Sometimes we have a lot going on in our lives.  Recently I had my regular 9-5 job, an online course that I hope to use to build a remote business, and my blog here where I get to talk about things I am passionate about with you guys.  Right now, since I passed my class, I’m juggling my 9-5, this blog, finding volunteering opportunities in my new field, dusting off one of my side businesses, and updating social media all around.  Added to that are the ordinary chores of laundry and such that I split with the Chef.  Until very recently I was also shopping for a replacement car after my last one was totaled unexpectedly which you can read some about <here>.

It can be a lot, between hours getting longer and the stress to get it all done, so that it can just feel like it’s all too much.  I was feeling even more overwhelmed before when I was also trying to brainstorm ideas for my upcycling business <Hermit Crab Upcycling> and go to my Krav Maga class twice a week.

So what do I do when I am just done with everything?  The first thing I did was evaluate what I had on my plate and prioritize each item to decide how important it is right now:

• 9-5 job – Well this is definitely staying since bills don’t pay themselves.  
• Classwork – This is based on a specific time frame, so putting this off would mean starting all over and paying all over again.  So this one also definitely stays.
• Car search – Having a vehicle is a necessity for me, so it was definitely not something I could put off.
• Blog – Keeping up with my blog is important to me because being consistent is also about my commitment to you guys.  Besides, it gives me an opportunity to talk about things I’m passionate about.  This is staying as long as I can.
• Hermit Crab Upcycling – Aside from commission requests, I’ve decided to put off working on new projects.  I’m keeping track of ideas though so I can implement them later when I have more time.  This is something I can put on hold for now and so I am taking it off my plate to avoid overload.
• Krav Maga classes – Also were put on hold for now.  I’m still trying to be active by using my Fitbit to get up and moving, but the specific time commitment of scheduled classes was not working with how crazy things are getting.  As my work hours get longer, more of my evening is used for schoolwork.
• Chores – Unfortunately chores don’t do themselves and Rosie (Jetsons anyone?  No?) hasn’t been invented yet.  As busy as both the Chef and I are these days, we give ourselves some credit and focus on the most important things like clean clothes and clean dishes.  Sometimes we just have to show ourselves some patience and accept that not everything will get done to the standard we would like in an ideal world – and that’s okay.

This kind of prioritizing is the most important thing I do when it all just feels like too much.  That is a sign to me that I need to let some things go for now and focus on the most important tasks and goals.  I can go back to those items later when I have more time and mental energy to deal with them.

Is it stressful to not get everything done?  Absolutely.  We are often expected, by others or themselves, to be able to get it all done.  After all, multi-tasking is a desirable skill, right?  Unfortunately, this level of expectation is unrealistic and just results in more stress and guilt when we inevitably cannot fulfill it.  We can’t do it all and it’s okay to take a step back.  

If you are struggling to do it all, be kind to yourself and consider letting some of the non-essential things go for now.  You’ll feel better for it.

The Chef has a deep love for coffee and regularly picks up coffee on his way to work.  I’m sure many of you can relate.  There’s just something about that caffeine first thing in the morning that helps get you going.  I myself am not coffee drinker, but I try to make myself drink herbal teas on a regular basis to support my health.  What do these two situations have in common?  The need for a reusable insulated cup.

** Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one and buy something, I’ll get a little income to help support my endeavors. **

For the Chef, the reusable part was more important.  Getting a coffee each morning also meant a disposable coffee cup.  Those things add up in the trash like crazy.  Plus you add in a coffee in the afternoon and we had a disposable coffee cup problem.  So I started doing research into reusable insulated cups and found that they tended to be on the expensive side.  YETI Rambler 30 oz Stainless Steel Vacuum Insulated Tumbler with Lid seemed to be very popular, but was out of our price range.

Then I stumbled onto a video that compared several brands of insulated cups to see which one actually worked the best.  Turns out that Yeti had a surprising competitor in a brand I did not expect.  Unfortunately I can’t seem to find the video I saw, but if you google “Yeti vs Ozark Trails” you get a ton of videos.  You can see what you think of the head to head comparisons.

Ozark Trails is a brand that is significantly less expensive than competitors.  However, in the video I saw it performed just as well as more expensive options.  So we picked one up and it has been fantastic.  To support the Chef’s coffee habit, we got the big one: Ozark Trail Vacuum Insulated Stainless Steel 30 Ounce Tumbler  It was just over $10 at Walmart including tax, which is where we got it, but even online it is a great price.

This one cup, or tumbler if you prefer, has been a great addition to our zero waste journey.  One cup has replaced all those disposable cups.  So much less trash.  A side benefit was that hot drinks stay hot much longer in this cup than in a disposable styrofoam cup.  This is what got me interested in getting my own insulated cup.

I wasn’t looking to replace disposable cups.  I was making tea in regular glass and ceramic mugs.  My issue is that I tend to forget my tea and it goes cold.  So I was reheating my tea multiple times just to get through a single cup.  Frustrating and a waste because eventually I’d get tired of it and just abandon the rest of the tea.  I really hate food waste of any kind.

So this is my Ozark Trail 20-ounce Double-Wall vacuum-sealed Tumbler that I picked up at Walmart for just under $9 including tax, though as usual the price online is still great compared to other options.  It has been really great to have my tea nearby and not have to worry about it going cold so soon.  Not to say that I don’t ignore it until it gets to that point, but it takes much longer so I end up drinking more of the tea.  For me it’s about reducing wasted tea.  This was especially helpful when I was sick with a cold recently and didn’t have to get up to heat up my tea all the time while I was trying to relax and rest.

For around $20, both of us were able to benefit from reusable insulated stainless steel cups/tumblers.  Definitely consider less expensive options that have the same quality as more expensive brands.  You can save money without sacrificing utility.  So it’s frugal and zero waste, which is a win-win in my book.

Do you use Ozark Trails insulated cups?  Do you have a different brand that you love and swear by?  Share in the comments.

We’ve all heard the saying “it takes a village” applied to many different scenarios.  Humans are social creatures for the most part, but where we live can have a huge impact on the size and makeup of our tribe, our village.  Thanks to the internet, however, this does not have to be the case.

There are social media sites to connect with far-flung friends and family, forums to ask questions and access expertise from people you may never meet, as well as email for direct communication, video sites, and online learning platforms.  It seems like everything is available online somewhere from learning to shopping to cat videos.

Online forums can be a goldmine of useful information, but also a place to find people who can understand what you may be going through.  Are you, or think you may be, suffering from sleep apnea?  There is a great forum available at ApneaBoard where you can connect with others who are as well.  Interested in becoming a nomad like I am?  There is a ton of information available through the CheapRVLiving forums on every kind of rig, utility, or other question that you could imagine.

Social media is its own force of nature, but Facebook groups exist for every topic under the sun.  When I got started with bullet journaling, which I posted about earlier this week, I was able to find five groups within five minutes where I could get tips and ideas for ways to make my journal my own.  The same is true for many of my other interests.  You will find your tribe(s) out there in cyberspace if you only take the time to look.

Even youtube can be a way to connect to others by following content creators who offer information and guidance that works for you.  If you enjoy someone’s content you can comment or message them.  Don’t be afraid to reach out.  Bloggers like myself are sharing our lives because we want to connect with you.  Commenting on posts helps you connect to other readers or the blogger themselves.  Sometimes there are Facebook groups dedicated to fans of a specific website or blog.  Everything is connected.

With so many ways to expand your network and grow your village, it may seem like there are now too many people out there.  Don’t feel like you have to connect with everyone.  I have scaled back in recent years on blogs I follow, Facebook groups I am in, and youtube channels I follow because some of them were just not adding the kind of value to my life that I needed.  They’re great for someone else, but not for me.  That’s something you will decide for yourself, but don’t be afraid to say “This isn’t for me” right now or at all.

The internet can be a powerful tool, but can also be overwhelming.  I am very grateful for the connections I’ve made online to others who support my frugal, zero waste, and minimalist outlook, not to mention my new goal to become a full-time nomad.  Your people may not live down the street, but you can find them.  Sometimes the best surprise is meeting someone online and finding that they do live down the street.  Other times you have the opportunity to chat with people from countries around the world.  You never know.

So don’t be afraid to expand your village as far as you need to.  Your people are out there.

Please join me over on www.masonjarrevolution.com for the continuing adventures of my household including myself, the chef, and three cats.

Part of trying to live a simple, frugal, zero waste life is keeping track of my life.  I tend to be scatterbrained and forget anything I didn’t write down.  I’ve tried premade planners and just ended up abandoning them.  Not keeping track of things causes stress for me from missed tasks and forgotten chores.  I use a calendar app on my phone to remind me about appointments, but it’s not for tracking tasks on an ongoing basis.

I read about bullet journaling on another blog I read: http://theartofsimple.net/bulletjournal/ and it definitely seemed like something that could help me keep track of what’s bouncing around in my brain and keep me on track.  I went to the original website to get an idea of the basic system as designed by Ryder Carroll: http://bulletjournal.com/ and you can find lots of info there and blog posts with additional ideas.  Of course if you google ‘bullet journal’ you will find a whole universe of ideas and decorating schemes that people are using.  This is another great resource if you’re just getting started or got a little lost (like I did) and want to refocus:  http://www.thelazygeniuscollective.com/blog/how-to-bullet-journal

I’m not usually one to try to impose a set of rules on how someone makes something work for them, but watch out as you look around for inspiration.  I had a hard time finding real useful ideas because it seems like a lot of people use these as either a productivity-inspired adult coloring book or as a substitute for actually working on things they’re tracking.  Don’t feel like you can’t decorate your journal if you want to – never that – but just don’t let it take over the purpose that you’re using the journal for.  

I decided to have two journals after thinking about it more.  I have one for work and one for personal stuff.  It was just easier to segregate work since there is a lot of tasks and multi-part projects that I need to track.  There would be no room for my personal and school obligations.  For work I decided to just use a basic spiral notebook to start with instead of buying a costly notebook off the bat.  If this system seems like it’s going to work for me long term, then I may invest in something better later, but for the initial experiment I decided to be frugal.  My personal journal is a lined memo book that I found at a yard sale for $1 and bought because I liked the hard cover binding.  So no additional cash outlay to start.  I don’t recommend buying notebooks and pens and highlighters and stickers and washi tape and whatever else you may see unless you are reasonably sure you’re going to stick with the journal for a period of time and you have a specific use in mind for the embellishment materials.  I’m more of a minimalist in that regard, so I have not bought any of those things.  I’ve just used basic pens and pencils.  Mostly pencils in case I want to edit my tasks.

I use weekly spreads predominantly and only create a daily log if I need one.  I don’t have a lot going on any specific day, but I do have tasks I want to accomplish sometime in a given week.  Weekly spreads are much more useful as I can assign tasks to a day if I need to, but otherwise I can just list them by the week I want to complete them.  For work I have a larger notebook and larger spaces for each day of the week since I have many more tasks and so far it is working out nicely.  For my personal journal I also use a two page spread for a week, but have less space since the pages are much smaller.  It is fine since I only have a few day-specific tasks.  Most of my personal and school tasks and assignments are broken down by week, so I use the left page for days of the week (yes this leaves only a few lines per day) and the entire right page for weekly tasks and notes.  I’m almost 2.5 weeks in on both bullet journals and so far so good.

So here are the stats, just in case you’re interested.  My work journal, as I mentioned earlier, is a standard college-rule spiral bound notebook with 8.5”x11” pages.  It originally had 80 sheets, but I had previously used it for other things and when I recycled it to this I don’t know how many pages remained.  Most of the 80 I am sure.  My personal journal is a Standard Boorum & Pease memo book no.6565, which the inside cover informs me is 7 ⅝” x 4 ⅞” with 192 pages.  It is made in the USA according to the inside cover as well.  I picked it up at a yard sale so I don’t know where they could be purchased or how old it is, but it is just a basic lined hardbound notebook.

I know the dot page spreads and notebooks are hugely popular, but I wanted to wait to spend that money until I knew if I wanted to keep up with this system long term.  So while I am starting this process frugally, it is helping me be frugal by ensuring I don’t forget things that could save or cost me money and that I don’t duplicate tasks that involve purchases.  It’s helping me be more zero waste because I’m not wasting my time or energy and it allows me to focus on the actual tasks that make my life more zero waste.  Same thing with being frugal.  Less time tracking things and trying to figure out what I need to do means more time to actually do those things.  It is also helping me simplify my life and be more minimalist by minimizing stress and wasted effort.  I’ve got enough going on and I’m sure many of you do too.

So if you feel like your life could use a bit more structure or organization or just ‘what the hell am I supposed to be doing right now?’ then a bullet journal may be right for you.

P.S. While this could have been a great opportunity to post affiliate links to all the things you could use for bullet journaling, I don’t want to make you feel like you need to spend a lot of money to do this.  However, based on a lot of feedback I’ve seen regarding paper quality, I’m eyeing this Rhodia Black Webnotebook 5.5 inch x 8.3 inch Dot Grid for my next bullet journal if I stick with it.  (That is an affiliate link, so if you click on it and end up buying something then I earn a little bit to support my efforts at no additional cost to you.)

Minimalism is a movement that can bring a lot of benefit to our lives that are just stuffed full of everything – commitments, stuff, stress, responsibilities, and communication.  Decreasing the things that aren’t benefiting you, that aren’t improving your life, or that prevent you from connecting to what’s important to you can radically improve your quality of life.

However, how to do that is going to be different for everyone.  What brings joy to me, what enriches my life, is going to be different than what does those things for you.  You may entertain friends and family on a regular basis, so a 12 person place setting set may make sense for you while I don’t.  It’s not about specific things, it’s about the process and about the result.  The desired result is for us to feel less stress, less pressure, more connected, and more happy.

I see too many people online who want to be minimalist and worry about not doing it “right” and ask if they keep certain things, are they still a minimalist.  They’re essentially looking for approval to keep things that they use sometimes or that they keep because it means a lot to them emotionally.  Somehow they got the message that to be a minimalist they need to get rid of everything that isn’t serving a practical purpose every single day.

I try to respond whenever I see these kind of posts.  I try to offer comfort that they don’t have to follow a set of iron-bound rules in order to be a minimalist.  That keeping things that bring them joy or enable them to do things that bring them joy is absolutely fine and will make up what minimalism works for them.  It makes me sad that people think they have to give up such precious things or activities in order to be a “real” minimalist.  

If you’ve ever thought like this, don’t feel like you have to give up your joy in order to be a minimalist.  It’s not about having 100 things that fit in a backpack.  It’s about minimizing the things that bring you stress and unhappiness and clutter (both physical and mental) that weighs you down.  Minimizing the negative stuff, not the positive, unless it becomes negative.

This is just my rant and how I feel, but I don’t want anyone to think they need to conform to some arbitrary standard to be considered a minimalist or to pursue minimalism.  Don’t be discouraged.  Be yourself and focus on your own needs and you’ll find the way that minimalism works for you.

Unless you’re not interested in minimalism at all, which is A-Okay also.  Do what works for you.

One of my attempts at being more zero waste was switching from my normal shampoo – I was using Head and Shoulders for dandruff control – to something that did not come in a bottle.  This has been a journey that I’ve mentioned in previous posts.  I tried the bulk shampoo options from my local co-op, but they didn’t work well on my hair.  I tried no poo, but had problems with my hair and the need for the apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinse was hard to remember.  I don’t usually use conditioner, so a two part process was a challenge to remember first thing in the morning.  Then I tried Dr. Bronner’s with tea tree (for dandruff control) but that also required an ACV rinse.

So now I’m on to Lush bars.  A Lush store opened up in my area so I was able to go in person and buy shampoo bars.  The smell in the store was almost overwhelming.  I started with a citrus bar because the one the employees recommended for dandruff was out of stock.  When it came back in, I bought two.  However, I don’t know that I needed to.  I have very short hair so I don’t use much of a bar at a time.  Less than I’d use to wash my hands I think.  I’ve been using this option for many months now and I haven’t finished a bar yet.  I started with the citrus and then switched to the dandruff one . . . Soak and Float I think it was called.  It’s been convenient to use and I just keep it on a small tray on the edge of the tub on the outside of the shower curtain so it doesn’t get wet other than when I’m using it.  That’s supposed to make it last longer.  So far that seems to be the case because my current bar is still over half its original size after months of use.

The two downsides for me are the smell and the ingredients.  Lush doesn’t have a scent-free shampoo bar, which is not ideal, but the scent seems to die down a bit once the bar is in use.  Or maybe I’m just congested.  My other new bar had to go in a ziploc bag (reused from a prescription that came in one for whatever reason) to control the smell.  I also have my original citrus bar in a ziploc just in case since it is not in regular use at the moment.  In the Soak and Float bar I use, the ingredients include sodium lauryl sulfate.  This ingredient is common in many personal and beauty items, but has some items for concern in its entry for the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep database <https://www.ewg.org/skindeep/ingredient/706110/SODIUM_LAURYL_SULFATE/>  Not a deal breaker since I have so few options for package-free shampoo, but something I keep an eye out for when evaluating new options.  However, the pros of these shampoo bars are far outweighing the cons.  Nothing is perfect and I am happy with Lush bars so far.

Since I have a store local to me, I hold on to the paper sleeve I got with my first bar for subsequent trips.  I used it when I bought the Soak and Float bars.  I have not bought the metal tin yet, but may in the future.

I am sure you want to know about performance in a product review right?  I am very happy with the performance so far.  My dandruff has a tendency to get very itchy so I know when it is flaring up.  So far no signs of that since switching to Lush.  Since finding good dandruff shampoos can be difficult, this is enough to win me over.  My hair feels clean despite not using an acidic rinse such as apple cider vinegar.  I don’t use a conditioner and don’t have any issues, though sometimes my hair feels like a rinse would have been helpful.  It hasn’t seemed necessary on a regular basis though, so I don’t do it. I’m just lazy though, so you may have better results using a rinse.  If I can figure out a convenient way to have a rinse pre-mixed for my shower without having to do it every time then I may try to incorporate an ACV rinse into my routine.

So I definitely would recommend Lush to people looking to reduce packaging waste if you can get it locally.  I cannot speak for ordering Lush products online as I haven’t done it.  I don’t know how much packaging waste is generated by their shipping practices.  If anyone has ordered from them online and can offer insight on that, please comment below.  If the shipping cost and packaging are reasonable, then I would still consider this a great option.

One thing that I think is nice about shampoo bars, but isn’t mentioned as often, is the efficiency of it.  The bars may seem expensive, but you’re buying just the cleaning part of the product.  The rest of traditional shampoo is water.  Most of what’s in a bottle of shampoo is water.  A bar cuts that out.  Not paying for water when I am going to be using it in a shower with water that can activate it is definitely less wasteful.  Wasting water is especially painful given the shortages happening in recent years.  Concentrated products can be a great way to conserve water.  So this product has been a double win on the environmental side – no plastic bottle and less wasted water.

So do you use Lush shampoo bars?  Are you happy with them?  Why or why not?

1. At work I needed a copy of an old membership list to deliver reports, so rather than print another one I just dug the copy I had just thrown out from the recycling bin.  I took some ribbing for not just printing another one, after all it only takes a sec, but I stood my ground.
2. I’ve started using traditional wooden pencils again.  Mechanical pencils are awesome, but I’m only going to use them until the lead I currently have runs out and then it’s full time wooden pencil usage.  I’m going to need a pencil sharpener.
3. Replenishing oats for my frugal breakfast, I went to the local co-op and got enough to fill one of my super large glass jars.
4. I’m starting my first bullet journals (more on that in a later post) and rather than buy a shiny new journal, I used ones I already had.  They’re not as pretty, but I’m making it work.  If it sticks then I’ll invest in a better journal when each of these runs out of pages.
5. I’ve been saving padded mailers and boxes from items I receive and from other sources to use to ship my sold ebay items.  I rarely need to buy padded mailers anymore.

How are you working zero waste ideas into your everyday life?

What do you do when you want to start trying to be zero waste, but don’t want to spend a lot of money to get started?  There are so many articles and lists out there telling you the zero waste essentials that you need to have.  Do you really need all those things to get started?  I say no.  Companies will find ways to take advantage of any movement and convince you that you need the stuff they sell if you want to be serious.  In this series we’ll talk about some “essentials” and what you can do to save money.  

Aside from mason jars, you need containers for your flour, sugar, and other items that maybe you buy in amounts larger than a standard mason jar.  You see pictures of larger glass containers that look great.  What if you don’t want to buy those things or can’t afford to do so?

I used my plastic containers until I had replacements first and foremost.  Larger tupperware are hard to find so if you have it and it’s working, don’t think you need to chuck it and go buy something else.  Using what you have is as zero waste as it gets.  If cutting plastic out of your life is a priority, then finding unusual options can save you big bucks.

Oatmeal comes in these great cardboard tube containers.  Once you finish the oatmeal, the containers can be blown out and used for dry storage.  I have a whole bunch of them that I have accumulated over the years and now I use for my gluten-free flour I get in bulk, more oats, yellow cornmeal, white sugar, pancake mix (that I made myself), rice, and whatever other dry goods I need.  They come with a plastic lid that fits tolerably well.  I’ve never had issues with my flour since we go through it at a decent pace.  If I get more than one container then I’ll put the extra in the freezer to keep it longer.  The seal is plenty good enough for ordinary use.  When the containers fail, the lids are recyclable and the cardboard compostable.  The lids are plastic, yes, but you could replace them with a fabric and rubber band method or some other creative solution.

Wine bottles can make great containers to reuse.  The cork material in synthetic corks is not plastic exactly, so I feel okay using them.  True corks can fall apart, but you can macguyver a replacement stopper I’m sure.  Screwtop bottles are the easiest to reuse.  We found a large bottle at a BJs that we’re planning to rinse out with soapy water and keep for something later.  It’s a great size and shape.

 

So don’t think you need to throw out what you have if you don’t have a replacement yet.  Take your time and save your money.  Also be open to unusual containers, especially if you want or need containers of unusually large or small sizes.  Mason jars are great, but they aren’t very big.  They make larger sizes, but glass gets heavy.  We have two very large glass jars with plastic lids that we found at a garage sale for maybe $1 each.  I’m using them for my oatmeal and the dehydrated potato flakes since our mice have gotten more adventurous.  

Have an open mind when looking at what you have or the items at a thrift shop or garage sale.  You never know what you might find or be able to repurpose.  Do you have any unusual containers?  How have you creatively reused or created containers that work great and you either had already or got really inexpensively?

It’s that time again to appreciate the little things.  It’s almost Valentine’s Day, so if you’re doing any frugal valentine activities, comment below so we can all get ideas.

1. Using laundry racks for laundry.  Nothing new here, but I keep doing it even though the cold keeps me inside when I’d rather use my outdoor clothesline.
2. To save on breakfast, we started making homemade breakfast wraps for the Chef to take to work.  I’ll post on that at a later date, but it is super easy.
3. Continuing to pack lunch and dinner to work instead of ordering out.  The rest of my office orders out a lot so temptation is constant, but I’m holding strong so far.
4. I’m taking advantage of an occasional errand to make a stop at Aldi for some of my grocery shopping needs, which lowers my overall cost.  Of course the snacks are also cheaper there so it’s not healthier.
5. The Chef made pizza the other night and he makes his own pizza sauce from tomato puree.  When he was done, I froze the extra sauce in ice cube trays for later use.  We know how many cubes is good for a pizza so it’s easy to portion out to avoid waste.

It’s not glamorous, but it is fulfilling.