not to toot our own horn...but, "beep"

Of course, when someone gets that little glimmer of self-appreciation, they always seem to say something superficially modest like, "not to toot my own horn, but _____," filling in that accomplishment or action that spawned the pride. As I came across an article in the NY Times today, that little glimmer appeared. At the risk of coming across as NorCal self-righteous, I would like to pat E and myself on the backs for establishing (pre-recession) and maintaining (especially recession-mired) a frugal lifestyle. The NY Times article, "Austere Times? Perfect," champions several folks, who even if they are sitting pretty financially, have reduced the waste and consumption in their lifestyles by some measure. And, to that, I applaud! Granted, our frugality began out of necessity; still, even as we gained a little comfort and padding here, we have maintained our dedication to those often-over-looked and under-appreciated corners of the Reduce-Reuse-Recycle triangle. Recycling is great...yet, reducing and especially reusing have been the joy of our frugality. Not only has it become rewarding (thus the horn...), but as we reused those sour cream, apple juice, yogurt, and salsa containers, it's become a habit. Only one tiny flaw..."now which lid goes with what??"