I couldn't resist this guest item. (No BBEST ones to be found.) CUTE SHOP!
I had such fun with this and I hope you will too. I asked some of our friends to respond to four requests. Here we go...
1. One of your favorite thrifty tips. {Story: optional}
I had such fun with this and I hope you will too. I asked some of our friends to respond to four requests. Here we go...
1. One of your favorite thrifty tips. {Story: optional}
* Breakfast for dinner.
* I walk every place I can. But, in a small town that is pretty easy to do. Everything I could possibly need is within 5 blocks. I rarely drive unless I am buying more than I can carry. I asked Danny if I had any thrifty tips and he said that I didn't have any that weren't thrifty. hehe... I'm very tight and stretch everything as far as I can get it.
* Clip coupons!! I love to save $$ on my groceries. I clip all coupons and swap those I cannot use with friends and family. Try to take the coupons to a store that is offering to double the amount of the coupon on certain days which is really a nice savings. My Mom taught me the importance of saving when I was growing up at home and I continued to be "thrifty" after I was married and had my own home.
* One of my favorite thrifty tips is that I don't throw anything out. I re-use shipping boxes from my glass suppliers to send out gifts to my family at birthdays and Christmas, etc., and to send out my orders. I reuse brown packing paper for shipping. I send peanuts to AJ for the shipping costs on my end, since they are very expensive to buy and pay shipping for, and bad for the environment to throw away. I use all my small pieces of stained glass to make ACEOs and business card holders. I cannot bear to throw any of that stuff out!
* I can't seem to throw any little stray piece away so it just keeps piling up. You never know when you're going to need that certain color strand. Now that I'm back to knitting I'm reusing mostly all of it. In every day life I save all my boxes and envelopes and reuse them all.....I didn't come from a thrifty family altho my father saved everything but I never knew he did. I found this out later in life when they were moving and giving us all their items, he had original boxes and still had the original manuals to everything going back 50 years. I thought that was very cute.
* Well I have two. One is a shopping list. I find I waste less food when I have a list of things I need, written on a piece of paper. The second is combining errands. I didn't really learn these things. They are too simple to learn. They just sort of evolved by time and thought.
* My grandparents brought up a family during the depression of the 1930's. Her tip for making meat go further was to mince it, then add a sprinkling of sago* (like tapioca). When cooked in sauce this creates tiny clear 'bubbles' which are almost imperceptible. My memory of sago is as a milk pudding served at school and this too is how DH remembers it. His memories are really bad, so it was a product that was banned in our house.
However.....
Not long after we married we had a monetary crisis and I had very little housekeeping. I decided to try Grandma's little 'trick' and bought a pack, managing to keep it out of sight. DH thoroughly enjoyed his meal - saying it was the best serving of mince he had ever eaten. We had it several times during that time, and every now and then he still remembers it and asks if we can have it again! Now that he is home full time I know I wouldn't get away with it, so I just say that I have forgotten the recipe.
* This is hard as I learned so many thrifty tips from both my Mother and Grandmother that picking one is problematical. I think that I will go with one that my Grandmother espoused: “It is better to purchase one piece of a well made and designed item for your wardrobe or house hold than to purchase several cheaper, trendy/fad items.”
* Well, for those who truly know me, “thrifty” is not exactly my middle name, but I will try. Being the costume designer for our local theater group – they give me a budget which never quite meets the needs to costume all the actors. So I have learned to refashion something from other shows; but mainly I love going to the various thrift shops and Salvation Army looking for some unique pieces I can use as a costume. Right now we are doing a 1934 Radio Show so my son and I went to the Antique & Vintage Clothing Show a few weeks ago in NYC. It was tough working within a budget, so I have learned to bargain (something I learned very quickly in India – where they barter for everything!). We came back with some great finds. I think my son brought more Vintage clothing for himself!
* Cleaning the windows with newspaper seems to be a favourite thrify tip from my mother's generation - but I don't do it!
* Buying what's on sale and using a coupon for an extra discount. Buying green or red peppers when at a good price then chopping them & freezing them. I learned that from my friend Lona , and not only does it help pinch the pennies but it's a real time saver when cooking to just take a handful from the freezer as needed.
* NEVER pay full price for anything - it has to be marked down at least once before I'll buy it. I like that you call it "thrifty", I always just thought I was 'cheap', lol.
* I save aluminum foil. Yep - I reuse, & reuse it until it either becomes to soiled to recycle or I do recycle. Both my parents were raised during the Depression ... so we always had foil, bags, & baggies drying around the house.
* I walk every place I can. But, in a small town that is pretty easy to do. Everything I could possibly need is within 5 blocks. I rarely drive unless I am buying more than I can carry. I asked Danny if I had any thrifty tips and he said that I didn't have any that weren't thrifty. hehe... I'm very tight and stretch everything as far as I can get it.
* Clip coupons!! I love to save $$ on my groceries. I clip all coupons and swap those I cannot use with friends and family. Try to take the coupons to a store that is offering to double the amount of the coupon on certain days which is really a nice savings. My Mom taught me the importance of saving when I was growing up at home and I continued to be "thrifty" after I was married and had my own home.
* One of my favorite thrifty tips is that I don't throw anything out. I re-use shipping boxes from my glass suppliers to send out gifts to my family at birthdays and Christmas, etc., and to send out my orders. I reuse brown packing paper for shipping. I send peanuts to AJ for the shipping costs on my end, since they are very expensive to buy and pay shipping for, and bad for the environment to throw away. I use all my small pieces of stained glass to make ACEOs and business card holders. I cannot bear to throw any of that stuff out!
* I can't seem to throw any little stray piece away so it just keeps piling up. You never know when you're going to need that certain color strand. Now that I'm back to knitting I'm reusing mostly all of it. In every day life I save all my boxes and envelopes and reuse them all.....I didn't come from a thrifty family altho my father saved everything but I never knew he did. I found this out later in life when they were moving and giving us all their items, he had original boxes and still had the original manuals to everything going back 50 years. I thought that was very cute.
* Well I have two. One is a shopping list. I find I waste less food when I have a list of things I need, written on a piece of paper. The second is combining errands. I didn't really learn these things. They are too simple to learn. They just sort of evolved by time and thought.
* My grandparents brought up a family during the depression of the 1930's. Her tip for making meat go further was to mince it, then add a sprinkling of sago* (like tapioca). When cooked in sauce this creates tiny clear 'bubbles' which are almost imperceptible. My memory of sago is as a milk pudding served at school and this too is how DH remembers it. His memories are really bad, so it was a product that was banned in our house.
However.....
Not long after we married we had a monetary crisis and I had very little housekeeping. I decided to try Grandma's little 'trick' and bought a pack, managing to keep it out of sight. DH thoroughly enjoyed his meal - saying it was the best serving of mince he had ever eaten. We had it several times during that time, and every now and then he still remembers it and asks if we can have it again! Now that he is home full time I know I wouldn't get away with it, so I just say that I have forgotten the recipe.
* This is hard as I learned so many thrifty tips from both my Mother and Grandmother that picking one is problematical. I think that I will go with one that my Grandmother espoused: “It is better to purchase one piece of a well made and designed item for your wardrobe or house hold than to purchase several cheaper, trendy/fad items.”
* Well, for those who truly know me, “thrifty” is not exactly my middle name, but I will try. Being the costume designer for our local theater group – they give me a budget which never quite meets the needs to costume all the actors. So I have learned to refashion something from other shows; but mainly I love going to the various thrift shops and Salvation Army looking for some unique pieces I can use as a costume. Right now we are doing a 1934 Radio Show so my son and I went to the Antique & Vintage Clothing Show a few weeks ago in NYC. It was tough working within a budget, so I have learned to bargain (something I learned very quickly in India – where they barter for everything!). We came back with some great finds. I think my son brought more Vintage clothing for himself!
* Cleaning the windows with newspaper seems to be a favourite thrify tip from my mother's generation - but I don't do it!
* Buying what's on sale and using a coupon for an extra discount. Buying green or red peppers when at a good price then chopping them & freezing them. I learned that from my friend Lona , and not only does it help pinch the pennies but it's a real time saver when cooking to just take a handful from the freezer as needed.
* NEVER pay full price for anything - it has to be marked down at least once before I'll buy it. I like that you call it "thrifty", I always just thought I was 'cheap', lol.
* I save aluminum foil. Yep - I reuse, & reuse it until it either becomes to soiled to recycle or I do recycle. Both my parents were raised during the Depression ... so we always had foil, bags, & baggies drying around the house.
Oh yum! A guilty pleasure from inalather
2. You have a $5 budget for a guilty pleasure ~ what would it be?
2. You have a $5 budget for a guilty pleasure ~ what would it be?
* Dagoba Organic chocolate.... LAVENDER & BLUEBERRIES
* Hersey's Pot of Gold or a box of Turtles. CHOCOLATE!!!
* A large bag of Hershey's Kisses.... :)
* I would buy $5 worth of dark chocolate -- Ghirardelli with raspberry filling, and Lindor dark chocolate truffles!
* ahhh, my guilty pleasures rarely involve money. They are staying in my pink very fluffy robe and watching a Project Runway marathon or a favorite movie. If I had to find something with a dollar value... it would be a cupcake from LeBus. Yummy!
* $5 guilty pleasure, EASY.....Ice cream cone. $5 perfect size cone.
* a pretty notebook or more beads, even though I don't need anymore!
* This would be a Starbuck’s Caramel Frappacino with extra caramel and whipped cream.
* Starbucks
* Answering this question is like giving me a bonus question! $5 – I would be sitting in Haagen Das Ice Cream (the best) eating my “HoneyBee Vanilla” with hot fudge, walnuts, of course a cherry to top it off!
* $5 would go quite a long way in my local thrift shop, so I'd buy old buttons and haberdashery there.
* Go to a garage/yard sale. There have been so many times, I'll pick up a whole box of stuff and ask the price and yep, you guessed it, $5.00 - what fun!!
* A bottle of nail varnish! And why not......?
* Hersey's Pot of Gold or a box of Turtles. CHOCOLATE!!!
* A large bag of Hershey's Kisses.... :)
* I would buy $5 worth of dark chocolate -- Ghirardelli with raspberry filling, and Lindor dark chocolate truffles!
* ahhh, my guilty pleasures rarely involve money. They are staying in my pink very fluffy robe and watching a Project Runway marathon or a favorite movie. If I had to find something with a dollar value... it would be a cupcake from LeBus. Yummy!
* $5 guilty pleasure, EASY.....Ice cream cone. $5 perfect size cone.
* a pretty notebook or more beads, even though I don't need anymore!
* This would be a Starbuck’s Caramel Frappacino with extra caramel and whipped cream.
* Starbucks
* Answering this question is like giving me a bonus question! $5 – I would be sitting in Haagen Das Ice Cream (the best) eating my “HoneyBee Vanilla” with hot fudge, walnuts, of course a cherry to top it off!
* $5 would go quite a long way in my local thrift shop, so I'd buy old buttons and haberdashery there.
* Go to a garage/yard sale. There have been so many times, I'll pick up a whole box of stuff and ask the price and yep, you guessed it, $5.00 - what fun!!
* A bottle of nail varnish! And why not......?
The TV Dinner Housewife is here to ask:
3. Name your favorite TV show from your childhood/youth.
3. Name your favorite TV show from your childhood/youth.
* This is kind of embarrassing but I never missed an episode of Gilligan's Island growing up, I can recite and remember almost every episode. Quite embarrassing I admit. I'm sure if it was on today I'd be still watching, I thought it was hysterical.
* Oh my goodness, there are soooooo many......the very first one that came to mind is "Lost in Space" so I'll say that's my favorite (yeah, it's hokie, I know).
* Thats a tough one. After much thought I'm going with Leave It To Beaver, followed by I Love Lucy & Get Smart.
* the old Warner Bros cartoons but the absolute favorite were the Little Rascals / Spanky & Our Gang!!
* The Loretta Young Show. You can read about it here:
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/L/htmlL/lorettayoung/lorettayoung.htm
* Favorite TV show from my childhood was Mickey Mouse Club. I imagined I was a Mouseketeer and that Darlene and Annette were my good buddies.
* Lassie from childhood and Ozzie and Harriet from my teen years
* Noggin the Nog http://www.nogginthenog.co.uk/
* Well it depends on how far back I go, but I have always loved Saturday mornings when I could sit and watch cartoons all morning (when cartoons were cartoons). My favorite were always the old black & white cartoons particularly the cat and mouse who never talked. I also loved Winky Dink – you would have a magic screen that you would put on your TV and then, during the cartoon, they would ask you to draw a line or something to help save Winky – my first artistic ability put to work!
* 'Watch with Mother' in black-and-white from the 1950's. They had little stories with puppet characters: The Wooden Tops; Rag,Tag & Bobtail; Muffin the Mule. http://www.whirligigtv.co.uk/tv/children/watchwm/watchwm.htm#rtb
* Brady Bunch or Partridge Family - it is a tie.
* Brady Bunch
* My favorite TV show when I was a child was Captain Kangaroo. I made my girls watch him when they were little. Although the show had changed it still had the Captain, Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit and Sheri Lewis with Lamb Chop. :)
* Oh my goodness, there are soooooo many......the very first one that came to mind is "Lost in Space" so I'll say that's my favorite (yeah, it's hokie, I know).
* Thats a tough one. After much thought I'm going with Leave It To Beaver, followed by I Love Lucy & Get Smart.
* the old Warner Bros cartoons but the absolute favorite were the Little Rascals / Spanky & Our Gang!!
* The Loretta Young Show. You can read about it here:
http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/L/htmlL/lorettayoung/lorettayoung.htm
* Favorite TV show from my childhood was Mickey Mouse Club. I imagined I was a Mouseketeer and that Darlene and Annette were my good buddies.
* Lassie from childhood and Ozzie and Harriet from my teen years
* Noggin the Nog http://www.nogginthenog.co.uk/
* Well it depends on how far back I go, but I have always loved Saturday mornings when I could sit and watch cartoons all morning (when cartoons were cartoons). My favorite were always the old black & white cartoons particularly the cat and mouse who never talked. I also loved Winky Dink – you would have a magic screen that you would put on your TV and then, during the cartoon, they would ask you to draw a line or something to help save Winky – my first artistic ability put to work!
* 'Watch with Mother' in black-and-white from the 1950's. They had little stories with puppet characters: The Wooden Tops; Rag,Tag & Bobtail; Muffin the Mule. http://www.whirligigtv.co.uk/tv/children/watchwm/watchwm.htm#rtb
* Brady Bunch or Partridge Family - it is a tie.
* Brady Bunch
* My favorite TV show when I was a child was Captain Kangaroo. I made my girls watch him when they were little. Although the show had changed it still had the Captain, Mr. Green Jeans, Mr. Moose and Bunny Rabbit and Sheri Lewis with Lamb Chop. :)
yankeegirl depicts a lovely spring favorite!
4. Favorite spring flower.
* Tulips
* Tulips
* No contest. I LOVE tulips. Every color and every kind.
* You know I love spring and I have to say the Daffodil is my favorite because as soon as I see them I realize spring is here and gives me that warm feeling inside.
* daffodils
* Daffadil or Jonquil. I have lived a lifetime without knowing the difference. Your question prompted me to “goggle” it and now I know. You can find the answer here:
http://www.plantanswers.com/arcadia_pages/Narcissus%20jonquilla.htm
* Almond blossom. Suddenly you don't have to look down to know that spring has arrived - it's there between you and the sky! Summer won't be long...
* Favorite spring flower is probably crocus.
* Blue Muscari
* Impatiens or pansies, sooooooo many colors, so little time!!!
* I would have to say Pansies. Usually in late March we go to the farm where they have rows and rows of the most beautiful combinations and colors of Pansies. It is somewhat of a tradition, even now with my kids grown. Each one gets to pick a few of their favorite color, then we come home and transplant into pots on our terrace. Believe it or not, the pansies actually last through the whole summer.
* Lilac
* This one is easy!!! I LOVE all spring flowers...but I think my favorite is the lilac. They smell so beautiful and the tiny little flowers all bunched together trying to make a statement are so adorable and lovely.
* Tulips
* No contest. I LOVE tulips. Every color and every kind.
* You know I love spring and I have to say the Daffodil is my favorite because as soon as I see them I realize spring is here and gives me that warm feeling inside.
* daffodils
* Daffadil or Jonquil. I have lived a lifetime without knowing the difference. Your question prompted me to “goggle” it and now I know. You can find the answer here:
http://www.plantanswers.com/arcadia_pages/Narcissus%20jonquilla.htm
* Almond blossom. Suddenly you don't have to look down to know that spring has arrived - it's there between you and the sky! Summer won't be long...
* Favorite spring flower is probably crocus.
* Blue Muscari
* Impatiens or pansies, sooooooo many colors, so little time!!!
* I would have to say Pansies. Usually in late March we go to the farm where they have rows and rows of the most beautiful combinations and colors of Pansies. It is somewhat of a tradition, even now with my kids grown. Each one gets to pick a few of their favorite color, then we come home and transplant into pots on our terrace. Believe it or not, the pansies actually last through the whole summer.
* Lilac
* This one is easy!!! I LOVE all spring flowers...but I think my favorite is the lilac. They smell so beautiful and the tiny little flowers all bunched together trying to make a statement are so adorable and lovely.
Thank you all for your wonderful contributions. Your answers are delightful, informative, inspiring, nostalgic, charming and SMART! Plus, I feel so successful ~ I received a 100% response rate. Dear Readers, please leave your answers in the comment section. We'd love to hear from you, too! I will add mine there as well.
Until next time....
Until next time....
Posts
20 comments:
What an excellent blog post.I can identify with most of the responses apart from some the childhood TV shows.I am guessing that there were a couple of UK boomers in there.
LOL, yes, Noggin the Nog. I remember him! What a fun and practical post. Isn't it great to have more insight into Bbest, even if we don't know exactly who they are......!?
What great fun! Not surprising that chocolate showed up a few times ... lol
Great post about anonymous boomers!!! Fun ;)
I remember Noggin the Nog and Sheri - Larry the Laaaaaaaaamb!!!
What fun questions, and what great responses! Love the title and love the responders, and it was fun trying to guess who said what! Great post!
Some great tips here. Love it Joonie !
This is SO fun!!! I loved reading all the responses and could figure out a few of the responders. Loved It!!!
What a fun blog post Joon!!! I really enjoyed reading the responses.
Great job!!
Great job Joon.....had alot of fun reading ....
This is such a great blog! What a great idea!
Such fun!!! I think I knew who some responders were too.
Thanks for including my Lilacs watercolor, too....nice surprise!!!
That was fun! Proves Bbest members can be thrifty, indulge without guilt, have great memories and appreciate the beauty of spring! What more can you ask from a team? Only one thing, leaders like Joon, Chauncey, Judy and others who contribute to this blog!
what a FABULOUS post Joonie! Loved every word of it!!! :D
So many great tips. I do a lot of these myself.
I think we're fortunate to have had parents the lived through the depression. A lot of these money saving tips are just every day habits, done since childhood.
Joonie, what a fun and creative blog post. I love getting to know more about my friends. Looking to figure out who was the big Gilligan Island fan. LOL
Oh Joon, thank you for including me in this great idea of memories and thoughts. You will have to all guess which were mine! Loved reading everyones's responses. Please do this again soon!
This was a fun read...and I think I know who some of the respondents are!
Oh my goodness, what fun this was to read!!! Great blog entry, Joonie!!!
I can identify with a lot of these comments. Fun post!
Thanks, everyone! I really enjoyed this and finding out that I employ ALL of the thrifting tips, except the infamous tapioca hoax. HA HA But I do love tapioca and Evan makes a mean bowl of it. But I digress. My favorite indulgence is free: reading, crossword puzzling or creating art, but for $5 I'll choose dinner out. My TV show was the Saturday afternoon movie and later, The Monkees. My flower is lilacs followed so closely by pansies that they are duking it out. But what a lovely tussle. :)
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