Last week, I discussed some ways to save on decorating your home.  We learned that money could be saved from shopping for used items by using Craigslist, yard sales, and thrift stores and also how an inexpensive item like paint can transform a room.  Today we’re going to see that there are more ways to decorate on the cheap.

4.  Repurpose what you have.  Paint that old lamp or picture frame. Change your night stand into a bookshelf.  Recover your old pillows with fabric. Use a sheet for window treatments. 
5.  Get an outside opinion.  It helps to ask someone else’s opinion for ways …read more

Many of us think of our home as our castle.  We want it to look warm, inviting, and relaxing, yet we don’t have a lot of money to spend on decorating.  Today, I’ll begin to share with you some tips for decorating and furnishing your home on the cheap.

1.  Shop yard sales and thrift stores.  I’ve been doing this for years.  Just a few months ago I was at a yard sale and found a really nice living room couch and oversized chair.  The person I bought it from had only used it for a year.  She paid $1200 for it and …read more

I had to take the cat to the vet today ($$$$$, sigh) and stopped in Food Lion for a few things.  They have some of their Kellogg’s cereals buy 1 get 1 free.   What makes this deal so great is that the $1 Kellogg’s coupons are still on the shelves.  Save $1 on each box of Kellogg’s cereal.   Combine a coupon with a bogo opportunity and you can save big!

There is a limit of 2 free boxes per transaction.  I did two transactions so that I could get 8 boxes of cereal.   With the buy 1 get 1 free sale and …read more

Dunkin’ Donuts has 99 cents specials each day.  Check them out.
Monday – egg & cheese on an English muffin
Tuesday – 2 donuts
Wednesday – bagel with cream cheese
Thursday – 9 piece hash brown
Friday – muffin
Saturday – 5 Munchkins donut hole treats
Sunday – small hot latte
Enjoy!
image from Dunkin’ Donuts

As you know, this is the time of year when the toys get really cheap.  This is the time when I begin to pre-buy for future birthdays and Christmas presents.
We stopped at Target tonight to see if their clearanced clothes were an additional 30% off.  (FYI – they weren’t at my Target.)  We also went to check out the clearanced toys.  My kids had some gift cards and Christmas money left over anyway.  There were many toys that were 30-75% off.  Here’s what we got:

vtech Write & Learn Letter Pad $14.99  $3.74
Little Einstein’s Tub Toss Mission $4.99 $2.48
Barbie Advent Calendar …read more

I’ve lived in North Carolina for most of my life. I know that there are a lot of beautiful places to see. Here are a few inexpensive places to visit in Western North Carolina.
Hendersonville:

Take a stroll through downtown Hendersonville. There are some nice shops and antique stores. I’m sure the old soda shop is still there too. They also have a general store.
Visit the Carl Sandburg home. I’ve been there several times and always enjoy the tour. A guided tour is only $5.
Stop for a show at the Flat Rock Playhouse.
Take a drive …read more

Thanks to my friends at b5, I found this great article from Yahoo about the best days to buy certain things.  Who would have thought that there were certain days and, to my intrigue, times to buy certain items.  I knew about the days thing, but the time thing is kewl!  So here is the list.

 Airplane tickets – Wednesday morning
Books – Thursdays
Cars – Mondays
Clothing – Thursday evenings
Department stores -Saturday evenings if you can wade through the teenagers
Dinner out – Tuesday.  I’ll have to remember that one.
Entertainment – Wednesdays
Gas – before 10 am on Thursdays.  There never seems to be a …read more

Tonight was our church’s fall festival.  It was a blast!!! 
During this time of year, many churches and schools have fall festivals, carnivals, and other sorts of similar entertainment.  My church had bands playing and singing, hay rides, an inflatable bounce house and slide, smoked barbeque (yummy!) and other sorts of stuff.  Everyone that I saw was having a great time . . . and it was CHEAP!!!! 
Most churches and schools that host fall festivals do not charge for the entertainment.  Usually, there is only a small charge for the food.  I think it only cost $14 for our family …read more

Wal-Mart is now taking 291 popularly prescribed generic medicines and charging just $4 each for them!!! Can you believe it? Wal-Mart is going to start this in Tampa and, if it works, Wal-Mart will roll it out around the country in 2007. That goes for Sam’s Club stores, too. Now how could it not work?  Four dollars for prescriptions sounds really good to me!!!!   
Although it may not seem like it, there is normally a huge mark up on generic drugs.  Currently, Costco only marks up their generic prescriptions 14 percent.  So, until this new plan of Wal-Mart’s comes your way, you can continue saving money by …read more

Well, it is the time of year again to start switching out our kids’ clothes.  I have to admit that I dread it–all the washing, sorting, and putting away.  Downstairs I keep totes full of clothes for my kids for the seasons.  There are also clothes that are too big them to wear right now. 
The clothes that I have stored come from many places – yard sales, consignment stores, clearance racks, and many of my girl clothes were given to me by my wonderful, long-time friend Karen. (Thanks, Karen.  ) 
Have you noticed that these clothes all have something in …read more