It has now, officially been an entire year of nothing new!

It started as a sort of whim/challenge and has ended as a lifestyle. I am solidly entrenched in repairing, repurposing and generally trying to always buy used rather than new. I may go back to shopping the clothing clearance racks, but only because I am so good at it that I feel I was getting better bargains new than used (and it's not like I buy that many clothes anyway). Plus, I think there are so many women shopping the thrift stores so effectively that you have to be a rather cut-throat early and frequent shopper to get the best stuff...and I am just not that into expending that kind of energy on clothes shopping. That said, two of my favorite clothing items were purchased used. But, consider that during these 365 days, my "cheating" on buying new clothes added up to a total of $75 for 2 pairs of pants, 5 tops and a dressy hoodie, I did pretty good value-wise. I'm still looking for a not-new engineered hardwood floor. I know I'll find one. Can't wait.

Got the $70 suitcase I've been lusting after for $15.

I've been lusting after the new, ultralightweight luggage because I hate to pay baggage fees on airlines. The less pounds my bag weighs, the more pounds of clothes I can pack. I can lift this suitcase with my pinkie finger. Never thought I'd find one "not new" because they are so new to the market. But I found this at TJ Maxx. It was obviously a return (the bags are guaranteed for several years). It has a small rip in the fabric (look closely about midway up the left edge). It was obviously used (so I left it in my hot car for three days in case of bedbugs...I am a safety nutcase). The logo has been removed (big deal). Pretty sure I can repair the tear satisfactorily. Thrilled to get a "not new" bargain at TJ Maxx.

I could have a nice hardwood floor if I were younger.

Sorry for my absence. I needed to concentrate on a lot of work and I haven't been doing much "not new" shopping. But today, I did finally get back to craigslist and found a perfect "not new" oak hardwood floor...if I were younger.

It's an 80 year old floor and there is going to be over 500 sq. ft., so it would fit my needs exactly if I had the strength to put i in myself. But, those days are past me. And even though the floor is nearby and only $200 total (what a bargain!), I'd have to pay someone to install and refinish it and that would be quite a bit of change (still has some nails in many of the boards...I don't even think I could pull those out efficiently). Wish I had come up with this going "not new" idea a long time ago...I could have a really nice bank account by now, not to mention how much I'd be saving old Mother Earth. Oh, well...maybe someone younger will read this and learn.

Full disclosure: bought "new" tops out of boredom.

I accompanied my son shopping for pants at Target and ended up getting myself a men's pullover. At 70% off, it was still $9, which is pricey to me. However, I am short on big, warm, unconstructed Fall tops and haven't had much luck at the thrifts for these. I think men wear such tops until they are rags. The other shirt I got when I took my mother shopping at Marshall's. It is also a Fall top, a tunic with a lot of fancy sewing to it. It was on clearance for $15. I didn't really need the top, but I will certainly get good use from it. I apparently just can't stand to do nothing while waiting for others to shop.

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?

Sometimes you get what you pay for (the saga of the pawn shop miter saw).

While the miter saw has been working okay, it was not performing when I needed some really straight cuts. On closer inspection, the (solid metal?) guide was snapped completely in two and askew. (Same saw came without a blade guard...I have to call and order one, hope it's not over $10...can't find one used.) Fortunately, I seem to have been able to epoxy the parts together. Meant not getting done what I needed to get done the day I wanted to do it. Sigh. (Was pretty proud of myself for getting that durn clamp on...the epoxy was supposed to set in 5 minutes...NOT!)

Full disclosure: had to buy a new dish strainer.

My old dish strainer was positively disgusting when it finally fell to pieces, so it's no surprise I couldn't find a nice used one. They had some fancy ones in the store upwards of $20, but since my kitchen is a disaster, I went with a cheap ($6) strainer to match. It even came with its own runoff base. It is all-plastic, so I don't think it will last too many years. However, I really should not have let my old strainer get so deplorable -- I figure built-in obsolesensce will keep me from letting things go too long.

Love my "not new" wet saw from craigslist.

One of my favorite craigslist finds, perhaps because I decided I needed it, found it right away and bought it (neaby, even!) the next day. This wet saw goes for $99 or more new. I purchased it for $40. The seller said it was very lightly used. He bought a pallet of them to resell. He does a lot of stuff like that as he is handy and can fix broken stuff to resell (but only one broken one in the lot he got). We are both guessing as to why anyone would have a pallet of slightly used wet saws. A very interesting guy (another bonus to the purchase). Can't wait to try out the saw.

Had to buy yet another damn used toaster.

First the offspring broke my cheap, new toaster. Then, he broke the used toaster I replaced it with. I purchased another used toaster (these are actually pretty difficult to come by...in the rare chance I see them at thrift stores, they often seem too scuzzy to purchase and the last one I saw at an estate sale had a $20 price sticker) and I think it will be my last used toaster. If this one breaks, I will bite the bullet and buy a new, quality toaster. I'm not saving myself or the environment if I keep tossing out cheap, broken toasters.

"Not new" shopping: too much of a good thing?

I haven't been shopping in quite some time, which makes me wonder if I have some sort of inner cash register that makes me want a certain amount of stuff. When I went to Savers yesterday, I seem to have overdone it. This stuff is not for me, per se. I am hoping to upcycle it into yard art that I will (hopefully) unload, ahem, I mean, sell, at a craft show in July. In the meantime, storing it and keeping it clean is a chore...not to mention that I feel the need to examine every single piece I have "in stock" before I put together a single garden stake. So far, I have one half-done. And July is looking closer by the minute. (BTW: basketful added up to $105 after my "senior" discount. Fairly pricey, but the other local thrifts don't have the inventory Savers does.

No more raised veggie garden bed in the front yard.

I heard a neighbor was very upset with the raised bed I was putting in my front yard, so I nixed it. Far be it from me to ruin someone's life with my garden. I did not discard the idea of a veggie garden altogether, though. I am putting in a regular bed instead. I don't think anyone will be able to tell the difference between my flower garden and my veggie garden once it's done (thought the raised bed woulda looked okay, too, had it been given the chance). Probably won't get a huge yield this year as I don't have enough planning/time to till the soil. I'm hoping a week or so of the black plastic will kill some of the grass, then I will just plunk the veggies down with lots of compost. Next year should be much better.

Finally getting a little somewhere on the raised bed...and full disclosure of new purchases.

Well, here's the garden bed starting to take shape. Doesn't look like much, but it has exhausted me to get this far. Was going to make soup and do laundry tonight, but instead I will take some aspirin and go to my own bed. I put down newspaper under where the garden will be. It was no small task as even though there didn't seem to be a breeze, there was one about every 3 or 4 minutes. But, I got the paper down, put plastic over it and secured the plastic around the edges so (hopefully), nothing will be able to blow away.

The plastic extends about a foot beyond the garden. I'm going to mulch that area so the lawn guy can mow right over it and not have to use the edge trimmer around the bed. Hopefully, the plastic will last a few years and keep the grass from growing there. I will cut the plastic out from the bed itself once I get dirt to put in there. I'm hoping to have everything done but the dirt tomorrow, but at the rate I've been breaking down, that may be optimistic.

Full disclosure: I bought a new pair of garden gloves. Mine had such holes that it was rather fruitless to continue wearing them. Also, I'm thinking about purchasing a $59 pop-up roof thingie (they call it a tent, but it has no sides) at Ollies. I am planning to do a couple craft shows this summer. I wasn't going to bother with a tent as I'm not sure I'll be successful enough to continue, but the Ollies tent is a good deal and you can never count on anything being at Ollies from week to week. I doubt I will find a pop-up-type tent used...they only started making them recently and I am so old and decrepit, I need the convenience of a pop-up.

Full disclosure: I had to buy a couple "new" things.

I could not find a "not new" soaker hose, so I bought one for $7 for the raised garden bed I am building. I understand that water on leaves can lead to problems. Also, I walked by a display of $5 t-shirts and picked up three. I needed some that look good for when I have to dress nice and finding a crisp t-shirt used is a difficult task, so I gave in.

My "new" dryer vent isn't working out.

Not only did the idiot who built our house position the dryer so that the ductwork has to go down one floor and across half the basement before it exits the house...they then built a deck right over the vent exit. Needless to say, it's about impossible to access the vent outlet. And the cheap plastic on dryer vents doesn't last 20 years.

Worse, the new dryer vents they are selling seem to have been redesigned to save the manufacturer money on plastic. There are now 3 louvers instead of 4 and they are about 1/4" shorter. Soooo...I had to buy two new vent covers to jerry-rig 4 louvers. Unfortunately, when I slipped them on, they seemed too heavy to blow open (the dryer is actually running in that last photo with the louvers closed...the bottom one is only open slightly because I found I could get it to stick that way). Grrrr! I suppose my only option is to get a square of hardware cloth or some other type of grid and try to tack it over the vent somehow and hope no insects try to build a nest there. If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears.

My "not new" bubble wrap almost killed me.

I was exiting the thruway when an approximately 20'sheet of bubble wrap (shown in my back seat) flew across my windshield. I assume it was from the construction they were doing on the exit...construction that left no shoulder to pull off on. I had about a two-inch "window" to look through, which kept shifting. There were a string of cars behind me which would quickly backup up onto the thruway and cause a hazard, so I continued on, knowing there would be place to stop ahead.

I nearly had a heart attack when I stopped and got out of the car as there was a car to the left, just inches from my bumper, which I had not seen. Phew! Someone up there was watching out for me. So, I gathered up the bubble wrap, which looks like new. I really needed bubble wrap, just would have preferred not to risk my life to get it.

Full disclosure on recent things I had to buy "new."

I spent way too much time and gas looking for "not new" supplies to build my raised bed garden and greenhouse, so I have started buying new: cinder blocks, conduit pipe (supposed to hold up to the weather exposure better than PVC and was cheaper, too...if anyone knows a reason I should not use this as the framework for my greenhouse, please speak up as I have not purchased it yet) and connectors and plastic sheeting. I'll have to get some "new" topsoildelivered, too, but I'm sue it will be, well, old as dirt. I have landscape fabric I got on clearance last year, so I won't need to buy that.

I also purchased the offspring a new baseball cap (allowed myself "new" gifts), but he did not like the style. It was $3.88. I kept it for myself rather than taking it back as I did need a dark gardening hat for Spring and Fall. I'm sure I'll regret it as it is for the Husky company...so in addition to having the cute logo of the Siberian Husky (the breed of our rescue dog), it says "Husky"...and I am a woman of a certain weight.

Creative repurposing even before going "not new."

As I was picking up the doddy doodoo today...our first really nice, dry day of the year, it occurred to me that I was in a "not new" mode even before deciding to buy nothing new this year. My dog poop container is the offspring's old diaper "pail." (I obviously didn't have to think to far outside the box on this one). It works great...a lid to keep odors down and flies out and a handle to carry it all over the yard. As I was filling my birdfeeders, I also noticed former repurposing that was a bit more of a stretch: the insert from the old potty chair is now the scoop I use in my sunflower seed container. Can't recall what happened to the chair itself.

Another repair combines two "not new" jewelry items into one.

While I don't know how to darn socks, I have learned how to repair jewelry (sort of...thankfully people don't look too close). I purchased this bracelet at a garage sale long ago. It had quite a few missing beads, but it sill looked okay. Fortunately, the beads that were missing were very common, so I picked up a broken necklace for a quarter, took it apart, and filled in all the missing beads. Turned out just fine. At least, it looks good on my Easter egg.

Free way to prevent rusty tools.

I saw this tip in the newspaper and thought I'd pass it along: Save the desiccant packs that come inside pill bottles and packaged manufactured goods and throw them in your tool boxes. Brilliant idea. Now I've got to go build some "not new" boxes/cases for some of my larger electric tools so they don't get any rustier.

Some thrift stores are hard to find...but worth it.

I found out about a thrift store I'd never heard of at a meeting I attended tonight. I came home to look up the details on the Web, but could not find it on an Internet search of thrift stores (but, I did find dozens of thrift stores I'd never heard of when I searched "thrift stores" in the Yellow Pages, so I have lots of 'sploring to do when I get the chance).

Anyway, the thrift store in question is run by the Mental Health Association and is on the Buffalo Psychiatric Center campus. Apparently, lots of doctors donate to this store and almost every item sells for $1 (except coats are $4). The meeting members were raving about what great clothes they had there. (I imagine doctors can afford some nice duds.) It got me thinking that there might be some other thrift stores associated with local hospitals that aren't well known unless you are part of the hospital community. I'll have to nose around some. And so should you!