Cutting Costs: Selling "Dust Collectors"

So for the past few months, Rich and I have been going through all of things and putting them in categories of Keep, Trash, Donate and Sell. Since we turned our storage room into a bathroom and lost our storage in the spare bedroom, we were running low on places to put our things. Since it was nice out, we left the car out of the garage and used the extra space to keep our donate and sell items. We were trying to make one trip for each.

It's amazing how much stuff you can accumulate and how much stuff goes unused. We had hundreds of CDs that we never listened to anymore. Countless DVDs we never watched anymore. Several TV box-sets that we'd never view again. And kid's toys...there's always an endless supply of those here.

We took our CDs and DVDs to a chain that gives cash for them. We probably had a Rubbermaid container full. For thirty minutes of our time waiting, we were given $390! We still had another half of a container that they didn't take that they said to bring back at a later time and they might need them then. They just had too many copies right now.

Next, we took a few of Nathan's toys that he'd outgrown or wasn't interested in to a children's place that gives cash for used items. We had to wait about 20 minutes and they gave us $31 for the few items we brought in!

In under an hour's time of waiting, we made $421! And this is on junk that was just sitting around collecting dust! We plan on taking the rest of the CDs/DVDs back at a later time and will probably end up with close to $500 by the time we are done. What I love is, we didn't have to spend an entire weekend going through a garage sale, where we probably wouldn't have even made half that amount.

We plan on using the extra cash for some last minute stockpiling before the baby comes, a little cash on hand for a few pizza orders on those days we are struggling with all the newness of two kids and the rest...goes straight to bills!!

If you have items like these that are just sitting around collecting dust, consider finding a CD/Game shop and/or Children's store that will buy your items for cash. You might be surprised how much you end up making!! If you have lots of books, there are Bookstores that buy them, too. Another option is to do a Google search for "Sold It on eBay" stores in your area where you can drop off your stuff and they will sell it for you. You'll only end up with about 60% or so of the sale but 60% is better than clutter!

Just be truthful to yourself. Do you really listen to all those CDs? Do you really need ALL those game systems? Are you ever REALLY going to watch those movies again? And does your kid REALLY need all those toys? Your clutter could turn into a nice hunk of change that might put you that much closer to becoming FREE of debt!

Cutting Costs: Dresser Alternative

When we transitioned Nathan from the nursery to his "big boy room" we decided we'd keep his old dresser in the nursery, as it matched the crib. We were already having to buy a footboard and bedrail for the full-size bed we had in the Guest room, so I didn't want to splurge on a dresser, too. So I tried to think of another alternative.

At the time, I was using a 6-cube storage unit for his toys that I had got on sale for $12 at Target and I thought to myself...why couldn't I just get some baskets and use that? So, that's what I did! I really wanted to use those canvas baskets but I didn't want to spend $6+ each for them. I got lucky and found some colorful red/blue baskets at our local dollar store. They have nice handles and slide out of the cube slots very easily. Since Nathan's clothes are still small, I was able to use the top rack for two extra baskets for light-weight storage items.

The benefits? Putting his laundry away is sooo much easier now! I don't have to keep opening several dresser drawers. The other bonus is that when it's time to pick out socks, shoes or pants, I let Nathan go and grab his own. Yeah, he doesn't always match, but he has fun. And no one sees us at home anyway! (You gotta let your kid live a little!) The bottom two shelves hold extra books and coloring supplies. But the very best part of the storage unit is, I don't have a dresser in his "living space." So now, he has more room to play!

So in the end, instead of spending hundreds of dollars on a dresser that wouldn't match his bed set later, I spent $20 (plus tax) on a very useful shelving unit. The nice thing is, when we do go to get him a nice dresser, this storage unit will go into the pantry for more stockpiling! (I have TWO others full already!) :)

With economic times being tight right now, don't think you have to spend top dollar on things like dressers, if you can't find them used! There are alternatives that are just as good that will work for what you need them to! And that way, you can put the money you saved onto paying off your bills!!

Cutting Costs: Apple Orchard vs. Store Bought

Two weeks ago, we went to an apple orchard and had an amazing time together as a family. And since then, we've been reaping the benefits of all those apples! Not only did we have them for snacks almost every day, but I also made homemade caramel apples (for us and for a playdate) and crockpot applesauce. The only additional things I needed to buy were a bag of caramels and one lemon. (I had the peanuts from that amazing Planters/Kraft free deal back when!) So all these things ended up costing me $12.50.

I started thinking at lunch today...how much would they have cost if I bought them at the store. So I started totally up the figures for 7 caramel apples, 2 jars of applesauce and then the remaining apples. $33.25! And I figured low for the apples!

By taking the time as a family to pick/make our own, I saved us $20.75. It may not sound like a lot, but don't get me on my soapbox about how far $20 can go! :)

Not only did we have monetary savings, but we had healthy savings, too. By having the apples around, we didn't eat some snacks that weren't as healthy and/or processed! You can't really put a savings figure on that! And one extra bonus...Nathan is now saying the word, "apple!" Yes, we've eaten that many! :)

There are still a few more "picking" weeks left. So if you haven't gone, consider taking the family out for a day of fun at the orchard. Your frugal outing might turn into a grocery savings, too!

Cutting Costs: Inexpensive Children's Book Case

I have spent many months trying to find a bookcase that I liked for Nathan's books. On most accounts, the bookcases were just very, very expensive! In other instances, they didn't appear to be safe, despite being advertised for kids!

A few weeks ago, I was de-cluttering the laundry room and decided to get rid of my "cart" that fit in between the washer and dryer. It has three shelves, but I had really only been utilizing the top one. The other two stored cleaners. With Nathan getting more freedom and exploring more, the cleaners had to be put up or discarded. I started to think how the cart was the perfect size for his books!

I cleaned up the cart and dragged down ALL of his books to the main level. I couldn't believe what a perfect fit they were! Those little board books fit great in the openings. I turned the larger books sideways and put them on the bottom shelf. I did have a few that didn't fit, just because we have so many. (I'd have that problem with any bookcase!)

To "spruce" it up, I added sticky foam letters that spelled out "Nathan's Books" on the side. (I found these at Michael's on sale for $4.99 for a huge tub! Enough to last us many, many years!!)

All in all, I saved us quite a bit of money by utilizing what we already had for a new purpose. If I had to buy this cart, it still would have only cost me $5-10, as opposed to the $60+ dollars all the others seemed to run. Nathan has helped himself to the books many times without it wobbling or looking like it was going to fall over, either.

The best part of this shelf is that Nathan now has access to his books and is constantly bringing me one to read. Our reading time has increased immensely by having them out and displayed! (Sometimes, I'll find him sitting on the floor, just flipping through them himself. It's the cutest little sight!)

Have you found an item that you re-used for a new purpose? Share your creativity and frugal ideas with us!

Cutting Costs: Freezing Grapes

We have been having phenomenal sales on grapes lately. So much so, that it's become my latest pregnancy craving! I know the prices are going to skyrocket here soon enough so I decided I'd freeze some. I finally found time to do the research online to see if there were any special tricks to freezing grapes. (Do I wash them first? Freeze then wash upon using? etc. etc.)

Since I had some library books due, Nathan and I made a quick little trip into town to drop them off, pick up grapes and get our "supplies" for Thursday's latest adventure. Since I still had a bit of a cold-headache, we made it quick! I think I ended up with about 7 lbs of grapes @ $.99lb.

Nathan helped me rinse off the grapes and then I laid them out to dry. (pictured above.) Now some sites after this said to put them in Ziploc bags, while others said to freeze them on a cookie sheet first. Since I figured the freezing them first couldn't hurt, that's what we did.

I am still amazed at how well that little $10 Handi-Vac works at sealing up the bags! When I thawed some corn I had frozen last month, it tasted as fresh as the day I blanched it. So I'm hoping the grapes will be the same way!
It didn't take very long at all. The longest part was just waiting for them to dry on their own.

So if your stores are having sales on grapes too, consider freezing up some for some "fresh" produce this fall/winter when the prices are too high to fit many into your budget.

For cost savings, I could figure that these grapes would have cost $3 or more a lb. later in the season but to be honest, when they go up in price, I just don't buy them. So my savings are that I get to enjoy them for many months to come!

What is your favorite thing to freeze/can? And/or which things save you the most $$ by freezing/canning? I am really starting to enjoy this "getting ready for winter" prep so I'd love to try out a few more things!

Cutting Costs: Trip Calculator

So we make all those trips to Wags and CVS and it doesn't seem like much on the gas but here's a way to calculate how much each trip is costing you per day/week/month/year. Just type in your starting/ending address, cost of gas, mpg that your vehicle gets and how many times per day/week/month you make the trip.

You might be surprised to see how much the gas is adding up for just little trips. And you can start figuring in your gas costs into your savings at each store. (Is the deal worth the expense?)

Hope this helps!

Cutting Costs: The Paper Towel Challenge

If you ask most Moms of Toddlers how many paper towels they use, they'll simply answer: ALOT! I never knew how many we went through, either, until recently. I bought a larger pack of Bounty through a great CVS deal. When the pack was almost out, I couldn't believe we had gone through that many so quickly! I had one extra larger pack left and I vowed to make it stretch as long as we could.

I decided to invest in some colored dish cloths and paper napkins for now. (Once I find some cloth napkins on clearance, I'll switch to them.) Basically, I've been using different colored dish cloths for different purposes. One for cleaning. One for basic dish/counter cleaning. And one for "Nathan clean-ups."

Since our towel loads are small to begin with, I don't see these cloths adding any extra water or laundry soap to our budget. In the end, I think it will save us (and the landfills!) in the long-run.

For fun, I put a Post-It on the paper towel holder last week with that day's date. I wanted to see how long it would take us to go through it. It has skewed our results though! Every time I see the Post-It, I stop and ask myself if there's a better alternative to the paper towel! It's been a week, and our paper towel roll has barely been touched!

So my challenge to you is this: Put a Post-It on your paper towel holder and see how long it takes you to go through it. If it's a short timeframe, ask yourself if you shouldn't find alternatives, too!

UPDATE: I finally had to change the paper towel roll on 9/10! 20 days on one roll! WOW!

Good luck!

Cutting Costs: Freezing Corn

One thing we look forward to each summer is corn-on-the-cob from our local farmer's market. I always wished I could have this flavor of corn all year round. While searching for farmer's markets in our area, I found this fabulous article on how to freeze corn. I thought to myself, why not?

I picked up 4 dozen ears of corn and started off on the adventure. Nathan had a good time "helping" me husk some of the ears. (I turned my back for a second and he had started munching on some, though!) :) All in all, the process wasn't too bad. I wasn't able to get a FoodSaver machine (We're on a budget!) so I invested in a Handi-Vac by Reynolds. They run about $9 or less and the bags are around $2 each. How simple are they to use? I let Nathan use it to suction out the last bag. I was very impressed with it. I'll have to see how well it keeps things from getting freezer burnt. I plan on using this for everything I freeze now! The bags cost around the same price as regular freezer storage bags.

How much of a savings? Well, it was hard to put an exact dollar on this. I lost some from Nathan stealing it and feeding it to the dogs but overall, I ended up with about 24-12oz bags of frozen corn. I did leave some ears for lunch/supper. So in the end, I think I saved about $15 with just this one batch. (I figured low, getting the 12oz bags on sale for $1 in the store.) If I would have done this without Nathan, I probably could have gotten a few more bags but we had so much fun that I didn't care about our "losses."

But overall, can you really put a price on farm-tasting corn year-round? I am looking forward to adding some of this to our Taco Chili recipe that we make on the first kick-off game of the Bears!

Cutting Costs: Silly Expenses!

The great thing about budgeting is that every $1 of income is accounted for. Do you know where all your income goes? Yeah, we didn't either! We had some things set-up to be paid automatically with our credit card each month. This is convenient, however, if you aren't checking your bills each month, a price increase or fee might sneak in on you. Here are the "silly expenses" we found when we started digging into our bills for our latest TMM Journey. Go ahead and laugh- We did!

1)Water Delivery- We started this when I was pregnant with Nathan. We were tired of buying bottled water and wanted healthy water,too. Our city water isn't the greatest tasting! We swear when we started this, it was closer to $25mo. When we made our budget, we found it was up to $46! The cost had just gotten lost with our other credit card purchases and didn't stand out each month. What did we care, it was being paid for. Little did we know, over time, there were water price increases and "energy fees" added on. Sadly, we were only using about 15gal mo. so it avg to almost $3gal! SILLY! Needless to say, we canceled delivery and invested in a water purifier pitcher until we decide if we need to get a faucet system or not. Yearly Savings: $552!

2)Landline Phone- The great thing about phone companies is that they can take a $50 phone plan and make it $70 after all their taxes. We weren't even using it all that much. And in the meantime, we racked up 3,000 roll-over minutes on our cell phones. SILLY! We cut our landline phone to the bare bones plan and are using our cell phones for outgoing calls now. Yeah, it's not always the greatest reception but check out the Yearly Savings: $540!

3)Mutt Mitts- What the heck is a Mutt Mitt,right? It's a glorified doggie-doo bag. Rich faithfully walks Homer twice a DAY and with bad timing, can have to carry "doo" for 7-8minutes. It didn't seem like much $ until we figured yearly costs. SILLY!Now,he'll be using grocery sacks or something else free! Yearly Savings:$120!

Total Yearly Savings: $1,212! Sounds like a lot now, right? But then we looked at it this way..almost SIX car payments! By cutting out all these "sillies" we are now 6mo. closer to having our car paid off. All just by cutting out simple conveniences. And we've just gotten started into itemizing everything. Who knows what else we'll find!

So, I encourage you to take a good look at your expenses and cut out all your silliness,too. It will pay off, literally! :) Wait until you see what you find! Feel free to share your findings/stories in the comments field. We can all learn together!