We spend, on average, about $100 a week, usually less, on groceries. This is at the 'big' grocery store and doesn't count the little things I pick up at the farmer's market or at the co-op.
And yes, Katie - we do plan our meals weekly plus we don't eat a lot of processed foods. DH and I both love to cook. There is also the fact that the only 'meat' we eat in the house is chicken, turkey or fish. No red meat or pork, so there's some savings there. I also try to plan a couple of vegetarian meals a week, too.
The "4 out of 5" items bit isn't bad (at General Bead, sometimes getting 50% of an order is "good"), but they certainly aren't going to be in business long if they don't show some interest in selling their products! Kaytee "Simplexities" on
Actually, even if you give stuff away instead of selling it, you're ahead in the game. When you have a large amount of anything, it will obscure what you're looking for and it will distract you. You don't want to squander your time and mental attention.
I agree, that is, if youre the sort of person who gets bogged down with to many choices. That fits me. A fabric store with a gazillion bolts is not the place I want to go. Looking at a smaller selection, even if it doesnt hold what I need/want, helps me figure out what it is that I *do* need. Some people are happy as a clam with excess, or what feels like excess to me. I love your posts Christina. I find myself nodding a lot. What you describe in yourself sounds very familiar to me. Diana
Still not much of a stash.... I have three "utility shelves" filled, plus stacks of "shoe boxes", tackle boxes, toolboxes, "Tupperware"... on various flat surfaces out on the patio and inside the house. We will not mention the Rubbermaid storage boxes and trashcans filled with fibers and display "accessories"....
Included on the shelves are 3 large "parts cabinets"-- one with (mostly) FWPs, coral and shell items, one with stone beads and cabs, one with artisan lampwork. Then there are 4 (5?) smaller parts cabinets with Chinese lampwork, ceramic and carved wood and bone beads, fire polish and "misc funky stuff". Sterlite 3-drawer chests.... at least a dozen of those-- one is filled with just 11/0 seed beads that I haven't transferred from the tubes/bags they came in or which are in film cans -- I have a near "shoebox" sized one-drawer chest with plastic boxes of "tic-tac" containers filled with smaller amounts of
11/0s, sorted by colors. Other one-drawer chests hold bagged "kits" I plan to actually make up "someday"-- some of these were ones I put together, some are from Becki's auctions, some from auctions by Carol/her sister or by Marilee. A couple of "milk cartons" hold stacks of smaller tackle boxes and odd boxes like watch cases and Altoid tins; larger tackle boxes are stacked by size.... Kaytee "Simplexities" on
I oh-so-thoughtfully offloaded all my plastic beads on various OB buyers (as in , oh, your daughter wants to start beading? I have some great stuff for you!) and now I wish I had those back for the Family Night event!
Even the ones with little holes...I am making up a bunch of jewelry to donate to a craft fair for underpriveliged kids to "buy" stuff for their parents' xmas gifts. Well, I could've used some of hte "junk" beads for that!
So...although I wanted to lecture you on "you will never really want that stuff again, free yourself of it" I am not feeling like a really good role model.
ON THE OTHER HAND, my grandmother has never, ever, ever given away or otherwise gotten rid of any article of clothing or jewelry she has ever purchased for herself or my grandfather. Her basement and attic are FULL of clothes, shoes, purses, hats, etc going back to the 40s. My cousins call it "the department store" and sometimes go "shopping" there (they are allowed only to "borrow" items). Once she got rid of a jacket and she keeps thinking of it. Hence, she never gets rid of anything again. Including shoes in various sizes she can no longer wear, or with heels which she can no longer wear, etc. It's just... a LOT of stuff. I dread to think what would happen should they ever not be able to stay in that house any more. (Oh and BTW there are lots of things outside of clothes... dishes, silver, who knows what else...)
marisa2
Barbara Forbes-Ly> Backstory: I took Wed-Fri off this week for the express purpose of cleaning
Ooohhh... that's bad then. Sometimes it's like that at General Bead, but at least they do seem to care.... And there is "other stuff" to console yourself with, or other shops fairly close with a good chance of finding what you need.
Maybe you need to get together with Su, Helen and a few other British Beaders and open your own shop.... Kaytee "Simplexities" on
There you go. You need to sell it as already made Jewelry. It goes for far more than just beads. You need inventory to make jewelry. You already own it. Sell it to buy more beads!
Set down, put some music on and get to beadin'!. You already have it sorted.
Yummy!!! My comment wasn't a criticism by any means, I just mean that you probably ate much better than my standard fare of PBJ and canned soup!!!!!!!!! :)
I love to cook, but unfortunately, by the time I get home from work I am so mentally and emotionally overloaded/exhausted that I just can't do it. Chicken soup and sandwiches, chicken with rich pilaf and baked potato, taco salad or scrambled eggs and biscuits are about as much as I can manage, and there are nights I can't even do that.
When I am really hungry for a good meal, I invite my folks over which gives me the kick I need. Sunday I wrote a note to them saying, "come to dinner, I'm dying for beef stew!" I made a wounderful stew and french bread. As a treat I cooked up a pound and a half of Garlic butter. ( 1 1/2 lbs of butter and 3 extra large heads of garlic.... my plan was to freeze most of it.)
My German Shepherd ate the entire bowl of garlic butter. Damn! I didn't know a dog could produce odors the kinds of which he has been assaulting me with for the entire week; not to mention some of the messes....
We'll have to plan a day out sometime, and coordinate a meeting someplace that has beads and fun. If we wait till after Christmas I may be able to get Mike to drive and we'll have a good day out.
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