Happy Fall all!!! Hope this find you well on this Tuesday and first full day of fall here in the northern hemisphere! Fall equinox has arrived. The daylight hours get shorter every day - ugh. I really like my daylight - but this is part of it.
It is a very damp morning here. Dew is dripping from the trees, and it was extremely foggy at daybreak.
We got rain!!!!!! Yesterday we had about 8 hours of a soft rain - no downpours - just nice soaking rain. I am sure the grass and plants enjoyed it. Today is to be dry, so I have a few errands to run. Rain comes back tomorrow, then the week will be dry and pretty after that.
Waste not, want not - we have all heard that phrase. It is really very true! The more you can use of what you already have and find reuses for, the better. It saves you money.
ALSO, the more skills you have, the less money you spend or need. Learn to fix, mend, reuse, and get creative and you will save $$.
We all know leftovers can be re-invented into new meals and new dishes. Don't let that precious food go to waste. It is like throwing money away.
It isn't just leftover food, but scraps as well. You can make flavored vinegars with fruit or veggie scraps. Fruit scraps can be added to plain liquor to make flavors. Think jelly, syrup, extracts, etc. from scraps. Flavored teas can be made with any leftover fruit. Flavored waters or ice cubes. Dehydrate and use to flavor all sorts of things. Adds a little nourishment as well. When all used up, compost if possible.
Even old bags can save funds. The plastic ones can be used as trash can liners, poo bags, sorting and storage bags. I use them to collect my harvests.
Old furniture doesn't have to be thrown out. You can reglue, scrape, paint and make like new items. Recover, restuff, paint, new handles (those can be creative too). Make some new and fun furniture pieces for your home for pennies.
Fabrics, whether scraps or old clothes can be remade into fun new items. They can be decorations, pillows, quilts, throws, aprons, hot pads, you name it! You can actually make 'fabric' with scraps - big sheets of scraps, then make whatever you want with the fabric. There is no limit to what you can do.
Saving money is only limited to your imagination. Be positive in your ideas. Get creative - all things are possible.
When life throws you a curve ball, and your funds are low or cut - it doesn't mean that you can't still have nice things or eat good (and recycle at the same time). You can truly live a good life and have fun with it all at the same time.
Waste not - want not.... it sure is true.
Have a grand day all. Smile and say kind words!
Great ideas for stretching the dollar! The apron is especially cute. I'll have to look through my stash to see if I can recreate this. We live just off Rockville Road and when we head west to do some shopping, there are restaurants aplenty. We are always amazed at the parking lots, crammed with cars. Don't people eat at home anymore? Years ago, I would collect dried weeds and bittersweet to make flower arrangements. I save all the shopping bags and the produce bags, including the mesh ones.
ReplyDeleteEverything looked damp when I got up (not as early you do!). Looks like some serious rain tomorrow.
I can sew and knit following patterns but I’m not creative like my mom. I’m looking at a patchwork pillow she made of the barn, old well and yard adjacent to our old New England house. Of course she used scraps. She took a night table I got free from a friend and refinished the top (cherry) and painted the rest black with gold accents to make it look New England country. I have so many of her creations - pillows, paintings, painted furniture and small sculptures - and I treasure them. It makes me cry when I think of these things because I miss her so much and I’m so alone.
ReplyDeleteI hate to say it but I’m at the point now that I just don’t need more decorative stuff so I donate cloth, yarn, fake flowers etc. and only keep a very small amount. There is a fairly new store here that sells scraps and leftover art supplies very cheap so it is a good place to donate leftovers I know I’ll never use.
I've kind of been doing this with my candles. When they get too low to light, I have been placing them under my candle lamp and it melts the wax and still gives off plenty of fragrance. I then pour off a little wax each time I use the lamp on it, until nothing much is left to safely warm. I'm using up every bit of that wax! Haha! So glad you got a good rain.
ReplyDeleteSuch a great blog. Love you!
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