What Would You Like Tips On?

If you want to find an inexpensive way to do something but can't figure out how, let me know. I'd love to help! I'll at least give it a try so just let me know. Anything from decor to shopping, I'll try to find a frugal way about it. Just click on the envelope under the "Contact Me" section to send me your question. Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon! :)

Do you use SmartSource coupons?

Check out CouponBabe's blog post about bringing a letter with you if your retailer refuses to take them.

http://couponbabe.blogspot.com/2008/10/samples-freebies-letters.html

I thought that was very interesting! I myself am slowly trying to use more coupons. But that is another post all in itself. I will say I have never printed coupons to use at the grocery store, but I know a lot of you do. I will be writing my view on coupons very soon, so stay tuned. (Hey, that last sentenced rhymed!)

The Next Generation of Dumpster Divers

Believe it or not, dumpster diving ain't (yes, I'm Southern :P) what it used to be. I don't know how I happened across a dumpster diving message board one day, but I decided to check out their "Finds" forum. Holy moly, was I surprised.

See, these people weren't DD at trash dumpsters you see on the roadside. They DD at store dumpsters. The stuff they find is unbelievable sometimes. I can't believe how wasteful our society is. The fact that America has so many in need, and to see perfectly good 'stuff' thrown out all for the sake of a buck, really saddens me.

However, I see the DD'ers as redeemers of sorts. LOL Rescuers in plain (and probably a little dirty from diving) clothing if you will. I'm not an expert on the subject...yet. Yes, I am planning to try out store DD very soon with a partner in crime that shall remain unidentified. I will definitely report our experience(s).

I'll leave you with a link to a site with lots of info and tips on getting started. Remember to check your local laws concerning DD. I will not be held responsible for your bail money. You dive at your own risk. ;o)

Mary, The Dumpster Lady

The Big Change

This year has been full of changes for us. The main change, which then rippled down and caused other changes, was my husband becoming associate pastor at our church. In taking this job, he will now make between $10-15,000 this year compared to last. Oy vey!

We had to make an adjustment somewhere. If we stayed at our current monthly bill status, we would would be in trouble very soon. We decided he needed to sell his truck. It was no longer a necessity since he wasn't doing construction anymore. That would free up $500 plus the insurance per month. We took the money from the truck sale and applied it to a loan at our bank which reduced the monthly payments.

So, we have been a one vehicle family since February. Our Jeep Liberty is paid off so we don't have a car payment to worry about. Having a single vehicle hasn't been nearly as bad as I would have thought before we actually did it. There have been times of inconvenience, but we've managed to work through them.

P.S. Our church's website is http://www.gracestatesboro.com/. If you want to laugh, click on Podcasts (located near the middle of the page), the click on GCC Videos on the right. The first two are humorous videos made for sermon intros and the 3rd is a video my husband put together after his mission trip to Romania this summer. It is very moving. (He actually did all the videos...I figured I better give him credit so he doesn't punish me. hehe)

The New Look

I hope it is appealing. It is not what I had in mind originally, but I am pleased with this for now. Check out the link on the very bottom of the page. This chick makes really awesome blogger templates which is where I got this one. :) I still have the sidebars to do, but will work on that as I get a chance. I'm still trying to get unpacked and organized from moving a few weeks ago along with other life demands. Moving can be a pain but I really feel at home in our new place and neighborhood. It just feels right if that makes sense. Stay tuned...

Update on the Revamp

I tried to my banner on my own, but I just couldn't get it the way I liked. So I'm getting someone who is very talented to do it. However, it will be a few weeks before they can get it done. Which really works out since we'll be moving in a week and I'll be busy getting settled. Plus, I want to have a yard sale before we move so we can lighten our load. Just wanted to give y'all a quick update!

Returning the Favor and Saying Thanks!

I just wanted to take the time to recognize and thank a few blog owners that have linked to me from their site in some fashion. Give them a visit!

http://angeljoy-hippychick.blogspot.com/ (This is my super cool hairdresser's blog)

http://scrapsofus.blogspot.com/

http://www.qponcutie.com/

http://sensetosave.blogspot.com/

Our $3 Tinkerbell Shoes

My little gal, Grace, needed some shoes for her Tinkerbell costume this year. Since we were saving money by letting them wear their same costumes 2 years in a row, I naturally didn't want to spend a lot of $$$ on a pair of shoes she would wear no more than two times.

I came across some cute bedroom shoes at the Dollar Tree a couple of weeks ago. They had a pair that was the perfect shade of green for her costume. They had little faces on them which I knew I could do something about.

This is what I started out with:

As you can see, I cut off the hair. I then painted the faces yellow with some paint I had on hand. I did 2 coats.

I also found these rings at the Dollar Tree in which I removed the jeweled hearts and DH superglued them on the shoes.



The end result? Cute little Tinkerbell shoes!

Our Cheap Date Night

A few weeks ago, the kids went to my mom's house on a Friday afternoon. I decided that the mister and me would have dinner and a movie frugal style.

First, I had to take care of dinner. At the grocery store, I came across a rack of bread and pastries on clearance. They had hoagie sammich loafs for $.80. Therefore, I decided we would have subs and chips for dinner. The pack of lunch meat was $2.13 I believe and the chips were $3.00. Now, I know I could have gotten chips a lot cheaper but since it was a date night, I splurged on some Sun Chips. Yummy! The movie rental was about $3.00.

I'd say the total tally for our date night was around $15. This includes our movies, chips, and all the sandwich fixings (some of which I already had on hand). And the best part? I didn't have to wear my bra! I even went all out on the presentation just to make it a little more special as you can see below.