ORGANIZATION AND MONEY SAVING TIPS

 Today I welcome April from Countryside Life as my guest blogger,
she has some great money
 and organization saving tips to offer. 
  Thanks for helping out April!

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Hello, My name is April, and I am a Christian homeschooling mom, a farmer's wife, and a minister's daughter and a gardener from Missouri.  My husband works full time outside the home and I for the most part am at home, although I do run a small business as a CPR instructor our of my home.  I also volunteer as an EMT, as a Girls Scout volunteer, 4H leader and help with Church camp each summer.   It seems as my girls get older (the youngest two are 14 now), I put more on my plate, so needless to say, I stay busy.

In order to be a stay at home mom, I hove learned to cut back where I can.  I am frugal (although my kids sometimes call me cheap!).  We have an orchard, garden and fruit trees, and I can, freeze and dehydrate our food, we also grow our own pork, beef, and fish.  I cook from scratch, bake our bread, sew, and I make my own soap...As I said, I keep BUSY!

However, busy can often cause disorganization, and disorganization can cost money.  One way I save is by having a large pantry.  Upstairs, in my kitchen I have a standard built in pantry.  But downstairs, is "the Emporium" as my husband calls it.

 

I had someone ask me why most homeschooling families have large stock up pantries. I don't think it is a matter of being a home-school family, but rather I think it is being more common for single income families to have a stock up pantry, and, most homeschooling families are running their household on a single income.  Therefore, we tend to be a little more frugal.  I also take into consideration the fact that for me, it is 5 miles to the nearest grocery store, and almost 30 to the nearest Aldi or Wal-Mart. I can't afford the time or the gas to run into town daily to purchase one item I lack for making dinner.

I don't stock up on everything.  I don't on TP, paper towels or paper items, because I have lost those items before to to a broken water pipe, and they are a fire hazard.  They are also bulky to store.  Items in plastic or cans are easier.  I also don't stock up on short shelf life items.

Most of my stock up nonfood items come from sales at CVS, Walgreen or Dollar General.  By combining the sale price and coupon you can often get the item for free.  I have a year of supply of shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, soap, dish soap, deodorant, razors, shaving cream...but a good part of it I got free or close to it.  For example, every so often CVS has VO5 shampoo on sale for 77 cents.  I usually have 4 coupons for VO5 for 75 cents off that appear in the paper on a regular basis.  So, I get 4 bottles and pay 2 cents each, so 8 cents for 4 large bottles of shampoo.  If I just waited to get it when we needed it, I would be paying full price possibly, my current coupons would be expired and they may not come out with another sale and coupon combo when I needed it.

I also am not brand loyal to many items.  This allows me to take advantage on any shampoo that is on sale and combine it with coupons, instead of having to wait for a certain brand to come on sale.  Each week you can count on at least one brand being on sale.

My coupon book is always with me when I shop, so if I find unadvertised sale items, I can take advantage of the sale price with a coupon.  However, if it is an item I can still get for less by purchasing it elsewhere or a different brands, then it isn't a good deal.  I keep it organized by keeping my coupons in pockets divided by categories.  Expired coupons I send off for overseas military personnel to use.

My pantry shelves are all labeled.  This keeps my items organized.  No matter who puts items away, they can tell by the labels where it needs to go.  You can also tell at a single glance what items we are low on.  Organization is the key for stockpiling a pantry.  You must know what you need, what you don't need, and when items will go out of date.  You won't save any money if you pay for items and have them expire or rot on you.  Keeping it organized also prevents you from making a special trip to the store to buy pickles when you already have 4 jars on the shelf

My husband built my pantry, out boards, and some concrete blocks from the barn and some extras that my dad had.  In a few weeks, we are getting ready to add on to my pantry, by adding another section.

Couponing and pantry stocking don't have to be on a large scale.  You can even do it on a smaller scale by taking advantage of using an empty closet or space under a bed.

You can also use this to not only help your own budget, but that of others as well.  Each week I take into our local crisis center items to donate that I don't use or need that I got for free.  I get a receipt for taxes and someone in need gets shampoo, diapers, tuna or Rague that they need.

                                    April

LAMP MAKEOVER

The  progress in my office /closet makeover is slow and steadily moving forward.  Today I thought I'd share with you one of the small projects I've done.   I knew I wanted some sort of lighting for the closet since it can be a bit of a dark corner.

 I decided against a lamp that would sit on the desk and take up precious work space.  I reflected back to the inspiration closet/office photo from Jen @ I Heart Organizing.  She used a wall mounted lamp.

At Pottery Barn I found the perfect lamp in an antique nickel finish.  The problem was the price tag it came with of 89 dollars.
Then I remembered an ugly old gold lamp in our attic purchased back in the 80's.  Its lovely pleated shade was dented and falling apart.

The base with a "lovely" gold finish.

GOODWILL HUNTING - A LAMP MAKEOVER

We recently were on a camping vacation, enjoying sunsets on the beach in Cannon Beach Oregon.

 We've been doing a few updates in our tent trailer to make it a little more our style and to feel more like home. The lighting in the trailer can be a bit poor and we thought it would be helpful to add a small lamp.   We decided to stop at Goodwill and see what we could find.  My husband and I wanted something that would go well with the interior of the trailer.  It has blue's and brown's in the decor, as you can see in the background of the photos.

Here's what we found for $1.99 and $3.99.

Our original intentions were to remove the electrical parts of the lamp and place them in the lantern.  That would be cheaper than buying a new lamp kit.

Which my husband did.....
                                     ... but sometimes things don't work out like you envisioned.  When we placed it in the lantern and added the lamp shade, it lacked color and was very bland!  Soooo.... my husband reinstalled the electrical fixture back into the original lamp.  After all that, it was time to move onto the fun part of the project.

Decorating the new lamp shade.

We collected our supplies which consisted of sand dollars, starfish, shells and rope.

I began by gluing the rope to the shade, adding clothes pins to hold it in place until the glue had set. I then added the sand dollars and starfish.  We decided not to add the shells because it looked a little busy with to many items on the shade.

Here's the finish lamp. 

 (Sorry about the poor photos - remember the lighting is poor in a tent trailer.)

We can now enjoy better lighting while camping in our tent trailer.

Our home away from home.

SHOPPING FOR LESS

Everyone is trying to make their dollars stretch these days.  I've had people ask me how do you make your home look so great on a small budget.

Some of us have grown up living on restricted budgets, while others are just starting this process by downsizing and spending less. This time of year is a great time to find sale and discounted items.

Here are a few simple tips that I use.

-Shop clearance and sale items at your retail stores.

-Thrift stores and second had stores like Goodwill
are places where you can find quality items at great prices.

 

 

-Shop garage sales 

-Make use of  places on the internet like Craigslist, Kijiji, Freecyle, ebay  

-Shop discount stores such as dollar stores.

- Warehouse stores can also save you some money, be aware there may be annual fees so evaluate if it's a big enough savings to make it worth the investment.

Craigslist is a network of online communities, featuring free online classified advertisement.

Kijiji is a online network that has free classifieds site with millions of ads.  

Freecycle is a website that you can list items to give away, or browse free items.

Ebay is an world wide auction online where businesses and people buy and sell a variety of items.

Goodwill auction is an online auction  where you can buy a variety of items, even vehicles.

If you shop online take advantage of days with free shipping or discount codes (These code are kind of  like using a coupon, but you enter a code instead of a paper coupon). 
     
-Paint is a frugal shoppers best friend, if you don't like the color of an item paint it!

 

-Student and senior discount days or a day  marked as a sale discount is another great way to save.

-Use coupons

-Sign up for store membership - usually you will get coupons, emails etc. with advance notice of sales and discount coming to the store.
-Sign up for birthday clubs (restaurants)~ usually there is a gift or discount offered on your birthday. 

-Take advantage of free printable downloads ~ you can get anything from subway art, banners to paper dolls for your children.

Happy Savings = Happy Shopping!

MY HIGH LOW PROJECT

It's hard to believe that November is drawing to a close already.  A new Pottery Barn magazine just arrived in the mail this week; and it got my creative juices flowing.  I saw these pretty jeweled crystal wreaths . You can see them hanging on the wall in this photo but they come with a price tag of $69 - $99.  I decided to try and make my own for less.  

Here's what I did to make my own.

1. Got a wire coat hanger and bent it to the shape of a wreath.

2. Purchased 3 packages of snowflake Christmas ornaments @ Target for $1 per package.

3. Using the hot glue gun, I glued the ornaments to the coat hanger. 

Very easy to make with little time or money involved! 
The high end version $69 - $99
my low version $3!

Are you working on any inexpensive creative projects for Christmas?  I'd love to here about them!

Linking this post to...

20 Below Thursday # 49

DIY CANVAS WALL ART

Good morning everyone! Did you miss me?  I've been away because we had issues with our Internet service, but it's now up and running and I can finally post again.  Thanks to all my followers for being patient and a special welcome to all my new followers.  

It's a very busy time of year with yard work and all the extra activities of summer.  My parents will be arriving the end of the week for a ten day visit.  I'll try to do some posting but will be spending some quality time with them.

Today I'd like to share a quick and easy art project.  It's a great solution for wall art if you're wanted a little change and on a budget.

Here's what you'll need...

~ canvas or flat surface for mounting your fabric onto

~ fabric

~ staples

While at Jo Ann's fabric yesterday I ran across some fabric I loved and thought it would work great for some summer artwork.

I started with a blank canvas that I already had in the house.

I took the fabric and cut it to the size of the canvas, 

adding one inch for turning over.

Using a mitered fold on the fabric corner, makes for a nice even and flat corner.

 Proceed to staple the entire back by adding staples, begin in the middle of each side and working outward. Making sure to keep the fabric stretched tightly.

Quick and easy summer artwork for under $10 !

Have a great day!

DECORATING USING YARD SALE FINDS

On Wednesday, June 15th, the Nesting Place is hosting a party.  It's a yard sale linking party to show off some of your favorite yard sale finds and treasures.  I love parties and yard sales, so I'm joining in on the fun.

I've had so many great yard sale finds over the years.  I started going to yard sales with my mom and two sisters at a young age.  We'd look forward to this once a year event for weeks (there weren't any garage sales in the small town where I grew up).  My sister and I knew yard sales meant new clothes and things for our room.  We'd wake up early and drive an hour to the city with our sack lunches in hand.  As you can tell I'm a well experienced yard sale shopper.

Yard sales offer a great variety of things you can buy from clothing to decorative items for the home.  You can even find furniture and tools!  Here are just a few of my  finds.

Great Household Decorations

Bathroom Decor

Seasonal Decor

and even

Wedding Decor !!!

Using yard sale items for weddings can help keep costs down a lot!

Here are some examples of my favorites!

Read my Wedding Wednesdays 

  posts for more fun diy's and savings ideas.

The table skirt I made using new fabric purchased for $3.00

Candle holders and candy jars for .25 cents to $1.00

A large bag of tulle for $1.50

Ring bearer pillow $1.00 

(We added the embellishments our self to the pillow.)

Table clothes $1.00

Flower girl basket .50 cents 

(We completely recovered the basket with fabric and embellishments.)

Plant stand pillars $1.50 for the set! (I couldn't believe it when I found them so cheap!)

A very large box of Christmas lights....some still new in the boxes, as well as the plastic hangers to hang them - $3.00

Six (boxes of twelve) wedding votive candles $1.00 per box

Rose petals one large box .50 cents

Pillar candles .25 cents and .50 cents each (Nobody even knew they were used at another wedding. You always pre-light the candles at rehearsal anyway.)

Hanging bench lanterns .50 cents 

and even two brand new boxes of 8 lantern hangers .25 cents

HOW TO THRIFT STORE SHOP

Many of you have asked me "where do you find all your great deals"?  My answer - thrift stores, garage sales and sale items in retail shops. Today I'll focus on thrift stores. Economic times are touch and thrift stores are amazing places to find  quality items like clothing, furniture and house hold items for a fraction of the cost of new.

Things to bring with you while shopping at thrift stores. 
(I also bring these while garage sale shopping).

1. Tape measure
-for measuring furniture or clothing

2. Traced copy of your child's shoe

- if you're planning on buying shoes.  Place thrift store shoe on the traced copy of your child's shoe to see if the shoe will fit. Remember that shoe sizes aren't always visible in used shoes.

3. Sheet of paper with each family members sizes and measurements 

- this will aid you when buying clothing.

4. List of what you're looking for or a "wish list".

Things to keep in mind: 

1. Look outside of the box - can the item be re-purposed or made over.

2. Look for higher end items at great prices.

3. Watch for clearance wracks.

4. Shop often - I often stop by the thrift store while on another errand in town.

5. Check the item over carefully - look for damage, dents, stains, and missing parts. 

-If you plan on refinishing or painting something, scratches are fine, but if it's missing something vital to the piece or badly ripped or stained, leave it and continue shopping. 

 
Do you shop thrift stores?

Inexpensive Homemade Christmas Gifts

Today at Tater Tots and Jello everyone is sharing their homemade Christmas gifts.


I don't have any gifts completed for 2010 to share with you, but thought I'd share some photos of a few very special Christmas gifts we made for a couple of our children when they were small.

We lived on a very small budget the years my husband was in seminary full time. I found a bag of fabric remnants at a garage sale for $1 - perfect for our Christmas gifts budget. The lady I worked for at the time was a seamstress for bridal wear. She gave me fabric that I used to sew look a like dresses for our myself, daughter and her doll.

Our children came down with chickenpox a few weeks before and during the Christmas holidays. This meant we were house bound, creating time for me to sew the doll clothes.

I wish I'd taken photos of all the doll clothes I sewed, but here are a few photos where you can see the clothes strewn about as she opened them.

We were also creative/thrifty with our Christmas decor... see our tree ($3 garage sale tree) decor in the above photo.
We used packing "peanuts" strung together with fishing line to create garland.

Don't fear! Our son didn't go without gifts that year. My husband is very creative, and made a Harvester Silo for him complete with a chute for the corn to slide down into a wagon. Gluing three large coffee cans together adding a plastic tube for the corn slide to the chute. (Shelled corn was placed inside the silo). He painted it and added Harvester and a flag on the outside.
He then went on to build a large red barn made out of scrap wood.

Here's our son happily displaying his silo and barn gift.
(See all his Dad's study books behind him.)

Making Your Own Wedding Cake - Instructions

Wedding Wednesday

I know I promised you the instructions for making our daughters wedding cakes a few weeks ago and I apologize for the delay in the post.

We decided to make our daughters cakes to help defray costs. My husband made this a project to do with our daughters, while I made all the sheet cakes. It was such a great bonding and special time between father and daughter.

Did you know that the average wedding cake cost $548 according to the Bridal Association of America.

Bakeries and specialty shops can charge from $1.50 to over $10 per slice, depending on your choice of a standard flavored 2 - 3 tiered cake or a high end gourmet cake. Additional cost are added for fresh flowers, fillings, fondant, delivery and assembly changes. Cutting fees can run up to a dollar per slice.

The cakes we made were fuax with the exception of the top layer on our youngest daughters cake.

Here is what we did....

1. Purchased 4 inch green Styrofoam from Michael's craft store.

2. Cut it in three circles of varying sizes.

3. Applied a thin layer of joint compound.

(The photo below shows the groom to be helping apply the joint compound)

4. Applied a layer of latex paint.

5. Purchased fondant from Michael's craft store.

(Fondant makes the cake looks smooth and satiny)
We added food coloring paste and worked it well into the fondant followed by rolling it out thinly.

6. Applied rolled fondant onto the painted Styrofoam.

7. Trimming fondant even with the bottom of the Styrofoam, and
adding ribbon at the bottom.

8. Added decorative sugar pearls ...

and decorative scroll work.

(reinforcement wooded blocks were added to help
support the weight of the cake and prevent any leaning before adding the frosting decorations.)

9. A Monogram was added to the top of the cake along with fresh flowers the day of the wedding.
( The monogram was a Christmas tree ornament purchased for only $1.99 on sale,
compared to $10 - $20 @ Bridal shops.)

Finished cakes!!!

Because the cakes were faux, I baked sheet cakes to serve to the guests.
I used a special recipe given to me by a lady who made wedding cakes for many years.
I topped them off with butter cream frosting.

I made a total of 11 sheet cakes.

I received many complements of these cakes and the great flavor.

Making your own sheet cakes is a great way to keep the cost of the wedding cake low.

The sheet cake costs around $3.50 each, compared to buying them at $20 a cake.

(Cake cost facts from - costhelper.com)