The Threat of Christmas

Christmas is a joyous time, full of cheer. Carols, candy canes, fruitcake...all the good things of the winter season.

And then comes The Day. The day the things descend upon us: toys upon toys, games and books, clothing and shoes, you name it, there will be too much of it very very soon.

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A Hard Task: Selling Books

I've started selling the books. I had this grand plan to take all seventeen (17) boxes to Powell's books in Portland, which is one of my favourite bookstores. Then, I could get store credit at a place I enjoy going. Problem is, I don't live in Portland. I live 180 miles away.

So the boxes just sat. And sat. And sat. This weekend, I realized that had to change. I committed to bringing them to a local bookstore that sells new and used books, two or three boxes at a time. I took the first two boxes in today. They bought a few, not many, but still a few. I'm going to take those two boxes one other place and then they go to the library, where they'll be sold at the Friends of the Library booksale (most likely ... I doubt any would be added to the collection).

Trixie: Out of the Dark at Last

I couldn't wait, I unpacked my two boxes of vintage Trixie Belden books. I had aimed to have a full shelf clear without double stacking other shelves that were NOT already doubled. But, as I note above, I couldn't wait. I did cull almost a full box of books, but I just didn't have the emotional energy to do more than that. But my precious Trixies are out of the dark--they've been boxed up since, oh, about 1997.





In one of the boxes, I found a 3x5" file card box, filled with cards. What was on the cards, you ask? Take a look! Yes, that is what you think it is. Detailed indices of the contents of my VHS tape collection.

Hot Turkey

I went to a thrift store yesterday. I did go in with one item in mind (a jacket for Older Daughter); they didn't have any nice ones in her size, and what they did have was way overpriced ($14.99 for a USED kid's jacket? I don't think so!). So, why didn't I just leave then and there? Why did I check the game section (oh, well, I was looking for CandyLand for Younger Daughter). I found a nice Ravensburger puzzle. Then, since they were right in front of me, I had to look at books. Older Daughter is always reading and I like to support that. Ten books later, I finally headed for the check-out.

Filing, Dreaded Filing

Yesterday, I did some filing. Frankly, it was because I needed to find a particular piece of mail that I knew I had seen recently (um, that is, sometime in the last six months). I filed my entire pile (13" high) of paperwork.

I used a new system. Previously, I'd created a separate file folder for EACH type of item, breaking everything down. So, for instance, we bank with a couple of banks, and have a number of accounts. Old system: each bank account gets its own file folder. New system: all bank related papers go into a file called 'banking'. It worked a treat--the whole stack filed in about two hours. Old system would have taken twice that amount of time.

Here's a picture of my new files. Now, I just need to clear some space in the file cabinets for them.

Back on the Personal Finance Tip...

So, one of my favourite personal finance blogs is having a contest. I love contests!

Here's my entry: A link to one of my fav posts on the blog, My Money Blog. This one's about the extra bonus you can get from My Money Blog when you open an Emigrant Direct account using his links. Well, it works! Thanks, My Money Blog!

Cold Turkey Update

I bought some really tasty sliced, roasted turkey at Costco on Tuesday. Nice big slices, reasonably priced. Made a great sandwich with some cranberry mustard on whole wheat berry bread--yum! Oh, wait, you didn't want to hear about that kind of turkey, did you?

I haven't been in a thrift store since ... I saw those old items of mine in one. I guess it's been a couple of weeks. That feels like a long time. I almost went in one the other day, but didn't due to time restrictions, not being true to my 'cold turkey' pledge.

Fact is, I tend to forget about those pledges. I remember the first time I decided to become vegetarian. I went out to dinner the next day with my boyfriend. We went to a Vietnamese restaurant and ordered pho. Yup, beef noodle soup. I didn't remember I was going to be a vegetarian until after it had come! Yes, I did eat it anyway. It was pretty good, as I recall.

I haven't taken any new donations to the thrift store. I haven't done much in the way of clutter clearing recently. Although I did decide that I want my Trixie Belden on display on my bookshelves, which means I need to get rid of more books. Yes, more. I pulled out about six that I can move out. They're ones that made it through the first cull, but ones I don't really plan to reread. Who needs to read Mercedes Lackey's Storm trilogy again? And do I really need paperbacks AND hardcovers? No, I didn't think so.