Some of My Fav.s

What a weekend...or rather week! I have been so busy working on graduation gifts, birthday presents, entertaining the kids, and of course...YARD SELLING!  Remember my bottles, and bottles of buttons?  Remember how AWESOME Marcie was to give them to me?  Remember Nadine the little lady who owned the button collection before she passed away? (If you forgot go HERE.)  Well I was able to acquire some of Nadine's other belongings.  Marcie had a Yard Sale to raise money for her brother-in-law's friend who has a brain tumor.  Isn't she AMAZING! My Saturday started early at 6:20am to be exact, just so I could purchase this rockin' cabinet!  Well worth it!  Thanks for the heads up on the Yard Sale Marcie!!!  You are SO,VERY, AWESOME!!!

This is SO PERFECT for my room, from the size, to the color!  I LOVE IT!!!

Love all the shelving in it.  I recovered them in Contact Shelf Paper.  Made it look so nice!

Super cool retro stool.  How fun...right?  No more using my drawers as step stools kids! Although I absolutely LOVE the green color it might just need a paint job so it will go better in my kitchen.  We shall see.

I LOVE everything about this QUILT!  Polyester, happy colors, mismatched fabric, light weight, retro, lilac zig-zag top stitching, and made by a little old lady named Nadine!  What's not to love, right?  This is going to be on MANY family outings and loved over, and over again!

I also hit up a Yard Sale that had bags, and bags of candy.  I purchased these 6 bags (these are BIG bags people the picture doesn't show off their size) for $7!  That is dirt cheep!! They are 3-5x's the size of the 'Dollar Store' bags of candy.  Hopefully it will keep the kids and their friends happy through the summer. :)   

I'm always on the look out for gifts. Especially ones that are brand-new still in the packaging.  Picked this Snow White set up for a mere $2!!!!  I can think of about 10 little girls who would eat this up,  including my own daughter.  The big problem now is who do I give it to? ;)

*Anybody else go out this weekend?  Send me pictures please!!!  I want to see what you got!

Inspiration

"The safe way to double your money is to fold it over once and put it in your pocket." --Frank Hubbard

 

A talk in Conference back in April of 2009 given by Robert D Hales really, really inspired me.  Here is a smidgen of it.  It's worth reading whether you are a Latter-Day-Saint or not.  He really speaks a world of truth!: 

"To provide providently, we must practice the principles of provident living: joyfully living within our means, being content with what we have, avoiding excessive debt, and diligently saving and preparing for rainy-day emergencies. When we live providently, we can provide for ourselves and our families and also follow the Savior’s example to serve and bless others.

Being provident providers, we must keep that most basic commandment, “Thou shalt not covet” (Exodus 20:17). Our world is fraught with feelings of entitlement. Some of us feel embarrassed, ashamed, less worthwhile if our family does not have everything the neighbors have. As a result, we go into debt to buy things we can’t afford—and things we do not really need. Whenever we do this, we become poor temporally and spiritually. We give away some of our precious, priceless agency and put ourselves in self-imposed servitude. Money we could have used to care for ourselves and others must now be used to pay our debts. What remains is often only enough to meet our most basic physical needs. Living at the subsistence level, we become depressed, our self-worth is affected, and our relationships with family, friends, neighbors, and the Lord are weakened. We do not have the time, energy, or interest to seek spiritual things.

May I share with you two lessons in provident living that can help each of us. These lessons, along with many other important lessons of my life, were taught to me by my wife and eternal companion. These lessons were learned at two different times in our marriage—both on occasions when I wanted to buy her a special gift.

The first lesson was learned when we were newly married and had very little money. I was in the air force, and we had missed Christmas together. I was on assignment overseas. When I got home, I saw a beautiful dress in a store window and suggested to my wife that if she liked it, we would buy it. Mary went into the dressing room of the store. After a moment the salesclerk came out, brushed by me, and returned the dress to its place in the store window. As we left the store, I asked, “What happened?” She replied, “It was a beautiful dress, but we can’t afford it!” Those words went straight to my heart. I have learned that the three most loving words are “I love you,” and the four most caring words for those we love are “We can’t afford it.”

The second lesson was learned several years later when we were more financially secure. Our wedding anniversary was approaching, and I wanted to buy Mary a fancy coat to show my love and appreciation for our many happy years together. When I asked what she thought of the coat I had in mind, she replied with words that again penetrated my heart and mind. “Where would I wear it?” she asked. (At the time she was a ward Relief Society president helping to minister to needy families.)

Then she taught me an unforgettable lesson. She looked me in the eyes and sweetly asked, “Are you buying this for me or for you?” In other words, she was asking, “Is the purpose of this gift to show your love for me or to show me that you are a good provider or to prove something to the world?” I pondered her question and realized I was thinking less about her and our family and more about me.

After that we had a serious, life-changing discussion about provident living, and both of us agreed that our money would be better spent in paying down our home mortgage and adding to our children’s education fund.

These two lessons are the essence of provident living. When faced with the choice to buy, consume, or engage in worldly things and activities, we all need to learn to say to one another, “We can’t afford it, even though we want it!” or “We can afford it, but we don’t need it—and we really don’t even want it!”

Every time I read this even now, 3 years later, I get an over whelming feeling of the truthfulness of his words.  What an amazing wife he had to be able to turn down those beautiful gifts and to see the big picture. I'm not sure I could be that strong, and I know I haven't been in the past, but I am working on it. Please don't get me wrong though, GIFTS are GOOD!  But they are even better when you do NOT have to go into debt for them.  You can enjoy them so much more...don't ya think? The best gift my husband can get for me is peace of mind of no credit card debt. ;)

Weekend Finds, and Show and Tell

I put myself on a strict $10 budget this weekend.  I mostly went out to hunt for gifts for upcoming birthdays, weddings, and graduations.

My FAVORITE find of the day was this picture of the Salt Lake Temple and easel.  This sells for $59.95 right now in stores.  I paid...$5 for both!  Come to find out, the person I had in mind to give it too is not getting married in this temple.  So I might just have to find it a permanent place in my house. :)

I bought someones button collection for $2. :)  Just a small collection, but it had a handful of really great buttons.

It came with these vintage, wooden spools too.  I love them!

Bought this cute little doll complete with 6 outfits for $1.  It will make a perfect gift for my niece. :)

How sweet is that face?

I also bought a bag of clothes for a $1, and some ribbon, chipboard tags, and a brand new (still in the wrapper) Jenny Phillips Cd (she is an LDS artist...who I love) for $1.50.  Grand total for all my finds $10.50!  Not too bad, eh? 

My neighbor/friend bought this really cool game table for $40 she talked her down from $75.00!  Great job Kayley! :)  Better yet it is not just one game but 4!  Air hockey, Foosball, Pool, and Ping-pong.  Party at their house!!

My friends birthday is today (HAPPY BIRTHDAY STACY!!!! LOVE YA!!!) and since I didn't find her anything at the yard sales this weekend, I made this cute little sign for her.  The  picture on the front was sent to me from my cousin-in-law (THANKS ANGIE), and I've been dying to do something with it!  I also made me one and hung it out on my porch.  HaPpY SprInG everyone!

Love, Hate Relationship

Coupons... ... sometimes I LOVE them other days I HATE them.  As you all know I love saving money...LOOOOOVE IT.  That is were the love part comes in.  On the other hand I HATE being stressed out and that is what coupons seem to do to me.  I feel like they take up too much of my time. I feel pressured to use them because I'm paying $20 a month for them. I won't go to the store without them , but I don't have time to go through them, so I never go to the store and then we have nothing to eat in the house. That makes me very ornery/stressed come meal time!  It's a vicious cycle!  I know I'm probably not doing it right and I need to find my own niche and what works for me but as for now I've canceled my newspaper, and I feel A LOT less stress in my life.  But I have to admit as I shop I often think, "I bet there's a coupon for that."  and I feel a little sad that I don't have them. :(  True fully though I did save a lot of money especially when it came to non-food items.  Such as, razors, ziploc bags, face wash, shampoo, laundry soap, etc..    I found myself not using a lot of the food coupons though.  I don't know...see my inner struggle!

On Wednesday I went out shopping by only doing price matches. (I did use 4 coupons that came on the package of the lunch meat I bought) I spent 1 hour the night before making my list and doing my meal plan for the next week.  I then spent 1 hour at the store, that's with two kids.  I spent a total of $104.53 and got...

...all this..

...and this...

...oh and this...

That is A LOT of food people.  It is over 2 weeks worth for us on most items.  I even had to have a CM come over and okay my total because I saved so much money. :) I LOVE IT when that happens!  I know you couponers out there are thinking, "I could have gotten it down to $20."  Still I did pretty good with only two hours spent and NO STRESS. :)

Oh, and did you notice my stack of Ramen Noodles?  I can't wait to try out my new Cookbook.  Cost me .25 at last weeks yard sales.  Whoot, whoot!


Here is a video that KSL ran on Couponing vs Deal Shopping.  What are you're thoughts?  I really can't make up my mind.  Should I give couponing another shot?  What to do, what to do...

Mr. Goodwill Hunting

"I feel good about taking things to Goodwill and actually, I do like shopping at Goodwill. It's so cheap that it feels like a library where I am just checking things out for awhile until I decide to take them back." 

 ~ April Foiles
 

On the rare occasion that I actually get to watch day time T.V. (like when I'm folding laundry or ironing and such) 'The Nate Berkus' show is one I love to tune into.  Yesterday they  did a segment on decorating a room on a $300 budget and only using second-hand items.  As you know this was right down my alley.  You have to check it out!  Go to the video HERE. It is only a short clip and doesn't show the whole segment, but you should get the point that thrifting is AWESOME and saves you SO much money, and you can still have an AMAZING looking home too.

The Great Debate

What a F.U.N. weekend I just had.  Spent it in Mesquite, NV with the hubby and some friends.  What do you do in Mesquite you ask?  NOTHING!.. and that is exactly what we did.  We lounged around the pool in 90 degree weather, went to Thor (which was surprisingly good), ate at a most delicious Japanese Restaurant (had sushi for the first time), slept in, played games, and hit up a few Yard Sales (of course) :)    

I have to give credit to April and Shannon for dragging me to the Yard Sales on saturday which is where I found all of these treasures.  Drag me to a Yard Sale?  What's that about?  Well Friday we hit up a couple local yard sales and they were HUGE disappointments.  They were smoke filled, Sante Fe style, so not for me, stuff.  So I was having  a debate with myself whether to sleep in (which I NEVER get to do), or get up and go to Yard Sales that turn out to be flops.  What to do, what to do.  The girlies convinced me to suck it up and go Yard Selling, and so I did! :)  Thanks ladies for kicking me in the butt, otherwise I would have missed out on all this...

 My .50 frame that just needs a coat of paint and a fresh new picture in it.

 Vintage 1968 World of Barbie Doll case~

Ended up getting these for such a stealer deal.  She started out at $20 for the pair and then $10 and down she went to where I got them for $3.75 FOR THE PAIR!!!  I honestly couldn't believe it! 

Ended up getting this precious hand-held mirror for .50.  I LOVE IT SO MUCH!

Spent a whopping .45 cents on these two items plus a pizza cuter that is NOT in the picture. That's 45 cents total for ALL 3 items!  LOL!  Watch out I'm a BIG spender. :) 

Isn't this the cutest vintage lunch box?

  I had to have it!

Oh, and it was full of ROCKS. :) The teenage girl selling it said she started collecting rocks as a little girl and this was her collection.  How cute!  Most of these rocks came from North Dakota.  I knew my kids would be pumped about a rock collection.  I was right, they loved it and have been searching for special rocks to add to the collection themselves.

Now on to the prized find of the day.  We hit the jack-pot when we found a Yard Sale at some storage units.  There were so many people selling some really great stuff.  That is actually where I found the vintage Barbie cases.  But I also bought this sweet little table... 

Yes we are posing with the table because it was somewhat of a fight on who was going home with it.  April spotted it firs,t showed it to me and 'said' she 'wanted' ME to buy it. ;)  After I picked it up to purchase it she started having second thoughts and we had a back and forth teasing match on the table the rest of the trip.  It was funny though because I had to borrow money from Shannon to purchase it because I didn't have enough cash, so then Shannon got in on it saying it was hers because she is the one that actually paid for it. LOL. It was funny. :) When this picture was taken we were still in the 'great debate' on who's table it actually was.

But I WON (although I did try to make April take it) and it's in my possession paid for and all.  This is how I rode home with it loving under my legs for 4 HOURS!  I think I earned the right to the table. ;)  We'll see where it ends up though because I'm not quite sure were it will go.  As promised if I can't find a place for it on it will go to April  for her future house.  

Love you girls had a B-L-A-S-T!

Buyer Beware!

When I found this booster seat this last weekend I was psyched! I have been looking for one for a couple months now.  Miss J had requested a pink, girl seat...this fit the description.  It looked in pretty good condition especially the back of it.  The bottom was slightly dirty but I thought some Oxy Clean could do the trick on it.  Then they told be their asking price, $5...SOLD!  She showed me how to put it together and take it apart, I bought it and loaded it in my car.  Oh, HAPPY DAY!  Or so I thought.  Stopped at another Yard Sale and as I was loading my finds in the trunk when I smelt...SWAMP.  What the!  I poked around inside to find the cause of that AWFUL smell and found the bottom pad (or cover) sopping wet with swampy water! The bottom part of the seat had been laying sideways on top of it. Oh, my disgusting.  I did some more investigating and realized that the two cup holders had been full of water and had a ring of green moss around them.  WHY DID I NOT CHECK THAT OUT?  I am usually really good about giving things a thorough once-over. I guess I was blinded by the find on this one. When I got it home I stripped the pads off took the top and bottom apart and sprayed them down with a hose.  That was NOT doing the job good enough for me so I took them in the house and threw them in the tub so I could soak and scrub them.  When I put the bottom base in and started feeling the tub with water all this junk started coming out of it...including a spider, some rocks, 2 quaters (hey I made some $ back!  But it wasn't $5 worth!), and wood chips.  I was so GROSSED OUT!!!!  More then once I thought about just dumping it in the garbage (I'm still kinda wondering why I didn't). Instead, I soaked it three times and one more time for a two hour stretch in bleach.  FINALLY gunk stopped coming out of it.  FINALLY it looked usable.  I washed the pads 3 times and they look pretty good although there are still a few stains I couldn't get out of the bottom pad.  All in all though it looks great.

I'm sure you all know the morale of the story... 

CHECK THINGS OUT THOROUGHLY BEFORE BUYING! 

(yes I am shouting this).

Notable Finds

 This little piggie...came home with ME!

 My Grandma collects pigs and I could NOT pass this up!  PERFECT Mother's Day gift for her.  How adorable is that face?  I paid .50 for him and there was a dollar inside it...lol.  But I gave the dollar back. :)  But I could have made .50 profit on this here Piggie.  Pays to be honest though.  Karma will pay me back for that one. ;) 

 Paid .50 for 2 butterfly catchers.  1 blue, 1 purple.  The kids are LOVING them.  They played outside all afternoon and even caught 2 butterflies with them. :)  SO worth the .50 paid!

 Does anyone else have a child that spills her drink at EVERY meal?  I've been eying these cups at good ol' Wal Mart for some time now but couldn't justify buying them at $8 for a set.  Well I got a set of 16 of these (princess and solid color) for $2!!! Came home, washed them up and Miss J enjoyed a beverage.

GOT SHOES?

 A pair for Miss J-.25

A Pair for Mister C (Think I'll save these for school next year).

And a pair for ME! 

Bought these from a friend who was having a Yard Sale this week.  So glad you have such great taste Stacy! :)

These are normally $50.  I paid $5!  My kids are going to eat this up!

$4...Where to put it?  Bathroom or Bedroom? What color to pant it???  I don't know but I LOVE it!

I have a little weakness for books.  Old or new.  Doesn't this have such a great cover?

This is one of my favorite finds.  How cute is Miss J going to look in this, this fall?

All these clothes cost a total of $10! Pile for Mister C, Miss J, and Mister E.  Many of these will be put away for school clothes. SCORE!

Here is Miss J in one of her favorites...a Minnie Mouse Night Gown.  She loved it and kept saying "Look at me!  It's SO pretty!"

  Bought this off of another friend at her yard Sale.  Thanks Jodi for buying your kids such cute clothes!!!!

What a fun, FUN weekend.  I also got a few gifts that I can't show yet (I don't want to give away any surprises), and my $10 cedar chest that I'm going to wait to show you until we refinish it.  It's going to be so great!  We have the paint  and are ready to paint about 10 things just need life to slow down for 2 seconds so we can get them all painted.  They'll be worth the wait! ;)

Show and Tell

This week was so much fun.  Yard Sales were practically around every corner...IT WAS AWESOME!  It was also so much fun to bump into a few of you out getting great deals yourselves or even having your own yard sales.  I loved that!  I love hearing that people are actually reading my blog and getting inspired from it.  SO FUN!  Anywho(I know this is not a real word, but it is now. :))...Amber was one of the wonderful people that I ran into this weekend.  I asked her to send me pictures of all her great finds.  Check it out...

Love this clock!  Wish I would've beat her to it. ;)

Cute little cowboy hat cost her "10 stinking cents"!

Spent $3.75 for ALL of this.

All this cost her a whopping $8! 

 Grand total for all her finds for the weekend $37! Look at all that stuff! 

I asked Amber if she was hooked and her reply was, " I am hooked! All I wanted to do when I got home was go back out!" LOL!

I have a crazy busy day today playing catch-up from being at Yard Sales all weekend so I'll try and get 'my finds' posted SOON, but for now here is one little picture of what me and my Yard Sale Posse bought at 'Fleaology' (what's fleaology? Check it out HERE) on Saturday.  Loved it so much and could have stayed there all day examining all the fun finds there.  Can't wait for it to come again in July.

SUPER cute orange chair perfect for my photographer friend, Ashley.  Jewelry box for me to give to someone as a gift.  Not sure who yet...anybody need one.  This was too cute to pass up! Rustic tin bucket perfect for Liz to plant flowers in. CUTNESS all around, don't ya think? Thanks girls for the oh, so fun weekend! I got some REALLY GREAT STUFF!  Including a cedar chest for $10 and they delivered it!  

*Anybody else want to show off what they found?  Send me some pictures!