I’ve been emailed quite a few questions lately regarding advice for remodeling an Airstream. And it’s a tricky question– each Airstream will be different. That being said, there are a few common themes that all Airstream remodels will encounter, so George and I jumped on a video to chat about ’em. Enjoy! And as always, any more questions, you can ask in the comments!
love,
melanie
Did you know that beeswax candles are honey hole full of benefits? Ok, that pun was forced. But seriously, beeswax candles can help with allergies, have calming benefits and burn slower and cleaner than paraffin candles. I’ve even heard that beeswax candles give off negative ions that actually purify the air. I also love the scent of beeswax candles.
In elementary school we went to visit the town of Old Salem, a living history town that depict Moravian life in the 18th and 19th century. Well, one guy, dressed in his period-correct finery, was pouring candles. Even as an elementary schooler, I thought that was pretty cool and I bought one. My parents didn’t let me play with matches, so I ended up just smelling the unlit candle like a weirdo. But I’m still obsessed with the natural scent of beeswax candles.
Anyway, I know that beeswax candles are one of those things that I can make cheaper than I can buy. So I did just that. It took me a couple of tries to perfect the process, but here’s how to make beeswax candles.
Supplies
Glue your wicks to the bottom of the jars. The glue helps the wick to stay in place during the pouring process. Let dry, then trim the wicks to slightly longer than the desired length. (I didn’t do that and regretted it later.) Pour your pellets and coconut oil into the pitcher. 1/2 pound of pellets makes about a 1 pint jar candle. Fill large pot of water 1/4 of the way full of water.
Put the candle making pitcher in the water. It might float a bit. That’s ok. Stir until the wax is melted.
As the wax is melting either heat up your oven on low or prepare a bowl of warm water and put your jars in it to cool the candles. I did both and both methods worked. The addition of coconut oil and the intricate cooling process ensures that the candles don’t crack. The coconut oil also gives the candles a lovely baby yellow hue.
When wax is fully melted pour carefully into jars to not disturb the wick.
If using the water cooling method, cover in candles in tinfoil. If using the oven method, turn the oven off and let the candles cool inside.
We just made beeswax candles! All my childhood dreams are coming true! Also, wouldn’t these make great gifts?!
Have you ever tried candle making? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
Automating my life through habits is my big secret to staying sane. During the summer, I work 10 hour days, have two hour commute and with my lunch hour, I’m gone from my house for at least 13 hours a day. I also write for this blog and And Then We Saved, have some semblance of a social and family life and maintain a relatively healthy lifestyle. But to fit everything in, that doesn’t leave much time to do anything other than sleep. Automating my life has made things so much easier and it’s given me a bit of time back each day. It’s the only reason my brain hasn’t completely gone haywire.
I’ve learned that we humans can only make so many decisions per day and if we waste those precious decision-making skills on something like the lunch menu, we have fewer skills available for something actually important. I’m no psychologist or even an expert, but The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg explains the science (and power!) of habits way better than I ever can. I’d really recommend it.
Even our president knows about the power of habits. Ina 2012 interview for Vanity Fair President Obama was quoted saying, “You’ll see I wear only gray or blue suits,” he said. “I’m trying to pare down decisions. I don’t want to make decisions about what I’m eating or wearing. Because I have too many other decisions to make.” I’m not making the important decisions that our president is, but even piddly decisions are exhausting. So to deal with those decisions, I make habits. It’s helped me to save money, be happier and make my life easier. Here’s my best habits:
1. Meal Prep
There’s all kinds of articles out there about how to meal prep. Most of them I find overwhelming and boring. Here’s how I meal prep: On Sunday night I make all my breakfast and lunches for the work week, and then I have a loose idea of the dinner choices. I chose to not make my dinner in advance, because I like variety—it’s the spice of life! But I may do some dinner prep– like cutting up vegetables.
For breakfast I’ll have my crustless quiche. This helps to use up the leftover veggies in the fridge—ensuring that I don’t waste food or money and I start the day with protein and veggies.
For lunch, during the summer, I’ll usually have a large spinach salad with pre-cooked chicken. It doesn’t take long to throw together and it doesn’t get old because I can mix it up with different dressings and toppings. During the winter, I’ll usually have soup or stew made from my trusty crock-pot.
For snacks, I rely on packs of nuts and apples with nutbutters that I keep in my desk at work. I also keep tea and coffee at work for those times when I need a little extra jolt. It keeps me from dropping $5 at my school’s coffee shop.
For dinner I rely on easy staples. I don’t plan in the traditional sense of the word (i.e. there’s no Taco Tuesday) because George and I might be in the mood for tacos on Monday or every other day, we love tacos. Instead, I’ll have a loose idea of what we’ll eat that week. One night will usually be stir fry, the next night will be tacos, another will be fish or chicken and a veggie. We’ll usually have hamburgers and we’ll almost always finish the week with a homemade pizza. Pizza is a treat and it’s our favorite.
One of my favorite tips for these easy dinners is to buy a grocery store roasted chicken. They are tasty, cheap and you can make so many quick, easy meals with them.
2. Lay out your clothes for the week (even gym clothes!)
In the morning, I’m a grump. I admit it. You’ll never see me spring out of bed to greet cartoon bluebirds at my window. I just won’t ever be a morning person and that’s ok. But to make my mornings a little easier, I’ll look at the weather forecast on Sunday; then I lay out my work clothes for the entire work week—including my socks and underwear. When I don’t do this, I end up dressing a lot sloppier than I should. It’s really helped me to up my wardrobe game and I don’t have that panicky “I have nothing to wear” moment in the morning.
I also put all of my gym clothes for the week in my gym bag along with my shoes. When I get home, I take the dirty clothes out of the car and leave the clean clothes and the bag in the car. This means I go to the gym right after work (or during lunch at work) and I don’t have the chance to go home to change. If I have the chance to go home and change clothes it’s a million times harder to go to the gym because my bed just looks too comfortable.
Sidenote: To make this process even easier, I’ve been on the lookout for clothes that can double as work and gym wear. I haven’t come up with much, yoga pants aren’t acceptable at my job, but I’m hopeful! If you have links to (preferably inexpensive) gym clothes that can double as work clothes, link me in comments!
3. Put things in their place
To make things a habit, I’ve found that placing things in a visible or convenient place makes the habit stick faster. To help me to drink more water and kick my vending machine bottled water addiction, I bought a refillable water bottle and I keep it on my work desk at all times. That simple step has helped me to drink more water and has saved me a couple hundred dollars.
Here’s a weird example: I could never remember to pluck my eyebrows and I’d always find weird stray ones when I was sitting in the car before I went in to work in the morning. So I started keeping tweezers in the car and now my eyebrows don’t look like Helga Pataki’s.
I also constantly found myself out-and-about without medicines or Band-Aids, so I made myself an Ouch! Bag to keep in my purse and it’s saved me so much money. By putting things in a convenient place (even if that place is a little unconventional) it’s so much easier to trick your brain into making a habit.
4. Make a list of tomorrow’s to-dos before you leave work
I love a to-do list. But on the days that I forget to make one, I totally notice. I won’t have direction and I’ll spend most of the day putting out fires. (Usually not literally. Although the HVAC system in the library did catch on fire one night. But I left that up to the professionals.)
By making a to-do list before you leave, you also leave that responsibility at work and you’re less likely to worry about forgetting to do something. I’d recommend keeping the to-do list short. I’ve found that three “to-dos” is the perfect number for me. More than that and I’m overwhelmed. Less than that and I’m bored.
5. Do the hard stuff first
I have way more willpower and concentration at 8:00 am than I do at 4:00 pm, that’s why I start my day with the hard stuff. It’s usually the stuff that I really don’t want to do, but as soon as I finish it, I feel better and the rest of the day is a breeze. Some people call this habit, “Eating the Frog.”
I also have a rule that I don’t buy anything after lunch. After lunch I have a lot less willpower. It’s too easy to buy things!
6. Reward yourself
You will never create those hard habits without a reward system. Our bodies crave a reward and when we don’t get that reward we become depressed. Seriously! Give yourself a small reward after you complete a new habit, like a small piece of chocolate after working out. Once you establish the habit (it may take a couple of months) you’ll no longer need the reward because the habit has become, well, a habit!
Even after my habit is established, I also like to give myself healthy rewards. If I finish a project at work, I’ll take a short walk around campus. That way, I get my daily supply of Vitamin D, a little exercise and a reward!
7. Automate your bills and savings
Automating your bills and savings is like a habit that is done for you! There’s no reason to waste time on paying bills if your income is stable. (If your income is unstable, you may want to try the envelope system.) Automate your bill pay through the billing provider or through your bank. It makes life so much easier. It saves paper and stress.
Automating my savings has been one of my best life hacks. The bank automatically pulls a bit of cash from my checking account out each month into another bank account. I have the cash in a separate bank account to take away some of the temptation of spending the money. I don’t even have an ATM card for that bank. I love my Capital One 360 Savings account for this because you can designate pots of money within a savings account. (They didn’t pay me to say this!) For example, I have a little bit of money pulled into a travel fund each month and a house fund. I even had a savings designation for my laser eye surgery!
8. Learn from people who already have it figured out
We’ve all got that friend or relative that has it all figured out. They have their habits down pat. Ask them how they established their habits. The same habit-reward system won’t work for everyone, but I think it’s fascinating to find out how my dad does so much laundry or my mother-in-law manages to hand wash all the dishes after she just made dinner. (Dishes are my kryptonite!)
There’s also some really great literature out there about habits. I can’t recommend Charles Duhigg’s The Power of Habit more. I’d also recommend Getting Things Done by David Allen. His system to-do system is a little complex, but he offers some great insight into the power of list-making.
9. Keep a journal
One of the best habits I’ve established is keeping a gratitude journal. Each night I write down three things that I’m grateful for. It’s helped me to be happier and more grateful for my life. Even on the bad days, I’ll find something to be happy about and many times on the good days, I’ll write down more than three things. It’s also a habit that has helped me to establish other habits because I can see the positive effects that my habits have on my life. For example, going to yoga made me feel clarity or sweeping the floor made me feel accomplished.
10. Start habits one at a time
I get so excited about starting habits that I want to do all the good habits all at once. But I have so much more success when I start habits one at a time, establish the habit for about a month, then try to incorporate the next habit. We aren’t robots and trying to start five habits is overwhelming. We may do good for a week or so, but then we’ll resort back to our old bad ways because it is too hard. I know. I’ve been there. Take your time establishing a habit before moving on to the next one. You’ll have much more success. Promise.
11. Delegate
Some tasks aren’t worth your time. They really aren’t. Creating habits and automation will only take you so far when you have a busy life. (And we all have a busy life.) Don’t be afraid to ask for help when you need it or even hire someone to do it for you. I know it cost money and we’re all trying to save money, but consider if your time would be better spent on other tasks. Figure out what your time is worth with this handy calculator from Learn Vest.
There’s some great services out there to help out busy professionals. Fiverr will help you to do everything from writing a professional bio to creating a logo for, you guessed it, five dollars. To the point where you need an assistant? Virtual Gal Friday can help! For more errand-like tasks, TaskRabbit will help you to outsource household tasks.
12. Forgive yourself and start again
Creating new, positive habits is hard. I still struggle with habits every.single.day. We all have days that just don’t go as planned and we don’t have time to meal prep. Or we fall asleep before we have time to lay out our clothes. (Ahem, me.) But don’t beat yourself up about it. Simply forgive yourself and start again. That’s the great thing about habits. You have the control to pick that habit back up and start again.
How have you established a habit? How have habits bettered your life? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
I finally surprised George for his 30th birthday. Big time. With a trip. To Memphis. Because I’m the best wife ever. Surprising George was a huge feat for me. Something always happens and that little stinker somehow figures out his present. Not this time. Oh no. This time I waited until I could hardly stand it anymore (12:01 PM on his birthday) and whipped out those tickets with so much pride.
We had the best time. No stress. Just relaxing and sight seeing. And Memphis is perfect for that. Of course I learned a bunch along the way. And as I learn, I like to share it with you all. Learn from my triumphs and tribulations, folks.
Here’s what I learned along the trip, along with some phone photos because I remembered the camera, but forgot the charger. Story of my life.
1. Memphis is in on Central time (duh!).
I did a lot less planning on this trip because I had to keep it a secret. Much of this trip was loosely planned or not planned at all which was a little nerve-wracking for me. I didn’t even remember that Memphis is on Central time! We went to bed much earlier than many of our Memphis friends, but we got up earlier too and avoided some of the crowds.
The inside of a trolley in Memphis.
2. A downtown trolley ride is a steal.
The downtown trolley in Memphis is a steal. The trolley doesn’t travel very far, just in a large loop around the downtown area and up and down the main drag, but it’s only $1 per ride or $3.50 for a day pass. The trolleys are heated, and beautifully restored. I was ready to move into one, they were that pretty. We even took a ride on the trolley at sunset right by the river. Gorgeous.
3. There are weird alcohol laws in Tennessee.
If you are a drinker, especially a wine drinker, be aware that the alcohol laws in Tennessee prohibit you from buying wine at a convenience or grocery store. You’ll have to visit a liquor store for to purchase wine. And the liquor stores, especially in the downtown area, where we stayed are not plentiful. But you are allowed to enjoy adult beverages on the street. I did some researching and the wine laws may change soon, but as of April 2014, you still can’t easily buy wine in Memphis.
4. There are weird smoking bans.
I’m not a smoker, but apparently in Memphis if the bar, restaurant or establishment is 21 years of age and up (even for breakfast!) people are allowed to smoke. This may have been more of a problem if we were traveling with kids.
5. Be careful if you have food allergies or intolerances.
The food allergy and intolerance wave hasn’t hit the south yet. I love the south, it’s my home, but people are still fairly clueless about food allergies and contamination. And it can be dangerous for folks like me. Almost every single thing was served with a biscuit or on toast. I would suggest doing your research and asking your waitstaff how your food is prepared. Some places surprised me with a gluten-free items that weren’t on the menu.
Beale St. in the morning
6. Visit Beale Street in the morning to avoid crowds.
Crowds don’t bother George and I, per say, but if we can avoid crowds, we will. Beale Street doesn’t get going until the late afternoon, but if you like to keep it a little quieter, visit Beale Street in the morning. We went about 11:00 am. The bars and restaurants were just opening. Beale Street didn’t get crowded (and obnoxious) until we swung through at 4:00 pm.
7. There’s no breakfast restaurants on Beale Street.
Really. It’s hard to imagine because breakfast food cures hangovers, but there are no restaurants serving breakfast on Beale Street. You’ll have to get a couple of blocks away to get your breakfast fix. We stopped at a little diner called the Bon Ton Cafe, just a short walk away.
8. You can walk from Beale Street to Sun Studios.
We had debated whether or not to get a car on this trip. It would have been convenient, but after doing the math, I decided against it. Parking fees can be steep and other than Graceland, you can walk to most attractions if you stay in the downtown area. Walking from Beale Street to Sun Studios, for example, was no problem.
9. Be prepared for crowds. Check local events.
I had booked a hotel and bought our plane tickets for this trip months ago. I’m also pretty oblivious to sports. Little did I know that Memphis was one of the hosts for the NCAA tournament. There was an insane amount of people in town for the games. It was also spring break for schools in Arkansas which is right across the river. Luckily I booked early so the hotel rates weren’t outrageous, but the restaurants and the streets were a little overwhelming at times.
Wearing our nerdy headphones at Graceland.
10. Sun Studios does guided tours. The Graceland tours are self-guided.
I was a little disappointed that the Graceland tour was self-guided. We wore nerdy, Walkman-esque headsets and it was distracting trying to figure out if I was on the correct audio chapter. Sun Studios, on the other hand, had a guided tour. It was obvious that our tour guide had a passion and respect for music history. It made such a difference. She even played a bit of guitar for us! Just get to Sun Studios early. The tours fill up quick and the waiting area is cramped.
11. You can’t walk to Graceland from the downtown areas, but the taxis from Graceland are plentiful.
You’ll probably have to call for a taxi to Graceland, but the taxis will be waiting to whisk you back to your hotel. I considered staying at the Heartbreak Hotel for a night—its right across the street from Graceland, but it was more expensive for us to stay at the hotel than to commute via taxi from downtown.
The living room at Graceland
12. Graceland isn’t open late and it’s smaller than you’d imagine.
I splurged and purchased the “platinum” tickets for Graceland. It was a good decision. In addition to the house, we also visited most of the exhibits. I think I would have been disappointed with the house-only pass. The platinum tickets gave us access to other exhibits where we saw boat loads of costumes, artifacts and videos. It’s also important to note that Graceland is only open 9:00-5:00 pm Monday-Saturday and 9:00-4:00 on Sunday. And the lines can be long.
13. Buy your Graceland tickets online first and pick them up at will-call.
In order to avoid the long lines, I would highly suggest purchasing Graceland tickets in advance. You will avoid the long ticket lines and you might even be able to find an online discount code like I did!
14. For souvenirs, get away from the tourist areas.
I try to stay away from souvenirs. Instead, I take a lot of pictures for mementos. If you must purchase souvenirs in Memphis and in other big cities, get away from tourist areas. The local drugstore or even Wal-Mart will carry similar souvenirs at half the price.
15. Check the weather report, especially if you are staying downtown. The streets fill with water pretty quickly and without boots, your feet will get wet.
I packed in such a hurry that I didn’t even check the weather report. I really wish I had packed boots. It was rainy for two days out of our trip and the older streets of downtown Memphis were filled with water in a matter of minutes. I genuinely thought I might get trench foot from this trip.
16. The highlights of Memphis can be seen in a long weekend, but the museums and sites are plentiful.
There’s plenty to see in Memphis. Memphis is steeped in music and civil rights history. And there’s plenty of museums to prove it. And although there’s much to see, if you get your priorities straight, Memphis can be seen in a long weekend. With just four days in the city, George and I felt like we saw almost everything we wanted to see, but also never felt rushed.
Memphis Skyline from the top of the Peabody hotel.
17. The view from the top of the Peabody Hotel is the best in the city.
The Peabody Hotel is a sight to see— especially if you appreciate architecture. It’s a seriously majestic hotel in the middle of the city that was built in the opulence of the 1920s. The hotel is also home to live ducks! The view from the top of the hotel is awe-inspiring. On a clear day, you can see all the way across the Mississippi river to Arkansas and most of the city’s sites. And the best part is that the view is free and open to the public!
Ducks in the Peabody Hotel fountain!
18. If you want to see the ducks march at the Peabody, get there early.
The Peabody Hotel is home to a parade of ducks which at 11 am everyday march from the roof to the fountain in the lobby of the hotel. Then at 5 pm, the ducks are wrangled up and marched back up to the roof. The original ducks were put in the fountain by some boozed up guests who were going to use them as decoys on their fishing trip. Years later, a hotel employee, who was a former Ringling Circus animal trainer, trained the ducks to march on the red carpet and the tradition is carried on to this day. The march is super cute, but a bit crowded. We arrived 30 minutes early to the march and got a pretty good view. But we definitely weren’t the first folks there!
Have you ever been to Memphis? What kind of tips do you have? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
love,
melanie
Picture c/o http://web.archive.org/web/20121219045655/http://usamania.wikispaces.com:80/ released under CC licensing.
This summer George and I are taking a road trip to Florida. We’ve been talking about taking this trip for years and I am so pumped that we finally ponied up and planned the thing. I often visited the gulf coast of Florida on family vacations as a child. And I can.not.wait. to (annoyingly) sing entire Jimmy Buffett albums in the car and experience the first time George swims in the warm, clear water of the gulf.
This isn’t our first road trip. Oh no. One summer I lived in California and we drove all the way across the country. I learned quite a bit about road trippin’ and money from that excursion. This time we won’t be traveling quite as far but my budget is still tight. Here’s some of my best tricks and tips to save money on your (and my!) next road trip.
What are your best road trip money saving tips? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
Last time I was at home, my mom was admiring my knit capelet. Ok, so maybe she wasn’t admiring it so much as I was making her model it for me. I mean, she’s my mom, she has to be proud of my work, right? I was being an extremely annoying daughter that day and after I made her model for me, I drug her away from her J.C. Penny couponing to go to Hobby Lobby. It’s right across the street! She picked out some yarn so I could make something for her and man, oh man, my mom paid me back for annoying her. She somehow managed to pick out the most difficult yarn in the store to work with– this Lion Homespun Yarn.
It’s a really pretty, textured yarn, but man, was it a pain in my tuchas. I found very few tips for working with this yarn online, so I’m sharing with you all what helped me to actually create something with the Lion Brand Homespun Yarn.
1. Work with needles larger than the ones recommended on the package. I ended up using size 19 needles after knitting a giant twisted ball of nothing on smaller needles.
2. Knit with two strands of yarn at the same time. The yarn is naturally twisty, so it twisted onto the other strand of yarn instead of onto itself. This will also make a chunkier knit.
3. Keep going. I abandoned this project several times because after I cast on it looked like a big ol’ mess. Only after I knitted the first few rows, could I see the scarf come together.
I cast on 13 times for this scarf and in the end it turned out to be the perfect size for a chunky knit scarf.
Man, I wish I had this advice weeks ago! Have you ever had adventures with Lion Brand Homespun Yarn? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
Polar vortex sounds like a made-up character meant to scare children at bed time. If you don’t go to sleep the Polar Vortex will sweep you away to the Netherlands (I imagine it’s cold there) where you have to live in a frigid cave and the only food to sustain your miserable existence is cold beanie weenies served from a spoon made of icicles. But the polar vortex is all too real, folks. All too real.
George and I are determined to stick it out the weather in our tin can, but there’s been a couple of nights where I’ve questioned my sanity. Luckily we’ve made previsions. Here’s some tips for staying warm in an Airstream and in other old, tiny spaces.
How are you staying warm? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
You probably already know that leftovers can be a big money saver. Duh, they all say. But let’s be real, leftovers get old quick. Pun intended. I do pretty good at eating leftovers, but after a couple of days I’m sick of eating the same thing. So what’s a girl to do? Repurpose and upcycle those leftovers, that’s what!
Here’s some of my favorite ways to repurpose leftovers:
1. Make chili even heartier with spaghetti noodles!
Chili can last a long time– especially if you make a big ol’ pot. When I was little we never ate chili alone. We always ate it over spaghetti noodles. It makes the chili heartier, last longer and stretch further. When we were grown, my mom told me this was a “poor person thing” but until I moved out of the house I had no idea that people ate chili without spaghetti noodles!
2. Put an egg on it!
One of my favorite ways to spice up leftovers is to throw in a fried egg. Eggs are super cheap and I seem to always have extra in the fridge. Protein power! My absolute favorite is a breakfast pizza. Throw a raw egg on top of your leftover pizza and heat in the oven until the egg white is well… white. So delicious!
3. Don’t throw that last bit away!
Sometimes it’s tempting to throw that last tiny bit of chicken or sauce away. It’s not enough for a whole meal, right? But before you toss it, think about ways you can pump it up. Adding more sauce or more vegetables can beef up that last little bit of food into a whole meal.
4. Smorgasbord!
As you might have noticed, when I was growing up, we didn’t have a lot of money. It didn’t bother me much because my mom had a great imagination and encouraged us to have one too. She used to tell me that the local grocery store during the fall was a pumpkin patch. I didn’t find that out until last year. Man, was she clever. At the end of each week, she’d break out all the leftovers and we’d have a little dab of everything. We got to pretend we were kings eating at our very own smorgasbord.
5. Experiment
It’s so easy to get in a cooking rut. Eating the same 5 meals is easy. But challenge yourself to experiment. Get creative with your cooking. Try to eat all of the stuff in your pantry and fridge before you go shopping. See what you can come up with. Don’t feel very creative? Websites like Recipe Key can help you to find recipes using just the ingredients you have in your pantry.
6. Remember, you don’t always have to use leftovers right away.
Certain foods lend well to freezing. Chili for example. You don’t have to eat chili for the next two weeks (because you’re eating is with spaghetti noodles, right?). You can freeze half of it and break it out during an extra busy or extra chilly weeknight.
7. Leftovers can be made into totally different meals
One of the worst things about leftovers is that they can be boring. But they don’t have to be because they can be made into totally different meals. I used to hope, hope, hope that we had leftover rice at our meals to make rice pudding. My mom’s recipe for rice pudding is the best. Stale bread can be made into french toast, leftover veggies can be made into quiche and leftover spaghetti sauce can be used as pizza sauce! The possibilities are endless, people.
8. Use it as compost
Don’t feel guilty when that leftover tortellini looks like a science experiment gone awry. You can’t eat it now. (Well you could, but you could also end up in the hospital.) But you can still compost it! Throw it in the compost heap and use it to get that garden good and fertile! Helpful hint: Used coffee grounds make excellent plant fertilizer!
Do you have any tips for upcycling leftovers? I’d love to hear them in the comments!
love,
melanie
Photo courtesy of Tracy Olson on Flickr.
Although I’d like to scream at most stores (and some people) that have had their Christmas decorations out since before Halloween, I can no longer deny that Thanksgiving and Hanukkah are just a day away! The holiday season is upon us, ya’ll.
I’m not diving through a swimming pool full of gold coins like Scrooge McDuck (yet!), but I do find a way to give some of my mere wages to charity during the holiday season and throughout the year. I’d like to encourage you to do so too.
So how do you know if an organization is legitimate? How do you know where your donation goes? How can you make a difference? Here’s some of my tips to making sure your giving counts.
Still stumped? Here are a few of my favorite charities.
In this time of thanksgiving, please think about those who are less fortunate.
love and thanksgiving,
melanie
My dad once told me a story of this guy at his work who was so thrifty that he ate only bologna sandwiches for the last 20 years. That’s it. Two pieces of white bread, a piece of bologna and some mustard. (Not even any cheese!) Every day. His coworkers used to say that he was so tight with money that if you squeezed him, quarters would fall out of his butt. Crude, I know. When he died, they went into his house and found almost a million dollars stashed under his mattress.
I don’t know if the story is true, my dad tends to exaggerate, but it’s the ultimate story of odd thriftiness. I’m not suggesting you only eat bologna sandwiches because I can’t believe the guy didn’t get scurvy. I’m also not saying that you die with a million dollars stashed under your mattress because you do need to live a little. But I thought I’d share some less extreme, but still a little weird ways I’ve found to save cash.
What weird, crazy or out of the box tips or tricks do you have to save a buck? Let me know in the comments!
love,
melanie
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