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• On July Fourth, celebrate freedom from 'wants'

  Posted Jul 02 2008, 09:06 AM by Donna Freedman
  Filed under: Housing, Clothing, Donna Freedman, Budgeting
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  Last July, I was in debt. This year I don't owe a thing. That's the kind of independence I'll be celebrating this Friday: freedom from obligation. And to paraphrase Franklin D. Roosevelt, I'll also be celebrating freedom from wants.
  

  "Freedom from want," according to FDR's famous Four Freedoms speech, means "economic understandings which will secure to every nation a healthy peacetime life for its inhabitants." I'd like to define that further. To me, a "healthy peacetime life" means having my needs met and my wants under control.   Read More...

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• A mall and the uptight visitors

  Posted Apr 02 2008, 09:04 AM by Donna Freedman
  Filed under: Spending, Clothing, Donna Freedman
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  I have a new theory about retail. Auto races have pace cars that determine how fast the drivers can go. Shopping centers hire pace walkers -- folks who shuffle along four or five abreast at maddeningly slow rates of speed.
  

  I'm not talking about people who walk malls for exercise, but rather the ones who saunter through retail meccas with their friends, talking about Facebook and how cute Emma's new shoes are and whether they should split a cinnamon roll.
  

  Whenever you try to pass these groups, you're thwarted by cell phone kiosks or by crowds surging from the other direction. It's all part of an insidious plan: The slower you walk, the more likely you are to look into shop windows and think, "A pink spaniel with white spots? I should get one of those."   Read More...

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• Airing your clean laundry: Skip the dryer, rack up savings

  Posted Mar 24 2008, 09:33 AM by Donna Freedman
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Clothing, Donna Freedman
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  Tired of putting quarters into the dryer? Save two bits and do your bit for the environment by getting a drying rack.
  

  According to a group called Project Laundry List, electric dryers amount for 5% to 10% of residential electricity usage in the United States. Racks are the green/frugal solution for apartment dwellers who don't have access to outdoor drying.
  

  They're also useful to homeowners in places where housing covenants ban clotheslines. Apparently the sight of damp clothing flapping in the breeze brings down property values. A Boston Globe article quoted Frank Rathbun, a spokesman for the Community Associations Institute: "If you imagine driving into a community where the yards have clothes hanging all over the place, I think the aesthetics, the curb appeal, and probably the home values would be affected by that."
  

  I wonder if he means all clothes, or just boxers and briefs?   Read More...

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• Pre-treat to preserve your garments

  Posted Nov 28 2007, 09:01 AM by Donna Freedman
  Filed under: Extreme savings, Clothing, Donna Freedman
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  Last summer, I had to sit down abruptly while descending a slope and wound up with blackberry stains on my backside. Yesterday, I spattered my blue cotton blouse with turkey gravy. I'll admit it: I'm a mess. But then and now, Spray 'n Wash saved me. I've also had great success with Shout . And for whites, I use what my mom used: a cotton swab dipped in bleach. Some of you may be more interested in green laundry products . In addition, many stains can be removed with ordinary household items like vinegar or cornstarch. If you don't have a stain-removal product, get one. It'll pay for itself the first time you use it because you won't have to replace the sullied garment. Out, out, darned spot I thought everyone knew about stain removal. To me, it's basic Laundry 101: pre-treat the spots and you won't have the replace the clothes. But several university students I talked to seemed mystified by the idea. You're probably wondering how the subject came up. While eating my brown-bag lunch on campus   Read More...
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