Frugality can be great exercise!

We're desperate for room in our one-bedroom apartment. And moving up to a 2 BR is a no-go, given current rents for those hover around $900+.


So this morning I found myself huffing and puffing to and from the car with boxes. Lots and lots of boxes. Thank goodness I picked a ground-floor apartment!


Tim's eczema is also on his feet, where it tends to cause splits. So guess what happens when he doesn't use his hemp oil product regularly on his feet? Well, let's just say he's finding out now.


So after one trip where he started limping on the way back, I ordered him onto the couch. That, however, meant I made about six or seven separate trips.


Most of the items were wedding stuff that I bought that we never used. As the trips wore on, I started to feel increasingly sheepish about buying them.


Not that anything was terribly expensive, but they'd been taking up room in our closet for about a year. And I'd told myself that it was for a purpose: They would be used in the wedding. Nothing of what I carried out today made the cut.

• Plates:
  
• We hit some 50% off sales and got all white plates.
  
• We figured it didn't matter if they didn't match, so long as they were all white with no other colors.
  
• Then, three or four months later, we found an amazing sale at Bed, Bath & Beyond and nabbed 98 matching clear glass plates for under $40.
  

• China:
• Pretty white and silver design
  
• 50% off at a thrift store sale, so $15
• Nearly a whole set
• Was going to use it for the bridal party table
• Ended up not having a bridal party table
  

• Glasses:
  
• Again, 50% sales.
  
• But then I researched and found out it was about the same price per-glass to get glasses at Ikea and they'd all match.
  
• And no one used any glasses at our reception so I ended up returning those for a full refund.

• Dessert wine glasses
  
• To float candles in. Looked really pretty in my head.
  
• Got them all at thrift stores for under $20.
• Figured the sets could be placed at different tables and it wouldn't be as obvious that they didn't match.
  
• Then we remembered that potentially a lot of little kids were coming. Nixed anything with flames.
  

• Random utensils
  
• Got at estate sales.
  
• Then we priced them at Sam's Club and got everything we needed for under $30.
  

In all, that's probably about $100 of items. Granted, it was collected over a long period of time. But still, we could have used that money elsewhere. And we definitely could have used the space!


Also given away were a bunch of things that the pack rat in me couldn't get rid of, initially.

• Boots from Payless. About 3 months later, I found a fantastic pair of Aerosoles that actually zipped (I have big calves) and were on sale for $50. (Payless is great for seeing if you would actually wear some style that, in regular stores, is fiendishly expensive.)

• Some jeans Tim had grown out of.
  

• Some books (I rarely buy but when I do, I tend to give them away for lack of space)

• Four pairs of shoes. I particularly loved a certain pair of stocky-heeled mary janes. But I couldn't remember the last time I'd worn them or even reasonably make a case that I'd wear them soon. It was an emotional parting, but given that they were a 21st birthday present, I finally said goodbye. The other pairs were even older and equally unworn in recent memory.

I think I'm done paring down possessions for the moment. I usually do it at least once a season to stay on top of clutter.



But all this got me thinking, how much of our "stuff" do we keep needlessly? (This was particularly poignant as I was carrying boxes of 30 plates.) Each time I declutter, I find things I'm ready to give up, when last time they were too dear.


So it's not just the fact that these items cost something (usually) to obtain, but also that it costs us space and sanity to house them. We feel cluttered and messy. (Well, I actually am messy. But it's made worse by so much stuff.)


How much do our things own us? So that we find ourselves working to obtain them, house them or even just deal with their presence. And that's not even touching the sum we all spend on storage solutions!


What do you find yourself regretting having bought? Is it a shirt that you swear you'll wear, but end up thinking it's too tight? Maybe a cool new gadget? Or something exercise related?

Or do you perhaps not regret buying, but keeping certain things for too long? Maybe books. Or -- and here's my Achilles heel -- gifts from others.

A bit of good news....

The front page of today's Seattle Times had some good news!

The charity I wrote about is going to stay open thanks to an outpouring of community donations.

It's a pretty humanity-affirming article, so I suggest you read it if you have a moment to spare. Two people actually wrote checks for the whole $30,000 (the amount needed to stay open until grants can kick in). So now it has more than enough.

I started laughing reading the article out loud to my mom because I realized a donation they were referring to was mine. It even quotes my letter that I enclosed with the check. Strange bit of anonymous notoriety. Certainly a better start to a day that wasn't looking so hot. (I had trouble sleeping last night probably because of the heat and so got a whopping 4 hours of sleep in which I woke up 4 or so times.)


Suffice to say, this was enough to brighten my day.

Now I'm off to keep mom company as she goes to the farmer's market. I may even treat myself to a couple nice, ripe peaches. Yum!

Why I suddenly feel rich

On Saturday, I saw an article about how a local women's shelter may have to close. It has grants coming in the fall -- but it has no funds until then. Apparently, the not-a-recession has been slowing donations down significantly, and for a longer time than the investors/homeowners have been splashed all over the papers. To compensate, the shelter used what savings it had. Now, the coffers are empty.



The clients are women escaping unstable, unhealthy or downright violent homelives. And they'll be turned out at the end of the month, if not sooner. Several of the women don't speak enough English to navigate the bureaucracy of the housing program. (And, before you scoff about foreigners learning English when in "our" country, bear in mind that I had trouble figuring out a lot of the forms and reading.)


So I read this and thought to myself, "You know, I have $45 in my checking account and it needs to last until the end of the month. But we have Tim's checks if need be. I could afford $25. These women are about to have nothing."


I discussed the move with Tim, of course, and he said if I felt that strongly, to go right ahead. I enclosed a note and said, of course, I wished it could be more and reminding the women that, if they were strong enough to get out of that first homelife, they're strong enough to weather even this sort of event.


And, in the long run, $25 really won't make a huge difference. Unless of course a lot of women like me send in checks.


But even if it doesn't, just realizing that I could spare $25 for someone far needier... Well that just made me feel rich beyond measure.


It made me realize all the things I have when I have the audacity to complain about being poor. I have a check that covers our rent, and Tim gets unemployment for several more months, if it comes to that.


In truth, I am rich beyond measure. Yes, we're in debt but we're digging our way out (down to under $1500 on Tim's student loans) and we have good, working minds (if not always good, working bodies).


We will always be able to, at the very least, make do.


Then I started thinking how close I came to homelessness. By the time I was ready to swallow my pride and apply for disability, I was well past the point of being able to work even part-time. But my mom had savings, which she went through all of trying to keep me healthy -- physically and emotionally. (I had no insurance, and I had incredibly severe depression and feelings of worthlessness while not working.)


For the length of my disability claim (18 months) the state of Washington paid me $300 and gave me $80ish in food stamps. The average room rent around here is $400-500.


In short, I was lucky to have someone who was able (and willing) to support me while things got straightened out. If not for her, I have no idea what would have happened.


Oh, and before you start gasping about how long my disability claim took: My lawyer warned me that just getting an appeals hearing (the third and final step we took) took an average of 18 months. Instead, I was lucky to have the entire process take a year and a half.


And while I use the word "luck" to dubious effect -- a really lucky person wouldn't have had a life-threatening neurological disease in the first place -- I do consider myself lucky. Lucky in love, in family and in friends.


Right now, I'm not thinking about all the necklaces that I don't have, or the new fashions that beckon from department stores. I'm thinking about how lucky I am to have a secure place to live and a debt-free future to look forward to -- even if I don't know when that will be right now.


So, while many of you probably don't care much about a Seattle shelter, I doubt this is the only shelter in trouble. Look around your community; then take a hard look at your checking account's balance. Could you spare $25? Maybe just $10? Or just whatever you have in that spare change jar. And if you really don't think you can give any money, go to a shelter and offer two volunteer hours a week.


I can promise you this: Whether you give time or money, you receive perspective -- and that, my friends, is priceless.