Frugal? Don't Apologize

How often I hear an apologetic or guilty tone invoked when uttering the words, "I'm frugal." Do people who live beyond their means and spend lavishly do this? Say it boldly, world, "I'm frugal." That doesn't mean don't travel, don't dine out, don't shop ever. I may dine out, but I'll bring my reusable takeout containers for leftovers (to cut down on packaging waste, but also food waste, which is essentially financial waste), and I may order water with lemon as a beverage to cut down the bill. I will travel, but will look for inexpensive accommodations that offer breakfast to take care of one of my daily meals.

Frugality to me is about not wasting, using what you have as much as possible, and being respectful of your hard earned money. It is an undervalued virtue. Save for winning the lottery or discovering a long lost Great Uncle Hans in Switzerland has bequeathed me a fortune, I don't think I'll ever have a large bank account. Having known what it's like to be unemployed, I take money matters very seriously. Even if I had a lot of money, I'd still enjoy frugal living.

Here are some frugal delights I've been savoring as of late:

Holiday entertainment from the library: books, magazines, CD's, films. Favorite films to watch each year: Elf, Home Alone, White Christmas, and though not technically a holiday film, The Sound of Music. Like Julie Andrews, one of "My Favorite Things" too is "silver white winters that melt into springs."

Writing Christmas cards while listening to holiday music. I picked up an assortment of cards from the C.A.T.S Resale Shop, for just 10 cents each.

Candles, 20 cents each, also from C.A.T.S. Resale. I adore candles, especially in fall and winter, and acquire most of them through thrift shops.

Cozy dinners at home - this one mushroom gnocchi. The pretty blue plate? Thrifted, of course.

Home baked goodies from the church bake sale: brownies to share, 25 cents each, raspberry jam, $4, I passed on to someone who will love it, and granola, $3. Check out Cate's Homemade Gifts on Liberal Simplicities.

Taking in holiday lights. We haven't had a good snow in northern New Jersey yet for a real snowman, but this cheerful lit up version greeted me on a brisk night's walk.

Our new freecycle shelf at work, which I started next to the book swap my co-worker started. Someone left this EO rose and chamomile scented lotion (a $9 value), which I immediately scooped up.

In January, I'll be co-hosting a winter clothing swap at work (I'm a proud frugalista), and we'll be including unwanted holiday gifts to give them a happy, grateful home, and for some frugal fun when everyone's credit card bills will be arriving.

Don't feel deprived - feel emboldened by frugal living.

Fashion Whys?

* Why do so many people buy (literally and figuratively) into "they" (who are they?) telling us what the "must haves" are this season and we should purchase the latest "trend" (but don't wear it next year, you'll be out of style!) If something is a "must have" perhaps "they" should send us all one - for free.
* Why should we drool over and purchase expensive fashion way beyond our means. No matter how much I love an article of clothing, I'll inevitably tire of it or no longer fit into it and pass it on. How many $100 skirts and tops did I used to buy at Anthropologie, seduced by catalogues of women basking in a French farmhouse or in a field? How I wish I had the cash instead. Those purchases were frivolous looking back, not a "splurge" or "treating myself" - my old way of thinking.
* Similarly, that if a celebrity is wearing something, you should go out and get it too. I hear all the time in the vegan community that an expensive coat or shoes have been worn by vegans such as Emily Deschanel, Alicia Silverstone and Natalie Portman so we should be coveting them. I understand the marketing value in our celebrity obsessed culture, however, I DO NOT have their bank account, nor do the majority of women.
* Why do we think that just because something markets itself as "eco-friendly" it must be. Are "natural" food products all really "natural?" A colleague who works in marketing expressed his view that Americans cannot tie themselves to a social movement (we were talking about the environmental cause) unless consumerism is attached. We definitely want to support companies that reflect our values, but we need to do our homework or it's buyer beware.
For instance, bamboo is still regularly promoted on environmentally minded blogs, but the FTC has issued numerous advisories on it (such as this one).
* Why should people interested incorporating veganism more into their life get rid of perfectly good non-vegan items in their closets that were purchased before becoming interested in animal welfare? I still have non-vegan items in my household I bought years ago, and use them unapologetically. I will even acquire non-vegan items second hand through swaps and thrift. I don't let any activist shame me for my decisions or let them try to micromanage my life.
*Why does the label affixed to the clothing or accessory have such an impact on how we view it? How much of it is psychological? Recall the I Love Lucy story of Lucy, Ethel and those "Jacques Marcel" dresses. While browsing at a consignment shop, two women were shopping and one announced the label of every item of clothing she picked up from the rack. Even once declaring, "Made in Italy!"

One major source of clothing for me now: seasonal clothing swaps I co-organize with two lovely co-workers. Leftovers went to charitable thrift shops, including New York City's Housing Works, and the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop in Weswood, New Jersey.

We provide light refreshments during the lunch hour swaps from wallet and vegan-friendly Trader Joe's. For fall: olive hummus and reduced guilt pita chips; pomegranate sparkling cider and spiced apple cider, maple leaf and snickerdoodle cookies, and apples.

Here are some of my finds.

I recently saw vegan sweaters touted on a popular vegan fashion blog. The cheapest one: $150. My "new" Heather B vegan sweater for fall/winter, free.


A cotton Old Navy skirt. Loved the autumn-inspired leaf pattern, and the whimsical pink trim.

The cheerful polka-dot shoes from Nine West, never worn; a black cotton cardigan, American Eagle Outfitters, and a Janette John 3:16 cotton dress that someone brought back from the last swap since it didn't fit her. I'm wearing the dress in fall with boots, leggings and a cardigan, and will pair it with ballet flats in spring and summer.

Lest you think I'm immune to the label lunacy: I confess this story to be true. This top was put out as a "preview" item early the day of the swap to advertise. No one claimed it before or during the swap, until my coworker who brought it in said, "You should take it, it's from Anthropologie." Suddenly, it was more attractive. I did take it, and have worn it with a long sleeve white Banana Republic swap shirt underneath. It goes perfectly with my Old Navy skirt.

Consider hosting a swap of your own for frugal fun everyone can enjoy in today's economic climate. Swap with friends, co-workers, family members - anyone! Include beauty products, gift items like candles and frames, and accessories so everyone can find something if there's an excess of one size. Donate the leftovers to a charitable shop (find one through TheThriftShopper.com).

This female blogger's "in's": financial empowerment, embracing your own sense of style, a closet (and household) filled with only items you truly are using and love, and independent thinking. Out: uniform thinking, living beyond our means, trends and "must have's."

Weekend Rating? An "A"

Remember this planter from December? It was destined for a landfill. It is now filled with pansies from Old Hook Farm. One of many springtime weekend delights.


A dinner of a veggie burger with sauteed mushrooms and mesclun salad at my favorite Irish pub, PJ Finnegan's.



Followed by Friday night with Jamie. Follow the Food Revolution. I loved when he pointed out: carb, carb, protein, where are the veggies? Vegans and vegetarians are often asked where their protein comes from, but I often wonder about people's fruit and vegetable intake. And thank you Jamie, French fries as a vegetable? No.

Saturday thrifting...

I asked the thrift universe for a dress for an upcoming dinner dance I'm attending, and it delivered. A pleated Laundry dress, $22, from Revived Attire, a lovely consignment shop in Hillsdale, NJ.

I found a similar Laundry dress online, which was "on sale" for $240 from its $300 price. I think I got the better deal.


I admired this sweet little sailor dress, just $11. It was a small, not my size. I have too many dresses anyway!

I didn't try this on, $35. But how cute would this be on a hot August night with some strappy sandals?

Cute shoes! Just, $11, and vegan. Many people won't even consider second-hand shoes, but I don't have any qualms about it. Scarier to me? That people eat meat daily, many at every meal, from animals raised in factory farms.


I popped by C.A.T.S. Resale Shop to make a donation. I couldn't resist picking up a set of four little blue plates made in England, a steal at just $5 total. These types of plates bring me back to my childhood visiting my grandparents in Switzerland.



Outdoor reading weather is here! All their paperbacks are just 50 cents.

Much like my eyes are sometimes bigger than my stomach, my reading roster is pretty lofty. I can always pass it on to the book swap if I can't get to it.


Date night with my sweetie. We've been eating in - a lot. So we headed to Jersey Boys Grill, a local family restaurant. I love their thin crust grilled vegetable pizza, hold the cheese, $9.95.

We took an invigorating four-mile walk in sunny, mild weather. Spot the deer?

And of course, Easter. Isn't this crocheted chick adorable? A classmate in French brought them in for our class. I love random acts of kindness.


Vegan offerings on the Easter menu: Red leaf salad with beets, puff pastry shells with portabella mushrooms and tofu, and grilled asparagus and red peppers. To finish...

Strawberry rhubarb pie from Old Hook Farm. No dairy in my chick creamer - it's filled with Trader Joe's soy creamer.


I like to savor not just the weekends, but little joys each day. Check out Angela's "Continuous Small Treats" for a happy life on My Year Without Spending.

It's a Wonderful Thrifted Life

Why were there light refreshments at the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop?


It was VIP night!

Yes, I'm quite proud to say I'm a VIP - to a thrift store. After a great sale all week (winter clothes were just $1), the spring fashions were ready to make their debut.

Kind of like Goldilocks, I tried out different fits, of dresses, that is.

This dress was too small (would have been so cute on a summer picnic).


This dress was too big. I love that peacock print, and it still had the original tags on it.

This dress fit just right. I like to call this Bobby Bee creation my Marilyn dress. For thrift, a splurge at $17. I'll pair it with the white Kasper sweater, $3.

Other finds: Gap floral skirt, $8, a lemon Passport top, $6.

A white Newport News cotton top, $3, which I'll wear under this olive Mark (an Avon brand) dress, $5.

Hippieish Rue 21 top, $7.

Cream colored bag, $5, necklaces, about $4 each.

For my standards, this was a major shopping spree. But it was to benefit homeless animals, and I'm getting ready to donate my own unwanted spring clothes to our next clothing swap at work and to the C.A.T.S. shop. Metro reported on the clothing swap fever.

All these items pictured are vegan, by the way.

And the grand total was: $62, for 10 items. I could not buy one full price skirt at Anthropologie for that amount.

I no longer desire expensive fashion, nor do I care about labels. I'm just listing them in case you're curious. I think of the I Love Lucy episode when Lucy and Ethel are in Paris and are coveting a dress from the fictional designer Jacques Marcel. Ricky and Fred play a joke on them and present them with phony Jacques Marcel outfits made out of a potato sack and a horse's feed bag. Thinking they are the real deal, Lucy and Ethel adore them. When they find out they're fraud, they burn them. Unfortunately, Jacques Marcel and his models had spotted Lucy and Ethel at a cafe, and copied the outfits. As soon as the ladies find this out, they suddenly regret burning them. Moral of the story: labels and brand names are largely driven by psychology and perceptions.

Spared from the Landfill, a Second Life

An update to Disposable Nation, a Photo Essay.

Most of the books are now at the book swap organized by a co-worker. I kept a few. Jack Kerouac's "On the Road" is now in my reading queue. So is "Little Children" and "The Memory Keeper's Daughter."

In addition to a few of my own shirts, I donated the new martini glass/tray set to the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop. It was lovely, but I already have martini glasses that I use for desserts.

Among the items we found destined for the landfill were a large and small laundry basket. I filled them with the now fresh, clean baby and boys clothes I found along with some toys and brought them to Our Thrift Shop in Westwood. I held on to just a few of the warm fleece items and a Halloween baby nightgown and will donate those in the fall. Remember when donating to small shops to donate what you would be shopping for. Fall/Winter items aren't in demand.



They also accepted the baby car seat. One of the volunteers had a navy stroller-like concoction with no seat, so she hopes this will fit it perfectly.



Our Thrift Shop benefits a local art school in Demarest. But shops like this benefit so much more. The community, which can buy things for a fraction of the cost of traditional retail. And the Earth. All of the items are spared from the landfill and no new production is needed.

Spotted outside the shop. I'm glad the parent of this bike's driver decided to donate it after use. Check out the streamers! The park this weekend was filled with enthusiastic young drivers.

No need to go to a craft shop, Marshall's or other retailer for seasonal fare. Thrift shops are brimming with Easter and spring decorations. Great bargains are to be found, and charities to benefit.

What a precious bunny. Can you imagine if everyone's stuffed animals were thrown out? Just put in a pillow case, wash in hot water, dry and it's ready for endless snuggling for a new guardian to enjoy.

And the move toward a reusable nation continues.

J'adore...

David Lebovitz's take on French napkins. Disposable? Jamais. He also offers Tips for Vegetarian Dining in Paris.

...the Ultimate Money Blog's column, Frugal French habits You can Try at Home. I'm a big advocate walking, paying with cash and not credit, and many other things mentioned, so I'm off to a French and frugal start.

...stumbling across little French-themed books at the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop for my nightstand. "Je fais un somme, donc je suis." I nap, therefore I am.


...stealing away a few moments for myself at my favorite French cafe, Macaron, with a soy coffee, $2.25 and flipping through their collection of French magazines like Elle and Paris Match. I don't understand most of what's in them still, but I'm having fun trying...

...how much better tap water tastes out of a cheerful pitcher. Instead of lemon, add slices of orange for a refreshing change, like they did at Macaron. In my opinion, how 'good' water tastes is often psychological.

...rainy evenings. Perfect excuse to get under a blanket, put on the comfy clothes, and watch dvd's from the library. I cannot wait to watch Food Beware, The French Organic Food Revolution.


...the feeling I have after sitting down to savor delicious, wholesome food (versus mindless eating). When walking down a New York City sidewalk with my friend, I pondered, is it possible to be in love with food? In Babette's Feast, one of my favorite films (non-vegetarian feast aside), a character talked about a chef who "Had the ability to transform dinner into a kind of love affair. A love affair that made no distinction between bodily appetite and spiritual appetite." Food fuels the body, but what you eat, and how you eat it, nourishes the soul. When I have a good meal, I'm tempted to do a happy dance just like my family's rescue dog does after he's eaten his.

...remembering sunny, warmer days: sunflowers from Old Hook Farm in the summertime.

Bon week-end tout le monde!

Winter on the Calendar, Springtime in My Heart

People, and dogs, went without their winter coats at the park. The first picnic lunches were had. The playgrounds were packed. Sleds were left at home. Robins were spotted. Spring is indeed coming.

Snowdrops peeking out of the ground at my parents house.



No Alice in Wonderland movie for me...yet. But I did have a tea party for two: me and my mother, at Harmony Tea Room in Westwood, NJ.



I had the Singulari tea special: soup or salad with a pot of tea, $8.95.

My black tea: Icewine, with notes of pear, and a touch of berry and caramel.

African chickpea soup. This was so good. The ingredients, simple and wholesome: chickpeas, diced tomatoes, peanut butter, fresh spinach and a hint of cayenne pepper. Make it at home.


Tea time, and warmer seasons, were on my mind when thrifting at the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop. Hydrangea cake plate, $6, cheerful blue coffee mugs, 50 cents each, and blueberry print tea pot, $3. One of the mugs has a crack on it, so I'll repurpose it as a planter.

My usual weekday breakfast fare is something like Trader Joe's organic corn flakes with almond 'milk', so on the weekends, something special: vegetarian zucchini bread from Old Hook Farm with fresh fruit for Sunday breakfast. Veganize zucchini bread at home. I thrifted the daisy plates (six for $3), from Westwood's Our Thrift Shop, which benefits a local art school.

I couldn't resist a bunch of daffodils, $1.49, from Trader Joe's. Perfect in a lovely Irish vase.

Happy (Soon-to-Be) Spring!

A Lone Veg Presence in a Sea of French Chefs

French class is about to start after a nearly three month break (a lifetime when trying to study a language when you have a full time job and many other hobbies). In any event, all things French are on my mind: food, music, film and so on.

Flashback to a black tie French dinner I attend every year with my boyfriend, who is a chef with a fine French dining background. Last year's event was at the Ritz-Carlton New York, Battery Park. This is a far cry from our usual weekend nights of a pizza or bowl of pasta and a DVD from the library.

Whether eating vegetarian or vegan, I'm never impressed with what the kitchen comes up with at these types of functions just because it is so uninspired. I can almost predict the green salad, steamed vegetables and sorbet I'll get before I even sit down.

On the menu:
Poached White Asparagus
Herb Mousseline and Petite Salad
Vegan: The same, without the mousseline. Needed a drizzle of olive oil. Photo too fuzzy/dark: project four white asparagus with a small salad.

Butter Poached Lobster
Fava Beans, Sweet Breads, and Lobster Tarragon Sauce
Vegan: Green Salad. I hate to say I told you so.


Braised Short Rib
Polenta, Fiddlehead Ferns, Artichokes, Baby Carrots and Zinfandel Sauce
Vegan: Fiddlehead Ferns, Artichokes, Baby Carrots. Expected.


A cheese course is typical after the entree in many French meals. Tête de Moine (a Swiss varietal), Quince Puree and Port Wine Reduction arrived. A fresh fruit platter usually comes here. I didn't have any cheese that night, but I will be honest: I don't have the willpower I did initially turning down cheese in communal situations.

Molten Chocolate Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream
Vegan: Sorbet, mango and grapefruit.

Petits Fours ended the meal. I couldn't resist a dark chocolate.

I'm used to being the only one eating vegan or vegetarian in such situations. I don't think my food made anyone's mouth water.

They didn't have my favorite French cocktail, kir royale, which is champagne with crème de cassis (a blackcurrant liqueur). But I did dance cheek to cheek with my sweetheart to La Vie en Rose (an Edith Piaf classic) in my vintage 1950's black dress from the C.A.T.S. Resale Shop, which was marked down to $7 due to barely noticeable discoloration on the bottom. Add to that my $4 heels from C.A.T.S, which just needed a quick $10 repair at my local cobbler, and off-white gloves from a now closed vintage shop. It was definitely a French-themed night at the Ritz: Vegan Good Life-style.