Bonjour!
So my whole two-week birthday festivities are over. It was pretty legitimate as the young folks say. It was topped off with a wonderful co-birthday party (once again, cheap and fun alternative to going out to a bar), my girlfriend taking me out to Jersey Boys (amazing show) and I’m going home to Nova Scotia in late August for two weeks. (more…)
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What is frugality? To all of us here at SYR, its how we live our lives, whether we like it or not.
According to renowned feminist Wendy McElroy, frugality causes you to reverse the way you think about material things. So - what does this mean in this economy, to all of us recessionistas out there? Well, in this context, anything can be frugal - as long as it is resourceful and brings you closer to your goals.
Anyhow, the other day I was getting ready to head out to meet some friends for some cream sodas and I realized that I simply didn’t have any shoes that matched my ensemble. Oh no! I proclaimed, what to do?
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When I heard a while back that a ban was being lifted allowing people to once again let their clothes hang outside to dry, I thought “why in the world was it imposed in the first place?” Apparently, some geniuses believed that hanging clothing on your property is unsightly and brings down the value of the area . I think that associations with the slums we see so often in movies, where people hanging their unmentionables out on their balconies to dry because they were too poor to afford drying them at a buck seventy-five a load, has tainted our outlook on reality just a tad. While it may be true, not everyone can afford little luxuries like a dryer, so why the hell not? After all, you ARE paying for the place, n’est pas?
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Did you know that most store bought cleaning products are harmful to your health? (more…)
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You're just lucky the internet doesn't have 'Scratch & Sniff' yet
So there’s this garbage strike and I’m already starting to see the streets start to take on the putrid clutter of a medieval township. I was with my older sister (older siblings are great for buying you free things like coffee) on the patio of our local coffee shop, when I saw the public garbage bin positively overflowing with cups, bags and unmentionable things that were oozing.
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This past weekend I had the opportunity to attend the Eco Savvy Festival in Toronto. Often people consider being ‘green’ to be an expensive endeavour. Although most of us cannot afford to convert our houses to solar energy or to buy a hybrid car (or a car in general), there is a ton that you can do to save the environment and save money at the same time. Check out the video for some valuable and inexpensive ways to go green.
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Last night I watched Blue Gold: World Water Wars. It is an amazing film and I would encourage all of you to give it a gander.
The movie is about the world’s dwindling water supply. We are currently draining aquifers worldwide at an alarming rate – faster than the water can replenish itself.
Other critical worldwide issues such as global warming and AIDS are in the national consciousness a little bit more because they have reached a point, through the tireless work of many individuals and organizations, where the media covers them more in-depth. However, the global water crisis is potentially the greatest threat to our existence, and it still flies somewhat under the radar of the general public.
And when I say the greatest threat to our existence, that is not hyperbole. We need water to survive and we are running out of it, plain and simple. Many impoverished communities in the world already find themselves without water.
The commoditization of water has allowed for big businesses to make big profits from packaging and selling water to affluent Western countries while these impoverished countries go without.
The least we all can do is watch the film Blue Gold: World Water Wars. If you’re inspired after watching (and I honestly can’t fathom how you would not be), you can begin by taking baby steps like not buying bottled water.
It is important to remember that this is a tumultuous time in our planet’s history. While we are busy re-aligning our views on money and saving during this downturn, we should also be learning about the large issues that make the very concept of money seem irrelevant. Whenever I find myself losing perspective of what truly matters, I remember this Cree Indian prophecy:
Only after the last tree has been cut down,
Only after the last river has been poisoned,
Only after the last fish has been caught,
Only then will you find that money cannot be eaten.
If you guys have any other book, movie, or website suggestions to further educate ourselves on the world water crisis or any other issue, I would appreciate it big time.
Have a terrific Tuesday!
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Maybe it’s because I recently moved into a condo that’s roughly the same size as a space-saving washing machine, but I have a major fix on home decorating and furniture that I’ve been reading lately.
I love these tips from Greenzer, ’cause they’re all about creating an eco-chic living space and all the recos end up being cheaper than (my) Pottery Barn default alternatives.
Follow the tips, switch over to CFL’s, and you’ll have the same environmental footprint as you would living in a tree. Almost…
Greenzer’s Top Five Green Tips:
1. Go Minimal
2. Quality Counts
3. Play The Reclaim Game
4. Sustain It
5. Embrace The Already Embraced
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I just fell in love. She’s my everything. She is my dream woman. She’s the cutest person in the world, and her name is Clara Cannucciari. She’s a buzz-making rising star on the internet foodie circuit. All this, and she’s 93 years old.
This recession is no sweat for great-grandmother Clara. She’s been through all this before. For those of us who think switching from name-brand to store-brand is a lifestyle challenge, Clara has been through some really hard times. That’s right, the hard times that everyone keeps referencing during this current recession: The Great Depression. Clara’s seen it all. No lie.
Growing up in the 1930s, her family taught her how to eat for cheap. Whipping up Depression-era staples like “Poorman’s Breakfast” and “Cooked Bread” with that mix of kind sincerity and desire to feed people that grandmothers really make their specialty, her online cooking show, “Depression Cooking With Clara”, has blow up over the nets and recently landed Clara an appearance on Good Morning America. Updated through her own YouTube channel, the show is equal parts tales of the old days and affordable eats as Clara shows us how to cook and also reminds us to stay positive when times get tough with stories about how she survived the last big money-crunch.
With over 400,000 hits and hundreds of loving comments on her own Facebook Fan Page, Clara’s clearly doing something right. Plus, how many 93 year-olds do you know who’re dominating YouTube? It’s only a matter of time until she gets her own Twitter.
Clara’s about to take over the culinary-recession world, Martha Stewart styles. In the works are a DVD and cook book, both of which you can check out on her fan blog. Her recipe’s budgets might be small, but Clara is definitely big time.
Check out some episodes of “Depression Cooking With Clara” and fall in love with the lady herself:
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No matter what the economy is like, people will always need to travel. Weddings, job interviews, holiday visits, booty calls… we all need to get our asses from Point A to Point B sometimes. So when gas is expensive and airfare isn’t in your budget, how can you hit the road on the cheap?
PickupPal is like virtual hitch-hiking. This global rideshare program saves both the environment and your wallet by hooking up people who need a ride with people who want to give you a lift. Sign up is totally free and browsing their website (complete with handy, Google Maps interactive geo-positioning) is a breeze. If you’re offering some empty room in your vehicle, post your travel plans for potential passengers to check out. If you need to get somewhere and don’t have a ride, scope out the postings to see if you’ve got a travel-match. Drivers and riders can start to chat with each other through the site, offer some cash (or ask for some) if they want to, and possibly arrange to meet up before hand to make sure their personalities jive before getting into the car for a cross-continental road trip.
Wanna see how it works in action? Check out their video:
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