10 Cheapskate Things I've Said (with UPDATE!!)

UPDATE: "All things are possible in the blogging world."  Need prove?  Check this out.  On September 2nd, 2011, our lovely Dweej received a brand spankin' new, oh-so-whitey-white.... laundry basket!!!  From a very sweet, caring blogger named Amber Doty, of  The Daily Doty.  True friendship at its best, I must say!

Here's a photo of Dweej totally rockin' that new laundry basket:

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I still remembered the first time I came across her blog.  It was titled: House Unseen. Life Unscripted. 

Hmm, interesting, I thought at the time.

Then I read the little description underneath: "We bought a house in rural Michigan-sight unseen off the internet.  My husband quit his job in California and we moved our four kids across the country."

Well, that got my attention.

I started reading her posts and soon I was hooked.  How could I not?  Do you know anybody who's ever bought a $30,000 house off the internet, without having seen it before in her life?  Someone who packed up her entire family, drove for 5 days and 36 hours across the country, only to find that the house she bought was not only old and a 'fixer,' but that someone had stolen all the wiring and the plumbing, so that they had no water nor any electricity.  Oh and did I mention that at the time, her youngest was only four months old?

I read her posts regularly, and I found myself in awe of her ability to stay positive even when things seemed to be overwhelming and impossible to accomplish.  This woman is a fighter, a survivor, definitely a tough cookie.  I followed her through her journey turning that little wreckage of a house into a lovely and cozy home.  And by God's grace, she really did it!  You can see some before and after pictures here and here and here.

As if all those things weren't enough to send her to the mental facility, she also adopted several dogs, raised her own chickens, planted her own vegetable garden.  Oh, and she had just started homeschooling her children too.

Now I have never ever met someone who could handle that much stuff all at once.  That was until I 'met' a woman named Dwija (or better known as Dweej).  And you know what's even more amazing?  Was that she did it ALL with such positivity, passion, and a sense of adventure.  Oh, and have I mentioned that she also happened to be a funny, witty, and insightful blogger who wrote brilliant and original posts on a regular basis? 

This is one of my fave pics of Dweej.  She's so much fun and is positively brimming with enthusiasm!

Last but not least, one thing that made me a loyal fan and friend of Dweej, was the time when she took the time to write me a very personal email at the time when Mr. LA first brought up the divorce issue.  For the life of me, I will never ever forget the words she had written.  So very wise, sincere, and full of love.  And I SO love her for that.  I am forever indebted to her.  Love ya, Dweej!

Below is a guest-post that Dweej had written for me.  This is so classic Dweej--funny, witty, original, yet very, very wise.  Trust me, as long as you still have a heart, you WILL fall in love with Dweej.  Please, if you haven't already, go to her blog, House Unseen  Life Unscripted, and make sure you subscribe.  You'll thank me for it, and I do expect a thank you ;)

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10 Cheapskate Things I've Said

by Dwija Borobia of House Unseen Life Unscripted

Being poor is a funny thing.

Well, maybe funny is the wrong word.  Maybe poor is the wrong word, too.

Let me start over.

Not having any money to spend at the moment makes you say ridiculous things.

I thought about that the other day as I was doing the laundry while saying one of those very ridiculous things.  And then I wrote it down.  Actually, you're in luck, because I wrote 10 of them down!

The Top 10 cheapskate inspired ridiculous things I've said, 

a list my former self would find a little insane:

10. "If I had a million dollars, I'd totally buy a new laundry basket."

That's right ladies and gents, our one and only laundry basket is over 11 years old! It has so many cracks and breaks in it that carrying laundry with it, particularly if that laundry is wet and I am hauling it out to the clothes line, is similar to carrying 26 pounds of pureed tomato in a garbage bag. I just can't keep it together, man. Someday I will have one of those new fangled firm-sided laundry baskets, you mark my words.

9. "No! Don't throw that newspaper in the burn barrel! I'll use it for cleaning."

Yes friends, you CAN clean class and several other essentially non-porous surfaces using newspaper instead of paper towels. My mirrors are glistening and we're not spending money on tiny rectangles of paper that we're just going to throw straight into the trash.

8. "I'll just eat these leftover cold, floppy french fries for lunch."

Don't get me wrong- we have food. I don't want people thinking my kids are gonna starve or anything. But it's the principle of the thing. I paid for those dang cold, floppy french fries and by golly I'm gonna eat 'em. 'Cause if I don't, what's next? Throwing entire gallons of milk away just because today is the sell-by date? Oh no you di'int!

7. " Throwing entire gallons of milk away just because today is the sell-by date? Oh no you di'int!"

See? I just totally said that.

6. "Unless a shirt exhibits the unwearable quality trifecta: stained, has holes in it, and shows your navel because it's so small, then it is still fine to wear:

Okay, I'll confess...my 10 year old daughter is the one who said this to me. And I was so proud I almost cried.

5. "Hey! Don't throw those oatmeal containers away! I can use them for....something."

For any of you family members who have ever suggested that I am at all like my grandmother (God rest her gentle soul. If only everyone in the world would strive to be like her, we'd truly be living heaven on earth. Sorry for the digression...), now I finally see it! The collection in that amazing woman's attic was priceless, I tell you. Priceless! And seriously, why throw away a perfectly good container that has a matching lid? Now that, that my friends would be crazy.

4. "Look, the chicken coop is not gonna cost us any money because you're going to build it out of the construction refuse in our barn."

Yes, I said this. And yes he did. And no it did NOT cost us any money. WINNING!

3. "It'll be fine. I'll just color it with a sharpie."

See, I have these shoes. They may or may not be getting totally worn out. There may or may not be huge scuffs at the toes which I colored with a permanent marker. But if I did color them with a permanent marker (spoiler alert: I did), chances are that it worked out great and you should totally try it sometime.

2. "It's gonna be so awesome when we don't have any more holes in our ceilings."

Yes, we totally do. And you bet it's gonna be awesome! Soon....I can feel it.

1. "If we shove some fluff in there and cover it in packing tape, do you think the ice will stop coming in?"

About a space in the wall at the corner of our northern exterior wall, which yes, we discovered coated in ice in January.  We did stuff the fluff and apply that snazzy tape, and guess what?  No more ice.

Hah!  Take that, money!