Yard sale pros:

• You usually get more for your stuff.
• I love people watching.
• Every once in a while you just don’t want to load up your car. The front yard is closer.

Yard Sale cons:

• You have to worry about the weather.
• You have to advertise to get traffic.
• You have to sit for hours and be nice to people who snob your stuff.
• You have to price and sell your stuff.
• Don’t forget to have money enough to make change.
• What are you going to do with the stuff you are left with?

Consignment sale pros:

• You don’t have to sit for any length of time.
• You don’t have any leftovers.
• Drop it off and be done with it
• You can take that money and immediately spend it on stuff you already need without making 2 trips

Consignment sale cons:

• Its a big one: You don’t get much money for your stuff!

It really is a personal preference as to what you want to do with your stuff. I love going to yard sales but my husband refuses to have one. I think I might load up my stuff the next time my girlfriend has her neighborhood yard sale. It would be free publicity and they always do really well. But for time’s sake, I will take my stuff to the consignment sale place or give it to someone who needs it. That is probably what I will do with all my baby stuff when I know for sure that I am done with it. I have been blessed with hand-me-downs so why not bless someone else with them as well? Sometimes, being thrifty or frugal means giving away instead of just finding a good deal.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

So your frugal challenge for Saturday is to take advantage of the Internet and find a few good forums to participate in.  You will find it very rewarding and there will be more money in your pocket to enjoy.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

The Challenge for you today is to be crafty with your money.  I could have just said that I had to wait until I bought the Kaboom systems and then go back through the line but that would have wasted my time.  Have you seen the lines at Wal-Mart lately?  And I could have just dragged my DH to one store in 2 days and gotten a gallon of paint for each of us but I chose to enlist the help of friends.  I would do it for them and they chose to do it for me.  Thank you, by the way! 

So don’t be embarrassed to save money.  Cut coupons, take advantage of sales, and offer to help your friends when something crazy like a very restrictive sale goes on so that they can help you.  We have to come together in times of money savings.  If we aren’t protective of our hard earned money, I can promise you someone else will get it and be VERY protective of it.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Your frugal challenge for Saturday is to be patient with your plants. I intend to buy 2 small plants from my local nursery and then let them grow this year in the pots. Next year I will divide them up and plant them outside. I am hoping that by then, I will have several shoots to plant and won’t need to spend a lot of money to cover my flower garden. Perennials are a great way to save money if you can have patience. Buy the smaller plant this year and divide them up next year. That way you have 2 plants for the price of one and an equally satisfying garden to enjoy. Although, if I could divide and save money, I would enjoy my garden much more! Also make sure you get plants that are very hearty for your area. That way they will grow well with little effort. My personal favorite is celosia. It will grow great and with little effort. They come in all kinds of colors and are beautiful. They are an annual but I haven’t had to replant them as they came back 3 years in a row for me. Go figure.

So enjoy your garden this summer and remember, patience literally pays off if you buy small and then divide and replant next year.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

• Never go to the grocery store hungry.
• Plan a list and stick to it.
• Keep your eyes above eye level.  The impulsive buying items are strategically placed at eye level.  And don’t be fooled.  That is not just for the check out isle either.
• Look down to the lowest level in the grocery isle.  That is usually where they place the generic or store brand foods.  Thatusually saves you around 20%.
• Spend the money and get a Sunday paper.  The coupons alone will save you enough to justify the expenditure.

So there you have it.  Grocery shopping is the number 1 frugal challenge in our household.  I do great with clothing and household items but the grocery bill (Wal-Mart) kills me!

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

I am loving the frugal Saturday challenge.  Are you?  I got an email from the Flyladies this week about doing a 27 fling boogie.  These have become very liberating to me.  A 27 fling boogie is a periodic surprise email that tells you to go throughout your home or a specific room and throw away 27 pieces of junk that you have accumulated.  This keeps your house form getting cluttered.  It is a great way to keep that junk mail from piling up because each piece counts towards the 27 fling boogie.  Well this week we got an email for a 27 fling boogie to throw away AND a 27 fling boogie to get rid of stuff to donate that keeps getting put off.  This never takes more than 5 minutes and what a difference it makes when I actually do it.  I did both today.  I lucked out because I had a bag of stuff sitting in the new nursery that needed to the Goodwill so I just tossed the bag in the trunk of my car.  But it counted because there were more than 27 things in the bag.  This week was easy.  My 27 fling boogie for trash was sadly accomplished by just cleaning off the kitchen cabinet from all the mail from the week that needed to be done.

So your frugal challenge for Saturday is a different kind of frugal.  This time we are being frugal with our time.  Take less than 5 minutes and go around your home and do a 27 fling boogie of trash.  Take a trash bag and get 27 things that need to be thrown out of the house.  Don’t say you don’t have 27 things to toss.  What have you done with your junk mail?  Aren’t there a couple of toys that you have been meaning to get rid of without your kids looking (McDonalds toys don’t need to take up space in the closet)?  What about that overly loved piece of underwear or forever ago t-shirt that has holes in it?  You know the ones.  Come on ladies.  Just jump in and do the boogie! 

Then when you are done, take another 5 minutes and go through the closets and find 27 things that you can donate to the Good Will or Salvation Army?  I have old t-shirts that I just don’t want to get rid of that become casualties of the 27 fling boogie and I finally can feel good about doing it.  Usually I feel overwhelmed and think it has to take forever to accomplish decluttering.  It doesn’t.  It just takes a little boogie time.

So go ahead and boogie again.  If you are like me, this is the only kind of boogie that won’t throw your back out, or in my case, the baby out J

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

The other thing that helps me keep up with laundry is keeping a place to hang up clothes after they come out of the dryer.  This also saves me from having to iron a lot.  In my old house, I had a clothes rack standing right by my dryer that I used.  It cost $5 from Big Lots.

The last thing is to do a load a day if you have enough.  I don’t but every other day would work for me.  This is probably my biggest weakness.

So how are you with getting the laundry caught up? Do you find that it’s not a problem or do you struggle?  Talk to you later.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy

Frugal Challenge Saturday:

Try to make a meal for your family for under $10.  I have already given you a good hint with my Taco Salad Recipe.   

Let me know what you come up with.  Everyone wants to share.  Shoot me a link if you find a recipe that make the challenge and I will round them all up.

Post from: Thrifty Mommy