Still painting

Think "John Deere" green and yellow....what was I thinking?!?!?!?!? The room needs a third coat of paint and I really thought I would only need two. Thankfully I think (hope really) that we have enough left in the can to get that third coat on the wall. See we are on a "no buy" year and I can't go out and buy any more paint. The paint we are using has been in our basement for a year or so now. We purchased it as "oops" paint, which is paint that is returned or made wrong and sells for just $5 a gallon.

This is the first year we are trying this and we are actually a little excited. For years when we needed something that we could afford we would just go and buy it. And if it was something we couldn't afford, but was on sale and we really needed it we put it on credit. Well not this year! For an entire year we aren't going to buy ANYTHING except food (we are even limiting that!) and gas for the car. No clothing (unless it is completely needed and from the thrift shop), no new patterns, no new fabric, no soda (I have been soda-free since two weeks before Christmas), no toys, no books.... If we *need* something than we will either find it on freecycle.org, craigslist.org, or trade for it. Right now I need a bookcase for the room we are finishing. I have looked on craigslist and freecycle and even posted ads, but so far no luck....so I'm going to be patient and accept that right now the room won't be exactly the way we want it. We are choosing this path for many reasons. One because we are already blessed with a house full of stuff and I'm sure we have almost everything we need here! Two because we are trying to reduce our impact on the world around us, both environmentally and socially. Third because we really don't have a single extra penny. Fourth because we want to be an example to our children that things aren't really all that important.