Cha-Ching on a Shoestring™

Living Large on a Limited Budget

Ask the Readers: Simple Healthy Lunch Alternatives

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I went to make lunch today for my boys and I was not feeling the sandwich love.  So I threw a post up on Facebook asking readers to share ideas for simple, healthy lunch alternatives.  I am loving the response!

Check out the great ideas on the Facebook page and while you’re there, feel free to leave your own!  (Or scroll down and leave a comment on this post.)

My boys thank you for helping their Momma out!

Readers Tips: How to Have a Successful Yard Sale

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I’m having my very first on-my-own yard sale this weekend, hoping to get rid of some of our stuff before our upcoming move.  (If you’re in the area, stop on by!)

I asked for tips on our Facebook page and am loving the helpful responses.  Here are just a few of them:

  • “Price as much as you can beforehand. It’s a big turnoff for customers if there are no prices on items. And price a little above what you’ll accept, because most people like to bargain.”
  • “Display is the key to a successful yard sale . . . make things easy for people to see. If you have clothes try to hang them up. Organize like items together. Put things at different levels . . . have some things on a blanket on the ground, others on a table.”
  • “If you have any bright colorful kids stuff put it right out by the street where it can clearly be seen. Also advertise well…post in newspaper, craigslist, & GOOD signage (put up several days ahead).”

And many more helpful tips!  Head on over to the Facebook page to get in on the discussion or leave a comment below!

A Deal Seeker’s Dilemma: Breaking the Budget

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This week while I was grocery shopping, I caught myself having a little conversation in my head.  Always on the look-out for a hot deal, I was able to score Pepperidge Farms Goldfish for $.17, Corn Flakes for FREE after mail in rebate, and pizza for only $1.29.  This made me quite pleased.

Then I began to scour the produce section.  The grapes and corn were on sale, but most everything else was higher than I ever like to pay.

That’s when the little voice in my head began:

“If you buy those apples, you might go over budget.”

(I’m not sure, but I think the reason I could actually hear the voice this time was because my kids weren’t with me so it didn’t have to shout to be heard!)

Suddenly, I realized that I was actually considering skipping out on fruits and vegetables in order to keep our budget on track.

It was a wake up call for me.  In this case, my fear of spending a few extra dollars was not a healthy fear.

Here’s the issue.  It’s so easy to compare grocery budgets to other savvy shoppers and feel the need to do better.   But the whole comparison thing is such a waste of time.  There are so many reasons why you may need to spend more money than someone else, including the variety of grocery stores in your area, the number of mouths you are feeding, dietary restrictions, and much more.

In my situation, I have had incredibly busy week, so spending time shopping around to find the best deals simply wasn’t in the cards.

And that’s ok.

Will I buy pizza and ice cream when they are on sale?  Sure!

Will I buy fruits and vegetables when they aren’t on sale?  Even if it means breaking the budget that week?  You better believe it.

Take that, little voice.

Now excuse me while I go get a bowl of ice cream (with a big ol’ expensive banana on top!)

Making the Most of Freecycle Part 2

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The following is the second in a two part series by my Freecycle Extraordinaire husband, Wes. You can read part one here.

Here is the big picture on Freecycle.org.  We all have the need to acquire or get rid of items.  The idea behind Freecycle is generosity and reusing things. I’ve seen everything from gently used clothes and lawnmowers to moving boxes and appliances. Rather than throwing them out, you Freecycle them!

Over the course of several months, here are some of the items that we have received through Freecyle:

  • Nice clothes for the boys
  • Mixer
  • Armoire
  • Lamps
  • Garden tools
  • TV
  • Tickets to the zoo
  • Futon
  • Lawn Chairs

If you can e-mail and drive, I assure you that YOU CAN FREECYCLE!

Here are a few basic steps to get you started:

When you sign up, you can opt to get e-mails 2 different ways:

  1. Individually—they come quicker this way and you stand a better chance of claiming things.
  2. Daily—they will send you ONE email a day and you can look through the entire list.

Most of the quality items go quickly, so your chances of getting a great deal will increase if you sign up for the individual e-mails.  However, be prepared to receive an average of 20 or so e-mails per day (and more on the weekends when people are working around the house and doing cleanup projects!)

 

There are two basic categories: Offers and Wanted

Here is an example of what you are going to see in your inbox:

1. Offer:
Subject line: Offer: boys summer clothes 3T (Doylestown)
I have a garbage bag of gently used boys clothes (some still have tags) that need to go!

2. Wanted:
Subject line: Wanted: 16 inch boys bike with training wheels
My son has grown out of his 12 inch bike. Does anyone have a 16 inch they are done with?

Once you join Freecycle you will need to monitor your email to find out the following things:

Do you have anything that someone else needs?
If you do, then you can hit reply and send them a simple e-mail to set up a time for them to come to your house/meet you somewhere to make the exchange.

Have you received an e-mail from someone that has what you need?
If  someone responded to your “Want Ad”, you simply e-mail them back to set up a time to make your exchange.

My Top 5 Freecycle Tips

  1. Set up a separate email address designated for your Freecycle hunting (gmail/hotmail/yahoo).  This will help keep your regular email address from being overloaded with Freecycle emails.
  2. Go to www.Freecycle.org and sign up for your nearest Freecycle group.
  3. Check your e-mail regularly and respond quickly and with clarity.
  4. Know where you would have to go to pick something up – this might make your decision for you.
  5. Give as well as receive. Look around your home for things that you don’t need and clear out your junk. It is likely someone else’s treasure.  (We were able to get rid of a huge entertainment center that we no longer needed this way!)

I also highly recommend putting a Freecycle Wanted Ad up the next time you consider making a big purchase.  You never know what items someone has hanging out in their garage just waiting for you to pick up!

Feel free to leave a comment with any questions.  Shoot–that’s why we’re here!

Making the Most of Freecycle Part 1

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I shared with you last week that my husband has scored us hundreds of dollars of quality free items through Freecycle.  I honestly leave this part of saving money entirely all to Wes.  He takes great delight in the thrill of the hunt (as you will soon see).  So I begged him to asked him nicely if he would write a post sharing the secrets of Freecycle.  Here is Part 1:

Freecycle.org is my hunting grounds…email is my weapon of choice…I’m a bargain hunter.

So I was deal hunting on Freecycle.org the other day and I bagged my biggest find yet!

My buddy Randy showed up my door before I had a chance to down the rest of my re-heated-on-the-fly-last-minute-spaghetti dinner.*  I invited him in, grabbed my gear, and we headed south for 10 minutes. We talked anxiously about the hunt as I filled him in on the details, strategizing about how to best handle our prey and how great it would be to enjoy the spoils of our hunt.

We pulled into my new friend Kim’s driveway, a few quick emails and 15 seconds on the phone to tell her we were about a mile away from her house made us fast friends. Kim was in need so Randy and I arrived to save the day. When we showed up at her house, she let us in the front door, and there it was!  For months I had been hunting for a TV/Media Armoire that would hide our  TV and unsightly wires from company.

Kim, it seems, needed to get rid of her solid wood TV Armoire before her new furniture arrived.  I had a need — it was a perfect match. We strategized for a few minutes as to how to remove the armoire from Kim’s living room without scratching up her hardwood floor. An hour and 974 lbs later (ok, it only felt like 974lbs) we had bagged our TV Armoire.

Read: Making the Most of Freecycle Part 2. 

*Editor’s note: I can’t seem to remember why the usual gourmet dinner wasn’t waiting for him when he got home!

Ask the Readers: Birthday Cake Ideas

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A while back, I asked you for Frugal Birthday Party ideas.  I loved your response!  You all had some great ideas.

I have decided to keep things extra simple this year since both boys’ birthdays are in August and it appears that we will be in the midst of a move to our new home.  (*We hope!*)  I know, I know.  I’ve vowed every other year to keep things simple–but this time I mean it!  I’m sticking with a cake and ice cream only event.  (I’m not promising that there won’t be any decorations though!)

I need your help again, dear readers. Ever since the birthday cake fiasco last year, I no longer trust my cake-making skills.

Do you have any recommendations for a simple, easy-to-make, but super cute birthday cake?  (That’s not asking too much, is it?)  And if you happened to have a link to a how-to recipe online, I’d be even more grateful!

By the way, the picture above is a Popcorn Cupcake that my friend Anna made for her daughter’s birthday.  How adorable is that?

Saving Money on the Arts (and a Giveaway!)

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Let’s face it.  There are some things in life that are just not that easy to score for free.   In order to appreciate the finer things in life, sometimes we have to dish out more than we’d like.

I asked my sister Tamara (who is the thought-provoking writer behind Living Palm) to write a post sharing ideas on how to save money on the arts–music, books, visual art.   She has more knowledge than just about anybody that I know on this topic, and I’m so excited to share her expertise with you.  Head on over here and learn all sorts of tricks for getting more for less in the world of the arts.

She also is offering a FUN giveaway here for Cha-Ching on a Shoestring readers.  Enter to win some FREE music and give her some WARM Cha-Ching love while you’re at it, will ya?

How We Prepared for a Layoff Part 2: A is for Apartment

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You can read the first post in this series here.

I shared in my first post in this series, “How We Prepared for a Lay-off” that we survived a year and a half of uncertain income without going into debt. It was the choices that we made prior to the layoff that truly made the difference for us. Without realizing it, we were preparing for our lay-off since the first year of our marriage.

While there are thousands of ways to be frugal, we wouldn’t be where we are today if it weren’t for these five BASIC decisions that we made before the layoff:

The next topic in this series on BASIC lay-off survival prep is Apartment:

B – Budget
A – Apartment
S –
I –
C –

We lived in the same very reasonably priced apartment for the first 7 years of our marriage. We were very blessed to have landlords who treated us like family and our kids like they were their own grandkids. It was a great situation.

That’s not to say that there weren’t many occasions that we considered buying a home.

I tend to be more of a free spirit than Wes when it comes to finances. We would look at our budget and I would say, “Look – we have just enough money to buy that house!”

And Wes would say, “But what if the roof needs to be repaired or the heater needs to be replaced? We have no wiggle room.”

And as much as I hated to admit it, I knew he was right.

And when Wes was laid off, there was no greater evidence that he was right.

I shudder to think what would have happened if we had made the choice to buy a home before we knew we were ready.

Here are a few ways that we knew that we needed to continue to rent:

  • Our future was uncertain. Throughout the first 7 years of marriage, we were on a journey of discovering what Wes was called to do in life. It’s another story in itself, but throughout that time, we were unsure what our income would look like in the future or where we would end up living. Buying a home would have tied us down in ways that we weren’t ready to accept.
  • Renting allowed us to save money for our future home. We were blessed to have a low rent that allowed us to set aside a good percentage of our income for the future. If this were not so, then buying may have seemed like a reasonable thing to do. Reading real estate investing books is helping us to decide where to put our money when it comes to properties.
  • We had enough room in our apartment. Granted, things got a little tight when our second son was born. (We are hoping that he will forgive us for making him sleep in the bathroom when he was first born!) But it wasn’t unbearable. Not to mention, there is a lot to be said for the simplicity of not being responsible for your own home repairs and maintenance!

If you follow me on Facebook, you may know that we are currently officially looking for our first home. It’s a very exciting time for us. We love the idea of settling down where we are and learning the ropes of homeownership. I look forward to decorating and painting my home exactly how I want it to be. Wes looks forward to learning more about the home repair (for now, anyway!). He’s done a lot of research in that area just in case something happens and it needs to be fixed right away! Like if we have a slab leak, it may seem isolated but it can travel through the house and damage the foundation, knowing who to contact in that area of expertise is very important. We can’t wait to make our home our own.

There is also a lot of peace knowing that we have saved and planned and prepared for this day. Sometimes, renting an apartment when you don’t need lots of space for a family can be the best thing to do. One of my friends recently started renting an apartment from thespacestation.co.uk, she seems to really like her apartment. More and more people seem to be renting recently, perhaps that’s because of the increase in housing prices. I am so grateful that we didn’t jump the gun and decide to purchase a home before we were ready. It’s made a world of difference for us.

And yes, Wes–you were right. (I may need to be reminded of that from time to time. Here is your permission.)

Note: Dave Ramsey has a calculator to compare the costs of buying vs. renting. This could be a great tool to help with any upcoming decisions about this.

How about you? Have you had to make a decision between buying and renting? What has helped you to decide?