Rockin Out the Thriftiness

Few more book reviews:

Simple Living Guide and Less is More

I find that with a lot of these guides, the specific information isn’t so useful to me as much as the general motivation these books give me. I have to admit that in so many ways I am far from Simple, but I do want to live more consciously and more lightly on the earth. And I want to capture what the people in these books feel- a sense of contentment and purpose. The peace that comes from a life well-lived. And I really like the emphasis on home and family that is central to the Simple Living community.

So I liked these two books. I can’t tell you specifically what I liked about them, but they are a part of the fact that I have been keeping on my current path.

(sorry for the blurry pic)

Raising Unselfish Children in a Self-Absorbed World

Hmmmm….This book was a sort of yes, sort of no for me. I liked the bible-based ideas this author has to offer advice to parents, but I don’t like her “Dr. Laura” style of delivery. And I found that a lot of the stories about her own parenting adventures sounded more like email forwards meant to make you go "awwww" than pictures of real life. The stories probably are, but just didn’t seem true. The author also seemed a bit self-righteous for my taste, but I think that goes back to the whole “Dr. Laura” thing. It was worth reading but kind of annoyed me while I was doing it. Does that make sense?

And here is THE MAJOR HAUL...

The Hubz needed almost everything in the way of clothes. All his pants have holes. Many of his shirts have seen better days. I was surprised and delighted that he was willing to accompany me to my favorite thrift store to restock his wardrobe. LOOK AT ALL THE STUFF WE GOT!!! We spent $157.00 for all of this. Besides the fact that I am now committed to buying used, where else could you get so much for so little?

List of items in THE MAJOR HAUL:

1 pair of awesome navy flat boots for me

9 men’s button shirts (short and long sleeved)

4 t-shirts (to send to my niece for a birthday present along with instructions on how to make recycled t-shirt necklaces)

3 pairs of men’s shorts

1 pair of men’s swim trunks

7 girl’s shirts

5 girl’s dresses

1 girl’s skirt

1 pair girl’s pants

1 pair girl’s jeans

3 pairs men’s jeans

3 girl’s jackets

3 pairs men’s pants

1 woman’s wool suit

2 woman’s dresses

1 toddler jacket

That is 46 items and it averages out to around $3.40 per item. We would usually spend $157.00 just on the three pairs of jeans when I took William to the mall. Shopping with him is not a fun affair. He doesn’t really like it and he can be picky. We managed to knock all of this out in one store with kids in tow. We did want to die a little when we were done, but it was so worth it.

This Sunday at church, it dawned on me that my whole family was wearing thrifted clothing. William had on a pair of jeans and one of the shirts he got this weekend. I was wearing a thrifted skirt and blouse. Zelda was wearing her z dress that was upcycled from a thrifted woman’s dress. And Lu’s outfit is kind of an interesting story. I was in a thrift store and pushing her in the stroller. One of the volunteers at the store walked up to me and said, “We don’t carry children’s clothing but this stuff was just donated. Would you like to have it?” It was some precious stuff, including what Lu had on at church. I was so proud. Go used! You can be stylish and be a bit of a clothes horse and still make good choices for the earth. Woo Hoo!!!!