A year of Costco

Matt and I have shared a Costco membership longer than we've been married, and every year -- after rolling my eyes during what feel like excruciatingly long visits to a store than reeks of mass consumerism and a parking lot full of people who cannot drive -- I wonder, "Is it worth it?"

So, during 2010 I saved all receipts from our Costco trips, which tallied up to an underwhelming 15 visits where we spent $1,699.64. Three of these trips were for special occasions (Foxfield, Matt's 30th birthday party, New Year's Eve entertaining) and a couple trips involved some out-of-pocket teacher expenses, but the majority of the Costco spending this year was for our daily at-home consumption.

Now, back to the question, "Is it worth it?", especially after factoring in the $50 annual membership fee.

The short answer: Yes. We buy enough items that collectively save us way more than $50 per year and therefore justify the membership fee.

The longer answer, one detailed Excel spreadsheet later:

The savings afforded on the purchase of the Izze 12 bottle variety pack during its brief stint at our local Costco is enough to validate our membership. At 99 cents per bottle, it's the cheapest deal around.

Speaking of good deals, the 3M Filtrete Ultra Allergen filters we buy at Costco average a little over $13 per filter, also making them cheaper than any deal I can find online.

Our most often purchased item? Coming in at 18 bottles, I give you wine. Apparently this should not be a surprising statistic, as Costco is the largest wine distributor in the world. I can't say we got any incredible wine deals, seeing as we almost always buy $10 bottles (or cheaper) no matter where we buy them, but it feels more legitimate buying wine in bulk at Costco.


More than anything, the Costco experiment has been a small window into how we lived our life this past year. Most notably:

• Matt eats a lot of dried fruit (15 bags). I eat a lot of kettle corn (4 enormous bags, but Costco only started carrying it mid-year).
• We also eat a lot of apples, but we only buy them at Costco when they carry organic gala apples. 2010 was the year of organic apples.
• Matt has always been a big cereal consumer, but this year I vowed to eat healthy cereal with milk every day at home before work (as opposed to digging into a Ziploc bag of dried cereal on the way to work). This move resulted in Kashi cereal being our third-most-often-purchased item behind wine and dried fruit.
• Once Costco started carrying organic chicken breast halfway through the year, our intake of chicken skyrocketed. Additionally, once we got wise to the fact that uncooked frozen shrimp at Costco is significantly cheaper than uncooked frozen shrimp at Wegmans, we bought many bulk bags of Costco shrimp. Overall, 2010 was the year of more meat in our diet, mostly because I thought Matt's semi-vegetarian ways of 2009 were not sufficient for my protein intake.
• This year we've done a better job stocking up on compact fluorescent light bulbs and making our own vinegar-based cleaning products.
• We buy toilet paper three times as often as we buy paper towels. As much as I'd like to in theory, I don't know that I can ever completely break my paper towel habit.
• We should have bought toothpaste yesterday during our final Costco trip of the year, but one Costco-sized pack of toothpaste can last a family of two almost exactly one year.
• We did not make a single major purchase at Costco this year. No electronics, no furniture, no vacuum cleaners or small appliances. This was the year of the European vacation and few additional purchases.

As much as I hate the mild headache that I get every time Matt suggests it's time for a Costco run, I recognize that smarter daily spending habits on even the seemingly smallest items has been one reason we've been able to triple our monthly savings over the last two years.

So, if you're debating whether a Costco (or Sam's or BJ's) membership is worth it in 2011, you could break out a spreadsheet and get to work, or you could take my word for it.

Teacher discounts

One joy of being a teacher -- besides the satisfaction you can get from shaping the country's future -- is teacher discounts. Some discounts are clearly advertised at stores; others you have to check for carefully on the company's website or, more likely, hear through word of mouth.

Here are some of my favorite teacher discounts:

Books -- Borders and Barnes and Noble both offer teachers discounts. There is a form you have to fill out the first time you take advantage of the discount, and you're expected to show your school ID each time you use the discount. Borders grants a 25% teacher discount, and Barnes and Noble offers 20% off for teachers.

Clothes -- There are a few places I shop that offer teachers clothing discounts:

• Ann Taylor Loft offers 15% off everything, including sale items. Granted, anytime I go in to spend money at Loft, I have at least a 20% off coupon, or Loft is having a 40% off sale on dresses, or they have a Buy One, Get One 50% off promotion, but sometimes coupons they offer only apply to full-price merchandise. So, the 15% off everything teacher discount is especially great for sale items. There is no sign-up process involved; just carry your school ID.

• JCrew offers 15% off everything, but it supposedly cannot be used for phone/internet purchases. I don't know as much about this discount because I've only used it once or twice because....well, you know, JCrew is still pretty ridiculously expensive, even when it's 15% off. Also, JCrew does not have anything officially posted on their site (that I can find, anyway). The discount is valid at factory stores, though, so that's a nice bonus, especially given the fact that there's a JCrew outlet in the Outer Banks we like to hit up.

• Aerosoles offers 15% off items priced $39.99 and higher. I used to think Aerosoles were ugly, orthopedic shoes, but there are a few cute items there, and two of my favorite pairs of shoes come from this store. So, while I'm not flocking to Aerosoles, it's nice to know I can get a discount if I want one.

Office supplies -- Our school system has a contract with Office Depot, and because of this Office Depot offers teachers the ability to link our personal credit cards to the discount program and get the same prices the school system receives. This is a tremendous discount. While I do not buy too many school supplies for my classroom use, I do buy some, and I also buy some supplies for Matt and me to use at home for other projects, like my recipe notebook (plastic binder sheets are expensive!). Let me tell you -- the discount is amazing. The Office Depot clerk will ring up my purchase and it will show up for $15, and then once the system processes my credit card the price will drop to around $4. I love to watch this happen. If only there was a way to make this happen at all stores, all the time...

Of course there are local discounts teachers in different school systems receive for housing or gym memberships (we get a small discount at Gold's Gym). And I am sure there are some that I'm missing.

So, to all the teachers in the house, where do you use your teacher discount the most? Please share so we can all make the most of our discounts this summer!

Homemade baby carrots

OK, so maybe the title of this post is a little deceiving. I am not growing carrots in my backyard (that is solely reserved for herbs that are doing quite nicely, thank you very much). Instead, I am trying to completely remove "convenience foods" from our lives.

Overall, we are not suckers for packaged, pre-cut and pre-washed vegetables. We pick our green beans from the bin, we don't buy vegetable medleys or fruit, such as pineapple or melons, that have already been cut up and stored in plastic containers. We also don't eat frozen dinners, but that's an entirely different post about our attempts to cook as many meals as possible at home.

But we do eat (edit -- Matt eats) a lot of baby carrots. Last month I was thinking, "Baby carrots...what are baby carrots?" They can be one of two things: 1) large carrots cut down to a small size (that then take on the name baby-cut carrots) or 2) carrots harvested when they're young (true baby carrots). (Read more about this phenomenon at Snopes.) All this time we've been buying the "baby-cut carrots," which is just another way of saying we were buying carrots that a machine had cut up for us. And we were paying for it.

So, I've started buying full-size organic carrots and peeling and cutting them up into two-inch-long pieces to mimic the baby-cut carrot concept at a fraction of the price. This also has the added benefit that, for some reason, I really love peeling carrots.

Our only other convenience foods, besides baby-cut carrots, are packaged spinach or lettuce mixes for salads. We are trying to buy whole heads of lettuce that we then clean and store ourselves. I will say, though, that the potential downfall of this plan is that some packaged romaine hearts can last for a really long time. On the flip side, I sometimes don't like the taste. So, part of this experiment will be finding the right type of lettuce that tastes good and lasts.

What convenience foods have you tried to cut out of your life?

Tip 57: Rug pads

If you're annoyed with your rugs slipping around, the obvious solution is to invest in a rug grippy mat, those thin rubbery pads you place underneath your rugs to keep them secure. Here's a way to get the most for your money...

Tip 57: If you need more than one rug pad, buy one in a large size that you can cut down into smaller pieces. It will be cheaper than buying several smaller items.

I guess this kind of ties into yesterday's post about bulk foods in the sense that you can make the most economical choices when you adapt the product to fit your specific needs. In my case I bought one large rug pad a couple years ago, and by cutting it up into smaller pieces I've been able to use it in six different locations in the house, and I still have some left. This is even after I added another rug pad piece to our half bathroom last week after slipping on that rug one too many times!

You can buy several different sizes at Bed Bath and Beyond or on Amazon.

Tip 56: Bulk foods (and a cookie recipe!)

You may already know about my love/hate attitude toward Costco and unnecessarily out-of-control consumerism, and if so, you may find the title of today's post confusing. Let me clarify...

Tip 56: Make the most of your grocery store's bulk foods section. Consider dry goods you typically buy in packages, and see if it makes sense to purchase just the quantity you need from the bulk foods section. You will probably discover yourself being more economically and environmentally friendly.

At my grocery store's bulk foods section, I've always been tempted by the bulk candy, so much so that I often overlooked all the other treasures waiting to be uncovered.

See? I like candy and tiny containers, like these mini-gummy bears I picked up in the bulk foods aisle and stored in this small canning jar.

But then Matt started buying dried fruit and nuts in the bulk foods section, and I started to look at the section of the store from a different perspective.

Save money
Once we embraced the bulk foods section, we started saving a little money. This is partially because we started replacing some brand-name products with essentially generic bulk foods products. Before we would buy walnuts, pecans, almonds in the baking aisle in pre-packaged quantities. Then we'd put the unused pieces in the freezer, and two years would pass and we'd forget about those pecans in the freezer. Buying in bulk has helped us get what we need and use it while it's fresh.

Be green
Anytime you can waste less, you're being green in my book. Buying in bulk also helps cut down on packaging. We try to be painfully honest in our bulk foods purchases, so that we only mix together items of the same price in one bag. Even with separate bags, though, for items of different prices or from different categories, we still have less packaging on average than we would find in the regular grocery store aisles.

Welcome to the future: copious bulk foods
I'm also impressed by the variety you can now find in many bulk foods aisles. Besides dried fruit and nuts, you can also find grains, chocolate (great for baking) and snack items. Our Wegmans grocery store has an organic and non-organic bulk foods section. Whole Foods has even more selection, which includes beans (and I'm trying to get us away from canned beans thanks to their significantly higher sodium content and BPA-lined packaging). I know I'm probably not shocking you with this information, but if you're like me there's the possibility that you've never really appreciated the deals you might find in this area of the store.

And now, a recipe I tried out last week using items from Wegmans bulk foods section!

This recipe is from the September 2009 Everyday Food magazine, and though it is gluten-free, we did not make it because of any sort of dietary restrictions. This is a great recipe for anyone, but I could imagine it could be especially great for anyone who needs to avoid gluten.

Flourless Double-Chocolate Pecan Cookies
From Everyday Food, with my comments in bold italics
Makes 12

• 3 cups confectioners' sugar
• 3/4 cup Dutch-process cocoa powder (spooned and leveled)
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt [be careful not to add too much salt like I did accidentally]
• 5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped [we found this item in bulk foods]
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts [our substitution...bulk foods was out of pecans!]
• 4 large egg whites, room temperature

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, cocoa, and salt. Stir in chocolate and pecans. Add egg whites and stir just until incorporated (do not overmix). [This point about not overmixing is crucial.]
2. Drop dough by 1/4 cupfuls, 3 inches apart, onto two parchment-lined rimmed baking sheets. [If you're like me, there will be more batter than seems reasonable for 12 cookies, so you'll wind up making much bigger cookies than you anticipated.] Bake until cookie tops are dry and crackled, about 25 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. [I cooked ours for a little over 30 minutes.] Transfer sheets to wire racks and let cookies cool completely. (To store, keep in an airtight container, up to 3 days.) [You can keep these way longer than 3 days...we're on day 6 over here, and those cookies are still great. They'll be light weight in your hands but heavy in your stomach, so proceed with caution!] 

Inexpensive hydrangea!

A few weeks ago when I was putting together the planters on our deck, I mentioned that I might like to find one more plant to add to our collection. I think I found that plant last week.

I have a thing for hydrangeas. I love how one flower can make a huge statement by itself.

I had green hydrangea in my bridal bouquet

and pink and green hydrangea blooms made up our low, rectangular wedding centerpieces

So, you can imagine how pleased I was last week to find healthy looking hydrangea at Costco. I know I vowed not to buy flowers anymore at Costco, but I have not sworn off Costco plants, and I've even had positive experiences with Costco plants in the past. Best news: this plant only cost $15, and I found similar ones at Wegmans for a whooping $40.

Right now Miss Hydrangea (I call her this because her tag was really cutesy and told me I could refer to her this way) is still in her original Costco pot, and I even left on the wrapping. I will decide on a better potting solution soon, but for now she is resting on this cute little chair on our deck.

One other note about this plant: Also on the cutesy tag there is a line at the end that reads "This plant is not edible" (their quotation marks, not mine). This definitely puts the tag in the running for items that need to be added to The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks, one of my grammar-snob favorites.

I love World Market jewelry!

It's a dreary day here in the D.C.-metro area, so let's liven things up with something fun: jewelry!

Over the weekend, amidst small home improvements and errands, I stopped in at World Market. Now, I was looking for a small rug for the basement, but I walked out with some fantastic, inexpensive jewelry. A few weeks ago when I took you inside my master closet, I said that World Market is a great place to buy chunky, inexpensive jewelry, but I did not back that statement up with evidence (tsk tsk, English teacher). Well, here's the evidence!

Exhibit A: Earrings

Here are the brushed, faux-gold ones I bought for $4.99

Exhibit B: Bracelet

Here is the wide cuff bracelet I bought for $9.99

Saturday night when we were out at dinner the hostess asked me if my bracelet was jade, and I proceeded to tell her, "No, it's a totally cheap World Market bracelet." She had never heard of World Market, but she seemed converted, so hopefully she'll enjoy some inexpensive jewelry, too!

Exhibit C: Necklace

Here is the long, faux-gold necklace I bought for $9.99

One note: I am fortunate not to have sensitive skin, so this kind of inexpensive jewelry does not irritate my skin. I know that's not true of everyone, and some ladies may not be able to make do with these purchases.

Another note: If you go to the World Market website, you won't be able to find these items. Instead, you'll find more expensive jewelry, most of which is not carried in stores (and frankly, most of which looks a little cheesy for my tastes).

I realize that these purchases are, by definition, impulse buys, but I don't make impulse buys often (shocker!) because I'm such a planner. I got all this jewelry for around $25, whereas I know I can easily pay $25 or more for one piece of chunky jewelry at a regular clothing store. So, with these thoughts in mind, I justify this purchase. Plus, I am trying to restrain myself when it comes to buying clothes. Accessories are a great way to make old outfits look new, right? Right!

Speaking of not buying clothes, here's something I fell in love with this weekend that I kept myself from buying. You can find it here from The Limited for $98 (again, I showed restraint). Maybe one of you can buy it for yourself (or send me a coupon, if you have one!).

Tip 49: Carnations, hue knew?

For as long as I can remember I have loved fresh flowers. As a little girl I dreamed of having a boyfriend, just so he could buy me flowers. Then I wised up and realized that if I want flowers, I should buy them myself. My whole life I have also scoffed at carnations. I think one time I was even known for saying, "Carnations...a way to say, 'I didn't try very hard to show you how I feel.'" To me carnations have been the ugly stepsister of the flower world, until I read this post about carnations as "budget blooms" on Young House Love, and it got me thinking I should give carnations a try. So, I pass along to you...

Tip 49: Give carnations a try to brighten up your space on a tight budget.

Carnations are great because they:

1) Come in lots of colors.
2) Last longer than any flower.
3) Are easy to divide up into small bud vases to maximize their effect throughout your space.
4) Are cheap. I bought all the flowers pictured below for $6.99 total.

I took one bouquet and divided them up into three separate spaces on our main floor.

Space 1: On these ledges inside these small Lula vases from Crate and Barrel (current price $9.99 each)

Space 2: On the coffee inside these larger vases, also from Crate and Barrel (no longer on sale; purchased in the fall)

Space 3: On our kitchen island inside these small bud vases from Crate and Barrel (from our wedding)

Thanks in part to the adorably cute couple over at Young House Love, I am now a friend to carnations. It's nice to have something fresh and inexpensive to add charm to your room and a smile to your face.

Inside my closet day 5: Perfect tank top

Because I missed a clothing post yesterday, I'll do two today!

Favorite item #5: Old Navy Long Layering Tanks

These 100% cotton tank tops are a great wardrobe staple. They hit me at the hip, as advertised, and they are form fitting, but they will stretch out a good amount while you wear them. They are also very affordable, currently costing $7.99 each. Old Navy often runs specials on this item, and every year there are different colors available. For me they run true to Old Navy sizes, because in my experience Old Navy clothes run pretty big, so I buy these in extra small.

Three years ago I bought this tank top in three basic colors -- white, gray and navy blue -- to wear when working out. I really wore the white one out because I also realized it was a great item to wear under shirts, but then I bought the White House Black Market white cami and never turned back. My only complaint with this item is that the hem of the white one came undone and the entire shirt quickly unraveled (after two years of wear). But that's the only problem I've had with any of them.

In the summer of 2008 as Matt and I were preparing for our cross country trip, I stocked up on this item in more colors because I knew it would be an inexpensive and comfortable shirt to wear while hiking through national parks (during the hottest part of the summer). I know some people prefer dry-wick shirts when they'll be sweating, but I'm not a huge sweater, so a more expensive item seemed unnecessary. These shirts are also perfect for packing because they are quite small when all rolled up.

Now I almost exclusively wear these shirts for working out, but I also like the fact that if I am going to the gym and running errands, I can still look semi-presentable in these cute tanks. One piece of advice: wash these on the gentle cycle. The material is somewhat thin, so treat carefully to make them last.

And now, a view of our cross country trip through the eyes of these tank tops!

In Colorado, getting ready to tackle Gray's Peak. Or actually, in my case, semi-tackle Gray's Peak, because I faced my one and only case of altitude sickness on this hike and didn't make it all the way up. I blame it on being from the east coast.

In Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado.

In Arches National Park, Utah.

In Canyonlands National Park, Utah.

In Sequoia National Park, California. (I'm super tiny! See if you can spot the tank top!)

In Sedona, Arizona, during a stop on the Pink Jeep Tour. (See, there's the white tank top, a few months before it officially died.)

In the Grand Canyon! (Arizona)

In Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico.

And if you're ever thinking about taking a cross country trip and you want any of our advice, let me know. Matt and I drove over 8,000 miles in one month, taking the northern route out west and the southern route back east, visiting Chicago; Denver; Moab, Utah (Arches); Yosemite; Sequoia; L.A.; Sedona, Arizona; Grand Canyon; Santa Fe; with a few other small stops along the way. We stayed in inexpensive hotels or with friends, mostly visited parks, and ate some awesome food. We also listened to at least a dozen books on CD while driving, a perfect way to pass the time.

Next up...brown flip flops!

Inside my closet day 4: Buying expensive jeans

In the fall I bit the bullet and bought really, really expensive jeans. I know in the world of fashionable people this is normal, but for me this was an amazingly huge step. I went to Nordstrom and fell in love, and I never turned back.

Favorite clothing item #4: Citizens of Humanity jeans

Investment jean #1: Citizens of Humanity Ingrid Low-Rise Flare Leg in Pacific Ocean color. I bought these at Nordstrom in the fall for a whopping in $149. I know, I nearly had a heart attack too, but these jeans are honestly two to three times better than any jean I've ever owned, so I suppose there is a lot of value there (or so I tell myself).

My friend Lindsay recommended these jeans because they have a tiny bit of spandex in them which makes them a little more forgiving than other jeans, such as Sevens, that I had tried on in the past. If, like me up until a few months ago, you have never tried on designer jeans, be prepared for them to be comically long when you first slip them on. I got them tailored for free at Nordstrom to fit me perfectly when I'm wearing heels, my usual shoe of choice in the winter thanks to my boots.

Tip: The girl at Nordstrom who was helping me with my first purchase suggested that I take my jeans home, wash and dry them before bringing them back in to get tailored. I'm glad I did this, because the tailoring worked out perfectly.

Investment jean #2: Citizens of Humanity Dita Petite Bootcut in Angel color, that I purchased last weekend at Nordstrom for way too much money than I care to admit...OK, $172. That's right -- really expensive, and petite. And they are pretty great. They are a slightly lighter weight material than my longer jeans, and they have more variation in color throughout the jean.

You may have noticed from other posts that I am not a huge fan of tailoring. I hate waiting and paying extra, even though I am aware the pay off can be worth it. I love buying petite lengths if they actually fit me appropriately. So far I have decided that these jeans do not need tailoring. I specifically bought these to wear with flats, my spring and summer shoes of choice. When I wear them with flats with any small amount of lift off the floor they are perfect, because I really do not want them to touch the ground and fray. The jury is out on whether I can wear them with flip flops, but even if I cannot I think I will probably stick with my no-tailoring plan.

Before these jeans all my jeans came from Old Navy, Gap, JCrew outlet or one pair of skinny jeans I got at Ann Taylor Loft (that I exclusively wear with flat boots that I affectionately call my "Peter Pan boots"). I still have three other jeans in rotation: a pair from Gap that I wear for really casual events; the skinny jeans from Loft, that are suited for winter; and a pair of really old Gap jeans that are good for yard work. I used to love the Hipslung short jeans from JCrew that I bought at an outlet, but they got a giant hole in them after only about two years of wear (and I like to wear my jeans for years). I patched those jeans on four separate occasions, and then I finally got the message.

Other favorite jean items that are really inexpensive (and old!):

My jean jacket from Old Navy that I bought in at least 2003. Here are Matt and I in May 2005, two years after college graduation back in Charlottesville enjoying an amazing brunch at the Boar's Head.

My short jean skirt, also from Old Navy, that I bought in at least 2005. Here I am enjoying the last sunset of our honeymoon in Maui in August 2006 (I cropped Matt out because he was topless and I don't want you to get too excited).

So whether they are splurges or more thrifty purchases, my jeans are some of my most favorite items that withstand constant wear.

Next up....inside my closet week continues after a brief stop back in the kitchen to learn about the backsplash project progress.

Inside my closet day 2: Yoga pants!

Before I begin today's post, let me say that Matt is really busy this week at work, and although he is normally an avid reader of my blog, as of this evening he still hasn't read yesterday's post. Here's the exchange we just had:

me: "Matt, can I interrupt your paper grading for a second to ask you to take a couple photos of me wearing these pants?"

Matt: "Why?"

me: "Because it's my favorite clothing week on my blog, and these pants are the subject of my second post."

Matt: "What was your first clothing post about?"

me: "My slippers."

Matt: "Did you write about how you might as well wrap your feet in $50 bills?"

And then he gave me this look, with an oh-so-subtle eye roll. Did I mention he is...frugal?:

Now, on to today's post...
If you're like me, you like to get home from work and put on something totally comfortable. And, if you're like me and you're looking for something that you feel is more flattering and ever-so-slightly more formal than sweatpants, you probably jumped on the yoga pants bandwagon about a decade ago.

In these 10 years I have owned four pairs of yoga pants, three of which are still in my current rotation. My first pair, which might hardly count as yoga pants at all, came from Victoria's Secret when I was just starting college and I wore those until they basically disintegrated. My other two pairs came from Old Navy at least seven or more years ago, and they are still going strong. They're a little long and can get a little warm, so I found something even better, a yoga-esque pant, another favorite item in my closet.

Favorite item #2: C9 by Champion fitted cardio pants (with extended sizes) in petite.

I am 5'4", I am pretty trim, and I have an out-of-proportion waist-to-hip ratio (I have a big butt). I am right on the border between petite and regular pant sizes. Sometimes petite is way too short, but usually regular length is way too long. This makes often makes purchasing pants difficult. I'm not complaining; I am confident about the way I look and comfortable in my body, but, no doubt like you, I can only wear select styles.

These pants are it.

And these pants were cheap. I got them on sale at Target last fall for $16.99, but even full price they only cost $24.99 currently at Target.

Here's why I love these pants:
1) They are the perfect length for me. I wear them to work out in the fall and winter, but I also wear them around the house pretty much all the time. When I wear these pants barefoot or with my slippers, I don't worry about tripping over them or fraying the bottoms.

They are right length for wearing with athletic shoes, when I don't want to trip over my pants...

And they are even better with my socks, because let's face it, I am more likely hanging out than working out...

2) The waist band has some weird netting that helps smooth out any little tummy you may have (but these are not Spanx and they will not smooth out anything of significance).

3) The Duo-Dry material, while futuristic, is still nice for working out and not as restrictive as my regular cotton pants. The pants are 86% polyester and 12% spandex (and I assume the unnamed additional 2% material is love).

4) They hit my waist at just the right spot, a couple inches below my belly button, but not so low that I ever feel indecent.

5) They are just generally form flattering.

6) They were really inexpensive when I bought them, and even when purchased at full price they are still quite reasonable.

I also think it's a little deceiving that Target's online description calls these pants "straight ankle length." They are not flare, and maybe they are not all-out boot cut (though Target does sell plenty of those) but these have a little extra material around the ankle which makes them appealing. These pants do pick up dog hair quite easily, though, but I have plenty of lint rollers hanging out in different parts of our house.

This is one clothing purchase that did not cause Matt to roll his eyes...

Great Target find

OK, I know it's a bit ironic that I just posted about not spending money, but today we made a wonderful purchase that has helped bring together an entire room...so I can't resist.

When we first moved into our house a friend generously donated some furniture which included a small end table/bookcase (we used it as the latter). It sat in our dining room, which is also essentially part of our kitchen, as our place to house cookbooks (and the famous recipe notebook) as well as our mail organizer and Matt's guy-pocket-emptying space (more on that later). Then it started falling apart.

Here's the entire bookcase, serving its multiple organizational purposes:

And here's a close up of the wear and tear it has taken over the years (safety hazard!):

We've been in the market for a new bookcase for a while, but everything we found was either the wrong size, the wrong color, or the wrong price. Then I found this lovely piece of furniture in Sunday's Target circular for $55. We went for the two-shelf bookcase in espresso. It's closest in size to our original bookcase and we're happy with that, but the rest of the dining room has dark wood furniture, so we needed a new color.

When we got home (first trip since the snow hit!) Matt asked if I wanted his help assembling the furniture. I said no. Furniture assembling is not good for any marriage, ours included. There should be a reality show called "IKEA Hell" where the couple who is able to assemble the greatest number of pieces of furniture without filing for divorce wins a million dollars...I digress.

Two hours later, I had my beauty. It has really changed the whole space.

View from (slightly) above:

Mr. Classy in his new environs:

By having the mail organizer on an inside shelf it actually hides the organizer a little, which I like. And, you'll notice the little container is still on top of the bookcase. That one, while not beautiful, is non-negotiable because it's the guy-pocket-emptying space I mentioned earlier. Before I made that little purchase early in our marriage, Matt would come home and take all the contents of his pockets and put them on the kitchen counter. It got old fast. So I created this little space to be his cubby.

Now I need to get those shelves to match the bookcase, but that's a project for another (snow) day.

Snow day find: Pier 1 lamp

On Friday as the first flakes were falling, Matt and I drove down the street to Pier 1 Imports to check out their lamp sale. Even though the sales associates didn't seem thrilled at the prospect of working that day (especially after Matt's cheerful "Thank you for being open today!" greeting as we walked in the store), I'm happy we went. We found this great lamp for $30 to brighten up a dark corner of our living room -- and to encourage more reading and less TV watching!

Here's our before shot of our lamp-less living room:

And here's the after, with our new lamp:

Tip 15: Craigslist

It's a snow day, and the perfect time for a team blog! Matt will be cowriting with me today because in our house he is really the king of Craigslist. Often I will say I'd like to buy something, and then Matt looks on Craiglist, and by that afternoon, we are the proud owners of a new...well, more on what we've found later. How does Craigslist relate to organization? Because...

Tip 15: Craigslist will help you find what you're looking for if you're willing to give it time.

Craigslist is a great place to:

1. Save money.

2. Save resources by repurchasing gently used items.

3. Get rid of items you no longer need.


Craigslist is not a great place to:

1. Save time. It requires patience to go through all those posts until you find exactly what you're looking for,  just like any type of consignment shopping. And, while I personally don't care about the way to Web site is set up, here's an interesting article from Wired titled Why Craigslist is Such a Mess.

2. Avoid annoying people. Yes, there are people there out to scam you, so you have to stay vigilant. Only accept cash when selling an item, and be ready to pay in cash for anything you plan to purchase. Meet people whenever possible in neutral, public locations (we've made many a Craigslist transaction across the street from our house in the Wegmans parking lot). Also, people will send you an e-mail saying they're interested in the item, but then they won't follow up with you, or they might say they're going to come by to pick something up, and they'll never show up. When we sell items, we sell to the first person who will pick it up.


Here's what we've found for free on Craigslist:

1.This Pottery Barn sofa

2. and this matching loveseat. All the pillows were separate purchases from World Market and Pier 1 Imports. This sofa-loveseat combo freebie also came with a TV, but now that we have two plasma TVs, the free guy is sitting in Matt's parents' basement.

3. These JBL surround sound speakers (five speakers plus a subwoofer). The funny story behind this freebie is that the person who posted it on Craigslist wrote that his wife was going to divorce him if he didn't get these speakers out their basement that day. We were happy to save a marriage.

4. This mattress, box spring and bed frame. The quilt is from Bed Bath and Beyond. Disclaimer: I know people, myself included, can be weirded out by someone else's mattress, but this one came from a mansion in McLean, Va., so I didn't find it questionable (and, if you're not willing to sleep in a bed others have slept in, you probably shouldn't stay in a hotel).

5. My roommate Christine (best find ever!)

Here are things we bought in great condition and at significantly reduced prices on Craigslist:

(Note: We've been buying items from Craigslist since 2003, so all prices listed here reflect the retail price at the time of purchase and the actual amount we paid at the time.)


1. This Dyson vacuum cleaner. Retail price: $500. Our price: $200. Its original owner had it for less than six months, and he still had the original receipt to prove it. Apparently he is obsessed with vacuum cleaners and upgrades at least once a year. And I thought I was a neat freak!

2. This Canon PowerShot camera. Retail price: $250 (at the time of purchase). Our price: $150. Actually, this is the second one of these that we've gotten. The first one fell through a hole in Matt's pocket, never to be seen again.

3. This IKEA TV stand. Retail price: ~$70. Our price: $30. IKEA no longer appears to sell this item. DIY (do-it-yourself) idea: I was getting annoyed with seeing our collection of DVDs, our DVR and our wireless router through the windows in this TV stand, so I taped two pieces of parchment paper inside the windows...and presto! No more clutter.

Below, detail work.

And, below, a view of the parchment paper from the inside, plus Doc, who insisted on getting in the photo shoot.

4. Mario Kart for Wii, plus one car wheel, in its original packaging. Retail price: $50. Our price: $40. Apparently a father bought this for his daughter, and she decided after playing it once that she did not like it.

 
5. This Weber gas grill. Retail price: $700 (in 2005). Our price: $100.

 6. This Samsung black laser printer, plus a full toner cartridge and packet of paper. Retail price for printer: $60 (approximately, via amazon). Retail price for toner: $25. Our price for all three items: $30

7. Apple Airport Express Retail price: $100. Our price: $20.

8. An Apple Powerbook. Retail price: $2000 (in 2003). Our price: $1400 (in 2003). It has since been resold on Craigslist.

Here are things we have successfully sold on Craiglist:
1. Several cell phones, most recently our old Samsung phones for $50 each.
2. The Apple Powerbook, that was barely functioning, that someone still wanted for $50.
3. A couple digital cameras (we had decided to upgrade...twice).
4. Old stereo speakers.
5. A film SLR camera for $100 (to help fund the purchase of a new Canon Digital Rebel Xti).
6. Lots of books, which we gave away for free.

Craigslist fail:
Craigslist doesn't always work out. We tried selling our Hoover Windtunnel vacuum cleaner that was just a couple years old, but no one bit. So, we donated it to Matt's parents. Also, despite constant Craigslist posts (among countless other methods of searching) we never found that lost dog Shelby. So as to not end on a sad note, nine months after Shelby's disappearance be adopted adorable, loving Doc.

Next up...why you should get a Droid.