Saving money, Tightwad Style

I recently re-read one of my favorite books - The Complete Tightwad Gazette. Whenever I read it, I'm always inspired to try to be more creative with my things - not only to buy less and save money, but also to not be so wasteful and throw so much away.

Since my last reading, here are a few things I have been doing:

* I started using bar soap, which is cheaper than liquid. I don't know if this is something I'll continue doing, since I prefer liquid, and bars cause soap scum to build up on the sink. I may try a different brand and see how that goes.
* I didn't have a soap dish, so instead of buying one, I filled a glass candy dish with small decorative rocks that I had and used that.
* Instead of buying a small travel jar of baby powder for Benjamin's diaper bag, I filled an empty spice jar with corn starch. It works perfectly, since it has the "sprinkle" top.
* I've always saved fabric scraps that are big enough to be used for quilt squares, but I usually throw away little bits and pieces. I started saving those little bits, and will use them instead of polyester stuffing in some things. I don't think that would work for everything (it probably wouldn't be as nice for a pillow, for example) but for some things it will work just fine. I almost used this in one of Benjamin's fabric blocks, and it would have worked really well, but I didn't have quite enough scraps, so I'll just save them for my next project!
* Something I started doing that I didn't think I would ever do is reusing baggies. I read about this years ago, but the idea didn't appeal to me. But my thoughts changed recently when I was about to throw away a baggie that had held half of a washed tomato. Suddenly it seemed wasteful to throw away a baggie that had hardly been used and was perfectly good. So I've started washing and reusing some baggies. I don't reuse baggies that held meat, cheese, or anything really messy or greasy, but I no longer just toss the ones that held a few crackers or veggies.

I know these all seem like little things that don't really make a difference. But like anything, saving money is a way of thinking - it's a lifestyle. I want to be content with less and be more creative with the things I have. I want to be a better steward of all the resources I have.

New Things...

When you're still a pretty new person, you're always doing new things!

We tried out the high chair for the first time today. Benjamin sat up pretty well in it, but I put rolled-up blankets in front of him anyway, so he couldn't slump forward. He seemed to enjoy it! We'll probably start using this frequently from now on.

With Mom and Dad

Latest Project...

I've been attempting to use up some of my many fabric scraps, and I just finished this patchwork table runner...


I like that it adds some color to my table! Perfect for spring!

Baby Blocks

I wanted to make some baby blocks for Benjamin, and I decided to add an extra element to them and make "texture blocks". Each block has three different fabrics in it, and each of them is a different texture. I had fun making them - hopefully he'll have fun playing with them in a few months!

My Little Big Boy

All of a sudden Benjamin seems so much older to me. He's holding his head up pretty good now, laughs, is awake a lot more, is playing with some toys, and loves to "stand". He doesn't seem like a little baby as much, but is a lot more aware and interactive. He's having fun with the skills that he's aquiring and improving every day!

I just had to post a few new pictures of him!