Frugal Hits & Misses: May Report

This has been anything but a frugal month. In fact, with all the money expended for help, dumpsters, renovations and such, I should be breaking into hysterical laughter, just mentioning it. But the truth is:

*We live in an older house.
*It's needed renovation we couldn't afford to do.
*It will sell at a much higher price if we make those changes before we put it on the market.

And finally:
*Just by moving, we can afford the money for renovating.
          Go figure.

There is the possibility of another trailer to live in -- but it will also need some work. We'll be talking to its current owners soon. Until then, our wonderful neighbors have agreed to let us use their trailer while renovation on the house continues. 

God willing, the house should be on the market in mid-June. (Let us know if you're interested.)

Thrifty Mom in Boise resolved to use up what she already had, instead of going out and buying more. I agree with her philosophy on money, as well:  "I have always maintained it isn't just about how much money you make.  It is all about what you do with it.  The choices and decisions we make with that money are truly what matters."
    Amen, sister.

Even if it means spending more now, in order to save later.

Try getting your house ready to sell...that'll do it, too.

FRUGAL HITS

*More clothes have gone out for donation.  (More than a dozen large bags!) I am finding I don't need that many outfits, as long as I have a few good ones that wash easily. Ditto for shoes, too -- I wear the same pairs over and over.

*Said goodbye to the popup truck camper. It did yeoman service for years, while the girlies were little. Now it will make another family happy.

*Got final payment for the totalled trailer. That cash has helped pay the working crews. Sold the hot tub on the back deck -- that will help, too.

*Fruit deals:  Two pounds of strawberries: $1.88. (They spoiled within two days -- even the 'perfect' ones tasted spoiled. Returned them for a replacement.) A marked-down melon for a buck. Four last apples in the crisper, plus some dollar store blueberries and a leftover box of piecrust mix, made for a tasty tart.

*Half-price doughnuts -- for the guys working at the house. (They've been wonderful.) Also: five pieces, for a four-piece price!
       I've also bought a submarine sandwich and Little Caesar's Pizza sometimes for our working-men. We've been very lucky to have Drew (crew #1 supervisor) and his guys: brother Joe, Dave, Cody, Nick and Richard; and friend Tommy (crew #2 supervisor), Steve and Sam. (The painting/floor crew start in early June.)
    Moral of the story: Lunch, as well as coffee, soft drinks and sweet stuff (doughnuts, cookies, candy bars, whatever) go a long way in helping people keep on.

*Two for $10 flower baskets -- plus six-packs of flowers on sale. For the front and back decks. (Our realtor gifted another hanging basket, as well.)




*Multi-day moving sale. We didn't sell a ton of stuff -- the weather was too cold and rainy. But we did sell enough to offset some of the money going out.

*Gave several graduation presents I'd stashed away in the past. Cleaned out the present box -- but reserved some items for later use.

*Returned a bad ham ("Bad Ham, Bad!") and got our money back. Redeemed a King Soopers freebie. (They didn't offer many in May, for some odd reason.) Also got credit for a bag of potatoes (frozen), a jar of spaghetti sauce we were charged for. (It was supposed to be a freebie).

*Made the loan payment early -- saving on interest. All other bills were paid on time, in spite of all the whoo-ha and chaos around here.



*Cash found while cleaning up: Dimes, quarters, and a few pennies. (Nickels too, of course.)  Plus $39 in dollar bills, tightly rolled and stored in an old eyeglass case. Found while running coins through the machine at the credit union: a few foreign coins and -- true to form -- a nickel.

*$20 in Red Robin bonus bucks, for buying giftcards. (You can, too!) Outback giftcards contributed another $10 in bonus bucks.

*Cashed out a $25 Swagbucks gift card for Amazon -- I'll get a second one in early June, to help pay for needed tools and repair items. (The Brick used $50 of his SB-earned giftcards, as well.) Swagbucks is still a great place to earn gift cards easily! Go here to learn more.

*Did one appraisal -- and an addendum to an existing appraisal. Life was quiet, workwise, this month. (I'll pay for it in early June, when I have 2 lectures -- one for History Colorado in Denver, another for the historical society in Virginia Dale, near Fort Collins; and a multi-day gig in Granby.)

*Packed a suitcase on purpose with the embellishments, books and samples I'll need for the upcoming gigs in June -- so I'd have everything at hand, without killing myself looking for everything.

*Used Amazon Prime a lot -- it was a comfort to watch movies while resting sore legs and aching backs in the evening. Also caught up on the latest episodes in The Walking Dead.

*Cans of Danish butter on Amazon-- good for ten years-plus. This warehouse deal will join some other foodstocks, In Case the World Ends Soon.

*Didn't shop in stores -- except when I had to. (Home Depot, Walmart and Lowes were the major exceptions.) If at all possible, bought the items needed -- storage bins, tape, etc. -- on sale.

*Found all sorts of goodies stashed away while clearing the house. Including a number of wonderful trims and embellishments that will go for the Granby quilt guild. (Lucky for you, dears!)

*No piano lessons. Some restoration work. I'll finish up the latter as soon as we move out of the house. My piano students, meanwhile, will go on summer hiatus -- common this time of year.

*Earned money from some surveys. (The Brick did one, too.)

*Restaurant savings: Free burger at Red Robin.  Free Pick-Two coupon at Panera. Free order of Crazy bread at Little Caesar's.

*Bought a BUNCH of photos for the new book. (Yes, Ghosts & Legends of Colorado's Front Range is going to have a sequel.) Hard to spend the $$ for photos now, but it will save us so much in the long run. (Also found a picture of Charley Dickens and his daughters for my personal collection. Love that man.)

He was a little beat up, so I even got a discount -- after I'd saved via Best Offer, that is.

*Saved on those photos...by buying them on sale or submitting 'best offers' on Ebay. (Never pay full price if your Ebay item has a 'best offer' available! Didn't always get it the first time around -- but I did the second.)

*Took a friend and her mom out to lunch -- and gained some new stories and insight for the new book. It's priceless to hear these events recounted by people who actually lived through them.

*Made do with what we had -- even though we couldn't find a lot of things. (Our guys were far too efficient, packing.) Ate out of the freezer and a LOT of cans. Boring, but necessary. More difficult, though, once the guys packed the can opener -- and we couldn't find it.

*Donated to groups who could use it, including Habitat for Humanity, the Rocky Mountain Quilt Museum, Vietnam Vets... and my beloved local thrift shop, sponsored by the Douglas County Task Force.

*Four new cushion sets for the patio furniture: $14.99 each at Walmart.com. Plus a new umbrella cover we'd purchased some time ago via Amazon.

*Carbon monoxide/smoke detector alarms required for the house -- found the six needed on Amazon for $15.99 each (reg. $23.99).

*An absolute steal on birthday presents for Daughters #1 and #2 from Amazon -- but I can't tell you now, because they read this blog. (I wrapped them early and gave them out -- that way, I didn't have to pack them.) Also from Amazon: family packs of strawberry Pop-Tarts -- 32 P-Ts for $3.99! I love these guys, but rarely buy them because they're so expensive.

*More videos  from the library's used book room -- including birthday and Father's Day presents, plus all 11 seasons of M*A*S*H.  ($2 each!) Returned a video that didn't work.

*Boxes of books, to friends with similar interests. At least some of my 'babies' could help people we care about.

*Continuing cleanup:  Made roughly a gallon of wild plum jam -- that's how good our harvest was last year. (The fruit's been hanging out in the trailer freezer, so had to be processed.) Some of the best jam I've ever made...

*Used up some office supplies collected over the years. We're low on shipping envelopes, but I won't replenish those until we move.

*Schlepped Daughter #2 and Son #1 to the airport - then picked them up. Saved on parking fees. We kept our granddog Karma during that period, as well -- which Charley and Ruby both loved.

*No hospital or doctor expenses. For us -- or the dogs.  I am more grateful for this than I can express.


FRUGAL MISSES

*Emptied the dumpster. Four times. Granted, the fourth time had items contributed by our neighbors -- but that amount of junk collected over three-plus decades is still...must I say it... Pathetic.

*Threw out the freezer -- at least half-full of way-too-old food. Also threw out a bunch of years-too-old cans and boxed food. (Drew insisted. He was right. Also Pathetic.) I will not be doing this much packratting in the future, for the simple reason that we won't have the space.

*Cleared out a bunch of freezer-burned items.  (Sometimes the dogs could eat it. Sometimes not.)

*Lots of $$ spent getting the house ready for sale. You don't want to know. At least the bathrooms upstairs were already done...and look beautiful, thanks to Son #1.



Go here for April's report -- and last year's.

We are close to dead tired and 'plum tuckered out,' as the Brick says. But the end is increasingly near. Just a few more weeks, and our lives will change once again.