Posts have been skimpy - any lurkers who want to add remarks about successful thinning out of personal items, feel free to share!

Soon we will enter the season of Garage Sales. It's a great temptation to pick up items, but I usually only shop for parts to replace broken things or to complete sets. And sometimes pick up items I'm familiar with and can immediately sell on eBay.

This morning it took time to bring the kitchen back to a relatively clear state, since dishes had piled up in the sink and stuff was left sitting on the peninsula counter. It's warming up and the garden is calling, but before heading out I'll put in a load of laundry and lug my recycling out to the car.

The "no spend challenge" that Michelle remarked on has been running in a modified form here - I didn't read up about it so I don't know exactly what the standard rules are one should follow. Making it up as I go along, it has been helpful in drawing down the stuff in my freezer, even though there is still a lot left. I have shopped a couple of times, to replace things that ran out completely that I consider staples. Olive oil, fresh fruit and veggies, etc. But it has been remarkable successful in calling my attention to my previous spending habits, as I now pause to consider "is that purchase necessary?" It reveals to me the backlog of items I have here at the house that can accomplish the same thing as a newly-purchased item.

I'm going to try an experiment - if I have any tomatoes in the freezer that were frozen without cooking, I'm going to pull out some of the seeds and see if any will germinate. I have lots of spare pots in the greenhouse so I'll set aside a garden science corner.