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 to help your decorating space.  Many times others will see things you didn’t see and have ideas you had never thought about.  They may suggest moving a piece of furniture or changing a wall hanging.  Those small inexpensive tips can make a big impact.

6.  Borrow furniture.  When I first got married, I didn’t have any living room furniture.  I ended up borrowing some things from my parent’s house.  All you have to do is get the word out to friends and family that you need some items for your home.  Some people have things in their basement that are just sitting around collecting dust.  Some will let you borrow things and others will just let you have the stuff. 

7.  Be patient.  You can’t expect your home to look perfect right away.  It takes moving things around, searching for deals, and tweaking things a bit.  It will all come together eventually.

What tips do you have for decorating on the cheap?

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

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 I got it for only $120.  Sometimes you can find some really unique items by shopping this way.

2.  Check Craigslist.  You just never know what you’ll find on Craiglist.  We’re getting ready to move into our house and the home inspector found some issues with the bathtub.  My husband found a brand new tub with jets on Craiglist for 1/5 the price.  It was one a contractor didn’t use.

3.  Think paint.  Paint is one of the least expensive ways to add warmth and color to your home.  It really is amazing how $30 in paint can transform a room.  I am not very fond of white walls and in our last house, all the walls were white.  Once we painted the living room a taupe color, the whole look of the room changed and I could hardly wait to paint the rest of the house. 

Stay tuned for more ideas and tips on inexpensive decorating.  In the meantime, we’d love to hear the ways that you save.

image sxc.hu

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

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 the $1 coupon, the cereal ends up being around $.67-$.75 per box.  Isn’t that great?!?  With our family of five, we go through a lot of cereal. 

The cereals that are on sale are Kellogg’s Special K varieties, Apple Jacks, Fruit Loops, and Rice Krispy treats. 

Another stockpile opportunity is applesauce.  The Food Lion applesauce and the Whitehouse High School Musical applesauce is buy 1 get 1 free.  This makes the applesauce $1.10-$1.25 each.

By the way, I had to drive back out again to pick the cat up from the vet and I stopped in Food Lion again for 4 more boxes of cereal.  I got 2 boxes of Special K, 1 box of Fruit Loops, and 1 box of Rice Krispies for $2.89, including tax!  This means I bought 12 boxes of cereal today.  My husband says they’re going to change my name from Thrifty Mommy to Cereal Mommy.  lol

*There is also a $1 Kellogg’s coupon in the April 5th Red Plum coupon insert of the paper.

Enjoy the savings! 

image by Karen Weideman

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

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

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

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 $19.99 $4.98
Mickey Mouse Clubhouse figure $5.99 $1.48
Toy Story Toy Box Heroes figurines $6.99 $1.74
small monster truck $1.99 $.48
Woof Street Boutique dog $7.99 $1.98

Puparazzi poseable fashion purse $19.99  $4.98
Hannah Montana and Lola dolls, Target exclusive toy, contains 31 pieces $34.99 $8.74
Wow! Wow! Wubbzy! digital game $22.99 $5.74

Some of these items the kids bought with their money and some I purchased for gifts.  Thankfully, hubby was there to push the kids in a cart while I got my bargains.

If you have a little extra cash to spare, it’s worth dropping by Target for the toy deals.  Good luck and let me know what you find.

images by Karen

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

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 up to Jump Off Rock. The view is beautiful and admission is free.
• Historic Johnson Farm has a farm festival in April. Admission is $4-6.
• Each fall, Hendersonville has their annual North Carolina Apple Festival.

Lake Lure:

• Just 25 miles from Asheville, you’ll find Chimney Rock Park. Some of The Last of the Mohicans was filmed at the park.
• Book a beautiful boat tour.
• Visit “the beach”. lol I grew up near the coast, so I wouldn’t really consider this a beach, but that’s what they call it. It’s beautiful though.
• Go camping.
• Visit one of the locations where Dirty Dancing was filmed.

Asheville:

• While this may not be a thrifty place to visit, you’ll want to stop at the Biltmore House. It is the largest mansion in America. I hope to go there some day.
• Visit The Botanical Gardens. It’s free!
• See lots of critters at the Western North Carolina Nature Center. Prices are about $5-7.

Hickory:

• In Hickory, you can visit the Catawba Science Center.
• Hickory is one of the nation’s largest furniture distributors.
• Stop by the International Spring Fest.
• Each fall, Oktoberfest features concerts, arts and crafts, caricature artists, street vendors, a variety of food, and rides. Admission is free, but of course you must pay for the food and rides.
• Shop at art galleries, look at pottery, browse through downtown.
• Listen to live music outside each summer at Union Square.
• Visit the Hickory Museum of Art for FREE.
• Board Queens Landing (in Mooresville) for a sight-seeing dinner cruise.
• Take the kids to Buffalo Beal’s Animal Park in Maiden. You can pet and feed some of the animals.
• All of you racing fans can stop by the Hickory Motor Speedway, “Birthplace of the Nascar Stars”.
• Travel to the nearby town of Valdese for Friday Family Nights. In the parking lots of Myra’s and Wachovia Bank you’ll find oldies music playing, old cars, and people chatting. Myra’s hosts a cruise-in and raffle.

These are just a few of the many frugal entertainment options for Western North Carolina. I plan to continue my research and have more information for you soon.

Would you like to write a guest post on thrifty entertainment and vacation options? If so, please contact me for more details.

image:  This beautiful picture of Chimney Rock was taken by me about 12 years ago.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

•  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 cheap time to do this.
• Groceries -Sunday or Tuesday
• Hotel rooms - Sunday

So see what you can find on these days and let me know how it goes.

PS…  It sure feels good to be back in the swing of things.  We are finding a routine.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

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 of four.  You can’t beat that for the entertainment.

This time of year some towns host festivals.  Hendersonville, NC is famous for their annual apple festival.  Their festival goes on for several days and attracts people from all over.  I’ve heard of squash festivals, apple festivals, ramp festivals, and other strange things.

Keep your eyes and ears open for cheap entertainment in your area.

P.S.  The picture is of my little girl on an inflatable at church.  This was taken in June 2005.  She wasn’t even 2 years old yet, but she sure did like the slide.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Wal-Mart

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 buying your generics from Costco.    

This will certainly help out low-income people who can’t afford to buy prescription drugs.  Just imagine how much it will help the elderly who sometimes have to choose between heating their house or buying their medicines.   

Wal-Mart’s move certainly is going to help with competitive prices.  After this, we may be able to forgive them for no longer offering layaway.    

This information was taken from clarkhoward.com.   

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

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 common?  Most are used and all were INEXPENSIVE!!!!  I actually had the word “cheap” put in there, but I know some of you may not like that word.  I LOVE that word!!!!

While you’re sorting through last year’s clothes, trying stuff on, and getting rid of pants that are too short, just remember there are places to find low cost children’s clothing. 

I would suggest trying children’s consignment stores for winter clothing deals.  Most consignment stores that I have been in are pretty picky about what they accept.  The majority of their stuff looks new and you can usually get it for about 25% of what it costs new. 

Another great place to try is thrift stores.  Try your Good Will and Salvation Army thrift stores.  A few months ago I was shopping at Good Will and I got my son some new winter clothes, with tags, for $1.00 each!!!  What a deal!!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy