"Easy, Successful Garage Sale"

How do you feel when you think about having a garage sale?

Personally, I don't jump up and down with excitement, but sometimes I just have to have one to get rid of the stuff we don't use anymore.

Last week I set up and had a garage sale all on my own. Yes, I am 32 and had never had a garage sale, without the entire town having one the same day, on my own. So I set out last week to accomplish this task. It ween pretty well, but I made it very easy on myself.

How to make a garage sale easy . . .

1. Don't price every item you have, especially the clothes.
     a. Put up signs that say make an offer.
     b. For the clothes put up signs selling selling them all for one low price.
         aa. I sold mine for fifty cents each piece.
     c. Don't price anything less that .25 cents so you don't have to deal with
         dimes and nickels.

2. Don't stress too much on having enough tables for all your stuff.
      a. Put anything that could be damaged on the ground on a table.
      b. Make a table out of some totes or plywood.

3. Advertise where it's cheap!
     a. Social media has made it very easy to advertise just about anything and
         it is FREE!
     b. Put up signs to direct people to your sale.
         bb. Walmart and Menards carry the signs for about .98 cents per sign
                and stake. I was lucky and got a "Garage Sale Kit" on sale at Menards
                for $1.99.

4. Change
     a. Go to your local bank and get at least $50.00 in change.
     b. There's no need to use a money box, just use a Tupperware container or apron

5. Placement of Items
     a. Put the big items out on the driveway
     b. Put any items men might be interested in out on the drive (men are
         becoming big garage salers)
     c. Breakable and small items should be kept in the garage

6. Open and Close at your advertised times

7. Accept Offers
     a. Some people will offer you less money or ask what your bottom dollar
         is for an item don't take offense. Work with them. Do you really want
         to take the item back into your house when you don't even use it? I sure
         don't. Plus, it is better to get some $$ for the item, rather than having to
         haul it to the Goodwill after the sale and get nothing.

8. If you have little kids let them run a lemonade stand.
    a. Only charge twenty five to fifty cents for the items at the stand
    b. Let the kids keep the money

9. Items that don't sell
    a. Bag up things to donate
    b. Bag up things to take to a resale shop
    c. Throw away anything else. You don't need it, so don't keep it.

10. Collect your signs

11. Count your earnings!

Wooliteer Review

As a member of Crowdtap (a collaborative marketing platform) I recently tried Woolite Extra Dark. When the product arrive, I was skeptical about how it would help my dark clothes stay looking new longer. Plus, I wasn't aware that Woolite could be used in a washing machine. Surprise, it sure can! I'll be honest with you I don't have time to go down to the nearest stream and beat clothes on a rock.

But since I was trying it with no cost to myself, I figure I might as well give it a shot. So I piled all our dark clothing aside from the rest till I had a full load to wash. This didn't take too long since I have several dark shirts and my husbands work shirts a dark as well. Not to mention all the denim shorts we have been wearing lately due to this crazy heatwave.

I have to say, I do like this product. The clothes came clean and the color stayed intact. The detergent has a nice smell too. It works in both top and front loading machines including the high efficiency models. Plus, Woolite Extra Dark works well in cold water as well as hot. So if you are like me, and do not want to spend the extra money on washing your laundry in hot water this stuff works in cold just as well. So save yourself some pennies and use the cold water!

In the future, I will use Woolite Extra Dark on my jeans and other dark clothes. I like that it keeps them looking new longer without causing stretching or shrinking, so when I put my jeans on after a wash I won't get a complex. Not to mention, I wear the same jeans until they literally fall apart, so if I can extend the life of them, I am all for that especially for the price I pay for a good pair of jeans.

Cool 4th of July Fun

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

Since we have moved 2 hours away from anybody we know, holidays have become a strictly family affair. Yesterday, I was hit by the realization that there wasn't a cookout to attend, so I loaded the kids up and ran to the store. I needed to find a few things to do, so we could celebrate this great day in style and on a budget.

I decided that we would paint t-shirts since Grandma Debby had given Misses a tub full of fabric paint. I bought them each a cheap white shirt. Then I noticed that strawberries were on sale for $1.78! So we picked them up and some Wilton Chocolate Disks and blue sprinkles. There I had some things to do inside, since it has been terribly HOT!

Today we got to work on our projects . . .

The Shirts! . . . I just let them go to town and they loved it. Bubba may have tasted it . . . oops.

The Strawberries were fun and yummy too!

Then of course some firecrackers that can only be done Illinois style (meaning the boring ones only little kids enjoy).



All in all it was a nice relaxing 4th of July. The kids had fun and mom and dad got to relax some too.

Amature Couponer

I am not an extreme couponer by any since of the word. Honostly, I watch that show and shake my head at the people. I mean, who needs 25 cans of pork n beans. Or this one guy was in his early twenties and buying diapers, however, he did not have a baby or any other children for that matter! I just don't see the point in filling my very limited storage space with things my family doesn't need.

Although, I do love a deal. I have a couple friends who laugh at me and have called me a "Deal Whore". The other day I was going through my coupons and organizing them. No I don't have a binder, but I do have a cute organizer for them. I saw that I had BOGOF coupons for men and womens disposable razors. Off to CVS I went to cash in on my BOGOF deal!

Once there, I remembered that we were almost out of toothpaste! I had a coupon for a tube of Crest plus if CVS was offering $2.00 extra bucks with the purchase. I got my toothpaste and razors. To get the best deal, I had to complete my shopping in two orders. First I paid for the toothpaste. Actually, after the coupon and extra bucks, I got it for FREE! Second I paid for my razors. The total came to $44.95! Then the coupons came off and brought it to $22.48. Wait . . . another $2.00 from my toothpaste purchase and a 30% of CVS coupon the grand total was $9.11! 

I couldn't believe it! However, I felt alittle bad, because I held up the line. So I looked at the clerk and said, "Sorry to hold up the line, but this is the only way we can shave in  our house." She laughed and I took my awesome deal home and shaved! LOL 

Hottest Day of the Year Fun

Our new town does not have an outdoor public pool, so we have a tiny wading pool (that was left by the old owners) in the backyard for the kids. They really enjoy playing in it.

Since I am a SAHM and new to the area, we are homebound most days. Being home all the time with two very active kids can become overwhelming to say the least. We have plenty of outside toys, but like any kid, they have gotten kind of tired of them. So on this very hot day, I decided to embrace my inner child and surpress my neurotic cleanliness side while we played outside with the pool and hose.

Misses was tired of playing inside the pool, so she got out and discovered a patch of dirt. I watched as she thought hard about what to do with it. After some time, she filled a bucket from the pool and created a glorious mud pile. Bubba soon noticed that she was having a grand time splashing and digging that he just had to join in. This free toy provided at least an hours worth of fun for the both of them and the dog.

Here is the results . . .

They are all smiles and wanted to go right back out after lunch!

I remember doing these kinds of things when I was little. My mom was really good about letting us get messy. So this summer, I have decided to live and let live. As the mess is more work for me the memories and laughter are priceless.

Not to mention, I have been reading early learning articles posted by my good friend Rachel, she teaches preschool. All the articles talk about how kids need to be allowed to run, jump, and get dirty to enhance their development. So today I wasn't just a cool mom, but a teacher too. That feels good.

http://www.whitehutchinson.com/leisure/articles/84.shtml  This link will take you to an article explaining why play in all its forms are so important for kids.

Refinishing an old Buffet/Hutch

We recently moved from a shoebox sized apartment to a house! It is so nice having a house that we can decorate. I don't know why I am saying "we" because I mean "me". Anyway, the apartment was so tiny and we didn't have to have much furniture to fill it up. Since moving into the house, I have been looking for furniture to help fill it. Let me tell you furniture is rediculously priced! At my age now, I am not in the market for cheap furniture that will not hold up. I want forever furniture, but that comes with a large price tag. I decided to dig deep and try to engage my craft gene( I really don't have one).

My parents had this old hutch that was my great grandparents from way back. It was sitting in storage, so I asked my mom if I could have it. She said sure, as they are trying to down size. I told her that I only wanted it if I could refinish it. She was fine with that, and she finished with telling me that if I ruined it, just to get rid of it. (At the time this statement seemed truthful, but now I am thinking . . . thanks for the vote of confidence mom!)

Anyhow, my parents kindly brought the hutch to me, and I quickly got to work after reading several tutorials and blogs on how to refinish antique furniture.

Here it is after I sanded it. I forgot to take a pic. before I started.

Here it is all finished!

I love how it turned out! It took some time and elbow grease but end the end my total cost for the hutch/buffet was $53.68! The new hardware cost the most, but I love it!

Here is a quick run down on how to refinish a hutch/buffet

1. Remove all harware, drawers, and doors
   
   
2. Sand all parts of the furniture and wipe off with damp cloth
3. Paint all parts with a primer and let dry completely
4. Paint all parts with the color of your choice and let dry completely
5. Use sandpaper to rough up the edges and corners
6. Paint on a thin layer of stain of your choice and wipe off with damp cloth, let dry
7. Use furniture wax (just like you are waxing a car) and rub all over, let sit and wipe off
8. Put hardware of your choice on
9. Enjoy your "new" and inexpensive furniture!

Household Budget Challange

We are moved in and settled for the most part. It is now time to revamp and apply our household budget. Since we went from renting to owning . . .YEAH! We have a few more bills than before. Not to mention both of our children had surgeries earlier this year. As you can imagine the move and the surgeries have rocked our budget some.

One night, while enjoying the quiet time and Pinterest, I came across a Pin for a blog about how a family is living on $28,000.00 a year. No that is not a type-o! I was interested from the start. I mean how is that even possible without receiving help from one source or another. I started reading the blog post, this lady was for real. Her family was living pretty well on such a small income.

On the blog, thepeacefulmom.com, Kimberlee outlines how to get your budget in order and keep it that way. She not only explains in detail how her family lives on so little, but she also outline and provides FREE printables to help you get started.

That is what I am going to do. I am going to hook up my printer tomorrow and get started with organizing my budget using the tools from thepeacefulmom.com blog. Fortunately for me, I have more of an income to work with, but I would love to save and invest more if possible. Plus, I love a deal! If I can learn some about how to save a buck that would be awesome.

As I work through Kimberlee's process, I will post updates on my progress.