February 2, 2012
January 16, 2012
January 5, 2012
Clean Clothes!
Children enjoy ride on steam powered train
Last summer the 20-something daughter of a friend came home complaining about her dry cleaning bill and it was all I could do not to jump down her throat about the waste of money and all the chemicals she was being exposed to. I calmly asked her why she didn’t hand wash and she said she didn’t know how! I was astonished to learn this and later asked her younger sister about her hand washing skills and she didn’t know either, but her philosophy was if it didn’t go in the washer and dryer she didn’t wear it. Naturally I sent them both this little on-line tutorial about hand washing and encouraged her to save money by not tithing her pay to the local dry cleaner.
I have never taken for granted access to a washing machine. Hardly a week goes by when I use the washing machine that I don’t think about how many women have no access to such machines, who must carry water from far far away to hand wash the family’s clothes.
Here’s a clever article about saving money on washing and another on-line calculator that will help you to realize how much you are spending each time you run these great inventions that so many of us are fortunate to have access to in our homes, down the hall, or in our neighborhoods.
December 31, 2011
Only 20% of Plastic Water Bottles in America get Recycled? Huh?
There are a few topics that Americans don’t like to talk about, they are for the most part topics I do like to talk and learn about; such as the failure of our prison system and our odd relationship with trash.
We have such a weird relationship to consumption and to trash. A friend who was visiting from Sweden this summer was talking about her country’s campaign to get people aware of wasting food. She was raised in America and is astonished with our relationship to food after living overseas so long. I have often thought if we could raise people’s awareness of not wasting food here we could resolve the problem of food insecurity that is a growing issue in America with the struggling economy.
Infographics always delight me and this one called Trashonomics illustrates some of our relationship with our garbage.
A documentary that will change your relationship with trash is called Waste Land From their website: ” Filmed over nearly three years, WASTE LAND follows renowned artist Vik Muniz as he journeys from his home base in Brooklyn to his native Brazil and the world’s largest garbage dump, Jardim Gramacho, located on the outskirts of Rio de Janeiro. There he photographs an eclectic band of “catadores”—self-designated pickers of recyclable materials. Muniz’s initial objective was to “paint” the catadores with garbage. However, his collaboration with these inspiring characters as they recreate photographic images of themselves out of garbage reveals both the dignity and despair of the catadores as they begin to re-imagine their lives. Director Lucy Walker (DEVIL’S PLAYGROUND, BLINDSIGHT and COUNTDOWN TO ZERO) and co-directors João Jardim and Karen Harley have great access to the entire process and, in the end, offer stirring evidence of the transformative power of art and the alchemy of the human spirit.”
It is an excellent film.
As if this isn’t enough take a moment to listen to the Diane Rehm’s WAMU radio program talking frankly about hoarding . This will bring new insights to this phenomena and bend your thinking about what you do and don’t keep. Pass it on if you haven’t used it in the past year… This is a bit like “Scared Straight” for people who have a tendency of being a pack rat!
November 16, 2011
October 16, 2011
June 10, 2011
Warren Watch: Spring 2011
Hon. Elizabeth Warren, photo from Fast Company Magazine
Any reader of this blog knows that Elizabeth Warren is my heroine. She has rocked the financial world and has the “good old boys” worried enough to try to block her confirmation. She is one of my favorite boat rockers. Things in the DC hearing room got a little rocky a few weeks back when Rep. Patrick Henry, a republican from North Carolina, accused Ms. Warren of lying. The New York Times called it “a rare collapse of decorum that usually pervades discussions among even the most fervent opponents on Capitol Hill.” This all leaves me to ask the question, “What are they afraid of?” I think the answer is they are afraid of a super-intelligent driven woman who wants to fight for the wider public and make financial things understood by the average American.
A recent article in the Nation quoted a woman saying quite candidly about it all that, “the boys don’t want to have an independent woman in their clubhouse”
Alternet had a posting about the attack at the hearing entitled “Why she Scares the Hell out of Republicans” and The American Prospect features her in an article entitled, “The Strongest Progressive in the Room” by Robert Kutter.
I can’t help but reflect back on the movies Inside Job and Client 9. I look forward to seeing the HBO production of “Too Big to Fail” based on a book of the same name.
Don’t give up Elizabeth, the county is counting on you to do what it right—against all odds. You go girl!
May 1, 2011
How Long will it Last? What does it cost?
A few beauties of Mother Nature
Thinking about giant pile of old technology and what it costs can also be rather sobering. A posting from Unplggd, called The Life Expectancy of Your Home Tech, tells us the life expectancy of various technology around the house and it will make you think about saving for those unexpected things that are bound to fail with age. Aaron Crow on Wallet Pop writes an article called: 10 most overpriced products you should avoid and there are some important lessons there like how much the mark up is on things like text messaging, popcorn bought in the theater, and bottled water.
March 4, 2011
Clever Info-Graphic: The Cost of Cute
Super dog Sherlock, a friend's dog poses for the camera
A sucker for visual displays of information I enjoyed this look at what pets cost to maintain called Pet Obsessed: The Cost of Cute. It has often been said that everyone wants to be reincarnated as a pet in America, I guess this illustration might show why this is so often mentioned.
February 12, 2011
Post-Holiday Reflections: The Cheapskate Lives Next Door
Okay, the holidays are over, and many are reeling from the sting of credit card bills, for the orgy that many Americans find themselves involved with, every December. Wisebread, reports, “According to Consumer Reports, shopping with credit cards during the holidays often leads to overspending by an average of 16%. This is part of the reason that the same Consumer Reports survey revealed that 13.6 million Americans were still paying off holiday purchases from 2009 in November of 2010.”
Lifehacker has an amazing info-graphic called “Holiday Misgivings: The Surprising Personal Economics Behind Holiday Gift-giving” that shows the gift valuation gap, the gift card valuation gap, and the gift gender gap. It’s a sobering look at the consuming that has become a part of every day life with little thinking of what all this consuming means for the planet, or how many people are living without work and with more food insecurity than ever before.
If, after digesting this graphic you think you’d like to reform your ways you might go to the library and look to borrow the book The Cheapskate Next Door by Jeff Yeager, a book about living below your means that is full of colorful tales and humor about frugality.
