Posted on 11/03/2013 6:51:15 AM PST by Kaslin
Also, buy off brands at places like Aldi’s.
I do, of course, buy some items from one of the Big 10. It is impossible to completely avoid. But I have substituted those off brand items that are acceptable everywhere I can.
Read and watch whatever you like. Online, all you are *paying* is a blip in their stats. But don’t subscribe. In fiction, lately, I have been downloading whatever I find for free that I would have bought, anyway. I watch 2 programs/week on Hulu free. We watch 1-2 hours of TV/movies per night via Netflix, either DVD or streaming. Once in a blue moon, we will see a movie on the big screen, but that happens less and less....maybe once every year and a half.
I just purchased 8 paperbacks for .25/ea at my favorite thrift shop. We spent $40 this past year on a mountain of great top brand clothing, including a wonderful suede jacket at a consignment store’s semi-annual sale. I buy us both shoes online and mostly opt for savings by picking something on closeout or something discontinued. There are websites (& eBay stores) dedicated to selling discontinued styles, new with tags. As a bonus, they are often styles we really love and cannot even find elsewhere.
Toiletries are usually available in the Equate brand, which is Walmart, as opposed to L’oreal or whatever other brand.
It adds up and it is also a political statement.
During the end of the depression and during WWII, my grandparents lived on a small acreage with a great garden. That garden not only fed them, it helped to feed some of their children and grandkids.
My Granddad did the garden, and my grandmother raised strawberries and chickens/eggs which fed us and provided income. She, also, traded the chickens/eggs and strawberries for beef and pork.
Granddad built a little self service stand which he would stock up each morning before going to work where neighbors and strangers could by fresh produce. He was open to trade, and cash and trade were on the honor system. He hated squash and had a couple of signs noting “No Damn Squash!” on any trade or as a gift.
Those, who knew my grandmother would knock on her kitchen door to buy her strawberries/ chickens or trade whatever for them. She also took orders for pies and cakes which were sold for cash.
She and her married daughters and older grand daughters went into a home canning mode when the gardens produced more than they could eat, sell or barter.
I grew up picking fresh produce from their garden to snack on and for lunch and dinner.
My wife’s parents and grandmother also had great gardens.
So we grew up knowing where good food came from.
Our DIL and one of our sons live in a great farm area with an incredible farmer’s market lasting from late April to about now. Our grandkids have been selecting fresh fruit and produce to eat since they were toddlers. Our grandson on summer visits, likes going out in our back yard to pick our cherry tomatoes from the vines and the arugula from a trough and eating them as he picks them. Even as teenagers, they love to pack their own lunches with their selected fruit and vegies.
I charcoal grill most dinners from April about now. Besides grilling the game and seafood, I grill a lot of veggies and fruits. Visiting family members and close friends love to stop here. We, then go to their places to eat inside food during our winter months. I use about 300 pounds of charcoal each season.
Re the fresh figs, most mornings, my wife picks a small handful for each of us to be part or our breakfast.
“...Procter & Gamble...earned their position in the marketplace by doing a better job than their competitors.”
And making a deal with the Devil and putting Satanic signs on all of your products doesn’t hurt either! /s
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.