March 10, 2009

Husband's Compact-y Birthday pt.2

I forgot to add the flowers I bought to the gift list... My husband's favorite flowers are tulips, and he said he liked these even though, as he told me, "he's not really a flower kind of guy."

Cost: $3.99, bringing the total gift cost to $14.96.

My husband took this photo for me, with one of the Hawaiian shirts from Goodwill in the BG. From now on, I'll be able to take my own photos, yay! And that's a funny story...

Either funny or embarrassing, depending on your viewpoint...

I told my husband I wanted to buy a used camera to take photos to post on the blog, and he said he didn't feel comfortable buying used electronics but that refurbished was probably okay. I'd bought two laptops that way and didn't have any trouble with them. It basically means they were returned for some reason and worked on and then couldn't be sold as new. So anyway, I went on the Compact yahoo group and asked the members what they thought about buying refurbished electronics, and a few people responded and said refurbished was okay, as long as it was from a reputable dealer. None of them expected or recommended that I buy a camera used.

So I told my husband I would buy a refurb and he was researching retailers, when he suddenly remembered he already had an extra digital camera he could give me! That's right- a used camera right in our own house. He had been unhappy with a few of the tics of the model he's giving me, so he bought himself a new one because he takes a lot of photos. But there wasn't really anything wrong with the old one, so he kept it. How Compact-y can you get? Now I've got a used camera for free, and my husband's old camera won't end up in a landfill. Perfect.

This is just one more example of why I want this to be a No-Buy and Declutter year. There are probably all kinds of things in our home that we could be putting to use, if only we remembered we had it. What about you- do you think there are things in your home that you don't even remember you own?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's funny, I once bought a serving plate I'd been looking at and then when I put it away, I'd already bought it earlier!

Anonymous said...

let's try this again.....

Anonymous said...

it works! it works! it works!

(and you TOTALLY could have picked wildflowers....unacceptable cheat. ;)

Anonymous said...

No way- I TOTALLY still buy fresh flowers... They're not cluttering up my house, being made with slave labor, or ending up in a landfill.
Thanks for testing out the new comment format!

Anonymous said...

Re: the Hawaiian shirt, you left out the cleaning bill for any shirt from GoodWill. We aren't savages, afterall.
-the husband

Anonymous said...

It's a wonderful shirt, by the way.

Anonymous said...

Angela this was so funny! If I truly need something, my house if the first place I look. If I can't find the exact item, and boyfriend doesn't have it (he has A LOT of stuff) then I try to find a substitute. Recently I needed a packing box and bubble wrap and remembered I'd started saving these types of things last year. Next week I'm blogging about my Personal Post Office. I have boxes, labels, tape, bubble wrap, etc. Mailboxes Etc be gone!

Anonymous said...

Yes, mailing supplies are one thing I've been recycling for years. I keep all the boxes that come in from amazon, etc. and friends and family and use them to go out. I can't remember ever buying mailing supplies- what a waste!

Jayne Van Dusen said...

Just reading this blog for the first time and loving it. (That's why I'm commenting so late on a March post.) My sister and her daughters came to stay with us last month and I thought about finding a duvet or comforter at a thrift store. My husband reminded me that I had an entire comforter/sheet set, complete with shams and dust ruffle that had been in a box in our basement for almost 10 years. It was in perfect condition, fit my futon mattress perfectly - even matched the decor of our spare room. I had completey forgotten it existed.