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Money Saving Mom

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Shared Nov 8, 2012 comment

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 4

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4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 4

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified} series!

From November 5 to December 7 (skipping the week of Thanksgiving), every weekday morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’ll be posting the day’s assignment and then every evening at 7 p.m. EST, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too.

Day 4 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.

::Set the timer for 15 minutes and do a quick-clean of your most-used bathroom (if you have more than one bathroom!). Need specific directions? Read this article on How to Clean Your Bathroom in 15 Minutes.

::Set the timer for 10 minutes and quickly clean out underneath your beds and furniture. Remove clutter and trash and put it away or throw it away. If you have more time, move the furniture (if possible) and vacuum underneath.

Take pictures of your accomplishments and blog about them, if you’d like. And then come back here at 7 p.m. EST to share your progress posts or tell us about your accomplishments in a comment.

Are you joining me today?

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 7, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: Selling on Consignment (Day 29)

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31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas: Selling on Consignment (Day 29)

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas

Welcome to our series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas. In this series, I’m highlighting simple and legitimate ways you can earn extra cash over the next few weeks for those of you who could use a little extra cash to help you pay for Christmas — or just for your living expenses if you’re in a tight spot right now.

If you’ve found a great way to make extra cash before Christmas that doesn’t require an outlay of cash upfront, please email me your tip. I’d love to hear it and possibly share it during this series!

Guest post by Carrie Hurst at My Favorite Finds

For about four years, I have been cleaning out my closet every season with the goal of taking items to our local consignment shop. At first, I thought it was cool that I could go in there with a lot of stuff I didn’t want, maybe make a little bit of money and they would donate for me what wouldn’t sell. It was a win-win situation.

Within the last two years or so, I’ve become more serious and focused on what I take to our local consignment shop or our local kid’s consignment sale and what I donate so that I can get the best value for my time and money. Here are some ideas if you are considering consignment:

Always be sorting your clothes.

I sort our clothes (kids and adults) in three ways: a) To sell b) to donate and c) to throw out. I don’t wait until the end or beginning of a season to sort clothes into the above three categories; I do this on an ongoing basis.

I am also fairly realistic with my clothes. If I haven’t worn it at all that season or if it doesn’t fit right, I don’t keep it.

Be organized about it.

I keep a bin in my daughter’s room for things which will go to the yearly consignment sale. Anytime the kids outgrow something, or it is out of season, it goes in the bin if it’s able to be sold.

I keep a garbage bag or a big shopping bag in the laundry room for the clothes I donate to our local thrift shop. Finally, I also keep a storage bin in the laundry room for the adult clothes that I take to the consignment store.

Be loyal to one or two stores.

When I walk into Worth Repeating, the local adult consignment shop I sell my extra clothes to, the lovely ladies there know me by name. They also know that I want to know what my store credit is, and they know that I’ll probably saunter through the kids’ section and probably find something. I love that.

I am also signed up for their email list and their Facebook page. That way, I know for sure when they are taking items. Since I typically have a few things sorted and ready to go, I can easily take them with me and drop them off at Worth Repeating when I’m out driving.

Buy new with resale in mind.

If I’m going to make an investment in my clothes, I’m going to get my money’s worth. That also means that when I buy something, I consider the brand and quality of the item because chances are, it’ll end up at the consignment shop in a few seasons.

This is especially true of my kids’ clothes. I have learned that the brands such as Carter’s, Gymboree, GAP, Children’s Place, etc., not only yield more at the consignment shop, they also sell faster. That doesn’t mean I pay full price at these stores — I shopped at the Children’s Place last summer and bought a few things for my daughter during their Monster Sale for $0.99. I am sure that I can easily sell those items and gain $3 at least at Worth Repeating.

Also, I don’t take the tags off of something until I know for sure my children or I am going to wear it. Clothes with tags attached yield more because they are “brand new”.

Inspect your items before taking them in.

I consider if I would buy the item or not. I make sure the zippers work, the buttons are buttoned and that most of the clothes are on hangers. Not only is the consignment shop trying to make a profit, but so am I. The better condition the clothes are in, the higher they’ll price the item, making it more profit for me.

Be realistic about your profit.

I don’t consign my items to make additional income. If I get a month’s worth of weekly Starbucks visits out of the deal, I’m happy.

I don’t like having or going to garage sales — so I have the ladies at Worth Repeating do the job for me! Thankfully, they’re honest and will tell me what will sell and what won’t and I have learned to be okay with that.

I will call them about every two weeks and ask what my store credit is. Sometimes it’s $12, sometimes it’s $30. It just varies.

Take your seasonal items in as soon as you know they are accepting them.

When I get an email or see on Facebook that Worth Repeating is accepting items for the upcoming season, I’ll be ready within a few days to drop the bulk of my items off. I consider the fact that my items could spend a few days to possibly a week — depending how much they have to sort through and price — in the back room before it reaches the floor.

I want to get it there ASAP so that they can get it out and hopefully it can sell soon. They are on a 90-day consignment. So, after 30/60/90 days, the price is reduced.

If I take a lot of summer items in mid July — even though they’re still accepting them — more than likely I’ll get them back because they didn’t sell. Ninety days from mid-July is mid-October. By then, my items could be supremely discounted and people aren’t shopping for summer clothes anymore.

What will happen to your items that don’t sell?

At Worth Repeating, they’ll either donate them to a worthy local cause, or they’ll give them back to you. I decide based on the group of items I have dropped off if I want them donated or returned.

Most of the time, I have the kids’ clothes returned so I can possibly sell them at the local consignment sale. I usually have the adult clothes donated.

I figure that if I didn’t want to wear it so much that I was hoping to consign it, or if it didn’t fit, I don’t want it back. But since I have a possibility of selling the kids’ clothes at the consignment sale or at the consignment store the next season, I go ahead and take them back to hopefully sell later.

Store your items neatly at the end of the season.

As I weed out what my children will be able to wear next fall/winter, I store the out-of-season clothes in plastic bins with lids. I wash, dry and neatly fold their clothes that are going to the consignment shop next fall and put them in a stack in the basement.

I won’t remember what’s in those containers two weeks from now, let alone next fall. So, I make sure they are folded and ready to go when the season rolls around to take them to the shop.

My name is Carrie. I am a pastor’s wife, mom to twin boys and an 18-month-old daughter. I also work full-time outside of our home. I love to find ways to save money, be a better parent and a better Christian example to others. I’ve been a MSM reader/follower for over a year, and I’ve learned so much. If you have a chance, I’d love for you to visit my blog, My Favorite Finds.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 7, 2012 comment

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 3 Update

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4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 3 Update

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Missed this morning’s assignment? Find it here.

Today’s To Do List — almost all accomplished… and I’m looking forward to the reward of enjoying a movie with Jesse tonight after the kids are in bed! 🙂

We took a quick overnight trip last night, so I had some backpacks and other paraphernalia strewn around our room when I went to clean it today.

And though you can’t see it from this photo, the carpet also was in great need of vacuuming.

All picked up and vacuumed. Much better!

The freezer wasn’t too bad. After discovering the camera lens cap in the freezer during the last 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home series, I’ve tried to be more vigilant about keeping it organized. 🙂

But I found a few things that needed to be tossed and I wiped the crumbs out of the shelves, too.

How you do on Day 3? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.

Shared Nov 7, 2012 comment

Staying Home With Your Kids When You Can Barely Afford It

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Staying Home With Your Kids When You Can Barely Afford It

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I had the privilege of meeting Erin from The Humbled Homemaker recently. She’s such a beautiful woman — both inside and out. Contentment and joy just radiates from her and you’d never know that she and her husband are living on a beans and rice budget.

That’s why I was so blessed to read this post from her on how they are surviving on a small income. If you are currently hoping to find a way to be a stay-at-home mom on a very small budget, I think you’ll be blessed immensely by her post. Here’s a snippet:

People often ask how I can be a stay-at-home mom when we can barely afford it.

“Rice and beans,” I tell them. “Rice and beans.”

But in all seriousness, to use the old cliche, when there is a will, there is {often} a way.

I won’t pretend it’s easy. My husband is a high school teacher (and a pretty amazing one, I might add!). He makes a true difference in the lives of his students. But the pay is slim. He gets paid the end of every month, and some months, our pantry and fridge are mostly bare those last few days.

Staying at home on a moderately low income means that when our third child was born, we decided we’d continue to live in the 2-bedroom townhouse we rent instead of paying several hundred more dollars a month for a 3-bedroom. That’s just beyond our means–and we strive to live at or below our means.

Read the full post.


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Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 7, 2012 comment

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 3

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4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 3

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to the 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified} series!

From November 5 to December 7 (skipping the week of Thanksgiving), every weekday morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’ll be posting the day’s assignment and then every evening at 7 p.m. EST, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too.

Day 3 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life! Get your free copy of SarahMae’s ebook, Frumps to Pumps, if you need more motivation in this.}

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.

::Set the timer for 10 minutes and do a quick-clean of your bedroom: Do a quick clean-up, make your bed, and vacuum, if you have time.

::Set your timer for 10 minutes and do a quick clean-out of your freezer. If you have a deep freeze, don’t worry about cleaning it out unless you have extra time today. Have a lot of time and want some step-by-step help? Read this guide on How to Clean Out Your Freezer.

Take pictures of your accomplishments and blog about them, if you’d like. And then come back here at 6 p.m. EST to share your progress posts or tell us about your accomplishments in a comment.

Are you joining me today?

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 6, 2012 comment

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 2 Update

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4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 2 Update

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

If you missed this morning’s assignment, you can read it here.

Y’all, it was a monumental day. I didn’t wear my PJ pants all day, unlike yesterday. So Kathrynne took this blurry photo to record this momentous occasion. 😉

Today’s short list of goals… I got all but one of them done and the day’s not over with yet. Woot! 🙂

I was so glad we were working in the kitchen today, because this was what I was greeted by when I walked into the kitchen this morning… apparently, a little 3-year-old who lives at my house had decided he wanted to attempt to make popcorn for breakfast! 🙂

Kitchen after clean-up

Kitchen after clean-up… now if we just don’t eat anything, it can stay like that. 😉

Fridge before being cleaned out.

And the fridge post clean-out. Not any huge changes, but I promise that it’s cleaner and more organized now, even if it doesn’t look much different. 🙂

How you do on Day 2? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 6, 2012 comment

Saying “Yes” to Messes

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Saying “Yes” to Messes

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I’m over at MomLife talking about saying yes to messes. Here’s a snippet of my post:

It was late Thursday afternoon. It had been a long day and I was very ready for my husband to walk in the door so I could have some back-up help with our three busy children.

Silas, my three-year-old, walked up to me with a bottle of nail polish and excitedly asked if he could paint my nails. He’s seen his girly-girl sister paint my nails before and I guess he thought it looked like something he would enjoy doing for me, as well.

I appreciated his sweet sentiment, but I could only picture nail polish splattered all over the floor, all over his clothes, and all over me. After a long day, the thought of scrubbing all that mess up was very unappealing.

Read the whole post.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 6, 2012 comment

A Thrifty Thanksgiving: Our Thankful Tree

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A Thrifty Thanksgiving: Our Thankful Tree

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Rebekah from SimplyRebekah shows you how to make a Thankful Tree. What a great idea to help everyone in your family focus on all the wonderful blessings we’ve been given!

Do you have a fun and frugal Thanksgiving DIY idea to share? I’d love to hear about it! Read the submission guidelines and submit it here.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 6, 2012 comment

From a reader: Please lend your support and prayers to those affected by Superstorm Sandy

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From a reader: Please lend your support and prayers to those affected by Superstorm Sandy

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

I received this email in my inbox yesterday and I asked Michele if I could post it as I felt it was important for my readers to be aware of the needs left in the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy:

I am a faithful reader of yours from northern New Jersey. Today marks our seventh day without power or heat as our area struggles to recover from the damage caused by Hurricane Sandy. We finally recovered cell service yesterday and so today I am catching up on your blog posts. It is comforting to do something “normal” during these very abnormal times.

I wanted to write with a compliment and a request. First, I had to tell you that your frugal teachings have helped my family immensely this past week. Because of couponing, freezer cooking, etc, we have had plenty to eat. This was crucial as the supermarkets are also without power.

Using our outdoor grill, we have been able to cook or reheat from our freezer and pantry stockpile, and not had to waste precious gasoline or money on faraway restaurants for our meals. We’ve eaten nutritiously and heartily thanks in part to what I have learned from you. I can only guess how much money and stress we have saved because of you.

Secondly, I would like to ask you to use your widespread readership to bring awareness to the devastation suffered in New Jersey and New York. I count myself among the fortunate, because although we have no power, heat, or hot water, our home was not damaged and we have warm clothing to protect us from the cold.

Many have not been so lucky and are displaced to shelters throughout the region. Unfortunately, they will be displaced for many months as they repair or rebuild their homes and lives.

Could you ask your readers to lend their support and prayers? The Red Cross, United Way and many other organizations have been working tirelessly to help our communities.

Any donations of money, supplies, and time will be so appreciated by everyone here. Crystal, on behalf of your NJ and NY followers–we are thankful for you!

Sincerely, Michele (Hopatcong, NJ)

Note from Crystal: If you want to donate, be sure to check out this post with how you can donate to the American Red Cross through Swagbucks. For other ways to donate, check out this post on my Facebook Page.

OVER-SPENDING EVERY SINGLE MONTH?Grab these FREE Budgeting Sheets!

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Shared Nov 6, 2012 comment

A Handmade Christmas: Tic-Tac-Toe Game in a Bag

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A Handmade Christmas: Tic-Tac-Toe Game in a Bag

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iCanTeachMyChild.com shows you how to make a handmade Tic-Tac-Toe game in a bag.

Have you blogged about an idea that would work for our handmade Christmas series? If so, please email a link to that post to [email protected].

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 6, 2012 comment

4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 2

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4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 2

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

Welcome to 4 Weeks to a More Organized Home {Simplified}!

From November 5 to December 7 (skipping the week of Thanksgiving), every weekday morning at 9 a.m. EST, I’ll be posting the day’s assignment and then every evening at 6 p.m. EST, I’ll be posting my progress and pictures, along with a link-up for you to share your progress and pictures, too.

Day 2 Assignment

::Get dressed in something that makes you feel great {there’s something about dressing in clothes that make you feel great that just gives you more energy and zest for life!}

::Sit down with a cup of coffee or tea, refer to your list of weekly goals, and make a list of no more than 5-7 specific things you want to accomplish today.

::Set the timer for 10 minutes and do a quick-clean of your kitchen: wash the dishes/load the dishwasher, clear off the counter tops, and, if you have time, wipe down the counter tops and the outside of the cupboards with wet rag or cleaning cloth.

::Set the timer for 10 minutes and do a quick clean of your refrigerator. Remove all the contents that are past their prime, wipe down the sticky spots, and re-organize things so they are easier to get to. If you have more time, there’s a step-by-step guide for cleaning out your refrigerator here.

Take pictures of your accomplishments and blog about them, if you’d like. And then come back here at 6 p.m. EST to share your progress posts or tell us about your accomplishments in a comment.

Are you joining me today?

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 5, 2012 comment

31 Ways to Earn Extra Income Before Christmas: Donate Plasma (Day 28)

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31 Ways to Earn Extra Income Before Christmas: Donate Plasma (Day 28)

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas

Welcome to our series on 31 Ways to Earn Extra Cash Before Christmas. In this series, I’m highlighting simple and legitimate ways you can earn extra cash in the next two months for those of you who could use a little extra cash to help you pay for Christmas — or just for your living expenses if you’re in a tight spot right now.

If you’ve found a great way to make extra cash before Christmas that doesn’t require an outlay of cash upfront, please email me your tip. I’d love to hear it and possibly share it during this series!

Guest post by Mary

One easy way to earn an income is donating plasma. Now, before you all say “EWW!” and stop reading, hear me out…

Yes, I realize that plasma collection centers don’t always have the best reputations. And, for some of them, this reputation is rightfully earned. However, most of them (like the one I work at, for example) certainly do not fall in to this category.

Our donor population, for example, is made up of mostly college students, soldiers, and locals who are simply looking for a way to put extra cash in their pocket while doing something that helps people.

Here are a few things you should know if you are interested in earning a little more money in this way.

It is a perfectly safe process.

Plasma donation is highly regulated by the FDA, as well as several other agencies. (Many of our medical staff employees have told us that we have more regulations than hospitals they have worked at).

When you donate, you only come in contact with sterile supplies. All lancets, sample collecting tools, and supplies for our machines are brand new and thrown away after each use, eliminating any possibility of transmission of a disease.

Now, that being said, there are some people who aren’t not suitable for donating due to health reasons. This is why every donor goes through a screening and physical process consisting of medical history, examination, and testing of a sample of blood.

And, for this reason, it is crucial that you are fully honest with the employees so they can be sure you are a suitable candidate. Also, each center is overseen by a licensed physician and there is always a nurse on site.

You are saving lives.

I mean this quite literally. Plasma is filled with proteins and clotting factors. These can be used to help people with primary immune deficiencies, certain protein deficiencies, clotting disorders, burn victims, babies born with hemolytic disease of the newborn, shock victims, and the list goes on and on.

For most of these conditions, there is absolutely no synthetic substitute for plasma, which is why it is in such demand — these people would either die or have a significantly reduced quality of life without these donations.

The money you earn is worth it.

You go through a screening process and then sit in a bed while you read, watch a movie, or surf the Internet for about an hour and get paid for it. The amount you earn per donation varies by location, company, and the weight of the donor, but our center pays anywhere from $20-$50 per donation, and you can do this twice a week! That is quite a chunk of change in your pocket!

Yes, I know this incoming earning ideas isn’t for everyone; but I really encourage you think beyond rumors you have heard about the process and check it out for yourself, for your own good and for the sake of the people you could be helping.

If you are interested, find a plasma center in your area and check it out.

Because plasma centers are run by separate companies, there is no one good way to find a center in your area. But, if you just run a google search “plasma center in (your town)” you should be able to find one easily if there is one around you.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Nov 5, 2012 comment

4 Weeks to More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 1 Update

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4 Weeks to More Organized Home {Simplified}: Day 1 Update

Published: by on   |  This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy here.

If you missed today’s assignment you can see it here.

Well, my morning wasn’t exactly how I’d envisioned it and mapped it out the night before. I woke up later than I’d planned to, forgot I had a radio interview at 7:30 a.m. until a few minutes before it was scheduled, and then we spent some time before our homeschooling started for the morning signing all the paperwork to put an offer on our first piece of rental property (we’re excited and hopeful that our offer will be accepted!).

So, to be completely honest here, I never made it out of my PJ pants and haven’t exercised yet, but we did have a great homeschool day, my house is clean, and dinner is just about done. So I’ll consider that a success even if I feel a bit grungy. 🙂

You can see my 10 goals for this week here.

Our living room always seems to get pretty messy while we’re in the midst of homeschooling. By the time we’ve finished all our books and lessons for the day, there are books, papers, crayons, pencils, glue, maps, and lots of other items strewn about. I try to remind myself that the mess means there is a lot of hands-on learning going on around here — and that’s a good thing. 🙂

But I always breathe a sigh of relief when our homeschooling is finished for the afternoon and our living room can get back to normal. Here was our post-15-minute clean-up photo.

And my purse wasn’t all that bad. I switched to a small, cheap purse after the strap on my larger purse irreparably broke a few months ago. The thing I’ve noticed about a smaller purse is that it’s harder for it to get really messy — since there’s plain just not room for a lot of trash or extras.

So other than a cracker wrapper and a few slips of paper, some loose change, and a few extra pens, my purse didn’t take a whole lot of work. But I’m sure I’ll have plenty of other much worse areas in my home to show in the days to come to make up for my purse being in pretty good shape. 🙂

How you do on Day 1? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.