Saving on summer supplies

This summer we'll be watching our gas money, so I'm assembling summer supplies as cheap as I can!

Keep water toys in the trunk for beach and pool trips. I bought this container for 45-cents, but you can also cut plastic milk cartons open for handled buckets.

Toss in any lid-less Tupperware, odd scoops and spoons. Or trim 20-oz Coke bottles in half. Now you have a funnel and a cup!

I like thin puzzle books. They don't take up room in cars and planes, and you can toss them at your destination.

Flip through your thrift store's book section for a huge savings! These cost 25-cents, with very little writing from a previous owner.

Getting a few things off my chest

(and not with the "support" that was mentioned so often in the maternity dress comments, either!)

Some bloggers vent about their husbands, their pets, and various bodily fluids produced by their kids.

And the crowd goes wild. The blogger gets it off her chest, readers feel less alone, and ad money comes pouring in.

I'm not one of those bloggers.

Sharing the struggles (and there have been a lot this month, haven't there?) invites negativity to stay. That's not the kind of hospitality I try to practice.

I envision Like Merchant Ships as a short, pretty escape from the day-to-day grind--both mine and yours.

I appreciate everyday creativity, from a colorful salad or the delicate smocking on a thrift store dress.

I celebrate the fact that it doesn't cost much to have beauty in your life.

In many ways this blog is like my home. I grow more and more reluctant to open the door each morning. Other opinions are welcome, but not in mean spirit and not from anonymous commenters.

Why don't we raise the sash for some fresh air and let the sun shine in on a freshly wiped counter?

If you ignore the cereal crunched on the floor, I will, too. At least for a moment, while we cheer each other on.

Enabling bad financial decisions

Last night my 20-something sister totaled her car.

Again.

My mom is having a nervous breakdown, shaking uncontrollably and trying to buy her a replacement car, today. "What if she loses her job because she can't get to work?"

She lives 2.4 miles from work. I'm lending her the Trek bike and trying to not to be angry.

It's hard. My mother has enabled her careless mistakes until they become unswerving patterns. I enable my mother by helping her clean up my sister's messes.

Guess who's been pulling CarFax reports and figuring out how to get the tags from the wrecker service?

In which I ask for more free advice

Last week I took your words to heart.

I marched myself into the most expensive maternity stores in town. If I could find a wedding outfit that looked great, I'd buy it without hesitation.

But y'all--I'm not going to pay $140 to look this horrible! I'd just as soon buy a Singer and make myself a muumuu.

Below are the top 2 choices, out of the many dozens I've tried, from mall to consignment.

I looked at everything with an open mind, but I feel most comfortable in in solid colors with sleeves. Keep in mind I'll be chasing children, in 90% humidity, on a patio. Dressier shoes would be bought for either outfit.

Option A: aqua linen cut on the bias.

Do you know how hard it is to find a linen outfit without beads, patches, or watering cans embroidered along the hem? So much for simple elegance!

Option B: midnight blue pant set.

Synthetic, but you try finding a maternity outfit this season which isn't!

Do we have a preference, or should I go ahead and buy that Singer?

(For more fashion faux pas, visit Fight The Frump each week.)

When life brings you low

For privacy reasons, I took down yesterday's post about "knowing how to be brought low." (In case anyone wondered where it went!)

This morning I need to deliver a casserole and gather supplies for our camping trip. In the meantime, here are links to cheerful frugality around the web:

• The Nester moves to a (gasp!) much smaller house, for all the right reasons.
• Ivy looks for a creative financial solution to her big dental problem. Ideas?
• Just like me, Crystal learns a lesson about keeping the medicine cabinet full.

Where is Amy Dacyczyn now?

Trent from Simple Dollar tracked down Amy Dacycyzn of the Tightwad Gazette. Her practical creativity inspired a lifestyle of less consumption in so many of us.

Did you know she joined a gym? I wish he had asked about the kids.

Above, my well-worn copy from college. (HT: Amy's Humble Musings)

Baby's first pearls

I laughed when I read that my friend is wearing pearls and makeup to the delivery room.

I wore mine there, too.

I don't own heirloom jewelry, but I loved this inexpensive freshwater strand with its irregular shapes. Wore them every during my pregnancy, and every day after, including to her baptism.

One day while nursing, she ripped them from my neck. We never recovered them all. I should put them in the safety deposit box with a note for Elise.

Maybe one day we can sew them to her wedding veil. Anyone have creative ideas for recycling them in the meantime?

Nashville thrift alert

I just noticed that another huge Music City Thrift opens across from the Zoo this week. May 16th at 9 am. Yippee!

Thin but chewy chocolate chip cookies

By request, the chocolate chip cookie recipe from the housewarming basket below:

• 1 stick butter, melted (50 cents)
• 1 egg (.15)
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar (.10)
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar (.20)
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1-1/2 cups unbleached flour (.15)
• 6 oz. semisweet chocolate chips ($1)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Beat melted butter and egg, add sugars and mix well. Stir in vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Mix with flour and chips.

Place 1-inch balls of dough at least 2 inches apart on greased pans. Bake 10 minutes. Cool on cookie sheet. Cookies will continue to crisp out of the oven, yet they remain deliciously thin and chewy.

Approximate cost: $2.15 for about 2 dozen cookies. So much better than storebought!

Blog swap with Scribbit

I'd like to introduce you to one of the most professional bloggers I know, Michelle from Scribbit.

We met via one of her insightful posts on blogging, but I was quickly drawn to her photography and ultra-clever summer vacation craft series.

Today at Like Merchant Ships, Michelle will share some ideas for repurposing the ordinary--and I'll be doing the same at Scribbit.