Yankee 2.0

I realize the irony of writing a blog post about using less technology. But with that acknowledgement out of the way.... I think I've reached a tipping point with electronics. Everywhere I turn, people of all sorts are in physical contact with some sort of electronic gadget. Senior citizens in the grocery store chatting a cellphone, young kids texting as they walk down the street or ride a bike, commuters checking in with their GPS, parents watching their children's graduation through the lens of a video camera.... heck, the other day I saw a homeless guy talking on a cellphone while he was wheeling a shopping cart down the street!

 So.... with a bit of a contrarian spirit mixed in with a dash of frugality and a philosophical yearning for "authenticity" (whatever that may be), I'm partially de-teching. For almost a year, I've had a blackberry-esque device: cellphone, camera, email, web surfer, texter, GPS tool. I'm getting rid of it. I told myself I had it for my business (which I'm "right-sizing" out of an office and into my basement), but I really got it because I thought it was cool. I'm going to replace it with a pay-as-you go cellphone to have on hand for emergencies in the car (not the "wow, I really want a pizza, let me order it on the way home" kind of emergency, but the "I have a flat tire" kind of emergency). Since I can, I'm going to port my business telephone number to the cellphone, so I'll have continuity of contact number.

I thought a lot about replacing the GPS function with a device. Although I lived 39.8 years without a GPS and got along just fine, it was kind of fun and it made getting places easier -- no thinking involved. But then I remembered that I like to discover new places. I like to get lost! I've found some neat places by losing my way in the car. So icksnay on the GPS. I am quite an accomplished map reader, anyway.  One less screen in my life.

I noticed that with that handheld electronic thing, I would find myself surfing the web, checking my email, reading the news -- anxiously, hurridly, rushingly -- whenever I had a free moment. I thought I was going to miss something: an important email, a news update, a text from a friend....and on Friday, I reached a tipping point. It was -- it is -- too much. So I turned it off this past weekend. When I had a free moment, I played with my cat and dog. I sat outside and looked at the world around me. I cleaned my house. I did laundry. I read a magazine. I wrote (longhand) in my journal. And I feel great this morning. 

So, I'm going to be keeping the computer and the Internet. I need it for work, and to keep in touch with some friends (although I do have one friend with whom I correspond by written letters, which is great). But everytime that I have a free minute and I think "oh, I'll just check my email" or "oh, I'll kill a few minutes reading Consumerist.com or the Dollar Stretcher or the New York Times" -- which turns into half an hour or more, I'm going to try to check in and see if that's what I really want to do, or if I can do something less virtual with my time. Although every now and then a little web surfing is a good fun escape like watching television. But having it in my pocket made it more of a compulsion.

This de-teching over the weekend gave me a bit of peace and serenity, and I haven't (yet) had any tech withdrawl (although here I am writing something on my computer to post on this blog, so maybe I'm in denial). But each time I saw someone attached to an electronic device over the past few days, I thought how glad I was not to be touching something plastic and electronic and ignoring the world around me. I'm going to try to spend more of my time touching people, pets, paper, and nature, rather than beeping, whirring, energy depleting devices.

And with that.... I'm signing off for now.

Indian food is my very favorite cuisine. I have been visiting the Indian restaurants in my city since I was about 14 years old. I've been a vegetarian for quite a while, so Indian food is also a great protein source for me, as so much of it is vegetarian. This winter, after being on a waiting wist for a year, I took an Indian cooking workshop. It was GREAT! I learned how to make many of my favorite dishes as well as some new ones. I left with a cute round box of Indian spices as well as a big recipe pamphlet. I've been cooking up a storm since then.

I recently decided to have a big Indian dinner party for some friends and needed to stock up on supplies, so I searched online for "indian grocery store" and found one about 30 minutes away. My eyes were opened! The prices were so low -- bulk rice, lentils, dried beans, nuts (pistachios, cashews, almonds) -- all much less than at grocery stores. And then there were the frozen naans (Indian bread) for $3.00 for four (these cost $3.99 for one at the restaurants), and frozen paneer (Indian cottage cheese at $4.99 for a pound; I know how to make it myself, but it doesn't come out as well).

But the best find were the boxes of "masala" (which, as I learned at the cooking class, just means "sauce"); there are specific masala mixes for specific dishes. These cost $1.49 each, and each box makes about five large batches (each batch has four - six servings). So to make paneer masala, for example (my favorite dish), I would need a fifth of a $1.49 box of masala, a half of a .29 cent can of tomato sauce, an onion (50 cents?) and about half a pound of paneer ($2.50). For a total of $3.50 (plus rice, let's say 50 cents worth -- and call it a grand total of $4.00), I can make around four servings of one of my favorite foods on earth, rather than paying $9.99 (plus tip) at the restaurant for one serving. 

The store also had lots of specialty pickles, and chutneys, and mango syrup (for mango lassis -- yummm), not to mention spices used in other cuisines -- cumin, cinnamon, cloves (just to mention the "C" family). And it was so inexpensive!

So frugal friends, I bet the same holds true for other ethnic cuisines. If you're a fan of Mexican, Afghani, Chinese or Vietnamese food, check and see if you can find a grocer that specializes in that food in your area. The savings can be dramatic, and you'll get to meet some people from the country whose food you love!

Three years ago, I started my own business. I decided to be a corporate language and speech trainer; I got certification in my area, did some market research, rented an office and hung out my shingle. I knew that I wouldn't be able to earn an entire living from this work immediately, so I hung on to my other work, teaching language as an adjunct at my local community college.

I love both jobs, and I love the lifestyle that being my own boss affords me. The idea of sitting at a desk 40 hours a week kills me. I knew that opening my own business was risky, and that even pre-great depression 2.0 only about half of all small businesses last even two years. So I've already beaten the odds, but things are sort of dire, and I am forced to consider working for someone else. One of my major corporate clients decided to do all training in-house (thus getting rid of consultants, like me, upon whom they had relied for much training), and others are cutting back dramatically, due to the recession. I currently only have one client, and my contract with them ends on July 1st.

I just finished reading an article in the NYTimes magazine section about people like me --  self-employed and flailing in the recession/depression/downturn. It made me feel less alone, but it also convinced me to look more earnestly for a "real job" working for someone else. I've been toying with the idea all spring, and have submitted a few applications. I even had an interview for one position this week. I consider myself a really good, hard worker, and my self-concept includes the idea that I can "always just find a job" if self-employment doesn't work out. Well, I think that time has come. I'm hoping to be offered the job I interviewed for, and hoping I can finagle a flexible schedule that allows me to still teach at the community college. Whatever happens, I plan to re-locate my business to a spare room in my house ("right-sizing it"), and laying low for a few years. The economy has to turn around at some point, right? Maybe after a few years of putting in my time working for the man (and earning enough money to live, having health insurance, and making some much-needed home repairs), I'll be able to go back into business for myself.

My cat animal companion, Jerome, loves to play with things on sticks or string. But not anything on a stick or a string. I've tried making tin foil balls and wrapping a piece of string around it -- no dice. His ferocious hunter instinct is only roused by toys with feathery bits or little strips of fabric on a stick.Ugh.

I'm somewhat ashamed to admit this on the Dollar Stretcher blog, but I have given in and paid $3.49 (plus tax) for a stick with feathers on it at the pet store. Jerome loved it -- he demonstrated his love by tearing it to shreds in a week. Double ugh. Not wanting to have to buy him one of these every week, I've been scouring dollar stores for toys (with success, but sometimes he just turns up his nose as if to say, "why on earth would I play with that?"). But yesterday I picked up a feathery artificial stem (fake flower) at a craft store for a flower arrangement for my home. It was on clearance for 30 cents. 

Jerome spotted it immediately; his razor sharp predator instincts protecting the household from this feathered menace. Ah ha! For 10 -- 30 cents, I can get prey that will stimulate his little pea brain and won't make me feel like a chump for forking over almost four bucks for the same thing. Priceless.

 There have been so many stories in the news, on blogs -- everyhwere -- about what people are doing differently in the midst of this "economic downturn," and lots of speculation about what habits will last and what will disappear once the economy recovers.

I started living within my means over a year ago, and made many of the changes talked about in the news. I cancelled my cable, got rid of the Internet at home, went to cheap-o telephone service, cancelled my beloved artisan bottled water delivery, put all my electronics on power strips, and eventually paid off my credit cards (such a good feeling with all the news about increased fees for good customers). These are (I hope, I hope, I hope) life habits that I will always maintain.

But I'm still looking for ways to stretch my dollars. I'm going to greatly expand my vegetable garden this summer (we had frost last night, so I won't be planting until after Memorial Day, just like all the old Yankees advise) and do itas much by swapping as possible. I have set myself a $20 limit for plants this season. I'm sewing more to mend things that I might have turned into rags before (mostly pillowcases and socks).The home-made cleaning and health and beauty products are a huge savings, and I continue to research recipes for things I can make myself. I always look for free first, second hand next, and buying new as a last resort.

And I'm using coupons more. There aren't usually that many coupons I can use, but there are usually a few (some weeks go by with nothing in the Sunday paper for me), and when there's a coupon for batteries or toilet paper or some other common staple, I make sure to cut it out and file it in my little coupon file. The grocery stores around here have started putting triple coupon or $1.00 double coupon promotions on, so I make use of those and am building up a stock of those products. Plus, eggs and frozen pizzas sometimes appear in coupons. And I'm looking on manufacturers web sites for coupons for items I use. And I NEVER use a coupon for something I wouldn't have bought anyway unless it is free.

Lastly, I've started entering sweepstakes. I'm sure more and more people are joining me, so the odds are poor, but somebody's got to win, right? I always check my receipts for sweepstakes opportunities (CVS, Home Depot), and enter online. Parade magazine and Cooking Pleasures magazine also have ongoing sweepstakes, where you can log in every day and enter. It takes less than five minutes a day, and I could really put either a paring knife or $50,000 to good use.

I wonder what other frugalistas are doing differently in the "downturn"?

 Spring has sprung here in New England and the farmer's markets, farm stands, and greenhouses are displaying their wares. A friend just spent $200 in one day on plants -- all annuals! Yikes! Here are some tips to keep your garden costs low.

Plant swaps -- look in the newspaper or at the library or call your local gardener's association. This is a way to thin out unwanted or multiplied plants from your own garden and bring in some new ones. I have some lovely dead nettle that spreads like wildfire (or like dead nettle), ivy, hostas that multiply like crazy, and beautiful blue colombine. I thin out my patches of this and trade for veggie plants or whatever catches my fancy!

 Charity plant sales -- if you can't get a plant for free, you can still get it for less than commercial nurseries want to charge.Look in the papers for fundraising plant sales -- especially from local gardening or botanical societies. You can usually buy the plant right from the grower and ask questions about care, etc. These plants always cost much less, are very healthy, and you're supporting a good cause.

All-perennials, all the time -- I used to find it so hard to remember that "annual" meant a plant only lived for one year. Maybe it's a slick marketing trick. :) Just get perennials for your garden. They are usually a one-time investment (although I do sometimes have perennials that fail to return over the winter), and they usually multiply, allowing you to cull your crop and bring the excess to plant swaps (see above). Non-food annuals seem like such a waste of time and effort to me. I guess i'm a lazy gardener, but I like to see my plants coming up each year without doing a whole lot of work, and without spending anything.

Go native -- Plants that are native to your location will do better than exotic non-native plants. You are less likely to have to replace native perennials than ones that have come from elsewhere. You can also likely find these on the side of the road, or in the woods (ferns, lilly of the valley, violets, etc.), where you can pick them if you know it won't harm the eco-system.

Plant food -- the only annuals I get are  food-bearing plants: tomatoes, lettuce, squash, herbs, etc. Get these at swaps if you can (they're probably heirlooms, organic, etc.). If you're really frugal, or have a greenhouse (I live downtown and do all my gardening in containers), you can keep the seeds and grow your own heirlooms, too. The cost of one tomato plant at a charity sale is usually one or two dollars. So for an investment of less than $20.00, a person in New England can have a bountiful crop of veggies. 

Craigslist -- Check the "Free" section on CL for plants. People often re-landscape and will give away plants to anyone who will come and dig them up. I've gotten (and swapped) great stuff here.

Free dirt -- If you need dirt (like I do in my container world), ask around of your friends with in-ground gardens. They will often share.

Containers -- I'm transitioning away from inexpensive and eco-friendly terra cotta pots, because they freeze, crack, and break over the winter. Even though I'm anti-plastic as a rule, I'm switching over to those lightweight styrene or plastic pots, because they last a long time. I have several that are ten+ years old. Also, be creative -- use old 5-gallon paint buckets (great for tomatoes), tin cans, or other non-breakable containers. Look for these at tag sales, too.

Compost -- our town gives away free compost, and one can certainly make one's own.

Happy gardening!

 I've been making my own personal and household cleaning products for a while now. I've shared some of the personal care items (the famous salty toothpaste, vinegar hair rinse, shampoo and body wash), and thought I would share these household cleaners with the Dollar Stretcher Community.

  Laundry detergent

1 cup grated castille soap (I buy it in bulk at www.soapsaloon.com)

1 cup borax (laundry aisle of grocery store)

1 cup washing powder (laundry aisle of grocery store, Arm & Hammer brand)

Mix it all together and use 1/4 to 1/2 cup per load. Easy, eh?

Laundry whitener

A few drops of bluing (found in the laundry aisle of my grocery store) added to water brightens your laundry without bleach.  Adding a few drops of bluing to a mix of 1/2 cup bleach and 1/2 cup water super-brightens your whites.

Dishwashing detergent for dishwasher

1 cup borax

1/2 cup baking soda

1/2 cup washing soda

Dishwasher rinse

Use straight white vinegar (distilled) instead of that expensive Jet Dry stuff.

I really like making my own products for many reasons -- I know they aren't tested on animals, I'm not using tons of plastic (I put everything into re-usable glass containers), they're really really inexpensive, and they're not using tons of caustic chemicals. 

If you don't like these recipes, there are lots of others out there! Happy washing!

My beloved cat of 16 years died last fall, and I (and my dog) missed her terribly, so I decided to get a new cat from my local animal shelter. The dog's not so thrilled yet, but I know she'll come around. 

The cat, Jerome, is healthy and happy. I brought him in to the vet yesterday. I asked the vet about pet health insurance, since all of my pets have had costly medical problems, and I thought insurance might be a good thing to get while Jerome is still young and healthy. The vet said it's a personal choice -- she suggests that people put a little money away into a savings plan for the pet for emergencies, but if that's hard to do, then insurance can be a good option. My dog's emergencies have run into the thousands of dollars, so I think the insurance might be a better bet for me.

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I'm looking at different plans --  there are a lot of options out there -- and wondered if any of you folks in the Dollar Stretcher community had any thoughts -- especially from those of you who've gotten medical insurance for your own pets.

I've just finished reading "Status Anxiety," by Alain de Botton. In it, he discusses how societies construct status and why (and how) members of those societies can come to feel anxious about their place in the group.

De Botton is one of my favorite authors, and I'm making my way through all his books. His specialty is a type of philosophy/social observation that uses examples from literature and art to illustrate his points, and he writes in "plain English" rather than in overblown and hard to understand academic terminology. He uses a great deal of humor to get his ideas across, and never dumbs down his message. I think he's great, and recommend him to everyone I know. 

 There were several instances in reading "Status Anxiety" where I thought of the Dollar Stretcher community -- one was when the author considers the meaning of wealth, and describes what Rousseau said were the two ways to make a man richer, "give him more money or curb his desires" (p. 42). I think that what many of us frugalistas are doing is curbing our desires -- rather than wanting to go out to dinner all the time or wanting to buy new designer clothes (or whatever society at large might try to encourage us to want) and feeling bad about not being able to satisfy those  wants, we are instead refusing to want them in the first place, and in that way we are richer; we have fewer unsatisfied wants.

A second passage that I thought Dollar Stretchers would appreciate is this one: "One's ability to maintain confidence in a way of life at odds with the mainstream culture will be greatly dependent on the... value system of one's immediate environment, on the kinds of people one mixes with socially and on what one reads and listens to." (p. 277). As long as we have a chance to be in touch with others out there (through things like the Dollar Stretcher community) who think as we do, it strenghtens our ability to curb wants, stay free of debt, and have faith in our own values. 

De Botton's basic idea (and the final sentence of the book) is that "there is more than one way of succeeding at life" (p. 293). 

There have been film versions made of a couple of de Botton's books, including this one. You can watch snippets of the videos on his web site, I saw them on my local PBS station (with my transponder box and antenna, not on cable ). Although I'm a big library user, I'm buying de Botton's complete works -- these are books that I refer back to a lot -- I was surprised that the hardcover copy of the 2004 version of "Status Anxiety" was remaindered at Barnes & Noble -- $5.95.... maybe escaping from this kind of anxiety isn't as popular with others as it is with us frugalisti. 

The semester is winding down, and while I still have summer work at my other job, my schedule opens up considerably once I stop teaching. However, my income also drops considerably over the summer. I've been putting a little something into savings each week to put towards my trips, and I plan to do a fair bit of travelling, and hope to keep it as thrifty as possible -- here are some of my ideas:

Philadelphia is someplace I've always wanted to go -- and thought it would be fun to see if I could limit my museums to those that have free admission. I'm also planning to stay at the home of a fellow Servas member (this is a wonderful organization -- I'm a host and a traveler -- it's a great way to meet people around the world). While Servas hosts are supposed to provide at least one meal for their guests, I'm also going to look into dining at college dining halls. The train will cost about $110 to get there, and I hope to go for about three days. I'd love to keep my spending under $200 total, so I'll track all my expenses and see how I do.

Day trips -- I LOVE house museums. So I'm going to find those that are nearby and see if they have any discounted admission days, or if they have reciprocal memberships or educator discounts. I'll plan my trips around those days and bring a nice bagged lunch and book with me and find a  public park nearby to have a nice al fresco picnic as part of my outing.

Visiting friends -- I have some friends in NYC and some with rural or water-based summer homes (it's nice to have rich pals!); staying with friends is always nice, and instead of offering to take everyone out to dinner ($$$$), I'll offer to make a meal at home for the folks I visit (I'll ask in advance). But I'll research an interesting (and inexpensive) nearby restaurant in advance, in case going out is the only option.

Professional development trip -- I'll be spending two weeks in Italy, thanks to the Italian ministry of education, which is heavily subsidizing a professional development trip for Italian teachers (like me!). The cost is very very low and includes three meals a day (and a room in a dorm), plus  I can write off the cost as professional development.

Hosting -- I hope to have some international Servas guests come to my house. I'll make meals for them and show them around my little town. THis is almost like traveling without leaving home -- we'll get to learn a lot about each other.

I'm looking forward to a frugal summer of travel and think it will be a really fun "extra" to keep track of all my travel costs! 

 Last night, 60 Minutes had a segment about how insecure the information is that we send across the Internet. The segment suggested that 30% of all computers in the US are infected with "malware" designed to steal our personal information.

I love technology, and feel it has made my life easier in many ways. I was an early adopter of online banking (I've been paying bills online for more than 10 years now), and loved saving the cost of a stamp to pay my bills. When I was in a tight economic spot, I also liked being able to pay my bills at the last minute when I needed to.

But now, at least for now, I'm pretty okay financially (who knows what tomorrow holds for any of us), and I definitely have a much different approach to paying bills.

So I'm thinking of getting rid of online banking in the interest of security. I have never been the subject of identity theft (thank goodness), and my office computer is a mac (less prone to viruses), but I have certainly used wi-fi and multiple computers to check my balances, and I even have used online banking on my cellphone.

The story really scared me. For the moment, I have decided to take the remote banking application off of my cellphone, and to use only my office computer (a Mac desktop with firewall and a wired DSL connection) to access my bank accounts. But I am definitely considering going back to an all-paper banking system. It seems in many ways like a step back, but if it keeps my little earnings safe, it would be worth it.

I also set up an online-only savings account last year (currently earning 2.15% as opposed to my local bank's passbook rate of .05%).  I have always felt wary about this account, even though it is FDIC insured, it just seems so remote and anonymous. I'm now considering closing it and moving the little money I've saved in it to my more tangible passbook account.

Does anyone out there have ideas or experiences they'd like to share about "slow banking"?  

One of the things wise money people always say is "Always use cash." It's harder for us to part with an actual dollar bill than it is to swipe our debit or credit cards. I've found this to be very true, and have been able to stick with my $200 per week (or less, when broke) cash allowance for just over a year now. (Okay, maybe I've had a few off-budget splurges, but they haven't been purchased using credit).  I go to the bank each Friday and take out $200.00 When it's gone, it's gone, and whatever is left over goes into my passbook savings account.

My bank has lots of options for moving money around electronically, and while I do take advantage of online bill payments (saving lots of stamps and paper), I prefer to walk up to the teller window and take my weekly draw (and put in my weekly savings) in person. It's kind of old-fashioned, but I think it is good for me to slow down and make the cash-handling process very intentional. 

 When I was a little kid, I thought that each penny, quarter, or dollar I put in the bank went into a special box that was just mine, and that when I withdrew money it would be the same coin or bill. Going up to the teller puts me in mind of those simpler days, and makes me appreciate even more the value of each dollar I earn, spend, or save.

I am not as proud as I would have been if I'd paid it all off in income, but I re-financed my mortgage and rolled in a home equity line of credit and the last remaining credit card I had hanging around. I'll be paying less for this one bill than I had been for the three, and I won't have any more credit card debt -- a great feeling.

My "only" other debt is my massive student loan debt (which I've deferred paying back for yet another year...sigh). Well, out of sight, out of mind for 12 more months. Gosh it feels good to have only one debt payment each month! 

 It was in February of 2008 that I decided to change my relationship with money. I was sick of living week to week, always being scrambling to pay bills, being in debt and being generally stressed over money. I bartered with a life coach for a couple of sessions, but quickly realized I didn't need someone else to tell me what to do. I knew what I needed to do! I was always listening to shows about personal finance and debt, I had gone through the Dave Ramsey thing (and paid off a bunch of debt, yet there it was again, creeping up on me) -- I knew what I needed to do, and I finally decided to just do it.

I put myself on a weekly budget of $200.00 which I took out in cash each Friday. This was to cover human food, pet food, gas for the car, and any shopping (clothes, household goods, books, etc.) and entertainment (coffee, meals out, movies) for me for one week. Anything left over would go into savings. I went back on to the snowball model to pay off my credit cards, and a few months earlier had started an IRA which had a monthly debit from my checking account (so I couldn't skip paying it). 

One year in, I am in much better shape. I have paid off all my "little" credit card debts (Care Credit -- which provided much-needed funding for a pet operation and  Sleepy's -- for a new bed), which eliminated a couple thousand dollars of debt and freed up a few hundred each month for other expenses. I started saving for the first time since I was a teenager. I usually had something left over from my $200 allowance and even if it was $1.00, I put that money into my passbook savings each week. I have depleted it a couple of times (once to fix a collapsed celing in my house, twice for my weekly allowance), but hey, it was savings, not debt! And then I've gone back to putting money into it and have continued my savings habit.I just completed a mortgage re-finance which also rolled in a large credit card (around $9500), and a home equity loan.This monthly payment will be less than what I had been paying (due to the great interest rate) and will eliminate two additional bills from my life.

I cancelled non-essential expenses. I got rid of cable tv (which was only costing me $6.00 per month, but I decided was non-essential), and a few months ago cancellled my spring water delivery (which was $40 per month, but was delicious mineral water and supported a local business). And I downsized my home telephone service to something that is local-only, per-call rate and is very inexpensive.

 I buy almost everything used. Clothing, household products, books (if not simply borrowed from the library), etc. When I can't buy it used, I TRY to buy it from the source, especially for food. I buy my milk and eggs directly from a dairy, and get as much produce straight from farmers (besides what I can grow myself).

What has fundamentally happened is that I've changed my thinking. I used to operate in scarcity/fear mode, but now I feel like I'm in abundance/security mode. I have plenty of stuff (in fact, I got rid of a lot of stuff over the winter), I make big batches of food and freeze some, so I know I have plenty of food, I have enough money to make ends meet; I pay my utility bills as soon as they arrive so I don't worry about paying them; I live in a city with lots of free entertainment and I'm a block from the library; I have plenty of ways to keep busy, and as I pay down my mortgage (which is now, apart from my blasted student loans my only debt), I will eventually own my home and be even more secure. 

I love doing what I can by myself -- soap and cleaning things, food, mending clothes and sheets, fixing clocks, resuing things -- it helps with the feelings of security and independence, but it's nice to be part of a community (like this one) where other people are likeminded and trying to reduce their consumption. I feel much less wasteful, too. I used to be proud of how much I recycled each week. Now I'm happy to see how little is in my recycling bin, since it means I'm consuming that much less. 

While anything is possible, I am pretty confident that the changes I've made are lasting ones. My outlook on life has changed so fundamentally and completely that I don't think I will ever go back to my old ways of profligate spending. I used to feel a reward sensation when I bought something, but now I feel that same sensation when I put money into the bank. I like going to the thrift store and walking out empty-handed because I know that I don't need a single thing there. 

It has been an interesting journey so far. I can't wait to see what February 2010 looks like!

 I looked into a lot of recipes and did some experimenting until I found one that I LOVE. It took a bit of getting used to, because it is salty, but now I really really love it. I don't like mint or cinamon flavored things, and never liked the taste of toothpaste. I make mine with cardamom, clove, and bergamot oils and I LOVE the way it tastes. Did I mention I love it?

Yet another store-bought item out of my life!

Here is the recipe:

6 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt (for abrasion)

4 teaspoons glycerine

1/2 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide

15 drops of essential oils (for flavor, not an "essential" ingredient)

Mix everything together and dip your brush in!

One caveat -- be sure that the essential oils you use are safe forconsumption!