SUBSTANCE SANS THE LOOK

It is inconsequential to me that I might not be wearing extra nice shoes for a couple of months more. Nor am I concerned that I only spend 5 to 8 dollars a week on gas. I don't mind walking. My daily beauty routine requires a scrub pad, a bar of soap and a special moisturizer, along with a decent shampoo and conditioner. I do not adorn myself with jewelry and I can wear old jeans and t-shirts without feeling any less feminine. My social ethics are not hindered due to my poverty.

It doesn't bother me to go without libation and a weekly night out. Nor do I mind an occasional cigarello instead of a Pack of Cigarettes. I can clean my apartment with dish soap, vinegar and water. I can wash my clothes out by hand. The clothes will last much longer and retain color. They smell fresher. I work harder at hand washing and the work out is good for me.

I can wash my car with dish soap and vinegar water, then wax it and give it a good buffing. The car will look decent for a good three weeks. Boiled lemon slices and lime slices and cinnamon in a bowl, placed in the floor board of the car with all the windows up will make a nice interior scent and doesn't cost alot.

I'm not "too good" to visit the donut shop down the alley and request the day's newspapers. I've spent quite a bit in the place and worked above and beyond for the proprietor at one time. Sure, some of the employees look at me as though I'm a bum or something. But so what. Hey, I think that they are peasants and locusts in the midst of fine flour.

Newspapers and vinegar water make fantastic shine on car windows. They can also be used to dust furniture and clean painted floors. They do fine on house windows also.

If I run out of painting supplies in the midst of a project, I simply analyze. Sometimes, I will hang an unfinished painting on a wall which has no light. Then on a wall which has plenty of light. Sometimes, I take the painting outside and study it. I look for imbalance. I have used tooth picks and penny edges and old tooth brushes when I had no brushes. No sense getting weepy! I've even used Canola oil to loosen up too-thick oil paint.

Thanks in large part to a very special library, I have access to a computer. In return, I do my best to go by their rules. They are not asking too much and I am not going to take unnecessary advantage.

Keeping a good store of various teas, coffees, sugar and honey is absolutely essential. Making bisquits from

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