Several people I know "in real life" have told me I should post about my penny plan here. It's changed my life. It's taken me from being a lazy slob to being productive.

The penny plan started out simple. I get 1 penny for every 5 minutes of work, I pay 1 penny for every 5 minutes of television or online time. However, that simple structure was turned into a plan that works for me and has succeeded in keeping me from falling into the eternal distraction abyss. My rules are:

Earning pennies: 6 pennies to begin the day, 12 if purpleglitter is home from work that day. 1 penny for every 5 minutes of cleaning, crafting, or other productive work. 1 penny for every 5 minutes of Telugu practice. 1 penny for every 10 minutes of book reading (magazines, no matter how dry, don't count). 1 penny for every 10 minutes of photography. 2 pennies for every 5 minutes working on a "priority project" assigned by purpleglitter. Using pennies: Every 5 minutes of computer time costs me 1 penny. Every 5 minutes of television time costs me 1 penny. If I'm using the computer to prep photos, I pay half If I'm with purpleglitter, I pay half If I have no pennies, I cannot do any of the activities that require them.

The penny plan, unlike project schedule or project three meals, has proven to be something I can stick to. I've been on it successfully for almost a month at this point and I still going strong. It has truly transformed me.

brontosproximo posted something a while back about drilling holes in pennies to save money on washers. That inspired me to do something similar in my candlemaking. I've been using pennies as wick bases, which is not only more convenient (I don't have to run out and get them), it is significantly cheaper than buying bases at the craft or even using washers for the task. Best thing is, I don't even have to drill holes in them, the pennies work find as is.

Today, the U.S. mint began issuing it's newest dollar coin: the "Presidential Dollar". Starting with George Washington, the coins will change every three months, featuring every president in order served. In 2016 we will have long-awaited Reagan Bucks!

I went to one of the most wonderful yard sales I've ever been to this morning, less than a block from the house_of_clocks. The place was absolutely mobbed, but the stuff was awesome non-standard yard sale fair and the prices were the best I've ever seen apart from the free stuff shop. I got a bunch of bead/buttons shaped as Chinese coins, two stuffed squirrels (a momma and a baby), a travel box of oil pastels, 2 blank sketch books, 2 cool lockets (on of which I gave to purpleglitter), a pair of vintage cat's eye glasses, and a stand-alone chrome ashtray for the front porch — ALL FOR FOUR BUCKS!!