Thursday, January 10, 2008

Frugal Fridays -- Inaugural Edition

With all the lovely thrift & discount stores around me, it is really easy to find lots of good stuff. It is extremely too easy to bombard your cabinets with too much. Many of my favorite blogs are chattering about how to store things, how to keep from buying things and how to keep it all in check. I quickly realized that I have a couple of rules that tend to keep me out of trouble.

First, only buy what you love. Truly LOVE. This alone eliminates a lot of clutter from my home. If I have things I need, but do not truly love, I find that if I ask for items to replace them as gifts (yes, I make a wishlist for DH at several stores), then I can survive with fewer of these items. Instead of having 30 mismatched plastic cups, I realized that I can handle having only 12 glasses. So for Christmas, I received a set of 12 "pub style" glasses that replaced those with. This works in two ways. 1) I have less. 2) I have only things I love, so I don't feel like I need more.

Another thing is to have a theme or scheme. All of my dishes are either pink, black or plain white. The most of them are plain white, so that I can set the table for any theme with only plain white dishes. Your food pops off the plate better. You don't have to worry that white will not go with any sort of theme meal you might plan.

I highlight these things with pink & black, because you can add in black for a high-style look, or pink for a pretty look, or a combination of the 3 for a retro style.

Here is why I do it that way. If I had 6 different styles of dishes, I would need 6 times the amount to store them. Not only that, I would have to expend my money 6 different times. Uh…no thanks.

How do you keep down the kitchen clutter? For more frugal ideas, scoot on over to see Crystal for Frugal Friday.

7 comments:

Jasmine's Journey said...

About a year ago we decided to have just one set of dishes. We took all the old ones/sets out and just kept what we loved. Well then my aunt comes over and brought me her dishes she has had for 20 years or so! WOW. How can you get rid of those? lol

SO now we have two sets again. ;)

Little Natural Cottage said...

I, too, am a grand collector (it runs in the family) and have to be careful to keep from accumulating too much "stuff". To maintain an orderly and organized kitchen, I limit what I have to what I need (and regularly use) and then strive to keep everything "in it's place". Although I LOVE thrift stores, flea markets and garage sales, I'm careful not buy what I don't need or have room for, even if it's a good price.

Great post!

lizzykristine said...

Hi! Thanks for the tips and for sharing how you keep your clutter down. :) I am in an apartment, so the incentive to keep it simple is also just not having room!

That in mind, I bought only one set of dishes -- no crystal, etc -- from Correll that will do for all occasions.

To keep from accumulating lots of pyrex, spatulas, and gadgets, I'll put whatever doesn't seem necessary into a closet. If I haven't needed it by the end of six months, I send it to Goodwill or give it away. :)

Anonymous said...

Sorry for the off-topic question - but I'm wondering if you are the lady who said she paid $30/week on groceries and used to spend about $150/week?

If so, I'd love to read more of your thoughts!

Unknown said...

Yes, Lyn, it is me. Look under my tags for shopping, couponing and frugality for more ideas.

Frogdancer said...

I totally agree with the 'only buy what you love' idea. I use it not only with things for the house, but especially with clothes.

If you don't love it and feel good in it, you'll never wear it and it's a total waste of money.

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