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Money Saving Mom

Money Saving Mom®

Saving Families Money Since 2007

Summer Bucket List

Summer Bucket List.

Summer Bucket List

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Shared Aug 1, 2012 comment

Summer Olympics Activities: Learning About London

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Summer Olympics Activities: Learning About London

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

One of the things we love to do is to find fun ways to learn from real-life circumstances.

Whether it’s researching a bug we find in our backyard, checking out books from the library on a subject one or all of the children are interested in, watching a YouTube video on how something is made when one of the children ask about it at the dinner table, or pulling out the U.S. or world map when we’re reading a book that mentions a city, state, or country.

The Olympics have provided the perfect opportunity to research and study all sorts of things. Among a few of the ways we’ve capitalized upon the abundant learning opportunities provided by the Olympics:

::We had the globe out on opening night so we could find the countries on the globe as they walked in the parade of nations.

::We’ve matched colors with the Olympic rings and talked about the significance of the Olympic rings.

::We’ve talked about how close countries are geographically to the U.S.

::We’ve checking out books from the library on Olympic athletes and the history of the Summer Olympics.

::We’ve practiced guessing which flags are for which countries as they are shown on the screen while we’re watching the Olympics.

And this week, we’ve been learning more about London. We checked out Dodsworth in London from the library. The children all enjoyed this book — and we had fun practicing British accents while reading it aloud.

We also watched a documentary on Buckingham Palace, talked about the role of a queen, imagined how fun it would be to ride on a double-decker bus (both girls agree we really need to make these popular in the U.S.!), and we looked at pictures of Big Ben.

We also colored pictures of the U.K. flag and then practiced drawing them freehand. Now Kaitlynn, our resident artist, is drawing U.K. flags all over the place and both girls have decided they need to cheer for the U.K. some of the time, not just the U.S. 🙂

Have you been doing any educational activities to coincide with the Summer Olympics?

Money Saving Mom
Shared Aug 1, 2012 comment

Reader Tip: Saving (and Making) Money with Consignment Sales

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Reader Tip: Saving (and Making) Money with Consignment Sales

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

Rachel from Third Stop on the Right emailed in the following tip:

When I found out I was pregnant with my first baby, I wanted to buy all new clothes and equipment… until I saw the prices. That is when my cousin told me about children and baby consignment sales. I had never heard of these sales before, but now they have saved me hundreds of dollars.

In my area there are at least four different consignment sales that take place twice a year. Some popular national sales include:

In addition to these websites, you may also want to check out Craigslist, Facebook, or even keep your eyes out for signs along the road.Many of these sales offer the opportunity to shop before the rest of the general public if you are a first time parent or if you have consigned at the sale.

I recommend going as early as you can if you are looking for equipment or any large items as these go fast.

Then, wait until the last day of the sale — when they usually mark everything down by 50% — to buy any clothes or accessories. This is when I can get the really good deals.

In additional to saving me money, these sales have also made me money. I have registered to be a consigner in several of the sales and have sold some of the baby equipment that I no longer need as well as some of my son’s clothes that he has outgrown.

With consignment sales you are able to set your own prices and you make a percentage of what you sell (usually between 50% and 70%). This percentage is much higher than what is usually offered in consignment stores.

If you are on a tight budget (and who isn’t?) consignment sales are an excellent way to get quality baby clothes and equipment for a fraction of the price.

Rachel is a stay-at-home mom who blogs at Third Stop on the Right, a blog dedicated to saving money , living frugally, and using your resources wisely.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jul 31, 2012 comment

2012 Goals: July Update

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2012 Goals: July Update

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

How are you doing on your goals for 2012? I’m excited about the progress I made in July…

Personal
Read through the Bible in a year. {I’ve been keeping up with this faithfully.}
Read through the 24 books on my 2012 booklist. {I’m working on July’s books and hope to have them finished by the end of this week. I have also read quite a few other books!}
Listen to 12 audiobooks. {I finished July’s audiobook last month!}
Run in at least one 5K race. {I’ve been running at least a few 3.1+ mile runs on the treadmill each week and am slowly working on getting my time down. I’m hoping to sign up for an official race soon — probably in September.}
Complete the Couch to 10K program. {I’m hoping to start this soon.}
Tackle 12 Do-It-Yourself Projects. {I postponed July’s project because the weather was too hot to bake!}
Focus on one habit per month. {This month we continued working on getting places on time (we’re making some huge progress with that!) as well as working on getting things done early — another area I really struggle with. I didn’t get everything done early this month, but I got a lot fewer things done late and planned ahead a lot more than I usually do — so that’s progress and I’m encouraged with it!}
Learn to use my new DSLR camera (huge surprise Christmas present from Jesse!!) & improve my photography skills. {I’m excited to be seeing some improvement and progress with this! And I’m also excited that I’m beginning to feel more and more comfortable using my camera!}
Take at least one photo a day and put together a page every week for my Project Life album. {This is caught up since last month, I just need to write notes in some of the pages!}
Memorize Colossians using the plan and free download here. {I’m almost caught up with this.}

Marriage
Go on the Love Like You Mean It Cruise. {Done–read my recap here.}
Go on two Marriage Retreats (Went to Cincinnati together in April).
Have monthly date nights. {We had one date in July.}
Read four books together. {We’ve done two books so far this year and we’re working on a third.}
Read at least 3 books on marriage. {I’ve read two so far this year.}

Children/Homeschooling
Continue regular dates/outings with each of the children individually. {I went on at least one outing with each child individually in July.}
Continue Grace and Truth memory book. {The children memorized a few verses plus one verse of a hymn in June.}
Ice-skating lessons for all three children. {The children finished up their third round of ice-skating lessons and we’re taking a break while we do swimming lessons!}
Swimming lessons for all three children. {We started our second round of lessons this month and the children are loving it!}
Finish second grade, begin third grade with Kathrynne. {Kathrynne finished second grade in May — woohoo!}
Finish kindergarten, begin first grade with Kaitlynn. {Kaitlynn finished Kindergarten in May and is excited about beginning first grade soon.}
Start preschool with Silas. {Started this in April.}
Go on at least one field trip every month. {We went on one field trip in July.}
Go on at least one family vacation. {We went to family camp in July.}
Finish at least 15 read-aloud books. {We’ve finished 20 read-alouds so far this year!}

Ministry/Friendships/Extended Family
Write at least two handwritten notes every month to encourage someone. {I wrote & mailed two handwritten notes this month.}
Continue being involved in our local church, homeschool group, young couple’s group, and blogging accountability group. {Ongoing}
Continue with weekly get-togethers with both sides of our extended family. {Ongoing}

Business/Blogging
Continue to take Sundays off from blogging/business work. {Ongoing}
Continue keeping strict Office Hours for the business/blogging time each day. {Still plugging away on this!}
Switch to a paperless planning system. {This is the one goal I think I’ve officially decided to drop this year as it just wasn’t working for me. Back to the paper.}
Follow my weekly blogging plan. {I stuck with my blogging plan most of July, if I’m remembering correctly — woot!}
Plan blog posts out at least a month in advance. {I made some great progress in this area in July!}
Write and schedule blog posts at least a week in advance. {I’m not a week ahead yet, but I’ve been blogging ahead a lot more recently and am excited to be making some progress on this.}

Financial
Continue to tithe 10% of our income. {Ongoing}
Give generously to needs in our community and around the world, as God prompts us. {Ongoing}
Pay cash for a new-to-us vehicle to replace our family’s van. {We bought a new-to-us vehicle in July — yay!}
Finish saving for and purchase a rental property with cash. {We’re in the process of investigating our options in our price range right now and deciding if we want to go ahead and purchase something or continue saving. At this point, it’s looking like there’s a good possibility we might be purchasing something very soon. I’ll keep you posted.}

How Are You Doing on Your Goals for 2012?

If you’ve posted goals for 2012, I’d love for you to post an update on how things are going and share your link in the comments. If you don’t have a blog, feel free to just leave your update as a comment. Let’s encourage one another to live lives of intention and purpose!

Shared Jul 31, 2012 comment

Grilled Hobo Packets

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Grilled Hobo Packets

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

Grilled Hobo Packets are a great way to use garden/seasonal veggies such as green beans, zucchini, onions, peppers, potatoes…and whatever else you want to throw in!

Guest post from Brigette Shevy

We Love these Easy Hobo Packets

My husband’s family first introduced me to this easy, economical, and versatile meal. We cook it on the grill, but it can also be cooked over a campfire (or in the oven in colder months). 

I love the fact that my kids can help put these together, “creating” their own personal meal – which in turn seems to help all those healthy veggies become magically more appealing to little people (or maybe it’s that I serve this with ketchup — something that seems to make everything better at our house!).

After the individual packets are made, I like to write the child’s initial on the outside of their foil packet so I don’t need to keep track of which one belongs to which person.

There are endless possibilities and combinations with this meal. You can even make it vegetarian by leaving out the meat. 

I almost always have the ingredients for this on hand, so it doesn’t require advance planning or preparation on my part. It’s hearty and filling enough to be a meal-in-one, although it pairs fabulously with grilled bread or a simple fruit salad.

Ingredients for Hobo Packets

  • Smoked Sausage/Kielbasa, cut into bite-sized chunks
  • Potatoes (I use one small/medium potato per person/packet.)
  • Carrots
  • Other vegetables (onions, cabbage, green beans, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.)
  • Butter or olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Other seasonings of your choice (Possible seasoning options: garlic salt, seasoned salt, fresh minced garlic, onion or garlic powder, and/or dried herbs, etc.)
  • Aluminum foil (about 18-inches long per packet)
  • Ice Cubes (2 per packet)
  • Ketchup and/or BBQ sauce for serving

How to Make Hobo Packets

1. Preheat grill to medium.

2. Scrub and chop the vegetables (the smaller the pieces, the faster they will cook). I don’t peel the potatoes, but you can if you prefer.

3. Pile sausage, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables as desired in the center of each piece of foil.

4. Dot with butter (or drizzle with oil) and season generously with salt, pepper, and other seasonings as desired.

5. Add two ice cubes on top.

6. Bring long ends of foil together and fold up several times. Repeat with the sides so that packet is sealed.

7. Grill over medium heat (or medium-low, depending on your grill) for 15 minutes.

8. Flip over and grill another 15 minutes.

9. Check potatoes for desired tenderness and continue grilling if necessary. They will probably be done at this point, but it will depend on your grill and how thick you’ve cut the vegetables.

10. Remove packets from grill, dump onto plates, and sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.

11. Serve with ketchup or barbecue sauce if desired.

Recipe

Grilled Hobo Packets


Author Brigette
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • Smoked Sausage/Kielbasa cut into bite-sized chunks
  • Potatoes I use one small/medium potato per person/packet.
  • Carrots
  • Other vegetables onions, cabbage, green beans, peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, etc.
  • Butter or olive oil
  • Salt and pepper
  • Seasonings of your choice onion or garlic powder, and/or dried herbs, etc.
  • Aluminum foil about 18-inches long per packet
  • Ice Cubes 2 per packet
  • Ketchup and/or BBQ sauce for serving

Instructions

  • Preheat grill to medium.
  • Scrub and chop the vegetables.
  • Pile sausage, potatoes, carrots, and other vegetables as desired in the center of each piece of foil.
  • Dot with butter (or drizzle with oil) and season generously with salt, pepper, and other seasonings as desired.
  • Add two ice cubes on top.
  • Bring long ends of foil together and fold up several times. Repeat with the sides so that packet is sealed.
  • Grill over medium heat (or medium-low, depending on your grill) for 15 minutes.
  • Flip over and grill another 15 minutes.
  • Check potatoes for desired tenderness and continue grilling if necessary. They will probably be done at this point, but it will depend on your grill and how thick you’ve cut the vegetables.
  • Remove packets from grill, dump onto plates, and sprinkle with shredded cheddar cheese.
  • Serve with ketchup or barbecue sauce if desired.

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Brigette is a full-time wife and mother who is blessed with three amazing bundles of energy (ages 5, 3, and 1). She enjoys music, experimenting in the kitchen, homeschooling her children, finding great deals, long-distance running, and anything chocolate.

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Money Saving Mom
Shared Jul 31, 2012 comment

Do It Yourself: Chrysanthemum Mirrors

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Do It Yourself: Chrysanthemum Mirrors

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SuzysSitcom.com shows you how to make beautiful chrysanthemum mirrors.

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

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jul 30, 2012 comment

This week’s menu

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This week’s menu

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Breakfasts

Oatmeal, Cereal and/or Banana Oatmeal Smoothies — since we have swimming every morning, we’re keeping breakfasts really simple at our house right now

Lunches

Lunch at church function — brought a big tossed salad
Snack-y lunch
Avocado Egg Salad, carrot sticks, apple slices
Cheese Quesadillas, sliced veggies, fruit
Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches from the freezer, veggies, apple slices
Leftovers x 2

Snacks

Fruit/Veggies
No Bake Mocha Chocolate Chip Cookies
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Baked Oatmeal
No Bake Energy Bites

Dinners

Dinner with extended family — brought a big tossed salad
Sausage & Veggie Stovetop Hash, Blueberry Cobbler in the Crockpot
Steak, Scalloped Potatoes in the Crockpot, Fruit Salad
Quinoa, Tomato, and Avocado Salad, Grilled Chicken, Fruit Salad
Lasagna on the Stovetop, Homemade Rolls in the Crockpot, steamed broccoli, fruit
Dinner with friends — bringing a relish tray
Dinner with extended family

What’s on your menu this week? Share details and/or your link to your menu plan in the comments.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jul 30, 2012 comment

10 goals for this week

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10 goals for this week

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I think this might be a first: I actually crossed everything off my goal list for last week! I’m not sure what it was except for the fact that I did really make my goals a priority, we stayed home more, and no one was sick! 🙂

Last week’s goals:

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Finish reading Wilma Rudolph: Olympic Runner aloud to the children.

2. Continue with swimming lessons for all three children.

Personal Goals

3. Finish reading Beyond Bath Time plus one other book.

4. Sleep for at least 7.5 to 8 hours every night.

5. Continue on with the Choosing Gratitude 30-Day Devotional.

6. Exercise at least five times.

7. Finish listening to Stop Acting Rich.

Homemaking Goals

8. Organize my top dresser drawer.

9. Try at least two new recipes.

Business Goals

10. Edit and submit an article for publication on RooMag.com.

Here are my 10 goals for this week:

Family/Mothering Goals

1. Start and finish reading Stuart Little aloud to the children.

2. Continue with swimming lessons for all three children.

3. Write a love note to Jesse.

Personal Goals

4. Start and finish reading The Simplicity of Homeschooling, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, and The Mom Walk.

5. Sleep for at least 7.5 to 8 hours every night.

6. Exercise at least five times.

Homemaking Goals

7. Start working on planning out our Fall Schedule.

8. Try at least two new recipes.

Business Goals

9. Finish editing my new ebook (more details coming soon!)

10. Projects finished for LitFuse Publicity campaign.

How did you do on last week’s goals? What are your goals for this week? I’d love to have you share your progress on last week’s goals and your goals for this coming week in the comments. Of, if you’ve blogged about it, leave your direct link below. Let’s cheer each other on to live purposeful and productive lives!

You can download a free customizable weekly goal-planning sheet here.

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jul 30, 2012 comment

Losing Power, Gaining Focus

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Losing Power, Gaining Focus

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Guest post from Jenn of Hang On, Baby, We’re Almost… Somewhere.

When a storm blew through the DC area and left millions without power the week before the 4th of July, we were among the millions. I am thankful that, for us, the outage ended relatively quickly — in 72 hours. Still, in three hot summer days, we learned some lessons that I think speak to my budget-aware side.

1. Without an Air Conditioner or Electricity, Our Day Revolved Around the Sun

Our awareness grew of the time of day, position of the sun, and maximizing light and air flow while minimizing heat.  We all pitched in to manage our environment, raising or lowering shades, opening or closing doors and windows, re-icing the food we kept in coolers.

The day seemed more purposeful, less “Where does the time go?” than when we rely on a thermostat to control our temperature. I am using some of these techniques now to try to lower our electric bill.

2. Cold Showers Aren’t As Bad As I Thought!

Even in the hottest part of summer, I’ve always taken hot showers. I’m cold-natured, I’ve thought for years, and I need hot showers to stay comfortable.

Turns out, I live in a chilly climate, albeit an electrically-powered one. You plop me down outside for three straight days of weather in the upper 90’s (mid-30’s in Celsius), and I like a cool shower as much as the next gal!

3. Storm Shades Really Do Work

We discovered that the pulley-run storm shades that are on the windows of our home are one of the best ways to manage heat flow in the house. We loved them already because we can make our bedrooms almost completely dark even in broad daylight, but they made an enormous difference while fighting the heat.

Installing them here in the U.S. would most likely be expensive (we’re blessed that the home we rent already had them installed!), but similar methods can be adopted using things like blackout curtains, window film, and wooden blinds.

4. We Survived Just Fine Without TV.

My kids don’t enjoy TV as much as I thought they did, but my 10-year-old son does love the computer as much as we thought he did. 

We talked more and were outside more, but we didn’t have to resort to major outings to manage to pass our time together. We just did simpler things, mostly at home.

All that focus on being kind to each other and building good relationships sure paid off when we didn’t have the distractions of TV, the Internet, video games, cooking, ironing, and laundry. That realization was the most valuable of all these lessons.

Jenn LeBow is a native Texan; lover of Jesus; happy wife of Honey, a Diplomatic Security Special Agent; mom of four (mostly) delightful kids: Cartwheel, 21; Einstein, 10; Blossom, 8; and Ladybug, 3; debt-free; and a voracious reader, whose appetite for books is reluctantly subjugated to other duties in her life.  She blogs at Hang On, Baby, We’re Almost… Somewhere.

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Shared Jul 27, 2012 comment

15 Ways to Have More Energy (Part 5)

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15 Ways to Have More Energy (Part 5)

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15 Ways to Have More Energy

We’ve been talking about ways to have more energy this week. If you missed the first two posts in this series, read them here.

13. Choose Gratitude

Your attitude can make or break your situation. You can choose to focus on what you don’t have or you can choose to be thankful for what you do have.

There is always, always, always something to be thankful for. When you have a thankful, grateful spirit, you’ll automatically have more joy, zest for life, and energy. It’s the natural outflow of gratitude. And not only will you have more energy, but I promise you’ll just plain enjoy and appreciate life a lot more if you choose gratitude.

Struggling to be thankful in the midst of hard circumstances? Try writing down a list of your blessings. As I’ve found, when you start writing down your blessings, you just may have trouble stopping!

14. Don’t Compare Yourself to Others

Don’t compare yourself to others. It’s never productive and it’s a great way to waste great amounts of time and energy.

I recently learned this lesson in a very personal way. Here’s a snippet from my post

It hit me anew just how easy it is to want what we don’t have–better hair, better decorating skills, a better personality, more creativity, more spunk… there’s always someone who it seems we’d like to trade places with because they have what we want.

But trading places with someone wouldn’t fix anything; we’d just inherit a new set of things we wish we could change. No one has it altogether. Everyone has struggles and difficulties.

Comparison only leads to discontentment.

We can’t change who we are, but we can make the most of our situation. We can’t choose the personality we are born with, but we can choose to be thankful–even in the midst of difficulty.

And we can choose to be intentional and purposeful in how we live our lives so that we make the most of all that we’ve been given instead of wishing we were someone else.

15. Wrap Your Life Around Things That Matter

When you spend your life dedicated to what really matters, you’ll have so much more energy and excitement for waking up and living each day. I try to ask myself often, “What will matter in 25 years from now?” And then I seek to wrap my life and invest my days into those things.

Live your life with outstretched arms. The more you live for others, the more you step outside your comfort zone, the more you give freely and generously of your resources and time, the more you’ll wake up feeling blessed, motivated, and inspired to life to the fullest!

At the end of my life, I don’t want to look back with a lot of regrets and wistful thinking. I want to give everything I have to this one life I have — because I only get one shot at life!

photo courtesy of BigStock


Money Saving Mom
Shared Jul 27, 2012 comment

Olympic Rings Fruit Pizza

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Olympic Rings Fruit Pizza

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In celebration of the Summer Olympics beginning today, we did some fun activities today:

We used chocolate-covered sunflower seeds I got at the health food store to make Olympic Rings.

Silas had a little bit of trouble lining up the seeds with the lines, so I ended up just having him match the colors and put them in the circles.

The kids were looking at Pinterest with me the other day and saw a picture for Olympic Rings Fruit Pizza and begged if we could make it.

While our Olympic Rings Fruit Pizza didn’t look quite as great as the original recipe, the kids had so much fun making it and were so excited to show Jesse when he got home from work!

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jul 27, 2012 comment

Freebies In My Mailbox

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Freebies In My Mailbox

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

I got some great freebies this past week!

Free Schick Hydro Razor

Free Arm & Hammer Sensitive Toothpaste sample

Free Tide Pods

Free Febreze Set & Refresh Air Freshener

Free Tea Forte samples

Free Tampax sample pack

Free Escada Perfume sample

What freebies have arrived in your mailbox this week?

By the way, if you want to start getting great freebies in your mailbox, just start signing up for the freebies I post every day that interest you. Within 4-6 weeks, your mailbox will start filling up with great freebies!

Money Saving Mom
Shared Jul 27, 2012 comment

Reader Tip: How to Avoid Garage Sale Pitfalls

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Reader Tip: How to Avoid Garage Sale Pitfalls

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

Jessica emailed in the following tip:

Summer is in full swing and like many bargain hunters, I love a good garage sale. It’s like a treasure hunt. Looking though one box or pile after another, searching for that one needed item.

Garage sales, however, can have their downsides as well. Here are three pitfalls to avoid when going to a garage sale:

1. Don’t buy what you don’t need.

Just because it’s cheap doesn’t mean you need it. Spending a $1 on a set of curtains may be a great deal but if you have three sets of curtains at home and have no need for another why waste the money.

The best way to garage sale is to have a list of items that you need and are looking for. I also try to make a list of my children’s clothing sizes so I can purchase a size up of off season clothing they will need in the future.

Also remember to travel with a tape measure this will keep you from buying that item you just knew would fit but turns out to be too big for your space.

2. Try before you buy.

If you are going to buy electronics, kitchen appliances, yard equipment, or anything that requires electricity or batteries, make sure you try before you buy. In my experience garage sale hosts are happy to demo an item for you to show you all the bells and whistles.

Make sure you run it through all the cycles and ask if the owner has had any problems with the item. I may just be blessed but I have never had a bad experience buying any items such as these at a garage sale most people are honest with the things they sell but you always want to do your due diligence.

3. Watch your mileage.

When you go out hunting for your treasures have a plan. Look through your local sale papers, check Craigslist, and look online for other garage sale postings in your area. Most will have a list of items that they are selling and this will help you decided on a route before you leave the house.

Driving around on a Friday or Saturday morning just searching for signs or going all the way across town for a sale that turns out to be nothing can be hard on your gas tank and eat up your garage sale savings.

Garage sales can be a lot of fun and a great way to stretch the family budget. Just remember to set some simple guidelines for yourself before you start and you can really watch the savings add up.