Innovative Economies

I have been listening to the audio book, Peace and Plenty: Finding Your Path to Financial Serenity. Sarah Ban Breathnach beautifully articulating her own words is one of the most divine free treats (as the book is borrowed from the library). In the book, she outlines what she calls "elegant economies," affordable luxuries even the most financially strapped woman can give herself.

I have been thinking about this as I try to keep myself on a budget by making the most of what I have. This has led me to the idea of innovative economies, using innovation with what I already have to avoid buying something new. Over the next week or so, I hope to share some of my recent innovative economies with you, starting with exhibit a.

This is a "magnetic" dry-erase board. When I bought it I thought that meant it would stick to the fridge...not so much. So I (sadly) applied magnetic stripping to the back so we could use it for family communications, lists, etc... Well, as you can see, that's wasn't working out so well for us.

I racked my brain trying to find a new solution that would respect the fact that we don't have much kitchen wall space and I didn't want to spend any money. Then, my brilliant husband stepped in and pointed out that the fridge could be a dry/wet erase board....and it can!

This allowed me to move the sad board out of the kitchen and into a place where it would be more useful...keeping track of daily to-dos in the boys' bathroom.

Two problems solved, no money spent, innovative economy.

What innovative economies have you been employing recently?