Barbara Shelly wrote an interesting column in today's Kansas City Star. "Enthusiasm For Talking Trash Can't Be Curbed" focuses mostly on Kansas City's two-bag rule for garbage. We don't have any such limits in Lenexa, Kan., though the subject has been brought up in recent months by Deffenbaugh, Lenexa's main trash service provider.
Anyway, Barb opens the column with this: "I'll admit it. I enjoy checking out my neighbors' garbage." She mentions how a nearby family of eight puts out one large bag each week, while a family of four would put out five to six bags, paying for stickers to cover the excess beyond the two allowable bags.
Like Barb, I'm more interested in my neighbors' trash habits than I probably should be. Most of our neighborhood seems to do pretty well with keeping trash to a minimum. And I'm seeing more and more folks putting out recycling bins each week.
I guess I see trash and recycling in the same way I see grocery savings…it's a sport. The less trash and more recycling I have, the better my score. So we've done the newspaper recycling thing forever and have added other recyclables as the years have progressed.
We stepped it up a notch this year and refrained from pitching any leaves during the fall. Instead, we mulched them up and started a pile in the backyard where Rachel gardens. So rather than tossing 6-12 bags of leaves to the curb each week during the fall, we've got a pile that's slowly turning to compost. It's been pretty fun to watch. I go out there and turn the pile once or twice a week and get to see the bottom of the pile decomposing just a bit more each time.
Our next step was the compost bin. We got one a few months ago and use it for banana peels, apple cores, shredded paper and the like. Again, cool thing to watch. We just toss stuff in there a few times a week, turn the bin and let nature take its course.
The landfills are filling up fast and the powers that be are going to make us start doing this kind of stuff sooner or later. I just figure we may as well get a head start.
Friday, February 20, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Reveling in my cheapskatedness
thrifty, adj. frugal, saving; sparing; economical; foresighted; provident.
I was a bit surprised to not see "cheapskate" in my thesaurus or dictionary. Instead, I found kind words, like those listed above. No one has ever directed those pleasant words at me. But I've most certainly been called a cheapskate, by no less a dignitary than my wife.
It's a label I wear with pride. That's not to suggest I'm "frugal" or "sparing" in all areas of my life. I simply choose to be "sparing" and "economical" in some areas to finance my interest in other areas.
Until recently, I did not take the time to quantify my "economical" methods. That changed on January 1. I resolved to keep a detailed monthly record of my favorite area of savings: groceries.
See, grocery shopping is like a sport to me. Much like a marathon, when it comes to shopping, I study, plan and execute to achieve specific goals. The grocery ads appear in Wednesday's newspaper and I lay them out like a general mapping a battlefield. I look for matches between my coupon collection and the weekly specials. On Saturday, I attack.
Yes, I'm the nerd who cuts coupons every Sunday. I'm the geek standing in the aisle, doing coupon math in his head. I'm the dork who hands the cashier a stack of coupons at checkout.
Ah, but the results of my quest...
During the month of January, I realized total grocery savings of $198.95. That's $83.75 in coupons and $115.20 in advertised specials.
Are there trade-offs? Absolutely. I purchase very few things that aren't on sale. (Milk and bananas are the only things that immediately come to mind.) So if chicken is what's on sale this week, chicken is what we're having. Hamburgers have to wait.
But that $198.95 pays for the annual newspaper subscription. Or two tickets to a Springsteen concert. Or an airline ticket. Or two pairs of running shoes. Or...well, you get the idea. In other words, don't pin the country's economic recovery hopes on me.
I was a bit surprised to not see "cheapskate" in my thesaurus or dictionary. Instead, I found kind words, like those listed above. No one has ever directed those pleasant words at me. But I've most certainly been called a cheapskate, by no less a dignitary than my wife.
It's a label I wear with pride. That's not to suggest I'm "frugal" or "sparing" in all areas of my life. I simply choose to be "sparing" and "economical" in some areas to finance my interest in other areas.
Until recently, I did not take the time to quantify my "economical" methods. That changed on January 1. I resolved to keep a detailed monthly record of my favorite area of savings: groceries.
See, grocery shopping is like a sport to me. Much like a marathon, when it comes to shopping, I study, plan and execute to achieve specific goals. The grocery ads appear in Wednesday's newspaper and I lay them out like a general mapping a battlefield. I look for matches between my coupon collection and the weekly specials. On Saturday, I attack.
Yes, I'm the nerd who cuts coupons every Sunday. I'm the geek standing in the aisle, doing coupon math in his head. I'm the dork who hands the cashier a stack of coupons at checkout.
Ah, but the results of my quest...
During the month of January, I realized total grocery savings of $198.95. That's $83.75 in coupons and $115.20 in advertised specials.
Are there trade-offs? Absolutely. I purchase very few things that aren't on sale. (Milk and bananas are the only things that immediately come to mind.) So if chicken is what's on sale this week, chicken is what we're having. Hamburgers have to wait.
But that $198.95 pays for the annual newspaper subscription. Or two tickets to a Springsteen concert. Or an airline ticket. Or two pairs of running shoes. Or...well, you get the idea. In other words, don't pin the country's economic recovery hopes on me.
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