Hey check it out!-- Our wedding was featured in the Providence Journal (also known as the Projo around these parts,) in a section about DIY Weddings. We got interviewed and everything. Was not expecting a full page in color though. Sweet!
And, as always, special thanks to Li Ward from Fat Orange Cat Studios, for the gorgeous wedding photos!
So I thought I'd do an update on our Buy Nothing New Project.
We've definitely saved a bunch of money mostly by watching costs on our road trips, and by cutting out unnecessary purchase, aka "impulse buys" in general.
We visit G's folks, almost two hours away, pretty frequently. Besides gas, we almost always buy snacks at the gas station. And/or stop at 5 Guys for burgers. By making snacks and bringing water with us we save $20 to $30+ round trip. So far, homemade tortilla chips, and kale chips are our go-to nibbles.
Cheats:
The most interesting part of this project has been how much it's made me pause when I reach to buy something. Do I really need that XYZ? Many times the answer is no, and so I put it back. I'm surprised how often this happens. I didn't think of myself as an impulse buyer before.
It's also made me consider what I can make, or repurpose, instead of purchase. Though for us, that can be a fine line. Sometimes it's actually cheaper and smarter to buy said item, than to make it from scratch. --The two of us can get a bit carried away with our craft projects. But still, I'm definitely more on the lookout for items that can be repurposed.
It's also interesting how many things we're getting rid of. Not buying stuff we don't need, + purging stuff we own and don't need, seem to be closely tied to each other.
Things we've edited:
One thing I've found helpful, at least for now in this beginning stage, is to stick to your "rules" even if monetarily it might not be that big of deal. Case in point: We've been cutting costs on our movie/tv watching. Redbox ($1 rentals,) the library, Hulu, and Netflix streaming are allowed. Going to movie theaters, or renting online from iTunes or Amazon, is not. The other day we wanted to watch 50/50 (which, by the way, I think is my favorite movie of 2011. Go see it if you haven't.) I forgot to pick it up from Redbox (--the library didn't have it.) We almost rented it through Amazon for $3, but decided not to. We ended up watching it the next night.
Now, $2 is not such a big deal-- especially compared to actually going out to the movies (an easy $20+ for both of us.) But waiting the extra night, helped reinforce our new habits of planning ahead. $3 once in a while isn't a big deal, but $3 every other night is ridiculous when there are cheaper options available. I think this is probably "new habits 101" right?
Anyone have some money-saving tips that work for you? Please share- I'd love to hear!
We got our first real snow all winter the other night.
I took some photos on our morning walk and romp in the dog park.
What a happy girl.
Other members of our household enjoy snow days a whole other way:
In lieu of G's shifting work status we've decided to tamp down on our finances at least until the end of February. And after having dinner with some inspirational friends, and then having some similar conversations with other friends about consumerism in general, I'm motivated to make this "official." So let's call it the "Buy Nothing New" project! (Alternatively, G suggested, "No Thrills; Just Bills and Pills." ha.)
This means
A friend was telling me recently about how almost everything she reads online is about buying something. Pretty, stylish, somethings. But still--acquiring more things. I didn't realize, until she mentioned it, how similar my online reading was as well. Which, as a visual person who is genuinely interested in what others are making and excited about, is natural. But I've realized that underneath the creative swell, is a push to buy the next cool whatever. So I'm hoping this project will free me from that a bit. Maybe it will enable me to look at things and appreciate them, but let go of actually owning them.
Clearly many of these steps will take some planning ahead. Often we pay extra for convenience, rather than real necessity-- ie road trip snacks, etc. But I think we can handle a bit of extra thinking for a month and a half. I assume an added benefit will be cutting down on our trash output-- convenient things are often short-lived purchases that also always seem to be packaged intensely, don't they? (More on "no trash living" here.)
We'll let you know how it goes! And feel free to join us, if you're feeling so inclined.
Bryony gave me the idea of doing a year-in-review post, looking back over everything that happened in 2011.
Ready? Ok, here are some of my highlights!
Phew! I know I'm missing some, but that's a pretty good list.
Tonight we begin another round of road trips--CT, VT, NJ, and NY. Looking forward to spending Christmas time with family and friends. It will be a little quiet around here until next year(!) but I'll be chattering away on twitter. Come say hello!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everybody!
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs played a surprise benefit show in Brooklyn the other day--complete with Karen O dressed as Santa Claus himself-- and my brother Sam was there to capture it for work.
Have you ever seen them live? They put on a fantastic show.
Click here for the rest of the pics.
I just heard that the VA estimates that about 18 veterans commit suicide every day. A tragic and stunning number. I also came across this program sponsored by the David Lynch foundation:
“Operation Warrior Wellness” aims to teach 10,000 veterans and their families a simple meditation practice for preventing and treating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Kind of amazing, right?
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JeCxgU93LHs&feature=player_embedded]
It's happening. Again. It's getting darker and darker.
G and I are sort of dreading winter in our drafty apartment. So this year I'm determined to lighten things up and make our home feel cozy. Besides boring stuff, like buying space heaters and covering our windows, this is the plan:
Twinkle lights! They always seem to make everything better!
We don't have a fireplace, but it seems like I might be able to fake it with groups of candles on trays:
House plants! We'll bring the green in!
Sadly, this is actually a bit tricky for us as, ahem-- TMI alert-- one of our cats likes to use plant pots as a litter box. It's awful. So all hanging? Clever pot idea? A LOT of rocks to cover up the inviting soil? All cacti? Just kidding. Sort of.
Moving on. Mirrors, the better to bounce the light around!
And last, but certainly not least, slippers. I'm an all-year-round-slipper-wearing kind of a gal, so it was tragic when I left my slippers at a friends house a few months ago. Mysteriously I have not replaced them yet. This will be remedied this weekend:
What are your decorating tips to beat the winter blues? Do tell!
I've been frantically getting ready for a SCBWI workshop in Upstate New York next weekend, but we're gonna take off (agh!) for NYC tomorrow get our Halloween party on, proper- like. (I mentioned our Halloweens have been pathetic for a few years, right?) And even though, like always, we are both swamped with work, this year we are determined to get in a break and have some fun.
I hope this is a good idea.
What is it about Fall that just makes everything so crazy?
What are you all up to this weekend? Have fun!
edit: We decided to be boring responsible adults after all and stayed home to work. Seriously. However we are getting drinks tonight. Maybe I'll get an orange one!
Jenna of speaks clearly about her family's struggle with figuring out the best way to deal with health insurance. After leaving a bit of a ranting comment on her post (something I rarely do) I realized perhaps I should be sharing in my own space as well.
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Note: this post is super long. So before you panic and leave altogether, please head over to Kate Miss', For Me-For You shop to purchase a piece of artwork. All profits go towards her partner's health bills-- he is a painter (one of his pieces above) with no insurance, and was just diagnosed with testicular cancer. (I assume she will be adding and re-listing regularly, so be sure to check back if nothing at the moment catches your fancy.)
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Let me start by saying G and I have been relatively healthy people all our lives. No big hospital emergencies, no "conditions" or "illnesses." While living in Brooklyn, when I became responsible for my own insurance, I got the bottom tier (read: cheapest) Freelancers Union health insurance plan for years. I would sometimes joke, usually when the monthly bill was especially hard to swallow, that I better get sick to take advantage of "all this insurance" I was paying for. (Note to everyone: do not joke about these things.) G, a freelancer as well, didn't have health insurance at all after leaving his parents' plan.
Right before we moved to Providence, G accepted a job in NY that allowed him to telecommute. He also got a really sweet health insurance plan. Cool. At some point it occurred to him to take advantage of it. He got the various routine check ups. Then he got cancer.
His job is many things, (and we can find ways to complain about all of them,) but we often remind ourselves that it paid for his Melanoma treatment. And continues to do so. I cannot overstate how screwed we would be if he hadn't taken that job. If the universe hadn't aligned to let it work out. We would have gotten by with help from family and friends, but it would have been hard, and the whole thing just that much scarier.
Three years later, a few months before our wedding, last March, I was diagnosed with Crohns. --A chronic disease that I will have for the rest of my life. (It's quite manageable at the moment though.) A few diagnostic tests I couldn't have put off, but in hindsight there were several procedures that I could have waited on until I transferred to G's insurance plan after we got married. But honestly, it didn't occur to me. I wasn't even positive I would switch to his plan at all. I had health insurance: I was sick: I didn't think twice about using it. It wasn't until the bills started coming in that the whole health insurance debacle our country is facing truly hit home.
For the first time, I really understood how a stable family could be crippled in months and end up declaring bankruptcy over medical bills. We're both relatively responsible people, but we simply didn't have extra thousands of dollars to put towards unexpected bills, never mind on top of a wedding. My insurance did pay a portion, yes. However, when something costs upwards of $4000 and half is covered... you get the idea. I called and developed payment plans for all of the bills except, ironically the largest one. I received both a CT Scan and an MRI and this particular facility didn't "do payment plans." You had sixty days after your initial payment, of whatever you could afford, to pay the balance. After that, your account would go towards a collections agency. It boggles my mind that this is their policy. (As I type, I realize I should be sending them a letter as well.) I do not understand how this could be more cost effective than letting me pay it down little by little. Anyways, we managed to pay that bill first and now still put a bit down every month to the others.
I have since switched to G's insurance plan. I'm both giddy at, and appalled by, how easy and inexpensive my medical treatment now is. How can the discrepencies in plans be this vast? Frankly, I feel like a bit of jerk every time I waltz in to an appointment. My monthly prescriptions now cost a mere $35 (and soon will be less when I'm fully enrolled in the mail order plan,) from a heart stopping $400. (Don't get me started on how these medications keep more expensive procedures--hospital stays, cancer, etc-- at bay. Don't worry, I won't get into the baffling lack of value placed on preventative care here.)
I realize I must sound naive and spoiled to people who have long suffered without insurance at all. And I fully own up to it. We are blessed to be two college educated, creative, financially-stable adults. If we are struggling, how in the world are other people getting by? (The obvious answer is that they are not.) I know we are so lucky. And I am truly, deeply grateful. And also furious.
For the first time in our lives, our health has become a factor in our career choices. That kills me. And if we are wrestling with these decisions, surely a large number of our peers are as well. The population who are supposed to be forging ahead, making changes, creating jobs, bringing about innovation for future generations. To find our career paths so narrowed by one force is not only personally disheartening, but surely is grim for our society as a whole.
I'll stop here, and only remind you to visit the For Me-For You shop. You can learn more about the fundraiser on her beautiful blog here. (We just purchased a print of the painting above and I'm so excited for it to arrive!) You may also know Kate Miss from her wildly popular necklaces she hand makes. They are for sale in batches and often sell out in hours. So sign up for her newsletter while you're over there.