But What About...?

I'm a little obsessed with the show Shark Tank.  What it is, if you're not familiar, is a show where entrepreneurs pitch product ideas to venture capitalists--the sharks-- in an attempt to get financial investments to expand their businesses. It's interesting because I'm fascinated but the ideas people come up with; I'm curious about venture capital and investing; and it's just a strangely entertaining show.

Some of the product ideas are just terrible, and occasionally people get laughed out of the room, but a lot of the ideas are surprisingly smart.  I even realized a while ago that a company that is next door to my yoga studio was on Shark Tank, and apparently their business has blown up.  The downside is that it sometimes feels a bit like advertising, but I've only ever bought one thing I saw on the show, and it was actually a product none of the sharks invested in:

The Rapid Ramen Cooker.  It's basically a square bowl the size of a dry cake of ramen noodles.  Certainly it didn't change my life, but it was pretty cheap (a set of two for $12.99) and we use it at least once a week.

I was watching a recent episode though, and I was just utterly confused by one of the products that got pitched.  A husband and wife came on pitching an alternative to paper towels called Bambooee.  The difference was that these towels are made of bamboo and they can be washed and re-used up to 20 times.  The couple went on and on about how the mission of their company was to reduce waste and be green.  That's awesome, but there are also things that already exist called: TOWELS.

I have towels that I've used far more than 20 times.  I use paper towels too, but either because I'm cheap or because I grew up in a house that considered paper towel use to be extravagant, I don't use them much.  

Bambooee is at the 20 minute mark

I bought a four pack of 3M microfiber cloths and a two pack of Trader Joe's Super Amazing Reuseable Kitchen Cloths.  I'm pretty much set.  The Trader Joe's cloths are the right size that I can clip them into my Swiffer Vac and mop the floor that way (found the Swiffer vac on a curb and it charges with the same size adapter that powers my tv speakers--free FTW!!), and I use the other cloths for cleaning everything else.  I wash them all with my gym clothes once a week.

Maybe there's something I'm just not getting here, but isn't the greenest option out there to just buy regular towels? I guess it's hard to keep turning a profit on something that people rarely need to replace, but I feel like I'm the smartest guy in the room.

Reducing Food Waste: One Thing at a Time

One of the biggest challenges with reducing food waste is to find a way to not waste things you want to have around, but don't use that much.  In my case, I have been having a hell of a time with milk.

I'm not a milk drinker--I never sit down and have a glass, but I do need to have it around in small amounts for tea, some recipes, etc.  Unfortunately, by the time I realize that I need my milk, it is often decidedly stinky.  I throw it out, buy more, use a tiny bit, and then the rest goes bad.

When BF and I lived together, we could usually make it through a carton without throwing it away, though there were plenty of mornings when I needed it for whatever reason and had to trot down to the corner store in wrinkled clothes with bedhead.  Now that we're in separate places, we're both struggling with this.

I started buying smaller and smaller containers, but since those containers are plastic, I felt bad, and the smaller options are more expensive ounce per ounce.  So I came up with a better solution--freezing it.

I bought a case of small mason jars:

And now when I buy milk, I fill up the jars and freeze all but one.  You obviously need to leave a bit of room for the milk to expand as it freezes, but this way, I always have milk on hand, and I don't throw nearly as much away.  I can also buy a larger size container and reduce the amount of packaging I consume while saving money by buying the largest size.

The biggest enemy in terms of milk spoilage is air.  You'll notice that if a jug has been opened, but only a little taken out, the milk stays good for a much longer time.  Pour out half the milk, and the rest goes bad much faster.  That's why this system works to reduce spoliage in two ways.  I freeze what I'm not using and effectively stop the clock on it going bad, and I reduce the amount of air in the milk that's thawed and ready to use.  Plus those blue mason jars are so cute!

Another tip for keeping milk fresher longer is to store it in the back of the fridge so the temperature doesn't fluctuate as much.  We used to have a fridge that was wearing out and had cold spots and warm spots instead of even temperature throughout.  We noticed when we stored the milk in the back in a cold spot, it lasted much longer.  Now I store my milk in the back of the fridge near my Britta cooler so that it doesn't get hit with hot air when I open the door.  It really does make a difference.

Have you ever tried this?  Any other tips for reducing food waste?

Buy Local!

Remember a while back when I posted about how buying local is better?  Well, because of that, I was sent this really cool infographic (LOVE infographics) that further drives the point home.  Check it out!

Click to Enlarge Image



Why Buying Local is Worth Every Cent Infographic by CustomMade

Clean Slate For 2013

Can you believe that it's almost 2013?  It's just weird--not that another year has passed, but for some reason 2013 just seems like a weird number to me.  It'll take me a while to get used to writing that.  Anyway, my plan for the new year is to start it with a clean slate.  I've been carrying balances on my credit cards for the past month (no late fees or anything like that, just more owed than I would like).  With my next paycheck I'm paying them all completely off and heading into the new year with nothing owed except stupid student loan debt.

I'm also doing a major overhaul of my closet and wardrobe.  Since my closet is narrow and deep, I lose things in there, never have enough room, and usually just let my laundry sit on top my dresser until I wear it again and it goes in the dirty clothes pile.  I'm working on a new scheme to organize my clothing in a way that makes it easier to find things/ put them away, and that makes me not want to scream with frustration.  I'm also getting rid of a lot of things I just wasn't wearing.  Those really nice pants from Banana Republic that have only fit once three years ago?  Yeah, they're going to Good Will and I'm just going to accept that my huge thighs are unlikely to get any smaller.  Strong is the new Skinny!

As far as my Holiday Challenges, I'm pleased to report that I've been going to yoga a minimum of three times a week, even four some weeks!  My run streak sadly didn't stick as well as I hoped.  There were some mornings when I just didn't get out of bed in time, and doing a single mile on the treadmill just became annoying--it took longer to shower than it did to run!  It's not all bad though.  I have run more miles this month than any other month this year, and I've realized that even if I get a late start in the morning, nipping out for a two mile run really makes the day better.  I used to have the mindset that unless I was running at least four miles, it wasn't worth bothering, but now I love my little two mile runs!

For my Financial Challenges, I've been limiting eating out, I've been walking to work though I wasn't able to ride my bike for reasons I'll explain in a moment.  I've gone over budget in the clothing category, but that's just because I paid my Old Navy bill from the previous month--I haven't bought anything new!  My budget is full of no-spend day stars and I'm pretty pleased about that.

The reason I wasn't able to ride bike to work was because my bike was stolen by some nefarious jackanape!

RIP, my bike that I never named

They also stole BF's tire pump--dicks.  It's not all bad though, I put an ad on Freecycle asking if anyone had a bike they weren't using, and a nice lady gave me her daughter's old one!  I need to get it looked at by a mechanic and buy a lock, basket and lights, but it's a nice bike that should last me quite a while.  I'll also be storing it indoors so no one can get their hand on it!

2013 begins with no credit card debt, a new bike and a new diet plan!  I signed up for Taylor's DietBet, which is a fun little online wager.  Everyone who wants to play kicks in $2, and then if at the end of the month you're at your goal weight, you get to split the pot!  It's a nice little incentive to do what I should be doing anyway.

Things are looking up!

The Apartment Composter

I've long been interested in composting at home, even before I read Garbology, but the problem has always been that I live on the second floor of an apartment, don't have a lawn and therefore have no way to use any compost I might create.  I used to work with a woman who was a Master Composter, which is really a thing, she has a certificate and everything, and she always had a bucket on the counter for us to put food scraps in.  It never smelled, only got fruit flies when it had been sitting there for a very long time, and I started thinking that maybe this is something that I should try for myself.

But it always came back to: what do I do with compost?

I finally figured that out.  I had heard that sometimes Whole Foods will take compost, so I looked into that.  It seems that my local Whole Foods do not, but there is a truck that comes to the Farmer's Markets that does!  So now I just need to figure out a system to make this work in my apartment, and see how ambitious I am about actually dropping it off.

First order of business is finding a container.  These are the containers that my boss used to bring into work:

They worked well, had a charcoal filter to reduce stinkiness, but they cost $20, and since I'm in the experimental phase, I don't want to spend any money yet.

I emailed her to ask if she has a spare bucket I could borrow til I'm ready to commit.  Then I put an ad on Freecycle to see if anyone has one they can give up.  I haven't gotten any nibbles from Freecycle, but my former boss got back to me and said that you don't need a fancy bucket, any pail will do as long as it has a lid. She suggested a 32 ounce yogurt container, which I have plenty of.

Next wrinkle: Convincing BF that we should do this.

We have had many issues with household pests in the past.  We lost an entire cupboard's worth of food to pantry moths last summer, so naturally, he's a bit skeptical about keeping food waste on hand for two weeks or more.  I decided the best route to go would be to start with coffee grounds and eggshells.  Both are very compostable, both are things we use a lot, but neither should get stinky or attract bugs.

I've also decided to upgrade from the 32 ounce yogurt container (cause with coffee it would fill up right away) to a one gallon ice cream pail, which means that BF will have to eat one gallon of ice cream first.  That should make him more amenable.

Right now, this is very much in the experimental phase.  We'll see how it works for us, and we'll see how ambitious I am about bringing it to the farmer's market.  I'm really excited about this though--strangely excited.  This is something that I've wanted to try for so long, I'm just thrilled that I found a way to (potentially) make it work!

The Plastic Bag

Not the most beautiful thing I've ever seen

I've had a lot of thoughts about plastic bags lately.  This is kind of strange, because I really don't use plastic bags anymore--or I try not to.  Lately, it seems, the forces of the universe have aligned to make me wake up in the morning thinking BAG!  And just like when you first become aware of something, you see it everywhere.  So here's how I got here.

I just got back from a Scandinavian vacation, as I've mentioned before.  As I always do, I brought my reuseable bag that I got from Target that scrunches up small to fit in my purse.  This came in handy more times than I can count, particularly when we were staying at the hostel in Denmark and I would have had to lay my clean clothes on the wet shower tile, or try to hang them on tiny hooks had I not had this lovely bag. Ah, the joys of shared showers.

Not the one from Target, but it scrunches
up into a strawberry!  How cute!

When BF and I were in New Brunswick last year, we may have unwittingly stolen a plastic bag from a grocery store.  The cashier didn't bag any of our stuff, so we did it ourselves, and then once we were outside the building we agonized as to whether or not they charge for bags (it was a nice bag) and maybe we had committed theft in another country.  Naturally, we knew that Sweden and Denmark are some of the most environmentally committed countries, and since we didn't speak their language at all, we wanted to avoid potential bag thievery altogether.

What I didn't realize though, was that when I'm on vacation, I count on encountering plastic bags at some point--usually in a hotel room or store, and then re-pack my dirty clothes in them.  Since we didn't stay in hotels, and I had only had the foresight to bring one bag for my shoes, I just wound up putting my dirty clothes in with my clean ones.  I may have also accidentally worn the same shirt twice, but since I brought seven v-neck t-shirts, that's just my fault for being unimaginative.

The point is, two days away from the end of the trip, both bf and I had the revelation that we had not encountered a single plastic bag.  We admitted that we found it strange and mildly inconvenient, but really not a big deal at all.

So I then found it quite annoying when I came back to the states, went to the grocery store with my reuseable bags, and found myself walking out with some plastic anyway.  Last time (and I realize that this has happened before) the bagger only filled my bags half-full, and then proceeded to put the rest in plastic.  The bags were not full of cans or heavy items and certainly could have held more, plus I had my back-up bag in my purse.  Had he or she asked, I would have said fill the bags all the way or use this instead, but they didn't ask.  I hate to seem rude by screeching no plastic at someone just trying to do their job.

But seriously, how else do you stop this?  I emailed the grocery store, but I fear I will sound like a crazy person and be dismissed.

Even though I try to never come home with plastic bags, I still come home with many, many plastic bags.  I always forget to bring bags to Target, and even though I have my backup bag, who the hell has ever gone to Target and only bought one bag's worth of stuff, amirite?  I went to Old Navy the other day, and it barely registered that the girl was giving me a plastic bag, but bringing your own bag to a clothing store seems weird.

I've also realized lately that there are a lot of situations where plastic bags seem almost necessary.  For instance, I'm obsessed with The Biggest Loser, which is streaming on Netflix and completely taking over my life.  They frequently have contestants volunteer at the Los Angeles Food Bank, which is awesome, but I noticed something recently that made my toes curl.  They were handing out pre-packed bags to a long line of people, and all the bags were plastic.  The contestants gleefully announced that they'd given out 500 bags of food, and all I could think was '500 bags.'

In this case, I don't know what a better solution is.  If people are required to bring their own bags, then the food bank can't pre-pack everything and it takes way more time.  What if people forget their bags, or don't have any?  Do you give out reuseable bags every time?  Is that any kind of a solution?

Part of the reason I'm so strident about this lately is because I've been reading this book:

Which is fascinating and horrifying (I mean seriously, a book about garbage is fascinating--I'm not kidding!), and is really making me think a lot about just how much I, even as a person who tries to avoid waste, throw away in a day--and where it goes.

Unfortunately, many of the plastic bags wind up here:

That's the ocean and what is affectionately called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.  This is scary stuff not just because of the fact that our ocean is full of trash that sea creatures choke on, but also because some sea creatures eat this stuff, it doesn't kill them, and then they become human food.  We're basically eating our own garbage, and plastic is not good eats.

So what to do?  In various cities around the US, people have tried to enact laws either taxing or banning plastic bags, but the plastic lobby frequently sued and got those laws overturned or made ineffective.  In Ireland, when people noticed that their beautiful green hillsides were taking on too much trash, they enacted a  22 euro cents fee for each single-use bag, which all but stopped people from using them.  People are happy because there's less trash floating around and stores are happy because they're saving tons of money by not having to buy the bags in the first place. One of Ireland's largest grocery chains even pointed out that there are consumer savings to be had, "Now we're saving the environment, we're reducing litter and since we're not paying for bags it ultimately save money for us and that reduces the price of food for our customers."  Considering the way food prices are climbing everywhere, this would be an easy way to reduce them.

My store offers an incentive to bring a reuseable bag, but there's no disincentive to take a single-use plastic one, and, as I pointed out, they just love to give them to you.  Honestly, before I read this book and really thought about the larger implications, I had started using reuseable bags just because the plastic ones are so shitty.  I've had so many bags break on me that they're just not worth it--even for free. Plus, reuseable bags have longer straps, which makes them much easier to carry.

For my part, I'm just not taking plastic anymore, even if that makes my interaction with a salesperson weird and slightly awkward, and even if it means un-bagging something that a grocery store bagger did.  I'm going to take the plastic bags that I currently have at my house to the plastic bag recycling at the grocery store, and then I'm just not going to bring any more into my house.  I'm also going to talk about this more--not to the point of being a zealot or annoying people, but just mentioning that maybe you don't need to put a single object in a bag. If we get out of the habit, we won't even see it as an inconvenience.

New Car Insurance Scheme

The gadget!  It's pretty cute, actually.

When I got my new job that's just two miles from where I live, one of the first things I did was reduce my insurance coverage.  This saves me about $400/year, which is awesome.  When I was on the phone with Progressive, I also mentioned that I got a new job, which significantly reduced my commute length, "does that get me any other kind of discount?" I asked.

"No, we don't do that anymore." the girl I spoke to told me.

No so, Progressive lady.  Progressive recently started a new program called Snapshot, where you actually get a small device, plug it into your car, and it records how many miles you drive, how you drive, and what times of day.  You get points off for hard braking (studies show that people who frequently brake hard are more likely to have accidents), traveling between 12am and 4am (which makes sense), and they calculate a new insurance rate based on your actual driving rather than the current algorithm which (I'm guessing a bit here) is based on where you live more than how you live i.e. Rhode Island's rates are sky high because people here drive like assholes.

Considering I drive 1.89 miles to get to work, and often only drive my car four days out of seven, I leaped at the chance to try this out.  This is pretty much what I've been waiting for my entire driving life, and even though I just plugged it in Thursday, I already love it.

Also, I read a rather interesting article a couple days ago about how the state of Oregon is exploring the idea of eliminating the gas tax in favor of taxing people on miles driven.  This may seem unfair as some people (myself included--in the past) can't really help the number of miles they have to drive to work, or they can't really reduce those miles due to lack of public transit options, but on the other hand, this could be enough of an incentive for those who do have other options to take those options.

Of course, the other side of the coin is that if people start driving fewer miles and pay less in gas tax, the government will likely need to make up that loss in some other way, but overall, it does seem more fair, and I'm a big fan of fair.

Regardless of whether or not this is a scheme that takes off, I'm more than happy to potentially get a reduction in my astronomical car insurance rates.  I've often looked at my car sitting in the driveway as I bike off to work and wondered if since I'm paying for the insurance, I should drive it more--stupid I know, but the brain does what the brain wants.  It currently costs me ~$2.5 per day for car insurance, regardless of how much I drive.  Now, I have groovy charts like this to keep me in line:

I love charts!

Note: This is not a sponsored post, and Progressive did not ask to me write anything, I'm just really excited.

I Don't Know How to Walk

Obviously, that's not true.  I do know how to walk, but what I don't know, is how to walk for the pure pleasure of walking.  I do not know how to walk without walking somewhere, and usually that somewhere is a place where I spend money.

Last Saturday, it was a lovely day outside.  Clear skies, 64 degrees, the perfect day to go for a walk and I tried to talk myself into doing just that.  Here's a recap of the conversation I had with myself:

It's a beautiful day!  I should go for a walk!

Maybe I should walk on the treadmill, I really want to make it count 

and I don't really like to power walk outside.

That's silly, the whole point is to get out there!

I guess I could walk to Berk's and look at those shoes....

No, I don't need more shoes, and Berk's is less than a mile away, 

that's barely a walk.

I could walk to Wildflour and get a cupcake.

You don't need a cupcake.

But Wildflour is almost three miles away, that's a good long walk. I could get a juice.

You can't go to a particular business just because it's far away, 

and I'm talking you out of paying $6 for a juice.

After that mental wrestle, I just stayed in and read a book.

The problem is, I love to go for walks, but it's not as fun alone and without a purpose, it just feels weird and uncomfortable.  Going for a run, that's a thing, but just going for a walk by yourself... I don't know.

My mother and I always went for walks when I was growing up, and it was great.  We'd walk and talk and it was really the only time we spent alone.  Since my mother and I are not close at all, it was nice to know that we could always go for a walk and catch up with each other.  BF thinks walking is boring and it's like pulling teeth to get him to go around the block with me.  Even when I bribe him with an ice cream treat, our walk is only to the store and back (four blocks).

When I was in grad school, I used to go to Old Navy every day to walk around mainly because it's a huge store and I didn't want to appear to be one of those 'mall walkers.' Those people are the worst.  This walking habit costs me hundreds in Old Navy clothes (at least they're cheap).  After I got tired of going to Old Navy every day, I started going to Target and Bed Bath and Beyond.

If I lived closer to the beach I could walk by myself--people do that.
But I don't want to live by the beach, and I live right by a park where people also walk

Here's a line from a blog post I wrote in 2008: "I went to the mall on Saturday. I had to go pick up a pair of shelves (at some chick’s house) that I found on craigslist at 11am, and while I was carrying them to my car, I realized that it was a beautiful day. The sun was shining brightly for the first time in quite a while, yet it was crisp and refreshing—the kind of weather where you want to get shit done. So I went to one of the places I hate most in the world, (also indoors because regardless of how lovely the day is, I’m just not an outside girl. I don’t have an outside agenda, and as much as I do sometimes long to walk for pleasure, I prefer to walk somewhere so I know when I’m done)."

So this problem is on-going, and honestly, one of the main reasons I picked Providence as a place to move is because it's so walkable--but I still need an agenda.

Part of this problem is solved by the fact that I can walk to work--so that's good.  I can get the walking out of my system and get paid when I arrive at my destination, but what about days off?  How can I get my walking fix without going broke?  Perhaps this is something I just need to get over, or perhaps I need to lie to myself about where I'm walking, perhaps there's another solution I haven't considered.

Anyone else have this problem?  Any suggestions?

How To Do A Juice Fast, Without Spending $150 On A Juicer

I mentioned a little while ago, that I watched the documentary Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, and it piqued my interest in doing a juice fast.  Like I do when I have a new (possibly harebrained) scheme in mind, I immediately hopped on amazon and started shopping for supplies.  BF then wandered into my office, saw me looking at juicers and said with extreme trepidation and disgust, "Oh god, you're not going to buy a juicer, are you?"

He then proceeded to rant about how much he hates juicers and the people who own them, and explained why they're really not that great at all.  "But how am I going to do a juice fast without a juicer?" I asked.

"All you have to do is replicate what the juicer does using a blender or something," he shrugged.  "Plus, you hate kitchen gadgets that only do one thing."

And there was the crux of the argument.  I hate, to use Alton Brown parlance, 'uni-taskers.'  You'll recall my recent post: Stuff You Don't Need, where I railed against quesedilla makers and the like (because they're ridiculous), so why would I then buy a gadget, a very expensive gadget, that really only gives me one result. At the very least, I owe it to myself to see if I even like this damn juice before I spend any money on gadgetry.

In my kitchen, I presently already own:

• A stick blender purchased with points from my Amazon.com visa (free)
• A fine mesh sieve purchased to help me rinse quinoa (approx $5)
• A plastic pitcher that I fill with iced coffee in the summer, and other cool beverages (everyone has a pitcher, I assume) (approx $.99)
• A mixing bowl purchased at Home Goods (approx $7 for a set of three)

What I know about a juicer from asking people who use them:

• A juicer pulverizes what you put into it (vegetables, fruits, etc)
• A juicer uses centrifugal force to separate the pulp from the juice

Therefore, I assumed that I could pulverize the ingredients with my stick blender and separate the juice from the pulp using my fine mesh sieve.

This is getting a little long, so I'll detail the process (with pictures!) after the jump.

Why I'm Happy With The Cost of My Bike

I bought my bike used, and because I'm not much of a haggler and know nothing about bikes, I just paid the asking price.  I had been shopping around for new bikes, and had settled on one that cost around $200, so when I found the used one for $100, it seemed like a no-brainer.  I then realized that one of the brakes doesn't really work, and I would have to bring it in to get repaired.

I ripped the band-aid off, and brought my bike to the hipster bike place around the corner, and they couldn't have been more lovely.  Here's the main reason I was dreading bringing my bike in there, aside from finding hipsters who love bikes to be often annoying.  I had a friend (more bf's friend) who brought his bike into this place years ago to get something fixed on it.  This was back when it was under different ownership, and they told him that his bike wasn't worth fixing, and that he should just buy a new one.  Nice business strategy, guys, no wonder they went out of business.

This new owner (or employee of the new owner) was perfectly delightful.  Professional, considerate, asked questions.   He asked me how much I paid for the bike and then said "I'm not trying to be nosy, I just want to get a sense of how much money you'll want to put into it."  I'm getting some new brake pads, a new... other thing, round thing that I don't know the name of but it is very important, and possibly something else.  The cost of those parts plus labor brings the grand total to $80, which brings the grand total of the bike to nearly retail price.  However, I am still thrilled with my new bike--even the cost--and let me tell you why.

• The $100 I spent on the bike partially funded a young girl's dream of moving to Oregon.  Certainly I'll never see this girl again, but I support new adventures and she was quite nice--good luck, you!
• The repair money is going to a local business and not to the Schwinn company (who I'm sure are nice guys), or to Target (who I love--we're both from Minnesota, after all) but Target gets plenty of my money over the course of a year.  They'll survive as will Schwinn.
• I'm recycling.  With a few tweaks, this bike will be good as new, and will last me many years (with proper maintenance and care).

I was already pretty stoked about my bike, and now that I have the chance to actually ride it soon, I'm even more excited (and scared because now I have to re-learn how to ride a bike).

It's interesting because when thinking about frugality and saving money, we often (myself included) just think about not spending any money at all.  Certainly that's a big part of it, but I also feel really, really good about my new bike--better than I'd feel if I have just gone to Target and gotten the one I was thinking about.  So it is about saving and not spending, but it's also about spending well, and that feels pretty good.  After all, "happiness is not having what you want, but wanting what you have", at least I think so.

Cutting down on Paper

I grew up in a rag-centric household.  There was always always always a washcloth hanging off the kitchen sink tap, and mom would use it to wipe down counters, wash dishes, etc. I can't recall us ever having paper towels, and even napkin use seemed extravagant to me.  If I ever went to a friends' house where they used paper towels, I assumed they must be very rich.

Fast forward to my college years and a series of ads by Sparkle Paper Towels that basically said "reuseable towels are a paradise for germs.  You need to install a paper towel rack in every room of your home--including the bathroom."  The paper towels in the bathroom seemed silly to me even then because this ad was basically saying that by purchasing fancy guest towels, you were poisoning your fancy guests.  But I think I internalized it more than I realized.

For many years, I didn't have on site laundry, so I relied on paper towels because washing clothes was such a pain in the ass it happened really infrequently--and I hate doing laundry.  There were times, every now and then when I would go through a phase of frugality/greenness where I'd decide "No more paper towels for me!  It's all cloth all the time!" But, sadly, it never really lasted, probably because it occurred in conjunction with a vow to keep the house cleaner (usually lasts a week).

Now, I live in an apartment with a clothes washer in the basement, and I am taking the cloth plunge.  I cleaned out a very small garbage can that we never used, and decided to make that the rag can, and that lives right in a corner of my kitchen.  I cut up a couple free t-shirts that I never would have worn into small squares, and have been using those to wipe down the counters in my kitchen for about two months now.  When the rag can fills up, I just wash those with the rest of my towels.

It was a bit of a challenge at first to remember to go to the rag drawer instead of the paper towel spindle (which is so convenient!), but now that I'm in the habit, I barely think of it.  And now that I'm in the habit of using rags, I'm back to feeling extravagant and weird when I use a paper towel!  I'm still using paper towels as napkins (though only 1/2 sheet).  Usually I try to just eat my meal without a napkin, but sometimes, damnit, I want a napkin!

Since starting this experiment, I think I've replaced the paper towel roll once. I don't really know how much I was spending on paper towels before, but I felt like I was buying them all the time.  I currently have four and a half rolls in my house, I'll update this when they're all gone (which will hopefully be a very long time from now).

Anyone have any insight as to the best fabric to make cloth napkins from?

Has Anyone Out There Gone--Reuseable?

I apologize to any male readers out there, but this is a question strictly for the ladies.  We all know that one of the biggest expenses that comes with being female is paying for feminine products.  To that end, there are a variety of cheaper, reuseable options out there that are gaining traction.  I'm intrigued by some, but I also feel like I need more information.

When I was in college, I tried something called Instead.  It was a disposible cup that you could use for up to 12 hours at a time.  I can't honestly say what I thought of it because every time I used it I was so terrified of leakage that I was just constantly running to the bathroom and feeling on edge.  I decided that it was too stressful to be convenient, and went back to my old familiar Kotex.  Well now there are silicon menstrual cups that can be re-used for up to ten years.  The one I've heard mentioned the most is the Diva Cup.

I am seriously intrigued by this notion because of the significant savings attached to it, but also the fact that you create so much less waste, you don't have a stinky bathroom trash can, and you don't have to worry about changing/carrying tampons all the time-- that's a win-win-win as far as I'm concerned.  But it's also kind of weird, how would you get it as sterile as you'd like it to be and... it's just kind of weird.

So I'm curious, has anyone gone this route yet?  I'm willing to try it for the sake of reporting back, but I'd rather not be the only one-- is anyone else willing to try it and report back to me?  Just so we can get a good all-around view.  Or is this just to personal to try out on a blog?  I await your feedback, readers.