Here is the next installment of EML‘s money saving tips.
Buying Used Items
We all have to buy things at some point, but you do not always have to buy new. Gently used items do the job just as well and they will cost you much less than something new. Here are three places you should check out the next time you need (want) something.
First on the list are thrift stores. I recently discovered a thrift store that is operated by a local church and I went to check it out since I was looking for some clothes for Edith. Well, after spending 30 mins there I left with a bag full.
This is what I bought:
Bead maze toy – $1 (I had seen the same thing at Target for $15.)
2 paperback kid books – .53 (New around $10.)
BabyGap shorts – .50 (New $16.50)
BabyGap pants – .50 (New $24.50)
Old Navy sweater – $1 (New $19.50)
Adias track pants – $1 (New $20)
2 Carter t-shirts – $1 (New $24 for both)
Lilly Pulitzer sweater – $1 (On Lilly Pulitzer’s website, the sweater sells for $58.)
I only spent $6.86. If I had bought these items new, it would have run me up $187.50 plus tax. All the clothes were in excellent shape and one of the sweaters actually still had the tags. This is my usual experience with thrift stores. Sometimes you will have to hunt for the bargains, but they are always there and well worth the time to find them. Most thrift stores sell clothes, household items, sport equipment, furniture, books, paintings and electronics.
The second place to check-out is www.craigslist.com. You usually will not find items as cheap as things at a thrift store, but it is a great place to find some thing in particular. Most of the baby items I have bought (stroller, car seat, pack-n-play, etc) have been Craig’s list buys and they were purchased for at least 50% off the retail price.
They also sell larger items such as houses, cars, rooms for rent, farm equipment, pretty much anything you may need. I actually purchased my car from someone on Craig’s List. I paid $1300 for it and have put around $500 worth of work into it, but after 3 years, it still has not cost me more than $2000.
Craig’s List is also a great place to sell items around your house that you may no longer need. I have personally sold around a couple hundred dollars in the last few months.
www.freecycle.org is a place where you can find things people are trying to get rid
and will give to you for free. You are also able to post things that you are looking for and if someone has the item, they will give it to you. I was looking for a new car seat cover for a car seat I picked up on Craig’s List and someone gave me theirs for free. I have picked up canning jars, clothes for Edith, books, and some kitchen items that people were looking to give away.
Category Archives: homemaking
Tightwad Tuesday – Part 2: Buying Used Items
Tightwad Tuesday – Part 1: Tightwad Tips
My sis EML is a natural money saver. (I, on the other hand, am not.) So when she offered to send me weekly money saving tips I could post on the blog, I was all for it! Here is the introductory installment.
Tightwad Tips by EML
I have always thought of myself as a somewhat frugal person, but recently have been wondering if I am as frugal as I could be. After discovering one of my friends having a food/household budget of around $100 less than ours, I figured there must be a lot more that I could be doing. I decided then and there to go on a journey of deeper frugality. I thought I would share with you the things that I found.
Every Tuesday, I plan to share what money saving tips I have discovered for the week, recipes to make things from scratch, things that I have done around the house to save money, blogs that share the idea of saving money and other odds and ends that will help you save a few dollars.
My first tip: Learn to say no to your kids and yourself. Not buying anything at all is the greatest money saver!
(Bobbi’s note: Ya know, I keep trying to tell Brian I saved money by buying something on sale and he insists that I’d save even more money if I never bought it in the first place. Hmm…maybe he’s got something there…)
Recipe from The Cooking Loft: Apple Brown Betty
This morning I saw Alex make a recipe for an Apple Brown Betty on Food Network’s Cooking Loft and it looked so tasty! Guess what we’re having for dessert tonight?!
Apple Brown Betty
Ingredients
6 apples, Granny Smith or Braeburn, peeled and cored
3 lemons, zested and juiced
1 1/2 cups unseasoned bread crumbs
1 stick unsalted butter, melted, plus 1 additional tablespoon for greasing the baking dish
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
Equipment: 5 creme brulee dishes, shallow and oval
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F with a rack in the center of the oven.
Place the apples on a flat surface, cut them in half, and then into thin slices. Put them in a medium bowl and coat them with a light layer of zest from 1 of the lemons and all of the lemon juice.
In a separate bowl, mix together the butter and bread crumbs. Season with salt. Set aside.
In a third bowl, combine the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves. Mix to blend and add the apple slices.
Grease each baking dish with the remaining butter. Layer the bottom with the apples and cover with the bread crumb mixture.
Cover the dishes tightly with aluminum foil and place in the center of the oven. Bake until the apples are tender when pierced with the tip of a knife, 30 to 45 minutes. Remove the foil, raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F and bake until the top browns. Serve immediately.
Recipe: Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
I was laughing this morn when I read on a friend’s blog that her son likes to play “food network” in the kitchen. Lately I’ve been trying to involve Bella in the kitchen more and she loves it! However, we always have to act out our recipe with me being Rachael Ray and she being Rachael’s daughter. I asked her what she’d like to bake with me on the weekend and she said, “How about Zabaione?” She doesn’t actually know what that is but she loved the way Lisa from Next Food Network Star kept saying the word. So we skipped the zabaione and decided to make the recipe we received from Auntie EML instead. We’ll let you know how it comes out!
Banana Chocolate Chip Cake
INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed bananas
1 egg
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1/4 cup milk
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour a 9×13 inch pan.
2. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, combine bananas, egg, melted butter and milk.
4. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture until blended. Be careful not to over mix.
5. Stir in chocolate chips.
6. Pour batter into 9×13 inch pan. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of cake comes out clean. (It will have some melted chocolate, but no crumbs.)
Baby Proofing the Hearth
Brian and I have been baby proofing our house for months, now that Andrew has mastered walking and climbing low objects. However, we were still struggling with what to do about our brick fireplace hearth.
We considered buying one of those specialty gates that go around it, but they are pricey. In the meantime, we simply blocked off the sitting area by the fireplace with our dining room chairs entwined like a puzzle. (Yeah, that was real attractive.) But our incredibly small Hercules always figured out a way to move the chairs or wiggle his way through them. Finally, I saw a perfect solution in one of those parent magazines sitting in the doctor’s office. A mom suggested using one of those connect-a-mat floor puzzles to cover the hearth. Brilliant. We tried it and I’m happy to say, it works! (At least until Andrew discovers how to disconnect it.)
* * * * *
UPDATE (March 2012)
I wrote posted those pictures nearly four years ago when Andrew looked like this.
Two years later, the baby proofing was done for John-Paul.
Now it is Matthew’s turn.
We needed to replace the floor mat and I wanted to find something that looked a little less “day care center,” trying to keep at least one room in the house free of toy overload.
I found this one in wood tones, which works so much better for us. The color matches the room and they don’t have the letters that the boys can pop out. We are very pleased with the results. You can find them at Amazon.
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