Glad to be Reusing Moving Supplies

Getting ready for this move is rather time consuming. I’m managing bits of time for regular work, but it’s tough. Especially since we had a scheduled, 8 hour power outage yesterday for some sort of work the power company has been doing in our area.

We still haven’t found the house we’ll be moving into, but I’m doing a bit of packing every day so it won’t be such a chore when the time comes. There are always things you don’t need to have out all the time.

The nice thing is that we have a lot of boxes to reuse. Many are from a previous move of ours, and in between were loaned to one of my sisters for her move. It’s nice that they’re still in good enough shape to be used for this. We also have a few boxes that my mother had from other things.

Packing materials will mostly be old newspapers, which I have my mother and my inlaws saving up for us. Why buy bubble wrap and such when we can get the newspaper for free?

This whole process will no doubt also be a reminder of how much stuff we have that is only rarely used. Most of it I really don’t mind, especially the various antique dishes from my great aunt and grandmother.

It should be interesting to see how little we can spend on moving supplies.

Minimizing the Moving Clutter

One thing about moving – it encourages getting rid of the junk. Salvation Army is getting a lot of stuff from us!

We’ve been working slowly on cleaning out the garage before, but now it’s urgent. Why move anything we don’t have to?

We’re also wanting to get rid of about half the kids’ toys. They have so many that never, ever get played with. That’s how it is with the usual excess resulting from birthday presents and holidays.

I’m looking forward to having all this stuff gone, even if by some chance we get to stay here.

Looks Like We’re Moving

My husband has been job hunting for a while. He’s had a job, but just an adequate one.

Now he’s landed a better one, but we have to move for it, just a couple hours north of where we are now.

I’m happy and sad about it. Happy that he got a better job with room for advancement. Sad that we have to move, which means leaving friends, family and even my garden.

We’re hoping to hand the garden down to someone who will care for it. We have a few friends who have admired it, and the containers could possibly be moved. We’re also letting a few friends know in case they want to change where they’re renting. We’re also going to try potting some of the tomatoes to take along with us.

As I told my husband, we can keep in touch with friends and family, but losing the garden we’ve put so much work into really stings. Especially since we can’t start another one for the summer, although we may be able to do something for fall.

These next several weeks will be really busy for me. They want my husband to start on June 22, so he’ll be spending weeknights at my sister’s house, who lives about an hour from the new job. Better than driving 2 or more hours to get home, sleep and leave again, hardly seeing anyone.

I’ll be packing and researching places to rent while he’s gone, so that we can minimize this whole mess.

I’ll post when I can, and hope that we can get internet service quickly in the new place!

There’s still a slim chance we won’t move. If the local job he applied for wants him and calls this week, all these plans will change. Best of all, the local job might be at a location with an express bus stop practically at its front door. But for now we have to assume that we’re going.

What’s Happening to the Fish?

I’ve been coming across a lot of articles lately on how overfishing is running rampant. From the bluefin tuna being in danger of extinction to California closing the 2009 salmon season. And the situation is a lot worse than than.

Just read this article by Johann Hari on whether we could be the generation that runs out of fish. Ouch.

Then try Tree Hugger’s article on 10 fish you shouldn’t be eating.

The problem is quite simply overfishing. Too bad the solution isn’t so simple, as there’s too many big businesses relying on heavy fishing to survive, and they keep managing to keep the quotas too high for the stability of the population, and will no doubt fight the closures that need to happen.

Even though such moves would keep their businesses running for a longer time.

It’s one of the biggest problems we have, that so many people don’t want to take the steps necessary to preserve, well, anything, until it’s just about too late. We see this time and again. Pesticides and fertilizers and dead zones in the ocean and pollution and plastics, and, and, and….

It doesn’t stop.

These are the things that go beyond saying “well, I just won’t buy any.” That’s not good enough. Someone else will buy it. It’s not even enough for one government to say “stop.” That helps one area, one country, but more needs to be done.

As Johann Hari says in his article, at least 30% of the ocean needs to be closed to fishing, with strict quotas in the remaining 70%. That would take some incredible policing, but it’s what needs doing if we want fish in the ocean.

6 Ways Cutting Back is Good for Your Family

Like a lot of families, we’ve had to cut back this past year and a half or so. Not that we were extravagant in the past, far from it. But like a lot of families, our income is down this year, and the need to save still more has hit pretty hard.

Really, it’s good for us. Even if you’re lucky enough to not have to cut back, it’s probably good for your family too.

1. More time playing as a family at home.

Family game nights have long been a good idea. When you don’t have the money to spend on going to the movies or taking vacations, they’re a good way to still have some family fun.

Games can be active too. Tag, hide and seek and so forth don’t have to just be for the kids.

2. You find out just how great deals can be at thrift stores.

This has been gaining in popularity as more people realize that great clothes and other things are available for low prices through thrift stores.

This can also help if you have kids who are really into trendy clothes. You probably won’t get the most trendy stuff, but you can often find the right names at thrift stores. If you find clothes that are clearly barely worn or even still have their tags on them, it’s a lesson on how much people can waste just on wardrobe.

There’s no rule saying kids have to have the trendiest clothes, after all. That can be a painful lesson for some people, especially if all their friends are really trendy, but it’s a great lesson to learn.

3. Gardening is good for you.

Especially organic gardening. Once things are going, you can earn back your investment in fresh, better than from the grocery store produce. Plus you get exercise working in the garden.

Try to get the whole family involved. My kids have an absolute obsession with planting seeds, most of which don’t come up because they start forgetting to water them.

Besides, it’s fun telling kids that yes, they may snack off the tomato vines, beans or peas. Having kids beg for something healthy is great.

Plus you can give great lessons in sharing by having the kids give the excess to neighbors.

4. Doing it yourself encourages creativity.

Whether it’s sewing, knitting, home repair, cooking, making play dough or other such things, it’s good to know how to do it yourself. Making things builds an appreciation for them. Kids especially love the feeling of knowing that they made something by themselves.

For example, I’ve promised my daughter that I’ll teach her some basic sewing this year. Not the sewing with yarn kits that she has done with her grand mother, real sewing. She’s really excited by the notion, especially since we might just haul out the sewing machine once we’ve done some basic hand sewing. It doesn’t really save money compared to thrift store shopping, but for the pride of  “I made that!” it can’t be beat.

5. Simpler family outings can be a good thing.

Most of our family outings involve hiking, a wonderful free activity. It also helps to build an appreciation for nature. If you aren’t good at naming plants, try checking out a local nature guide from the library. You might be amazed at what grows wild in your area.

6. You can save a lot of money.

Some ways to cut back will cost extra at first, such as starting a garden, but in the long run should pay off.

It’s not always easy to cut back, but both financially and environmentally speaking it’s often a great choice. Keep in mind the differences between frugal, cheap and green, so that you can focus on which matters most to you.