Vegan Food And A Crackdown On Used Clothing For Kids
I hope you all had a good weekend, and that 2009 is off to a good start for everyone. I made this amazingly good vegan mac n cheese for dinner tonight, and wanted to share it with my readers. Even if you’re not vegan, potatoes and carrots are cheaper and milk and cheese. And better for you. And it really did taste good. I used flax oil in place of the margarine, and didn’t have any shallots, so I just omitted them. Give it a try and see what you think.
One of my readers sent me a link to an article Trent at The Simple Dollar published yesterday (thanks for the heads up, April!) If you haven’t already seen it, I highly recommend it. It’s about the new consumer protection laws that go into effect next month requiring that all products for kids under 12 be tested for (and be free of) lead and phthalates. Apparently, it includes used items too, which will be a huge problem for thrift stores and consignment stores that market kids’ stuff. I can see both sides of this. I am a stickler about avoiding chemicals. I got rid of all of our household chemicals and switched to baking soda and vinegar to clean pretty much everything. I buy organic food 99% of the time, and never buy processed food with added chemicals. I don’t have any non-stick cookware, and store all of our food in glass containers. We use cloth diapers for our son (and wash them with non-toxic soap, baking soda, and vinegar) and one of the reasons we do so is because we don’t want the chemicals that make disposables so absorbent anywhere near his little behind. So I can understand the sentiment behind this law. But I think they’re taking it too far. And I hope that our thrift stores don’t really have to stop selling used clothes for kids. My family shops there because we just can’t justify buying brand new clothes that will only be worn for a few months before they’re outgrown. But what about families that shop at thrift stores because they truly can’t afford any other option? (I’ve been in that boat too, although it was before we had a child). What do you think about this law?
In the Frugal Blog Network,
Tight Fisted Miser shares some things that you should get for free. And stock trades are on his list. Oops - we’ve been paying ten bucks a pop through Ameritrade. Not that we make trades often, but when we do it’s not free.
Frugal Zeitgeist just inspired me to clean my house. I will get going on this tomorrow. If I deep clean one room per day (and that should probably involve moving furniture and dismantling the dust bunny drifts that make their way under our couches) I can have it done sometime next week.
Almost Frugal has a helpful post for anyone with an Etsy shop who needs to know how to market it.
Not Made Of Money explains the perils of consumer debt.
The Frugal Duchess has an article about ways to cut home technology costs. I like that “avoid bundles” is included in the list. Bundles are often advertised as a way to save money, but if you don’t need something, you’re not saving money by getting it at a discount.
