Wednesday, October 14, 2009

no-spending update

It's almost mid-October. I have spent plenty of money on food, including groceries for brunch for eight, and wine to bring to a party, but I haven't bought any things since I decided October would be a good time for stopping shopping.

I have a list of things I want to get, though! Which is probably partially the point: to think about what I want, mull it over, list it, and LATER decide if I was going to do it. Here's the list in my head at the moment:

  • Jars. Ever since developing a blog-crush on Food in Jars earlier this year, I've been buying and using jars in many ways. And right now I'm just about out of the 16-ounce wide mouths! They're being used to hold four types of uncooked beans, some food leftovers, and I don't know what else. But they're all in use right now. I started some vanilla extract last night and really had to dig for a suitable container. (I used a version of this page's Traditional Vanilla Recipe: three beans split, scraped, and chopped, in 12 ounces of vodka)
  • moisturizer - I'm running low! I have my travel bottle left, though, so I won't run out
  • hand lotion - only one small bottle left of good-smelling stuff at home. I have a good-sized bottle of plain stuff on my desk at work; I can bring that home if necessary
  • The bits and pieces to recreate an Ikea hack for vertical pot storage. That would free up a chunk of space. I'm not sure where I can cram it, and it'll only work if my ceiling is in fact 10 feet or less, so I can at least measure that when I get home.
  • oh yeah, and the usual things that have been on my list forever: crock pot, food processor.
  • oooh and there are a couple of paintings that a friend's daughter has listed on etsy. I'm not going to link to them to save them for myself, I hope, but they cost $180 and $280, so I'm not convinced I'll ever actually take the plunge and buy them. That's as much as I'll spend on a couple of plane tickets next year! But I do like real art and it would be great to support a friend. As a bonus, of course, I think they're gorgeous.
edited to add:
  • oooh: and this pattern for a gorgeous cowl for myself; of course, I'd need to buy yarn as well!

1 comment:

  1. I've been seeing how many jars I can save in order to prevent buying any. My main source for good glass jars is peanut butter.

    Even if you don't buy things in jars much (I just found your blog, but it looks like you cook a lot from scratch using things that don't come in jars), you can probably get friends to save some for you. Pasta sauce jars are also good. And I use a salsa jar (smaller, but with a wide mouth) to store my cocoa.

    Of course for canning, you'll need the real thing.

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