A "New" Bedroom for about $100, Part I

We moved into our house close to three years ago and until recently hadn't done a thing with the master bedroom including our horrible yard sale furniture.  This is the first of two parts explaining how that all changed for right around $100 including getting "new" furniture.

We had been living with our atrocious bedroom furniture for way too long.  I wish I had a picture to show you of our furniture before the makeover, but since I don't here is the story behind it. 

My husband and I met in college and in his senior year of college (1996) his mother purchased for him a bedroom suite at a yard sale.  At that point, I am willing to venture and say, the furniture was close to thirty years old.  It is very much from the 70s.  To go along with the 70s theme it was also $70.  This included the two nightstands, the headboard, frame, mattress and box spring as well as the dresser.  He loved the retro vibe of it.  I felt a "bit" differently about the set that had an awful lacquer finish to it and screamed to be paired with orange shag carpet. 

Anyway, it was fine furniture for a male college student and it served him well.  However, it followed him into our marriage and has been with us through an apartment and three houses now and unfortunately it isn't in the guest bedroom - it is still in the master bedroom.  We did get a new mattress though :)! 

So, when my husband suggested we paint the furniture I saw it as my out.  This was my chance to get new furniture!  I had patiently been waiting (for 15 years) and once we painted the furniture (translate as - make it unusable) I could finally get the new furniture I wanted.  That isn't what happened though, I am now in love with our yard sale furniture and although I would still like to have new furniture I realize what I have right now is far better than dishing out the money for something new.  Here are pictures of how it turned out:

Before the makeover, it was a light oak with a lacquer finish, really shiny, with gold hardware and don't forget it looked like something out of "That 70s Show." 

We had to sand it, prime it and then we painted it the brown you see.  We also used the same hardware that was on there before.  We just spray painted it silver. 

It took about a day to do all of that, at the cost of about $50 and it really makes me wonder why we waited 15 years to do it.    It may not be new furniture, but I love the color and it was whole lot cheaper than purchasing new.

I will be back later in the week to tell you about how we finished the room off for under $100 total.

One Way I Haven't Been Completely Frugal Lately

I have an addiction, well probably a few, but the one I am talking about here is BOOKS.  I love books and it probably stems from my love of education (its the teacher in me).  Well, I recently went to one of my favorite bookstores - Half-Price Books, in search of a book for my mom.  Unfortunately, they did not have it, but they had a lot of what I was looking for!  Just about each of these are for my classroom,

• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - such a good read!!!!  I loved this book and have been waiting to find a copy at Half-Price Books and it is a hard cover which is good because it will get lots of use! 
• A Million Little Pieces by James Frey - I know, I know the controversies revolving around this book, but it really is a good read and lots of information about substance abuse and recovery and remember MOST of it is true.
• A User's Guide to the Brain by John J Ratey - This is really just to help this poor social studies teacher who has to teach a bunch of biology.  Don't feel too bad for me, this is what I find most fascinating about psychology.
• Lit by Mary Karr - This is another substance abuse book.  Lately I have been avoiding these because it often seems like if you have read one, you have read them all.  But this one comes highly recommended.
• TWEAK by Sheff - Another substance abuse book, but it is about Meth and I need to know more info about it since it has become such an epidemic.
• Weekends at Bellvue by Holland - This sounds so interesting!!!!  It is a psych ward doctor's account of nine years on the night shift in the psych ER.  I have read a similar book to this and I learned so much about various different psych disorders.  I hope this one is just as educational.
• Manic by Cheney - A Memoir about Bipolar Disorder.  My students often understand so little about this disorder, so I hope it will serve as a good example.
• Flow by Csikszentmihalyi - A peer of mine talks about Flow all the time and although I have a general idea of what it is for the most part I just shake my head and pretend I understand what she is talking about.  So I finally bought the book she loves and now I can discuss it intelligently, I hope :).
• Chew on This by Schlosser and Wilson - A book about what we eat today.
• Clean by Junger - "The revolutionary program to restore the body's natural ability to heal itself."  I can't wait.  I read part of it and was fascinated.
• Enough by Thurow and Kilman - "Why the worlds poorest starve in an age of plenty."  This is the social studies teacher in me.  When I taught geography I would read these books and then come in and share with my students and I promise it made the sometimes boring study of geography MUCH more interesting!
• This Land is Their Land by Ehrenreich - I read her book "Nickle & Dimed" and really enjoyed it and was quite happy to find another one by her. 
• The Developing Child by Bee - This is a textbook just to help my background knowledge or if I ever run into a question I don't have an answer to. 

Total amount set back (don't tell my husband!) - $67

Was it a frugal purchase?  Maybe, I can deduct it off my taxes, I got a 10% educator discount and I bought all but one at a used bookstore, but I probably would have been better off financially if I had not splurged quite so much!  Just a book or two would have been better. 

What have you read this summer that wowed you?  I would love to hear!

Yard Sale Finds 7/31

It was a slow week in the yard sale world around here.  I believe for the first time ever my husband did not buy a thing.  I was able to get a few things. 

At our first stop I was able to find a sandwich packer, I hope it doesn't have BPA or some other harmful product in it.  But, it will help me pack the kids lunch none-the-less. I would really like to find a second one, so both kids can have one.

At the next stop, I picked up a bath & body package that was unopened.  Who knows what I will do with it, but if I ever need a last minute gift I'll have one.  Sorry, it is sideways, but it has been a long day and I don't have the energy to change it.

At another stop, I found this Monopoly Junior Disney Channel game, again unopened.  This will make a good Christmas present for someone.  It was originally marked to sell for $8, but being the cheapskate that I am asked if they would take $4 and she accepted. 

Now, onto the clothes.  There isn't much here.  I was able to get C another UK shirt and a pair of play shorts that will both fit in a year or two for .50.  At another sale, I got a pair of jean shorts that I may just sell and a looks brand new Children's Place sweater both for C and an Old Navy cardigan for me for $1all together.  The cardigan is the next addition to my "new" school clothes :)! 

Finally, there was a rare Sunday sale.  These people had a HUGE beautiful home and everything they had out was just as beautiful and amazingly it was reasonably priced.  I spent $20 total at this yard sale and got some cute home decor items.

That's it folks, it was slow week as I said.  How did you do? 

Don't forget to check out Yard Sale Mommy and her finds too, if you haven't already

A Quick Coupon Deal from Recyclebank that Works Really Well at Meijer

If you are member of Recyclebank, they currently have the $2 off any 2 Earthbound Products marked down to 25 points (originally 75).  That is a great deal on its own, BUT what makes it even better is that Meijer has Earthbound baby carrots on sale for $1.  What does that mean to you...I have always been able to print the coupon twice so that could mean $4 worth of free organic food!

Yard Sale Fun, Again

We have been yard saleing every Saturday for about a month and a half now.  I have really come to enjoy them and I have even shared some of my spoils with you.  Recently I did quite a bit of my school clothing shopping at one.  I was very excited about that because clothes shopping can be so expensive.  I was able to get a couple of skirts, two dresses, and some shorts all for $6.

My husband was able to get this clock for $20.  We are going to give it to my sister-in-law and brother-in-law.  They have given us so much in the past I am glad we were able to find a great deal and give it to them.

I also started my Christmas shopping.  My older son loves UK, so I found the blanket above for $2.  I was able to get 10 brand new Goosebumps books for $3 and I purchased two travel paint kits for $1 each.  

My kids are hilarious in the different ways they approach yard sales.  First, I should say neither likes to go and they complain the entire time, but their spending habits are so interesting.

C the older child is quite a saver, workhorse, and well, a mooch!  If there is anything he can get his brother (or me) to purchase and then share with him he is on it using his very persuassive techniques.  As of today C has saved $21+.  The only thing I have seen him purchase at a yard sale is a DS game and I was so proud of him.  Without discussing this with me or his dad he walked up to the lady and said "How much would you take for this?"  I sat back and watched the entire exchange and it was pretty darn cute.  In the end he got it for a $1 less.  But I have seen him talk his brother into purchasing bouncy balls, Hulk punching gloves, a DS game, some more bouncy balls, Pick Up Sticks and he has also gotten me to purchase him a Slinky and some (yes more) bouncy balls.

I didn't even have to ask him to smile for this one.

Now, my younger son is another story.  Saving is simply not a word he knows or cares to understand.  As soon as he gets any money he is ready to spend.  Every week his $1 is gone and it is typically gone at the first yard sale.  Today he bought 22 bouncy balls with his $1.  What in the world did he want 22 bouncy balls for, I don't know.   Is he playing with them now?  Of course he isn't!  Will he play with them again?  Who knows.  But that moment of joy when he spends his dollar is obviously worth it to him. 

A and his spoils.

If you would like to see more on our yard sale fun you can click here or here or here.  What successes have you had, I love to hear about yard saleing.

Thanks to Jen at  Yard Sale Mommy for hosting a link up.

A Quick Frugal Note

I had a moment of panic this afternoon as I was planning my Friday grocery shopping trip.  I pulled out the CVS circular and then it dawned on me that I had ExtraBucks that I knew were going to expire this week and I didn't know when.  I hate to waste and I was really hoping I had not wasted $8 in free merchandise.  I grabbed my coupon organizer, opened it up and searched for those ExtraBucks.  As I pulled them out, I was happy to see that they hadn't expired yet, but today was the last day I could use them.  Whew!

I scanned the circular and realized I could get free shampoo, conditioner, and toothbrushes and get 4 new ExtraBucks.  But, I wasn't done with my frugality just yet.  I have been reading quite a bit this summer.  I usually try to cram in as much as I can since I rarely get to read anything but a textbook during the school year.  So I hopped onto Amazon.com and searched for some books that would interest me.  I recently read The Bookseller of Kabul and loved it.  So, I typed that in and looked at the recommended reads that were associated with it.  I found an interesting book, Kabul Beauty School.  However, I read the reviews and I wasn't sure it was a book that I would want to purchase.  As a high school social studies teacher anything I can use in the classroom I like to keep and share with my students.  Yet, this one was questionable because some people said the author had exploited the women of Kabul.  After reading those reviews I decided I wouldn't purchase it, but then it dawned on me to try the library and guess what, they had it!  This was amazing, because our library has tons of books, but they never seem to be the ones that I want. 

After having planned my shopping trip and library visit I jumped in my car and here is what I got.....

22-Jul
CVS
Pantene Shamp. & Cond.	$6.97	$3 off 2 coup.
Colgate toothbrush	$2.79	$1 coup.
5 packs of pens	$2.50
		Used $8 in ExtraBucks
Total Spent	$1.00	(.74 in tax)
Total Saved	$26.06
Total Coupons	$4.00
Extra Bucks Earned	$4.00

Library
The Green Book                     $12.95
Debt Free for Life                   $19.99
Sisters in War                         $26.00

Total Spent                        Nothing, and that is why I love the library
Total Saved                       $58.94

If you are wondering why I didn't get Kabul Beauty School the answer is that it was already checked out and the kind people at the library will call me when it comes in :).

Isn't that great I got 3 books, shampoo, conditioner, a toothbrush and 5 packages of pens for a grand total of $1.00.  Now that is what I call "frugal".  I wish the rest of my life were this easy. 

Yard Sale Fun

I have been very negligent in documenting and sharing my yard sale finds as of late.  So last night I did a mad dash through the house locating as many of my "finds" as I could.  I will start with Mr. Simpler Life's amazing find.  At the beginning of the yard sale season he came home from one really wanting this $200 weight set.  When he said $200 my mouth hit the floor.  I didn't know you were allowed to sell anything at a yard sale for $200.  I said "no" and thankfully he obliged me.  Since then he has found some great deals to create an excellent home gym all for a total of, drum roll please.........$34.  Yes, $34.  I am so totally impressed.  Here is everything he has found:

$20 for this entire machine.  You can do all kinds of things with this and it is in excellent condition.

He got this weight bench for $5 and please take note of the weights to the right.  Those are part of the next picture.

He also was able to find a set of weights for $9.  That included the bar and 60lbs. of weights.  If you have been to any store lately you would be amazed at how expensive weights are, so this was a fabulous deal.  I am really proud of him for going from $200 to $34 and getting some great equipment along the way.

Now onto my clothes finds.  A couple of weeks ago we found a yard sale where clothes were 50 cents and some of those clothes included the two coats below!!!  Can you believe I got 2 coats for $1 total.  I was so excited!!!

I especially like the blue one because it has a hood, but for 50 cents I couldn't pass up one without either.  Now onto another of my favorite finds.  I got an almost brand new pair of shoes and an adorable polo shirt for about $1.14 each.

But I got this whole lot of clothes for $8.  Sadly, when I got home I discovered the tan pants have a hole.  You know I am not very crafty, so hopefully I can find an iron on patch, which will of course go on the inside (that's for you mom :).  For $8 I got two pairs of Children's Place shorts, 1 pair of slightly ripped Old Navy pants, 1 pair of Lee Jeans, 1 pair of Children's Place sweats, 1 Polo shirt (that I love!!!!) and 1 pair of Children's Place Shoes.  On top of it all, you will notice most of these are bottoms, which, at least for me, are always so hard to find.

I also got some items that I am hoping to sell and make of course a very small profit on.

I got this shirt, pants and jacket for a total of $2.  I thought the jacket was a really good deal for .67.  Maybe I will make a whole $2 on it :).

I also got this blue shirt for 50 cents, at the same sale where I got the coats and this adorable sweater for $1.50.  This brings me to another topic of discussion.  Prior to this year I really did not go to yard sales that much and I certainly did not try to bargain with the sellers.  If the price tag said $2 then that is what I paid. If the price was more than what I thought was acceptable then I just passed on the item.  This year I finally developed the courage to ask if the seller would accept less and I am so glad!  The thing is I have not been turned down once, not even a counter offer.  Am I asking for too little of a discount?  For example the sweater above was being offered for $3, but I wouldn't pay that much for it even though it was in excellent condition.  I asked the lady if she would take $1.50 and without any hesitation she quickly blurted out "Sure".  How do you bargain at yard sales?  As I said I'm kind of new to this and would love any advice you have to offer. 

On one last final note, I just have to say that I am amazed at what you can find at yard sales.  My children's closets are full of very nice, often name brand clothing bought for about a twentieth of the price.  Why I ever shopped at a store is beyond me and it is so much better for our planet.  I can't wait until this Saturday!

 

How We Paid as Little as Possible for our Vacation Part 2

Our family went on our first "real" vacation a few weeks ago.  We had a wonderful time and were thankfully and miraculously, for us, able to pay for it upfront and in cash.  This is the second in a two part series of how we did it.  If you would like to read the first part you can find it here.

• We packed a cooler and took as many condiments and non-perishables as we could.
• We didn't take a lot of food with us, but there were some items like mayo, ketchup, butter, and lunch meat that were easily packed and saved us quite a bit once we arrived and didn't have to buy those things. 
• We wrote to the local chamber of commerce and received visitor guides with lots of coupons.  Did this save us much.  Heck no!!!  But a $1 on each of our admissions adds up to $4 and when you multiply that it is still a decent savings.
• We bought restaurant coupons from restaurant.com and signed up for Living Social.  I wasn't able to get anything good through Living Social, but if I had started earlier I'm sure it would have been a great help.  We are planning on going to Disney next year and I am getting ready to sign up for both Groupon and Living Social in Orlando. 
• Use your reusable water bottles and fill those babies up with good old refreshing water!  While this didn't save us hundreds of dollars it certainly saved us a good amount.  We used them when we were driving and when we went out on excursions.  Along those same lines, when we went out to eat we drank water too.  When you think about a soda costing $2, it can easily add up to over $10 a day on drinks.  Our vacation was 7 days so that is $70 saved (I'm sure this figure is low too).  Wouldn't you rather do something fun with that money?!?!

I would love to hear how you have saved money on your vacations.

How We Paid as Little as Possible for Our Vacation

Our vacation was fantastic and it really should have been considering that our family rarely takes them.  We have done several small trips and last year we took a trip to Red River Gorge in eastern KY, but nothing near extravagant since my husband's and my honeymoon.  So, it has been ten years in the making.  Why have we not taken many vacations?  Because they are so darn EXPENSIVE!  But, we finally managed to get one and not a single bit of it went on a credit card.  We paid for it all up front for the first time in our married lives.  Here is how we did it:

• We found a really great deal on a condo.  We let the price dictate the location.  We ended up in Siesta Key, FL and it was beautiful, but if we had not let the price dictate the location we likely would not have gone there.  The condo ended up costing us $500 total for the week.
• We got a condo.  This one seems a lot like #1, but the main idea here is that our condo had a kitchen which enabled us to save a TON!!!!  We ate all of our breakfasts and most of our lunches & dinners at the condo.  Because of this we only spent an extra $50 on food.
• Prior to the trip I saved money in every spot I could and then hid the money so it could not be used on anything else.
• We lowered our grocery budget by $25 a week and put that money away for our vacation.
• If the electric bill was lower than budgeted that money went to vacation too.
• I would say we saved between $200 - $250 this way.
• I made extra money and saved it too!
• I took surveys like crazy and every $3, $5, or $15 check I got I stashed it away.
• While this didn't add up quite as quickly, it did add about $50.
• I sold anything that I didn't need.
• My biggest money maker was selling a crib and dresser on Craigslist, but we also sold a bike, a shower kit, bar stools and I know I'm forgetting some other things.  If we had had enough stuff we would have had a yard sale too.
• I also sold the kids old clothes at the consignment shop.
• I sold books at Half-Price Books.
• My husband sold some items on e-bay.
• We likely made about $500 this way.

More to come later in the week.  What are your vacation saving tips?  I would love to hear them, especially if you have any regarding Disney.

Yard Sale Fun

So I got to go yard saleing (is that how you spell it!?!) yesterday and I had so much fun getting great deals on kids clothes.  I think because I have spent so much time the past several years trying to conserve money that I can only spend it on practical things, like clothes.  It doesn't matter that my kids are now getting so many clothes that it is no longer practical.  The fact that I can sell these clothes later and get money back somehow makes it practical in my mind.   Don't worry, I know it really makes no sense, but it is the way my mind works.

Well anyway, I hit the jackpot in terms of kids clothes.  We discovered three great yard sales that all had nice clothes that were reasonably priced.  The first and second had T.O.N.S. of name brand clothes and most of them (at least the ones that I bought) were reasonably priced.  I could really care less about what name is on the tag, but I have realized that when you go to resell them, it does matter.  I paid less than three dollars for every single item (the average was less than a $1) and most of the time they were cheaper than what I would pay at Goodwill, which is $1.50.  The third yard sale did not have as nice of clothes, but they were only .25.  Wow, I wish we had stopped there first.

In the end I spent $42 and I purchased 51 items.  Almost every single one of these items was name brand including Children's Place, Nike, Polo and Gap.  All are in excellent condition and most will be worn by both children!!!!  That is a pretty good day of yard saleing in my book :)!

These were each .25.  They won't fit my kids, but I will sell them at the consignment shop and probably make - hold your breath here - a whopping dollar or if I'm lucky dollar and a half each.  If this is what yard sales typically have to offer I have even entertained the idea of buying clothes at yard sales and selling them on e-bay.  Has anyone had any experience with this?  I would love to hear about it.

An Easy Way to Save $1000+ in a Year

I'm putting off doing the superfoods post, so I thought I would share a quick way to save some BIG money.  About a year ago my husband and I started really looking at our regular expenses and seeing what we could make cuts into.  At about the same time we got a flyer about an insurance company (we'll call them "company A") that said they could provide us with HUGE discounts because of where my husband works.  Normally I say "whatever" and recycle it, but the timing was right and I actually checked it out.  Believe it or not, they actually did provide us with a HUGE discount.  We went from paying a monthly bill of $160 to $93 for our car insurance.  Now that is a decent monthly savings and think of the long term savings!!!!

Well, it is now time to renew our home insurance and since our home insurance had previously been eligible for a discount due to the multiple policies that no longer existed our premium went up about $200.  So, I called insurance company A and discovered that they could offer us a home insurance policy that was about $500 less than what our old insurance company was offering us.  It took me about a millisecond to say "Sign me up for that."

So, let's do the math:
$804 from car insurance savings + $500 from home insurance = $1304 saved a year or $108.67 a month

Lessons learned:

• 30 minutes of your life can actually help you save a lot of money.
• Shop around for your insurance, it really is not that hard!  Honestly, 15 minutes for over $100 a month I think I can handle that!
• Shop around every year.  I will come back and read this post when I don't want to spend the 15 min. to shop around :)!

Why I Love Goodwill

So I must confess, I have an addiction and it goes by the name of Goodwill.  In the past year I have started shopping at Goodwill regularly (at least once a month).  I can't help it, I love their prices for kids clothing.  How can you go wrong when all the kids clothing is $1.50 a piece.  I love that it is $1.50 regardless of its condition or label.  That means I can get a brand new shirt or jeans or whatever for $1.50.  It doesn't matter who made it.  Some of the labels I have gotten include Gap, Old Navy, Nike, Children's Place & Gymboree, all for $1.50.   Oh, did I mention their clothes are only $1.50????

Another good reason for loving Goodwill, or hand-me-downs in general, is that they are good for the environment.  It makes me happy to know that I am not supporting American consumerism (at least in the traditional sense).  I love the fact that I can find nice clothes that would otherwise end up in a landfill, get more use out of them and not buy another item that would also end up in the landfill.  That means I have prolonged the time it takes for one item to get to a landfill and totally eliminated the other. 

A third reason I choose to shop at Goodwill is because sometimes when I buy an item for $1.50, I make money on it.  Since my children's clothing is often so cheap I can provide them with many different outfits which means that the clothes don't get as much wear and tear.  Since I only buy clothes when they are new or in good condition they may actually last through the child or children who wear them and then I sell them at the consignment shop (I actually stopped by today to see how much money I had made so far this season and we have $73, some of which is from Goodwill clothing).

So here is what I got:
5 pairs of jeans  - 1 each by Faded Glory, Old Navy, Aborcrombie, Cherokee and Children's Place Jeans
6 shirts - 2 by Old Navy, 1 Gap, 2 Mossimo, & one brand new, but very well made off brand that I can't remember the name of.
1 pair of Gap dress/tie shoes (shoes are not $1.50, but are still cheap @$3.00)
Grand Total $20.67 and that is why I love Goodwill!  What do you think about shopping at Goodwill or thrift stores?