Recession Challenge: Emptees

I can shop for t-shirts as Emptees and never spend a dime.

November Recession Challenge

Nice bag

Recession Challenge for October

MFAH is free today! Thank you Target.

Talbots is having a great sale. I needed a new lbd. I found one, regularly $179 for $28.

Kids Eat Free: Recession Challemge

Eating Free in Houston

The Longhorn Gets the Bird

Recession Challenge for September
1. H.E.B. has seedless grapes 77 cents per pound.
2. Open source software.
3. Personal challenge: 34 days withour sweets. For me, that is more than a dollar a day!
4. Visit Chick Fil a Labor Day from 10:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., wear your favorite sports team shirt and receive a free chicken sandwhich.

Wish List

Today is the last day of the Texas Back-to-School Tax Free Weekend. Consumers do not pay tax on clothing, shoes, school supplies and a few other items if the purchase is above $100. Last year, I save a great deal making purchases for other family members. This year, there is NOTHING we need. Our cubboards, closets, and office/school supplies are full. We are fortunate, indeed.

Here are some items that I started to purchase this weekend. These are not needs, but wants. I changed my mind and will see how long I can go without making a purchase. Of course, I'll buy gasoline and food and toiletries, but none other for a while.

August Recession Challenge

This is my best friend Pat. We have been theatre buddies since 1993. We attend Miller Outdoor Theatre perormances together. Sometimes there is a group of us; sometimes, just the two of us. We always attend the FREE summer performances at Miller Outdoor Theatre:
Twelfth Night
Pericles
The Wiz
My Fair Lady
Music Man
Mama Mia

Since ushers do not tear ticket stubs at the door. You can keep your tickets and use them as bookmarks. They come in handy when reading and waiting in the box office lines for more FREE tickets.

Last time I did not attend the play with Pat, but with my other friend Donna. We made a picnic of it. Our menu included rice crackers (gluten free!), tomato and roasted pepper humus, grapes, puff dried snow peas, fig newtons (also gluten free), and white zinfandel.

Above is the borrowed book I was reading to pass time while in line for tickets. This is the view from my place in line.

R.I.P. Frank McCourt, Recession Challenge #4, Reading Recommendations,Kodachrome, & Happy 40th Apollo Moon Landing!

Part I
Frank McCourt’s (1930 - 2009)passing inspired the subject matter of the first part of today’s blog.
When I was growing up, my family often took car trips to Mexico. We did not go solely for just across- the-border shopping trips, but for actual family vacations. We drove from Houston to Tampico or to Mexico City. Dad always insisted on taking the out of the way minor roads, rather than the main highways. He wanted his children to see the way people lived in the small towns and impoverished villages. Once we arrived at our final destination, a beach front resort or luxurious metropolitan mecca, our wise patriarch was assured his family knew how fortunate we were. Now, whenever I sense that I am falling into that self absorbed downward spiral of lamenting about being middle class, instead of a Rothschild or Kennedy, I find something to lift me up to reality. Rater than spending almost a trillion dollars to gas up the vehicle to travel to a neighboring country, rule Texas, or even a Houston ghetto, all I have to do is turn to a good book. The following is a combination recession challenge and reading recommendation.

Read a borrowed library book or DVD instead of going to the movie theater. Stay home from the movie theatre. You CAN wait to see The Half Blood Prince when it comes out on Netflix (only $15.99 a month; better fee than cable), DVD, or broadcast television. Unless you can walk or bike to the theatre, staying home will save gasoline, too. Reading the book will also save electricity used by the television and DVD player. Most neighborhoods have a public library branch within walking or biking distance. Re-read Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince; no money out of your pocket. Instead of complaining about the recession, unless you have lost employment, cancel your pity party and check out a good book to draw you back to reality. Suggestions for you and kids (from age 12), too.

Books with characters who deal with poverty:
Angela’s Ashes, Frank McCourt
The Good Earth, Pear S. Buck
Ellen Foster, Kaye Gibbons
The Grapes of Wrath, John Steinbeck
Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
Fat Kid Rules the World, K. L.Going
Oliver Twist, Charles Dickens
How to Steal a Dog, Barbara O’Connor


Part II
Memories of Childhood Past

Dentists Fair Well During the Recession

What people are buying during the recession

Recession Challenge #3:My top five recession remedies during the past month:
1. Cut mani/pedi and beauty salon visits by 50 %.
2. Visit Whole Foods less often; Fiesta will have to do for now.
3. Left that fourth pair of Sam Edleman's in the store.
4. Mended a blouse and a handbag, rather than a trip to the dry cleaners and shoe repair.
5. Tried store-brand allergy medication.

How To #2: Making Sushi: Check Out Real Wasabi

This is not just another "How To" post, but a first in a few recession challenge posts. Today I had a power failure, so I had to clean out the refrigerator. Since uncooked rice and seaweed were two of the few items that could be saved, I decided to use them for dinner. So Sushi it was. Even though, I have a favorite sushi bar, I decided to make my own dinner with what I had on hand.
I used canned salmon.

My first fiance taught me to make sushi. I used to make it with the kids. It was quite a challenge making it with canned tuna and cold cuts.

The recession challenge idea comes from Kasmira.

'got comps for this one, too!

Lovely By Surprise

I have comp seats for this one.