Thinking Outside the (Valentine) Box

7:00pm It was time for baths and bed in the Penny Pinscher home. The youngest child in the household picked that inopportune moment to inform his mother that he needed a Valentine box... by tomorrow.

At first the mother tried to take the tough love approach, informing him that orders for weekend craft projects needed to be turned in on the Friday before. The youngest child turned on the baby blues, and the mother could feel her resolve waver.

She tried to turn the tables by informing the pint size con artiste that she had just been to the craft store yesterday and could have bought glitter and stickers, but now had nothing, not even a shoebox. On went the waterworks, and mom caved in. Clearly her son expected a miracle.

7:15pm A quick search of the immediate surroundings turned up some interesting leads, but nothing solid. So far mom had managed to gather one empty oatmeal box, a piece of corrugated cardboard, some red metallic ribbon bought on clearance, an empty snack box, leftover Mardi gras beads and markers. How was this pile of junk going to turn into a Valentine box that would break hearts? Then inspiration hit like Cupid in a Mac truck.

7:20pm Quickly the mom pulled the wrapper off the oatmeal container and flipped it over, revealing a clean, white piece of paper on the flip side of the label. Her miniature Romeo got to work decorating the paper with his name and a series of hearts. The marker had no sooner dried on the paper when he was told to hit the sack. Mom was taking it from here.

7:25pm Working quickly, she succeeded in covering up any evidence of this container's true, humble origins. She quickly heated up the glue gun, ready to take care of business. Permanently.

The Mardi gras beads were trimmed to fit around the top and bottom of the container, creating a glamorous border that few of junior’s peers would suspect had recently been tossed from a moving float. Some cheap, metallic ribbon was added to spritz up the glitz. A miniature Valentine was made from the inside of the snack box and added; along with a half dozen corrugated cardboard hearts which gave the box the masculine touch it needed.

Finally, with a pair of sharp scissors, mom stabbed the plastic lid, carving a heart shaped opening. More Mardi gras beads were fused around the opening and a snip of a satin ribbon was added as a bow. The deception was complete. Now junior had a Valentine box he could be proud of, one that didn't look like it was made in the few minutes it took (mom hopes) and cost nothing. Mom was pleased. Another emergency project completed. Case closed.

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Good to the Last Drop

I consider myself a black belt frugal zealot. I regularly read money hacks for entertainment, get my books for nearly free from Paperback Swap and turn my heat down to 68 degrees.



My son accused me of being the "World's Biggest Cheapskate" the other day when I was trying to regift a greeting card (it was a VERY pretty card, and only had one little bit of writing... it became a "goody cone" instead;)



I know he was being sarcastic, but I was actually pleased. That's as big a complement to me as saying "Most Beautiful Mom in the World". I can't help being cheap - it's part of my Scottish blood along with blurting out inappropriate comments and being built solid and short.



So you can imagine my shame at finding out that I have been inadvertently throwing out a 1/2 cup or more of perfectly good and pricey extra virgin olive oil! Yes, I confess. Please bear with me while I tell all the sordid details of wanton waste that have been occurring in my kitchen beneath my very nose.



Like any good tightwad, when I get near the end of any bottle or can I tip it upside down to get out the last drops of paid for goodness. My olive oil cans are no exception. When the can drips no more away I would whisk it into my steel recycling and get on with my day. I always noticed, however, as I carried the large supposedly empty can away, that I could still hear a bit of liquid sloshing around inside.



"A few drops, that's all," my Inner Spendthrift would assure. "Surely not worth opening the can up for." Of course my dominant Dollar Diva would argue, but she was usually shushed by our To Do List and the fact that we probably needed to be getting somewhere in a few minutes.



One day the Diva would not be shushed, and armed with a can opener she cut into the can to reveal the treasured golden drops inside. Tipped upside down in a measuring cup, she expected to reclaim maybe a quarter cup of oil at the most.



Imagine her glee and joy to find that 1/2 cup of oil had drained from the supposedly empty can. Vindicated, she rushed around the house flaunting her saved 1/2 cup of olive oil to anyone who would listen to her tale... which pretty much was only the Dear Observant and Enlightened Husband (known hereafter as DOEH). The Dear Unobservant and Unenlightened Kids (DUUKs) seemed unimpressed.



"Wow!" said DOEH. "It sure doesn't pay to go through all that coupon clipping to throw a half cup away!" My sentiments exactly. From this day forth I vow to always cut the olive can open to get out the last half cup of oil.



I do it not just for the savings that will rack up to be a somewhat significant amount by the time I am old and grey (wait... that might be next week...). I do it for the principal of the thing, "waste not, want not", which would seem to be a fitting moral for this story.



And, incidentally, the can made a really cute window planter for my trailing thyme.

Coupon Brag Book

Penny is a good dog but she's been fired as a blogger. I promised her she could log in sometimes, but she gets so much hair on the keyboard it's not worth letting her surf. As promised last post, here is a photo of the coupon brag book. As you can see, the pages are the perfect size for just about any coupon, and it's a snap to flip pages through. I bought mine at the dollar store, and they had a large selection. I carry it everywhere in my purse so I am never caught without my coupons.



Onto other subjects... I was at Albertson's yesterday and I noticed a bin selling all the New Year's goodies off at .10 each. I hit the motherlode for party supplies! Of course there the usual New Year's fare, napkins, noisemakers, etc. I bought a few of these things for next year.



The real treasures were the party horns and bags of confetti. I bought all I needed to fill out three birthday party's worth of goody bags this next year, plus enough confetti to add a little glam to special cards and gifts and spice up the pinatas. All in all, I carried out 3 stuffed bags of party supplies for less then $4. I hope the rest of 2008 turns out to be this exciting!



Speaking of 2008, I've been thinking about what my goals are. We have always been pretty frugal, but last year a simple remodeling gone wrong drug us into deep debt territory. We're talking $80,000 worth, give or take a thousand. It's hard not to feel sick about it, and yes, I have been losing sleep (see me losing sleep right now!;).



It's easy to feel hopeless. Not only is our own debt like a hobgoblin sitting on our chests at night, all his little friends flit and dance around in the shadows whispering about stagflation, rising oil and plummeting housing values. As we struggle to pay the last bit to get the house finished (which is a new front door and getting the shower fixed - the last tile job on it had to be ripped out because it leaked) I find myself getting the urge to go stark raving mad with debtophobia.



As I was brooding over all things dark and gloomy the other day, the Bible verse about God clothing the lilys in the field finer then King Solomon came to my mind. I realized that I had stopped trusting God and had started listening to the media's fearful whispers. It suddenly came to my mind that if He can feed 5,000 off a few loaves and fishes, how much can He magnify my few pennies into paying off my debt? I have faith that He can do it.



Like the Proverbs 31 Mystery Woman, I have to start watching over my household before He can bless it. He wants to see me move before He can move for me. This blog is about me seeing that "my lamp does not go out at night" (which is good since I can sleep anyway;). We have 4 years left before we retire, and though we have a little set aside we started with too little too late. My goal is to see if I can get rid of the debt from last year this year.



I've actually always wanted to do this anyway. For years I've been reading about Amy Dacyczyn (I actually got to do a phone interview on her once and she really walks the walk!) and wondering... could I do that? Could we cut our expenses low enough to empower ourselves with the finances we have already in our pockets? Could we really be free?



Freedom. We live in the land of the free and yet our lifestyles make us not free. It is such a sweet thought, though, to think of owing no one but God. That's my goal this year. I may or may not make it, but we'll definately be better off for the effort.



Well, now that I've bored you to tears with my philosophical flounderings, let me invite you to join me on this journey. Please leave a comment, give advice or share some frustrations. We've no time to lose - four days of 2008 are already gone (and I'm going to need EVERY day to finish this goal!).



Have a New Year full of abundant joy,
prosperity and love.

2008 WILL be GREAT!