Frugal moms... - Page 2

[MamaMonica]

goodcents- TG is a great book. I keep checking it out from the library. Give it a look at the library before you buy in case it's things you already know or don't think it would work for you. Some of it I'd never do, or can't- other things are great ideas.

There's a bigger edition that contains both the TG books- that one would be the best bargain if you're buying.

[Throkmorton]

So, how was garage saling today everybody? What did you get?
I got:
Corningware salt and pepper shakers to go with my collection - 50 cents
a matress for ds's new bed, and a dresser - $10, delivered
Tons of size 4-6x clothes - 25 cents each (total, $2.50)
Electric kettle - $1
Seed sprouter - 25 cents.
Iron, new in the box - 50 cents

[root*children]

I got
*books for selling on ebay
*lots of 10c books for us
*kids Burton snowboarding boots for $7
*dinosaur floor puzzle for DS's b-day $3 (a bit more than I wanted to pay, but I know he will LOVE the puzzle)
*very stylish rainbow plaid kitchen towels 5/$1
*free wooden traveling carrier for small animals
*very large tupperwares 25c each

yay! Throkmorton - you got some RAD scores! mattress and dresser for 10 bucks.... delivered!!! NICE!

[mom2threenurslings]

Yesterday I got:
* a big turkey roasting pan w/ cover for 50 cents
* 14 children's books (including several big, hardbound books such as James Herriot's Tales for Children...most for homeschooling) for $2
* a toaster for $3

And I freecycled a trunk-full of clothes which will clothe both of my boys this summer ... and for about 2-3 years to come! (Lots of Old Navy, LL Bean, Children's Place, OP, FUBU, Gap) FREE

My friend, who is visiting from Nebraska (and tag sale virgin) was amazed at what you can get at tag sales and consignment shops. She was planning on paying $15 each for my son and daughter's upcoming birthdays. So far she got my daughter an outfit and shirt and still has $7.50 left in her budget for her ... and she bought my son an educational CD-rom game and a big castle playset and has $8 left to spend on him. She's amazed!

[Kim2002]

Anyone ever coordinate a neighborhood sale?

We live in a quiet neighborhood of primarily retirees. It's near a main road, but we don't get any traffic at all down at our end. So whenever one of us has a sale, we really don't do well at all.

I was thinking of coordinating a neighborhood-wide garage sale - we would all hold it the same weekend and I would run an advertisement in the local newspaper, make large signs, etc.

Has anyone here ever been a coordinator for one of these things? Any tips or suggestions?

Thanks!

[root*children]

I think if those are advertised well, they can do really well. Our area is full of community sales b/c so much is rural out here. My neighborhood has a yearly yard sale at the bottom of the mountain where there are tennis courts & an old ski chalet (b/c there's a parking lot). Tons of people come to it, much more than would venture up our mountain to find a single one, although some people are into having their own sale. It is the Property Owners Assoc. who makes signs, puts ad in paper, etc. They go around with a bucket to all the sellers and ask for a little donation to reimburse their efforts. They do LOTS of advertising, too. They make nice 8x10 laminated sheets and post them all over town (library, cafe windows, gas station, anywhere they are allowed) about a week in advance. Maybe you could find some other neighbors who could volunteer to help advertise.
good luck!

[guerrillamama]

oh, frugal moms, please help me!!! i am a complete failure as a frugal mom. i am starting to really worry about myself, i just can't hold on to my $$, i don't know what my problem is. even when i am good about tracking it, i still have no willpower. it's hard living in NYC where temptation lurks on every corner. maybe it's easier in rural areas? or maybe the internet kills that theory. anyway, i need help!

i guess i will look for the TWG. one problem for me is i can't buy bulk b/c i live in the city and don't have a car. are all you frugal moms SAHMs?

oh, about yard sales and such ... when i lived in seattle and had a car, my favorite springtime activity was dumpster diving on college campuses during move-out week. those college kids throw out EVERYTHING. big fun. too late now for most schools but if your local college hasn't ended its term yet, definitely go get yourself a sofa!

[Boadicea]

Just wanted to mention that, if after checking out the TWG you want to buy it, you can often find cheap copies on half.com -- I buy A LOT of books there! For you college students, they even have great deals on textbooks, especially around the end and beginning of semeseters.

I am trying, trying, trying to be more frugal. But I'm also trying to steer our family towards a more natural, organic lifestyle, and sometimes those two thigns seem to be opposing forces. Can't wait until this "alternative" lifestyle becomes mainstream so it isn't so darned expensive! <lol>

As for yardsales, I found some good clothes for DD and DS yesterday, and a few more to resell on ebay. In fact, the ones I resell should probably cover the cost of the ones I bought for our use. (Gotta love ebay!)

Here's a question for all of your frugal mamas: How do you yardsale with children? My two year old hates, hates, hates getting in and out, in and out, in and out of the car. And my infant isn't too thrilled with it either. And then I spend half my time trying to keep little fingers away from breakable stuff. (I got to go without DS yesterday because DH was home, but that's unusual.)

Anyway, happy saling to you all!

[root*children]

My kids love yardsaling... well, my youngest is only 10 mon. so I guess he doesn't have an opinion yet . But he doesn't mind it. I definately can't go power-yard-saling with the kids b/c of the time to get in & out of car = time to change dipes, BF, etc. My older son loves YSing, but I don't really love him to go with me b/c he always just wants to buy junky toys. He started having to bring his own coin pouch to pay for his stuff. Also, if he's with me I can't buy him presents (or buy surprises for DH - he always gives it away!). But since DH is gone all week, he doesn't mind hanging out with DS1 while I yardsale Sat. mornings.
Another thought about that is: 2 yrs. ago, when we lived closer to town, 3 other moms & I started a child-care coop on Sat. mornings. I was the only one using it to go yardsaling, but it worked out well for everyone. I only had to sacrifice 1 sat. morning a month to stay at home.

guerrillamama~ You should definatly check out the Complete TWG. the author lives rural, but she used to live in NYC (i think that was the city) and has great tips on how to maximize storage space, and live frugally in a city

For used books, check out http://www.addall.com
It has a database of every single used book website you can imagine. It just searches all of them and finds the best rates!

I am a WAHM. I do ebay and shipping for Suzanne Arms' local non-profit. Guerrillamama~ I'm sort of in the opposite situation as you, b/c I live extremely rural. But a friend who lives up the mountain from me has had major car problems, and for several months, she would just ride into town with us, and she could buy all her bulk groceries, go yardsaling, to the thrift, etc. Do you know anyone who is also into bulk buying and has a car that could help you out?

[Throkmorton]

I am not really rural, I am in a realively small city. I take DS garage saleing by popping him into the stroller and going. This is a good option if where youi live is flat and you don't mind the walk. Of course, i don't have a car either. Sometimes, DH will keep an eye on DS so that I can go with my grandma, who does drive.

Guerillamama- Friends of mine who do not drive often rant a car once a month, or take a cab. I shop with a wagon to drag DS around it, and that is about as bulk as I get. Of course, it is a pretty good sized wagon, so I can drag home 50 lbs of flour, a couple cases of juice or cans, and some other stuff in one trip. Is there an orgaic co-op or anything that you can find? Do you have a friend who also wants to save money who would split stuff like the cab fare/car rental, huge bags of flour and stuff? Also, I buy a lot of my stuff out of the bulk bins at the nearty grocery store, and it is generally 50% of the pre-packaged price. Plus, i don't have to buy tons.

As for a community yard sale, our neighborhood had one every year on the same weekend, and one person was in charge of putting the ad in the paper. Anyone participating gave her a dollar for the advertising costs. How to organize it? Just talk to your neighbors and say "I was thinking of having a garage sale on x weekend, but if several of us do it together, we will get more people. Interested?"

Steph

[mom2threenurslings]

Originally Posted by springmama

Here's a question for all of your frugal mamas: How do you yardsale with children? My two year old hates, hates, hates getting in and out, in and out, in and out of the car. And my infant isn't too thrilled with it either. And then I spend half my time trying to keep little fingers away from breakable stuff.

We try to go to community yard sales... or I map out a yard sale route so we can hit the maximum number of yard sales with the least amount of stops.

As for grabby hands ... we have a 'one finger touch' rule. It's insane to ask children not to touch anything, so we allow them to gently touch things with one finger. If they don't follow that rule, they get to hold a hand (the horror!). Our 23 month old is still content (most of the time) to ride in the sling, so that keeps her out of reach of many things. We also allow our kids to stay in the "toy area" or "book area" of tag sales and play with toys or read books while we shop.

I usually take my kids along BECAUSE they often get free items, or people reduce the price for them. We give our kids their own money to spend at the sales, so often if they don't have enough to buy something, people take pity on them!

The BEST yard saleing I've ever done was when 9 months pregnant with a toddler (or two) in tow. People gave me baby clothes and supplies for free, gave the kid(s) toys for free, and would offer to carry things to the car for me or get me a glass of water! One woman insisted that I sit in the shade with the kids and she brought out a snack for me and the kids. She excitedly talked to me about her daughter, who was expecting her 4th child ... a girl ... the first granddaughter out of 13 grandchildren! I went back to visit her after my baby was born.

[raleigh_mom]

I don't think I've heard thrift stores mentioned yet. I got DD2's high chair at Goodwill for $15. Today DD1 and I got her two dresses, each $2.25, and a double stroller for..... $15!!!! It is in excellent condition and I am so pleased. I can't believe how many people I know who won't shop there because "That stuff should be saved for the people who need it." Sorry - but that's how I manage to stay home with my kids, and I love it! They can keep all their mall purchases - I love my Goodwill!

I am also a serious grocery shopper,. Using sales and coupons I can usually keep it to around $40-50 per week and keep my pantry and upright freezer full.

[root*children]

Originally Posted by raleigh_mom

I don't think I've heard thrift stores mentioned yet. I can't believe how many people I know who won't shop there because "That stuff should be saved for the people who need it."

I've never heard that excuse used, and most of my friends shop the thrift stores here. I think I read that excuse in the TWG or something. It seems weird though b/c the reason for thrift stores is not to "hook up" the poor folk, but to raise money for charities, right? The reason thrift stores probably haven't been mentioned is that things are generally cheaper at yard sales! Personally, I don't like the Goodwill b/c their prices are so high. I'm trying to convert my thrift-store-shoppin friends to yardsalin by showing off all my scores . Granted, when it isn't yard-sale season, I do frequent the thrift stores, just for stuff to sell on ebay mostly. I just had an auction end today for 3 diaper covers I found at the thrift for 25c each, and sold for 41bucks!! yay!

[FreeRangeMama]

I love the thrift stores. My favorite one has $5 a bag sales. I love it!! I get tons of wool mens sweaters for bum sweaters, great kids clothes, stuff to use for fabric, and occasionally something for dh and I. I find some great deals!

[Indigo73]

I love shopping yard sales & thift stores but also consignment stores (how I built my business wardrobe when I used to wear a suit to work) and flea markets. Not to mention my local discounted food store.

[root*children]

I wish we had one of those food stores that sells the damaged packages of food (I can't remember what those are called). I drive 1.5 hours down to New Mexico to go to their Sam's Club and Big Lots to buy food. FYI - for anyone here doesn't do Big Lots - I used to think it was some kind of cheapo dollar store thing, and really alot of it is. I mean, I would never buy clothes, toys, etc. there. But they do have great deals on food. You've got to bring your price book and make sure you're getting a good deal. But there's usually a small selection of organic/natural foods that are closeouts. We buy organic cookies, Recharge, cereal, etc from there. We also buy some food at the local co-op, and buy bulk when there's a great sale at the local chain groceries. We also order from a mail-order coop out of Tuscon.

[Ms.Doula]

dready- you must be referring to the Grocery Outlet! We love it. (we still call it the canned food store though!) LOL : They have great closeouts there! I get non-foods too! I get a HUGE thing of SUN laundry detergent for like 3.99!!! (no phosphates in that one either!)
We get all th kids wood toys at Big Lotts as well as gifts for birthday parties, Christmas, ect. And I even have bought things at the dollar store. Its awesome to put together a gift basket of sorts. And a card thats a buck too! Sometimes I'll buy something I can partially make at home- saves us even more! Boy- give me 5-10 bucks, and I can work magic! :

[Throkmorton]

We don't have one of those stores, but I finally figured out where the health food store is in town! Yay! And yes, on their bulk stuff they do beat the supermarket. I mean, who can beat organic corn meal for 20cents/100grams?
The thrift stores around here rock. The church down the road had all the kids items for 25 cents each last week. Oh, i find that the thrift shops lurking in the church basement are a muchg better price than, say, a Salvation Army Thrift Store.

[Indigo73]

I visited Big Lots while visiting my folks - very cool. The closest one to me is over an hour away - the drive would be worth it if there was something else to bring me out that far, but at this point not worth the extra gas. We have a BJ's locally, I like it for bulk stuff and gas.

[mariag]

Just read through....We are trying to keep costs low so I can stay home with ds...It seems for us the grocery bill is always high despite our best efforts....any tips on keeping grocery costs down? We bake our own bread, buy bulk at Sams on the things we can....somehow though it still creeps up....

maria