Shopping Wish List

One part of this whole plan is that there is not much room left for anything that isn't a food product, whether or not it would be useful around the house. Every so often, of course, I still need to pick up household essentials, though. This usually happens on the triage system, with some items on the list so far down that they will likely never reach the top. Here's my current non-essentials wish list, in no particular order. 

• Resolve carpet cleaner
  
• Filters for carpet steamer
  
• Coffee Grinder
  
• Shaving gel
  
• Matches
  
• New plants for outside planters
  
• KitchenAid Artisan Stand Mixer (this is a convenient bottom item for any triage list, but it's fun to dream about. Especially with the attachments.)
• New sheets for the bed
• Pack of dish sponges
•  Silver wire for crafting
  
• Cable television (another bottom dweller, since there's always the internet.)
• Febreeze
• Wrinkle Releaser
• One of those cool-looking tub wands
• Light bulbs for my gooseneck lamps
• Rolling pin 
• Brita Filters 

There's more, there's always more, but those are the things I've been missing lately. Most are just conveniences that I can live without easily enough. We have plenty of toilet paper, toothpaste and paper towel, and really, what more do you need besides food? And there's generally a workaround for what you need and don't have. Yesterday I was going to use the carpet steamer ($64 from Linens 'N Things last year. No wonder they went bankrupt!) to clean up a mess, but I realized that the filter was apparently disposable and had apparently disintegrated since last time I'd used it. I had the carpet cleaning solution, though, so I put some in a plastic flour container (my mop bucket didn't survive the move here, where I have about 5x2 feet of tile), filled it with hot water, and scrubbed the floors with a washcloth. Luckily I have plastic gloves, cause that stuff's caustic, but the point is that it worked. 

Instead of a rolling pin, I've been known to use the tube part of my turkey baster, or even a ceramic mug. It's not perfect, but it works okay. I have Netflix and we're invited to an Oscar party, so who needs cable? The gooseneck lamps are among the few fixtures in our house that will not take CFLs, so they are a low priority to relight, for all that they are cute and fun. The Febreeze and the tub wand are just shortcuts and labor savers, and if there's one thing I've got right now, it's time on my hands. I can get on my knees and scrub, and somewhere around here I have an iron, if no board. 

 I will probably end up getting the matches, the Resolve, and the Brita filters as soon as money allows. The cat has stopped puking since we switched up her food the other day, but I learned in my last apartment that quick attention to stains saves a lot of money in the long run. With all the crazy weather we've had around here lately, candles are more than an indulgence, but they're not much good if you can't light them! And water is the cheapest beverage around, but only if you can stand to drink it. My current filter is two months old, and I'm starting to taste the chemicals again. Yick. Sometimes you can find bargains on that sort of thing, though, so I'll keep my eyes open.