Shabby Chic, a la Anthropologie, for about 200 Smackers

I found this sofa at the local Salvation Army store. I don't know what it was about it; the way it was still springy (good construction), the color (where can you find avocado brocade these days?) or the classic lines (just the right size for my diminutive living room.) At $99, it compared very, very favorably with other pieces I had been scoping out online. And the best part: how can the pets possibly mess up avocado brocade?

With a few pillows made from scrap fabric and a few bed pillows re-covered and re-purposed,I think I've brought the seventies vibe up-to-date. All for a price tag totaling $150.00. Not bad for a living room re-do.

Of course, it all had to pass the Lucy test... and judging by the amount of time she spends on said sofa, I'd say it has.

The Cheapskate Redecorates

In the hopes that I can make spring come along faster, I decided to redecorate my bedroom. The former color scheme: brown on brown. Don't ask me why. The new color scheme: black, white, and lemon yellow.

To create this, I cashed in a Christmas gift certificate to fabric.com and bought some really lovely Michael Miller damask cotton. Two and a half yards sewn together created a quick and easy coverlet that drapes over my old, kind-of-white down comforter. The matching throw pillows are made from the scraps of a former project, also made of Michael Miller fabric. All that remained to be purchased were some new sheets for a total of $30.00. Not too shabby. And the dog loves it, too.

Now, I won't lie. I did drop some cash on the fabric that will become the new bedroom curtains. However, the great thing about curtains is that, should I move or decide to redecorate again, I can always reuse that fabric in other projects; it's basically a big, hemmed rectangle.

Total time spent: 2hrs.
Total cash spent: $30.00 before curtains, $70.00 after.
Design on a dime indeed!

A Cheapskate's Wedding

Now, I got married before I made this commitment to being cheap. But, I have to say, this wedding was one of the cheapest on record.
The total:
Ceremony: $100.00 to reserve the Rose Garden at Birmingham Botanical Gardens
Reception: An undisclosed amount, because I called in some favors, had the reception at my workplace, and appealed to everyone's sense of charity.
Invitations:$75.00 and a few hours spent tying bows with my sister
Dress: $225.00 from J.Crew. And it fit like a dream
Shoes: $25.00
Hair and Makeup: I have a wonderful neighbor. Totally free.
Cake: $250.00 from a local chain of grocery stores. And it was delicious.
All of this adds up to just under $2000.00. And it was awesome.

The First Step in Recovery is Admitting You Have a Problem

I inventoried my closet a few days ago. Here are the results:
39 Dresses. This includes my wedding dress and a dress of my mother's from the 'seventies, but they still count.
19 Sweaters.(Keep in mind, I live in Alabama. We have one cold month out of the year.)
8 Little Sweaters (cardigans, shrugs, etc.)
23 Skirts.
9 pairs of pants.
18 Blouses.
12 Dressy t-shirts.
4 Jackets
23 Pairs of Shoes.

Holy crap. Looking over the tally, I thought about the clothes that I had recently cut up into squares for a quilt, about the others that went to the Jimmy Hale Mission, about the money I make in a month and the fact that I am an avid NPR listener and keep up with economic news and am terrified that I will soon be reduced to eating grass from the side of the road.

And yet, I own 39 dresses.

In President Obama's Inaugural Address, he spoke of our need, as a people, to return to a way of life in which we live within our means rather than on credit cards and a prayer. This is the kind of thinking that makes my grandmother a wealthy woman, though she was a schoolteacher for twenty-two years. She saved, and now she can afford to hide a twenty dollar bill in my purse every time I go for a visit.

So, this blog is a public declaration. That I will, in response to the tough times that we are all facing, live responsibly. That I will become a cheapskate.

To help me through all of this, I have a crafts table, a sewing machine I resurrected from my childhood home, and a flair for making things work. I also have a lovely husband who supports my cheapness and is much, much cheaper himself.