Not Buying A 2013 Calendar

Captain Kirk says, "Beam up those 2002 calendars - they're good all over again."

I haven't bought a wall calendar for many years, and thanks to a quirky tip, this year will be no different.

My mom has been sending me beautiful calendars as gifts every year for over a decade. An added bonus is that their purchase has supported non-profit environmental groups (my mom is nice, and green).

This year, for the first time in years, mom didn't send a calendar. She had radiation treatment for a brain tumour just before solstice, and couldn't fill her role as the calendar elf. So I took down 2012, and thought about what 2013 would bring for mom. And for me - I don't have a calendar, and I am definitely not going to buy one.

I say that this is a quirky tip because I am not sure if it is for frugal reuse, or for hoarding old calendars. I mean, who would actually have old calendars hanging around? Uh, well, me as it turns out.

All the calendars mom sent over the years had amazing photographs of beautiful, wilderness settings. That is why I have kept some over the years - for artistic inspiration, and perhaps to paint one or two in watercolours (something that hasn't happened yet).

I went looking for a calendar from 2002, the most recent year that can be used for this year. I almost hoped I didn't have one - do minimalists have 10 year old calendars lurking around their tiny homes? I knew I definitely didn't have a calendar from 1901, but 2002 was within the realm of possibility.

crescent
waning

Digging into my art supply container, I located several old time trackers. The oldest one was from 1998, which will be good again in 2015. After flipping through about 10 newer calendars, I hit the jackpot - 2002. I hung it in the void on the wall left by 2012, and noticed the days did indeed match up, even if the moon phases were off by a bit.

I was a little freaked out that I have been carrying around old calendars for as long as I have, even if they are beautiful and can be reused eventually. Whatever I lost in minimalist cred, I gained in frugality and reuse, but it did make me wonder about the things we hang on to.

Now that I know my calendar stash is more than nice pictures, it is hard to give in to the urge to purge. Linda has done one drawing from 'the collection'. From 2002 at that. Arghh... I slipped them back into the art box.

Here are the calendar years that will work for this year, 2013. Hopefully your stash doesn't go back as far as 111 years... although it would be interesting if it did. 

2002
1991
1985
1974
1963
1957
1946
1935
1929
1918
1907
1901

Frugal reuse, or hoarding? You decide. And mom, thanks for the calendar... again.

For more calendar reuse information see here.