With so many constants -- 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year and almost most always 365 days -- it seems surprising that we need to buy a new calendar every year. Even though you can't reuse your 2008 calendar this coming year, thanks to their cyclical nature you can use it again in 2036! More importantly this means you can use many old calendars in 2009.

Finding a retro calendar is simple and with plenty of years to choose from for 2009 it's sure to be a fun adventure. The first thing to do is to find out what years have the same distribution of days as 2009 by using the repeating calendar calculator. Now that you know what years to look for, hit up eBay or your local thrift store to find a suitable calendar from years gone by.

In just a few minutes I was able to find a cool vintage advertisement calendar on eBay from 1942 for only a few bucks. I also found a Spice Girls calendar which would make an excellent gag gift for my sister!

Looking at the recent years that are repeating in 2009, I found an abundance of pop culture, advertisement and "pinup" style calendars. With this much diversity and rock bottom prices you're sure to find a cheap gift for anyone on your list. Don't forget to include "calender" in your eBay search as I found plenty of interesting retro calendars under this common misspelling.

Just be sure you correct the holidays or warn your recipient since the dates won't always match up. There's no need for them to lose their job for taking the wrong day off on Easter!

After doing a round of holiday cleaning at our apartment, I discovered a treasure trove of gadgets which still worked, but no longer met my needs. Thankfully I also found Gazelle.com, a company that buys old electronics for resale or recycle.

I tested out Gazelle.com with three items I had on hand; an old camera without a power adapter, a Dell PDA with all original wires and manuals, and a digital video camera with power cord. For my collection of slightly used gadgets I am being paid $124, more than I could likely get on eBay due to the lack of accessories.

Selling your stuff to Gazelle is simple:

1. Look up your item on the Gazelle site.
2. Answer a few questions about the quality and accessories.
3. Click "calculate" and see what Gazelle will offer you.
4. Send your items back to Gazelle with free shipping label.
   
5. Get paid via check, Paypal or Amazon gift card.
   

Currently Gazelle buys goods from 11 categories including; video games and consoles, GPS units, phones, movies, digital cameras, laptops and more. If the item you want to sell isn't already in the catalog you can request a customized quote, which is calculated within 24 hours.

Lists of reusable items seem to be a dime a dozen online, ranging from the top 10 alternate uses for old peach pits to the slightly more practical ways to reuse tennis balls but for the most part I have found these lists to lack any applicability in ,my life. The main reason I found them useless was that the suggested uses were way too specific or convoluted to be put into action.

Thankfully that has finally changed, I found the best list of ways to reuse everyday items at The Good Human! Not only does the list include many items which are practical, but it also includes many fun and creative uses that even the most timid re-user can find something that fits their life.

While the list covers 25 different items I found these to be the most useful to me personally.

• Beer bottle cap magnets.
• Baby food jars as candle holders.
• Wine rack made from shipping tubes.
• Using an old garden hose to irrigate an entire garden.
• Use your old shower curtain as a tarp or as a dropcloth.

While I don't plan to use an old bath mat as a mop or begin to use my old shoe boxes to file anything other than the cards my wife has given me, this list provides concrete examples for reuse. As an added bonus, to make use of many of these ideas you won't need to do much if any additional work. In the few cases you do need to modify something you have the added bonus of pounding a nail through a hose or tearing t shirts in half in an attempt to mimic The Hulk or if you prefer Hulk Hogan. Thankfully the list even provided a worthwhile use for my toilet paper collection which failed to sell last month.

What is your favorite item to reuse around the house?

Do you still subscribe to your local newspaper? If you do, you likely have a stack of papers somewhere in the house or garage waiting to be recycled. Apartment Therapy has come up with 20 ways to recycle or reuse newspaper around your house. It turns out leftover newsprint is suited for a myriad of uses but it is especially useful for soaking up odors in many places.

If you have a smelly container, fridge or shoe stuffing some newspaper in it is likely to pull the odor and moisture out. This method of odor fighting is no doubt much cheaper than air sprays and baking soda. Other uses include keeping weeds out of your garden and as an additive to your compost pile. The uses for newspaper around your house or community abound. You can even use the newspaper to prevent icing on your car windows during the winter.

We don't get the paper at home anymore, since the idea of on time delivery eluded the local delivery boy. At work we get 3-4 papers daily which get recycled by an employee but I don't think any of the papers enjoy any of the varied recycling activities mentioned by Apartment Therapy. I enjoy using newspaper and Windex to clean my car windows as it does a great job of preventing streaking, but that is my extent of paper reuse.

Do you still get a hard copy paper? If so, what do you re-use your newspaper for?