Yes, again. It’s a yearly thing. It’s a tradition. Since I moved to Portland, and since Dave and I have been together, we have moved five times. This will be our sixth move. In five years. We have never renewed a lease. I realize this sounds exhausting and maybe a little silly. Isn’t moving a [...]
You Can Buy Happiness (And It’s Cheap)
December 17, 2012 By 2 Comments
This is a review of our lovely friend Tammy’s book You Can By Happiness (And It’s Cheap). This book has been out for a few months and I’m sort of late writing this review. But trust me, I do think you should go out and get this book, especially in this season of culturally-enforced consumerist [...]
Avoiding Tacky Plastic Baby Toys: Making A Homemade Baby Gym
October 30, 2012 By 15 Comments
For the past two or three years, Dave and I have spent a lot of time downsizing and getting rid of stuff we don’t need. I’ve written about this quite a bit. Part of our plan to stay downsized was to avoid buying more stuff. It seems obvious, right? Get rid of crap. Then, don’t [...]
Okay, So, I Hate Shopping
April 24, 2012 By 7 Comments
We’re back in Portland. We have a new apartment. And every time we move, I have the urge to nest a bit. With twins on the way, my urge to nest is perhaps a bit stronger than usual. We actually haven’t thought too much about baby stuff yet. I’ve been blocking it out, actually. Since [...]
Stuff Is Nice
December 20, 2011 By 3 Comments
We have spent the past few years downsizing. We got rid of a lot of our “stuff” because we seem to move around a lot, and it is a pain in the ass to pack and haul extra crap we don’t need. We also got rid of our stuff because we wanted to live in [...]
Downsizing Regrets
September 29, 2011 By 6 Comments
About a year and a half ago, we decided we had too much stuff. It wasn’t important stuff. It wasn’t stuff we liked. It was just stuff we were carrying around. Some of it was old. Some of it was from thoughtless purchases. Some of it was stuff we didn’t really use, but kept around [...]
How I Reduced My iPhone Bill to Under $30 A Month (And Maybe Less)
September 15, 2011 By 32 Comments
Please note: In April of 2012, AT&T changed their goPhone plans to require smart phone data plan users to buy a minimum of $25 minutes per month. I certainly don’t need that many minutes, and it’s obnoxious to have to pay for something I’m not really going to use. But paying the $25 a month [...]
Okay, So, Wow That Sucked
September 12, 2011 By 5 Comments
I spent the past week or so trying to figure out how best to move this blog from one host to another. There are some pretty straightforward tools, and if everything had worked perfectly, it would have been no sweat. It’s not brain surgery. There should have been sparkles and flowers and bunnies waiting for [...]
The Battle of Impulse Purchases: Sucky Pillow Edition
July 27, 2011 By 2 Comments
I have a pillow thing. I wrote about my pillow thing long ago. I wanted a pillow for my dainty head that wasn’t too soft, or wasn’t too firm, and didn’t give me headaches or neck kinks. I had a coupon for a big box home store, and I drove out to the goddamn suburbs [...]
Getting Rid Of My Books Was The Best Idea Ever
July 13, 2011 By 13 Comments
Towards the end of 2010, we hit the downsizing hard. With the anticipation of moving into a much smaller apartment, we reached new levels of ruthlessness when it came to our “stuff.” We got rid of furniture, kitchen gadgets, clothes and other “stuff.” It’s both agonizing and electrifying to shed belongings. I spent a lot [...]
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