Made new bird baths from "not new" glassware. Sure hope they'll sell.

I doubt I'll be able to get anywhere near minimum wage for these, but I'm hoping to at least make more than I invested in the parts. These are much more difficult to make than one would imagine. The glass pieces are far from even, so in many cases, you sort of have to put them together looking lopsided to get a level bird bath. I've sealed these so they can be left out in the Winter with a proper covering on the top, but I'm not going to seal the rest as it takes a lot of time and looks slightly messy...people will just have to bring them in for the Winter. What price range would you think people would pay for these?

Buffalo ReUse: rooms of old sinks, windows, doors and more.

If you live in a big enough city, there is likely something like this there. (If not, start one up!) Buffalo ReUse does "green demolition," salvaging as much of the original structure as they can and reselling it from an old warehouse. I believe they work in partnership with our local Habitat for Humanity. It really is a rehabber's dream as you can find stuff that fits the look and era of your properties. They also have odd lots of ceramic tile and other such stuff that comes in...the prices aren't ridiculously cheap, but they are very good. Lots of cool stuff, too, like glass doorknobs, fancy wood molding, pieces of old marble counters, etc.

I, stupidly, went to a 75% off day at an estate sale (stupid, because I didn't notice the sale ended early that day and was over when I got there) nearby and then went to Buffalo ReUse to try to find cinderblock or something similar to build my raised garden beds. No luck this trip, but they did have some uniquely colored ceramic tile for my mosaic work.

"Not new" take out containers.

This is not an original idea. Mother Earth News suggested bringing your own take out containers to the restaurant. What a brilliant idea! "Reduce/reuse" is always better than "recycle." Those styrofoam containers are leaky and take up too much room in the fridge. I'm going to put some Tupperware-type containers in the car now so I'll have them the next time we eat out. As I also learned from the article, plastics are not that cost effective to recycle, so best to try to avoid using disposable plastics. Wonder if the deli people would pack stuff in a bring-your-own container? All they'd have to do is zero out their scale before weighing. (Could be health concerns, I suppose.) Good news is, most other stuff (glass, paper, metal) is recycled at a considerable cost/energy/waste savings over making new.

Hating on ink jet printer companies just a little bit

It is sooo nearly impossible to get refillable inkjet cartridges these days. They are programmed to fool your computer into thinking they are still empty after you refill them. Plus, they suggest the ink level is low waaaayyy too soon. My current Kodak printer (bought because the ink was cheaper) told me my ink levels were low a couple months ago. Since then, I've printed out over 40 4x6 photos for my Christmas cards and many pages of print materials. While I don't bother even trying to refill cartridges anymore (because of problems stated earlier), I do get the refurbished ink cartridges from a mailorder company and they have been working great for me at a considerable cost savings. Still, makes me mad when companies purposefully thwart their customer's efforts to economize/ecologize. (I know that's not a word, but it probably should be.)

I seem to need something every other day. This time, it's gloves.

I thought going all-used would be easy because at this point in my life, I have everything I need, right? Wrong. Amazing all the little things that pop up. Yesterday, I found myself without gloves--in Buffalo, NY, winters, that is not acceptable.
The thing is, I'm forgetful. To offset that, I have a pair of gloves for each jacket. I keep 'em in the pockets of my jackets, so, when I need them, the gloves are there. And I almost never lose any gloves because I am so used to stuffing them in my pockets.
Enter the "not new" dress jacket I bought. I have been swapping out the gloves between that and my leather jacket. Didn't check before running out the other day, and ended up without gloves.
I have small hopes for finding "not new" dress gloves that please me. Gloves are one of the few things I splurge on, getting ones I really like for looks and warmth. For my "not new" dress jacket, I'd like to get longer black leather gloves. We'll see what happens. At this late date, I probably won't even be able to get any on clearance. Sigh.

Organization is a key skill for going "not new"...unfortunately, I'm lacking.

Haven't had to buy much lately. (I did purchase a gift...my first I'll be giving that's "not new," but I haven't given it yet, so info will have to wait for another post.) I did decide to keep the $25 Chefman blender as I've been to several other sales and thirft stores and haven't found what I wanted, plus, I happened to wander into Ollie's again and they don't have any more available, so that sealed the deal.
My problem now is trying to organize stuff I feel I should keep on hand. For instance, I have a broken phone charger for my car. The wire on that thing could make a handy tie for a plant...it is strong, yet the rubber coating would protect the plant. But, how am I going to keep things from getting crazy if I start holding onto stupid little things like that? Sigh. I saved it because I felt I had a good place for it, but I am worried about becoming a pack rat (I already have those tendencies).

It is amazing how often I'm forced to buy "new."

It's just short of 2 months since I decided to spend a year buying nothing "new." In that short time, there have been 3 birthdays (gifts and cards), a death (card and flowers), a broken thermostat, toaster and blender and now, the pegs (plastic) holding up two of the shelves in my kitchen cabinets have failed. Pretty sure from perusing the odds and ends at the thrift stores that I'm not going to find those there and it's definitely not worth the time and gas to try (especially since it is 5 degrees F today). I was at least lucky enough to find some on clearance at Lowe's ($5 as opposed to $8). I'm having company in from out of town this week, so it was not something I wanted to put off.
If you're curious and too tired to look through my posts, I replaced the toaster with a $1 used toaster from an estate sale (after a week or two). The thermostat was replaced with a new one (though, I did first try to find one at a re-use shop) and I'm still hoping to find a used Ninja blender somewhere, someday.

Postage savings anyone?

I only know a couple tips for saving money on postage, but I'm hoping some readers can share some. (Uber? Moving companies? Fivver?) Here are my tips:
1. If you are mailing a book, use the USPS and mail only the book, nothing else (you can always write a note on the inside cover). This will qualify for the deeply discounted book rate.
2. Large, heavy packages are cheaper to mail through UPS, smaller, less heavy packages are cheaper to mail through the USPS.
3. It often pays to use the (free) USPS priority mail boxes...just be sure the box doesn't say "priority mail express"...that's overnight delivery and it will cost you a bundle.
4. Set up an online account with the USPS and print your postage at home. It's a lot cheaper. (Or ask your employer if you can mail through their rates and reimburse them).
6. Amazon Prime lets you put up to 5 people on your membership who will enjoy free shipping on most items. While I like to shop local, I usually buy my gifts for out-of-towners through Amazon Prime for the free shipping (and good prices...on almost everything)...and my sister is the Prime member, so I don't even have to pay for that.