavor our food all year long. We have chosen to grow Kung Pao hybrid, long red slim cayenne, false alarm hybrids and hot lemon heirloom peppers. We'll also plant one or two green pepper plants.
* five each of heritage everbearing red raspberries and royalty standard purple raspberries.
* red pontiac potatoes. We will be 'forcing' these in a trash can, like my grandpa used to do. By stressing the plant you can get great yields without wasting precious space.
* six Roma tomato and six cherry tomato plants. I don't know what variety, as we buy these from my former grade school every year during their plant sale fundraiser. They have always been good producers.
* the herb garden will consist of cilantro,pesto perpetuo basil,and Greek oregano.
* a patch of Ozark beauty everbearing strawberries.
* bloomsdale spinach and nantes carrots, for my raised bed and fall coldframe. I use these to extend the growing season. This will be my first year trying to extend the fall harvest into winter with the coldframe.
* green beans of a yet undetermined variety, at the request of hubby, who could live on these alone.
* the obligatory zucchini plant, also from the school fundraiser. I may get ambitious and plant two, even though I know I'll be up to my neck in zucchini. I have two new recipes for zucchini, and it always makes a great extender for sauces and such, so maybe I can keep up.
* A butterfly garden, including five varieties of echinacea, two types of bee balm, and some butterfly weed. I will frame this flowerbed with butterfly-friendly annuals, and maybe with lingonberries, which are delicious on Swedish pancakes, unusual, and look like an ornamental plant.
* Luffa. Yes, the luffa sponge is a squash, not something that is plucked from the ocean. This will be a fun experiment. They grow as a vine, so with staking shouldn't take up too much space in the garden.
* English lavender, for its aromatherapy qualities.

I get really excited when the seed catalogs come in the mail. I sent in a rather ambitious order today. I am really planning to garden it up and try to preserve food this year. I just read "Animal Vegetable Miracle" by Barbra Kingsolver for the third time, and that is probably dangerous when planning a garden.

I even made some unconventional choices. I have to garden in the front yard because my backyard is all shade, so I try not to raise the ire of the neighbors by blatantly converting lawn to agriculture, even though that's what I really want to do.

So, I do it secretly with plants that look decorative but produce food. The most obvious choice for that this year, is lingonberries. I ordered three. They look like a short, evergreen groundcover, but produce berries that are tart like a cranberry ( a little sweeter) and can be made into preserves that go great with Swedish pancakes.

I wanted to order some black currants as well, but apparently they aren't allowed to ship to Ohio.

Well, I just got the property tax bill. It went up $400 this year. Ugh. This is extra funny because the city sent notices a few months back officially lowering the value of property to reflect housing market conditions, and yet the bill still went up.

This is in part due to a November ballot issue. The city has embarked on an ambitious new school improvement and construction program and needed more money too fund it. It passed by a narrow margin, and hence, I am $400 a year less rich.

Oh well. Good schools lift all boats, so here's hoping this project will help the city schools improve by the time Beaner is old enough to attend.

I have been secretly shopping for cold frame greenhouses, so I can start seeds and expand my growing season. I must have put something out into the universe.

My farmer-- from the family that grows the food for the food co-op I belong to -- called a few days ago to say that he had a cold frame that was too small for the farm to use. I could have it if I wanted it. Someone had given it to him, and he would be happy to give it to me. He delivered it today.

Sigh. Sometimes wishes do come true. I am so thankful for this opportunity.

Inspired by this new-found coldframe, I picked up the book "Four Season Harvest", by Eliot Coleman. It is fantastic. While I am not foolish enough to think I can grow enough food to feed my family even in winter, it did give me some ideas on how to make the most of the coldframe for seed starting and for growing cold-hardy veggies like spinach and carrots later into the season.

This should really help me make my goal of 100 pounds of produce this year!

Geesh. No one will ever warn you how hard the first year with your first baby is, but we are finally settling into a routine. For now at least, my financial fears surrounding having a bean are assuaged, and I am finally able to do some work from home. While he's sleeping, of course, but at least it's something. I know no one ever thinks your kid is as cute as you do, but I thought I would post this picture.



My mom had been bugging me to take him to a photo studio and get some real photos done so I did, and gave them to both the grandmas for Christmas.

Geesh. I just updated my sidebar to reflect my 2009 goals. It's much less satisfying than seeing the progress report from the end of last year, with money saved, IRAs funded and all that.

I'm sure y'all feel the same way. Oh well. I suppose that is the magic of New Year. Wiping the slate clean.

I have my work cut out for me this year for the $20 challenge. My goal is $2,500. Rather ambitious given the down economy.

The good news is I'm kicking it off right. I just sold a book on Amazon for a $17 profit!! Woo-hoo!

New year, new project right? I started a new charity project, where I will be making sock monsters from old discarded (clean!) socks. I will use the profits to supply formula and baby food to my local food bank.

I only have a skeleton of a Web page for the project, but if you click around I have the "about" pages and such done to give you an idea of what the project is.

And seriously, if you have any socks lying around to help me get started, send them my way, please!

I'll be posting the first of the monsters there soon!

http://www.sockmonsters4charity.org

I thought I would do a round-up of where the money came from for my 2008 $20 challenge. Maybe it will give me some new ideas for 2009 and let me know where my efforts were best spent. I'd also like to know how you made your $20 challenge money. The more ideas the better!

Percentage of freelance work: $511.75
Web craft sales:$411.89
Google Adsense:$259.66
Tax rebates/refunds:$184.00
Change jar: $142.19
Misc Web projects (writing): $114.83
eBay: $54.82
Amazon marketplace: $45.52
ING referrals:$35
Etsy: $28.67
CafePress: $26.20
Tiki Savings account interest: $24.60
lotto tickets: $10

OK, so looking at those numbers, in 2009 I could:
- probably do better with eBay. I have stuff to sell, I just rarely post auctions.
-I will add a yard sale into the mix in June.
-CafePress was a surprise. I poste a few designs, spent little effort, and got a check. I will post more designs this year and promote them a bit and see if I can make more on this. It's my kind of gig, creative and with zero capital outlay.

Web craft sales and misc Web writing gigs not related to my day job were bigger money makers than I suspected. I will put more effort into these in 2009.

Tell me about your best $20 challenge projects for the year!

New Year's is just around the corner, so I am my usual contemplative self. I sure hope 2009 is easier emotionally than 2008.

As you probably remember, my dad died in July and I added the first baby to our family in April, quit my job, etc. All of that was emotionally very draining. (The baby still is. Good thing he's cute.)

It was a year of unknowns, but here we are.

We made it. Our savings goals were better than I had ever imagined. We managed to exceed our goals for the year. Despite me not having a full0time job. (I freelance, when I can get the work).

We have settled into the routine of being parents. Sure, we don't like spending so many nights at home, but it hasn't been all terrible. Once you get through those first three months, it gets a lot easier.

And, thanks to our No Spend Month experiment (

http://www.middlepathfinance.com/no_spend_month/, honey and I talked about money and got on a budget for the first time ever. I'm hoping this will get us in even better financial shape. All of the 2008 goals I did without his input. I just did them, because I manage the money for both of us. (He helped, of course, by working!) Maybe we can do more amazing things in 2009 with both of us on the same page.

Our goals aren't as ambitious for 2009, I admit. They incorporate some more personal goals, like weight loss, travel, novel writing, etc. Money, sure, but it's not as at the forefront, mostly because I have no idea if I can get as much work thanks to the economic downturn. We'll see.

Am I the only one who gets contemplative this time of year?

Geesh. I can't believe it's almost 2009. I still am surprised when I look at the calendar every day and it's nearly Christmas.

Maybe it doesn't seem real because we didn't put up the tree this year. The baby Bean, now almost 9 months, would probably just either try to eat it or pull it over on top of him, so we just decided to skip it. I hope that doesn't make us bad parents.

I will say this is the first year I feel on top of the holidays. The packages were all mailed by Saturday morning, the gifts are wrapped, the cookies are made. This never happens! Usually it's a last minute scramble, and a lot of stress. But I am not stressed this year.

I think part of the difference is that I
1. Made a list in November of what we were getting everyone. And then I used the list only and bought most everything online.
2. Throughout the year, when I saw something that would make a great gift for my family, I either bought it then or bought it when it went on sale. My mom really wanted a fountain for her garden. And I managed to get it 75 percent off in September. I NEVER have shopped that far in advance.

Maybe being a mom makes you plan. Who can say. This is my first year as a mom, so who knows what else is in store.

Now, I am working through my January list of to-dos. don't laugh. Most of it is stuff that has to be taken care of now in order for it to be finished in January.

For instance, I called the window company today. They are coming out tomorrow to measure and estimate for three replacement windows. (It takes about 6 weeks for them to make them and install them)

We had all but these three replaced last winter. Why? Well, we couldn't afford to do all the windows without going into debt, so we prioritized, and these three were considered least important. Now that we have a little money, we're going to do those.

I am having the door between the kitchen and garage replaced. I have it picked out, and will place the order and set up installation right after Christmas. Right now, we have a hollow core door and it lets tons of cold air into the kitchen. I'm replacing it with a solid door and I'll insulate the garage door some weekend, too.

Our "Elvis" bathroom. (Yes, we have a silly Elvis-themed half bathroom), has some plumbing issues. We sprung a leak and it ruined the linoleum tile floor. I need to have that part of the floor redone. And the plumbing addressed.

I maybe could do it myself, but realistically it'd be another 6 months before I could get to it, and I'd really like to have that room just done and finished. Ready to use TRUMPS saving a few bucks this time around.

I also finally have a freelance assignment. Of course, it's the holidays and most people are hard to get a hold of, but I am happy to have the work so it's worth the hassle.

I hope your to-do list is getting shorter.

I bought $40 worth of restaurant gift certificates, and because they were having a special, it only cost $3. I am skeptical. It just seems too good to be true. Of course, I assume restaurants participate to get exposure, because the offerings are pretty limited.

But, for $3, I am willing to risk that it's a scam, I guess. Because if it isn't, it'll be a great deal.

I paid with Paypal, rather than giving my credit card number, just in case. Have y'all had luck with restaurants.com?

By the way, the 80 percent off code is SANTA.

These are tough times in every profession, but particularly in journalism. Almost every newspaper is cutting staff, cutting budgets, etc. as ad dollars shrink, circulation declines and people read on the Web.

Everyone at my former company feels like there is an ax hanging over their head, waiting to fall. It was sad. Even the managers were bleak and hopeless.

It was the saddest "party" I'd ever been to.

While one editor was trying to hire me for their section, another said they would never hire a new person to replace a reporter who just quit "because it's just not fair to do that to somebody." Meaning, they would just get cut or laid off.

It was very strange.

But, I did have fun catching up with some former colleagues.

Yes, my former company's Xmas party. I was invited by one of the big bosses and my former immediate boss said it'd be fabulous if I came. I am kind of nervous, even though I left on good terms.

I figure it will be nice to talk to old coworkers that I like and maybe network, so I am forcing myself to go.

Ugh. Wish me luck.

I read today's news story about how people actually reduced their overall debt for the first time since 1951, as a society.

Which in my opinion, is one step closer to the right track.

But, of course, talking heads made it sound all gloom and doom and awful that people weren't taking on more debt or shopping.

My favorite quote:


"Everyone over the past three months decided to become thrifty at the same time, but our incomes depend on other people spending," said Englund. "If we all start saving and cut back on our spending at the same time, it means more people will ultimately get fired."

Well, my hubby has been moping around the house for a week now. His parents have become increasingly emotionally unstable and needy in recent years, moreso in the past 6 months, and it's really starting to get to him. We even had a lunch date -- I got a babysitter and everything-- and he didn't say three words the whole time.

Sigh.

His parents were just here for 5 weeks. Yes, they stayed in our house for 5 WEEKS, and they are no easy people to deal with, and yet they have been begging to come back AGAIN for the past three weeks. Their last visit was over about 6 weeks ago.

Sorry, but my in-laws should not be like my period-- staying for a week plus once a month. (Sorry, that was a tasteless joke).

They are really using dirty tactics too, like telling my hubby they are sick (two Christmases ago they called while we were opening presents to tell us his dad had cancer, when he didn't.) , and trying to use guilt to manipulate him.

So yeah, they are making the holidays kind of joyless. He has to learn to tell them no and nip all this in the bud because if I have to step in, it will get real ugly fast.

Aside from that, we are a few weeks into our new budget. It seems to be working Ok, although there are a few purchases that have been in a grey area and therefore we aren't sure what envelope they are supposed to come out of. Mostly baby stuff and gifts have been ambiguous.

Beaner is now 8.5 months old, and is getting into everything. He's almost walking independently. Has 4 teeth and is very charming. But exhausting.

On the work front, I just signed a new freelance contract. It isn't much money per story, but it will be steady and interesting, so that makes it attractive.

I also got an invitation to the Xmas party at my old company and my old supervisor has begged me to come. I am going, to see old colleagues and to see if there is any potential freelance work there. I hate networking, but at least there are some nice people there to see.

And, I just got my last big check from my 2008 freelance gig, and I used part of that to finish up the vacation fund: My goal was $6,000 by Feb and I'm only about $40 short, I paid an extra $1,000 toward my student loan debt, and I put $137 more in the Bean's college fund, and $1100 into savings. So, it felt good to divvy up that check. But, it's also sad because it's the last big one I have coming!

Holiday sales on my Web sites are a lot slower this year. Last year, I made about $250 to $300 from Christmas orders and this year I have only made about $40. Big difference! It's not over yet, but I'm not optimistic.

Beaner also gained some new friends. One of our BFF couples had their bean Oct. 28 and the other just had one Dec. 2 . Now we just have to wait for them to be old enough to play together. Although, Beaner does have his first play date with another couple we like a lot. Their bean is 10 months old, so they are much closer in developmental age. It should be interesting to see how they play together.

That's all that's new in Tiki Thriftorama land!

I've made my final list...

Jan-Feb:Migrate all of my Web sites to a new publishing platform that will hopefully let me take them to the next level content-wise and money-wise! Go to New Orleans to visit my friends.

March: Write a novel in 31 days, it doesn't matter if it's bad. This will be my first. Start a once-a-month Stitch n B*itch at my house.

April-May: Take a vacation with just the hubby either to Mexico or France.

Summer: Take Mom to San Francisco

Health: Join the gym, do yoga, and lose 5 to 10 pounds.

"Green" Goals: Reduce electricity usage by 20 percent by the end of the year, through efficiency upgrades.

Home: Expand my veggie garden. Grow 150 pounds of fruit and veggies at home. Build a stone wall around my flower beds, and build a patio in the backyard.

Financial Goals for 2009:
We will be making less money this year (sigh), but for the first time we have a mutually agreed-upon budget.

$9,000 to savings/EF
$2,500 to hubby's Roth IRA
$2,000 to 529 plan
$600 to new car fund
Total: $14,100

Pay $3,600 extra on the student loan.

I do not know how much work I will have this year, but the goal is to put all of it into my IRA until it hits $5,000, and if there is any more than that, use it all to pay down the student loan.

Tiki Fund/ $20 challenge Goal:
$2,100

I just found a chart from the National Retail Federation.

Retailers and Wall Street have been boo-hooing about what a terrible year it's going to be for holiday shopping. I don't get it.

Sales are projected to rise 2 percent this year.So why are retailers acting like it's the end of the world if sales are still higher than last year???

I am THRILLED to write the grocery challenge update. If you remember, we were spending about $900 a month to eat out and get groceries for me, hubby, and the baby.

I hoped to cut that to $600 or less a month by December. Well, I tallied up what we spent in November, and it's a grand total of $176.50, and that includes Turkey and food we're cooking for family Thanksgiving.

I didn't think it was possible. I do need to buy butter and milk this week, but that won't cost me $400!

As is clear from my last post, I'm thinking ahead to 2009 and what I and we as a family want to accomplish.

The great news is we met our savings goals for this year. We made a person (who is now trying to chew on everything in the living room), I made money even though I don't have a full-time job anymore. I dealt with yet another tragedy when my dad died in July.

It's been action packed.

In 2009 we might not do as well. I sat down to write out some concrete savings goals-- like I have on the sidebar right now. And it occurred to me that we will be making less money next year. Mostly because I have zero work lined up, and it appears that many media companies have laid off workers AND slashed their freelance budgets, so there is just less work out there.

So, we will have to make due with less. And hope that my career and self-esteem make it out of this financial crisis. I'm not even sure if I will make enough to fully fund my IRA.

As such, our goals have changed. They are more and less ambitious.

Savings-wise, they are less ambitious. Only the basics will get money in 2009. Our high-priority goals are to put as much into our EF as possible, fund the 529, and to pay off as much of our one debt-my student loan- as possible.

We've worked hard to lower our monthly committed expenses and have done well. The student loan is the stumbling block. It alone accounts for 45 percent of our must-pay bills every month.

Having this loan makes my lack of work all the more frustrating, since this degree was supposed to help me make money and yet again in a way it's an obstacle.

Also, I mentioned before that I want to write a novel (my first) in 30 days next year. I have decided not to wait for National Write a Novel Month in November and to start Jan 1. I think this will make me feel better about my work life and help me accomplish one of my life goals.

I may fail spectacularly on all fronts, but I figure it helps to aim high.

Well y'all, I know the holidays are right around the corner, but it's time we all start thinking about what we want to accomplish next year. I'm not saying you need to know anything concrete yet, but better to toy around with some ideas now than wake up Jan. 1 thinking "Wait. What am I doing?"

Not just money goals, either. We can't forget that we are whole people, not just bank accounts!

That said, I need to think. I don't have anything set in stone yet, but the hubby has been really bummed out and scared to death by the financial crisis. I told him we can't control the world, we can only control what we do.

He's afraid, and as such, wants us to buckle down and try to stash away as much cash as possible. I can't argue with that. It's a sound thing to do anyway.

So, I worked out a budget for us. It would allow us to live on 38 percent of our take-home pay and save the rest.

It may not sound like it, but there is a lot of leeway in there. We would each get a set amount of fun money and there is still something for eating out and going out occasionally as well, which would make it easier to stick to.

I haven't accounted for home improvements. I think we will just budget a set amount for the year for projects, put together a list from most to least important and start going through the list. When we run out of money, we're done for the year.

**

We've also made a list of energy improvements we want to make, so this would save us money over the long-term. (We're thinking of getting solar panels next year, so step one is to reduce usage).

I'm hoping to reduce our electricity use by 20-30 percent. I guess we'll just go room by room and try to improve efficiency one socket at a time.

**

This isn't really finance related but I want to write a novel in 2009. But I want to do it in one month. National Novel Writing Month is in November. The challenge is to write a 50,000 word novel in one month, even if it sucks. I want to do this this year.

**
Also, I don't know what my work life will be like next year. I did well freelancing last year, despite taking time off for Baby Bean, but my big contract has expired and I don't have anything else lined up. I haven't even had any bites, so I don't know what to expect.

I will commit everything I earn to my IRA, and just hope I can max it out at $5,000. If I make more than that, I am pretty sure it will all go to paying off the student loan. I'm tired of carrying that burden around.

While I don't have any work lined up, I've decided to track down some affordable classes so I can add to my skills and retrain in multimedia, which is the future of my industry. I think the local college offers weekend crash courses in the software I would need for about $200 each. It's not cheap, but it's cheaper than college tuition!

**

I may take an art class as well. The cultural arts center has inexpensive, interesting classes in things like precious metal clay sculpture. It could help my craft business, which helps my Tiki goal, so yeah, it may be worth it.

**
And, I think I'm old enough (33) that I need to start focusing on health and wellness. I may join the gym/community center down the street. It's within walking distance, they have yoga classes,and FREE babysitting while you work out. It would be some much-needed me time, and I am carrying around 10 pounds of baby weight that I am sick of.

**
I'd also like to take my mom to San Francisco. She has always dreamed of visiting there. It's in the U.S. and totally doable, the Bean will be able to travel by then, so why not? My hubby's best friend lives there too, so we could get a two-fer.

We are also planning to travel internationally in 2009, either to France or Mexico. We have almost $5,000 in the vacation fund. It would go farther in Mexico, due to cheaper airfare and better exchange rate, but we'll see. If I play my budget cards right, we could maybe make the money stretch enough for two trips.

**
And finally, I want a better social life. The bean has really shaken things up. I may host a monthly "art night" at my house, and maybe a biweekly "Stitch and B*tch". For those who don't know, that's when your friends sit around, drink wine and knit.

So yeah, get your thinking caps on! What kinds of goals are you thinking about for next year?

I'm only $46.63 away from meeting my savings goals for the year.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

That's my way of saying I am very excited.
My last freelance check put me $251 over the tiki fund goal (with more to come, I'm sure), and all of my other accounts are either fully funded or overfunded.

The only thing left is to round out the car fund, and I have some auto-debits scheduled that should take care of that.

I never would have dreamed that hubby and I could save this much. I was inspired by Automatic Millionaire (the book), and it really has worked. So simple. Why haven't I been doing this for years?????

What is the best thing(s) you have ever bought used, either from a thrift store, a garage sale, etc.

Right now, mine is the air popcorn popper that I bought from my neighbor's yard sale for 50 cents. 50 cents well spent. We use it several times a week, the popcorn is healthier because we don't have to use oil to cook it AND there's no icky pan to clean up. I love my popcorn popper.

My second choice is the vintage 1950s L sofa with ottoman I bought at a used furniture store for $100 about 10 years ago. It is by far the best looking and most comfortable couch I have ever owned.

I'm going through all of our bills today. I'm trying to see if I can lower or eliminate my bills.

So far, I switched to digital phone with our Internet provider. We'll be saving $14.34 a month, and we will be getting free unlimited long distance with that. (We had no long distance on our other phone, and paid more.)

I am at a loss about what else to cut, though. We do pay $11 a month for curbside recycling, but I don't think the hubby will give that up. we could just drop off our recyclables once a week at the Home Depot, but it is convenient to just drop stuff in the bin and put it out once a week.

Any thoughts?

I just looked at our credit card bill (we put everything on the card and pay it off at month's end). we're doing REALLY well at cutting our expenses. The bill is about 1/4 what it usually is. Yay! I wanted to sock some money away before Christmas, and cut back so we can boost the EF in case the hubby loses his job.

We have been eating at home most nights, bunching errands into one car trip to save gas, and just overall not buying anything that isn't a necessity.

I don't know if we can go on like this forever, but this is a good start.

Looking out the window today it seems like every house on the block but mine has paid a lawn service to come in and rake, mow, and leaf blow. It's like this all summer long all through my neighborhood.

We make a decent living, but I still feel too poor to pay for lawn service. Then again, if I had a million bucks I'd still rake my own leaves and mow my own grass.

It seems wasteful to me to pay someone to do something you are perfectly capable of doing yourself.

Am I missing something?

A $147 freelance check came today. Yay. No haggling to get paid on this one. Half will go to savings ($73.50), $36.75 will go to extra payment on the student loan, and $36.75 will go to the tiki fund.

I also sold a Monster bag on etsy, so that's another $15.99 in profit for the tiki fund.

With the end of the year fast approaching I wondered if I was going to meet this year's ambitious savings goals. Thanks to a windfall (well, money from work we did during Hurricane Gustav),we made our last BIG goal, and topped off the savings account with another $1628.

The only things left for this year:
$100 more for the 529 plan
$47 more for the car fund
and of course
$216 or so for the tiki fund.

Here's to hoping we make it!

Every presidential election, we host an election party. We print out maps of the U.S. with the electoral votes for each state and each guest makes their prediction using red and blue crayons. As we watch the returns, we fill in the "actual" map. Whoever's guess map is the closest to actual wins a tacky trophy and fake gold medal. It's fun. Tonight we are cooking on the grill, then popping popcorn for return watching. I'm expecting maybe 10 people. It should be fun. Happy voting everyone!

Well, I am "fall" cleaning. It's my new entertainment since I am trying not to spend any money this month. I was so inspired by of all things, an interior design book where a homeowner said to "Buy less, buy better, and buy only what you love."

And surprisingly it's been a wake-up call. I think anyone who wants to go on a spending diet should first be forced to face all the demons lurking in their closets.

I have found so much stuff that I wasted money on, just sitting in my closets. I think I am going to be posting a lot on Craigslist and eBay this week.

Most of it doesn't fit the above criteria. I don't love it, it isn't nice, and it isn't improving my life. I have a collection or two I love: tiki mugs, surprise, and signed pop-art lithographs, which I framed last night. Everything else can go.

For you HGTV fans out there, I will be redecorating my house with things I already own this month, inspired by what I've found in my closets. Everything that isn't used, useful, or loved is leaving the house.

That same homeowner in the book said to consider everything you own, and if one of your friends would be better served by it than you, pass it on. Christmas may come early for my friends!

Sorry for the rambling. I am overwhelmed by closets.