Sunday, December 11, 2016

Farmhouse Dining Room Reveal on a Budget of less than $720

When I bought this house 2 years ago, I had a specific game plan for what I wanted my dining room to look like.  See that post here.  But I also knew I didn't have the money all at once.  I would have to be thrifty and patient.


Thankfully, the decor inspiration I picked is still in style and is still MY style years later because that is how long it took to get this room completed.  I am so pleased and feeling blessed to call this room mine.  And I did it all on a very tight budget - little by little. All the main furniture in the room, rug, and chandelier cost $717! Not counting accessories... because they were very cheap anyway, and because I have seasonal decor out now.

      During:                                                          After:


Prices

Solid Wood Farm Table: $135 at Local Thrift Store Helping Hands
Head of Table Chairs: $100 each from TJ Maxx 
(My newest cat has been a bad girl and ruined the sides...)
Benches: $57 each from Amazon.com (Click Here to buy the benches)
I went with benches to maximize seating for when I have my large family over and to have a clear sight line from the front door... hopefully allowing the room to feel larger and less cramped with "stuff."
Rug: $106 from Rugsusa.com (Click here to buy this rug)
Buffet: $15 Local Tag Sale
"Oh Christmas Tree" Canvas Decor: Christmas Tree Shops (I don't remember price... less than $15).
Light up Christmas Tree: CVS after Christmas sale (I forget how much, but probably about $5).
Garland: CVS after Christmas sale (Again, less than $5).
Silver Bucket: Target Dollar Spot $3
Glass Jar: Dollar General after Christmas Sale $.25
Pinecones: Free from the forest
Chandelier: $20 Lowes (It was the display)
Drop Off Table: $40 from Christmas Tree Shop
Left Basket for wires: Christmas Tree Shop (I forget the price).
Right Basket for other: Home Goods $9.99
Lamp: A DIY :)
Table with Single Drawer: $15 from FB Tag Sale Site
Chalkboard Moose: Kohls After Christmas Sale $1
Antler Picture Frame: Kohls After Christmas Sale $2
Wire Basket: Target Dollar Spot $3


Blinds: $11 each from JC Penney
Paint: $50 Revere Pewter by Benjamin Moore
Colorblock Basket: TJ MAXX $24.99 (I keep extra shoes in this).
Hood Milk Jug: Elephant Trunk Flea Market $15
Topiary Ball: Christmas Tree Shops $3
Mercury Glass Bucket: TJ MAXX $3

I still have wall decor to work on, but this room is pretty complete... only took 2 years!
Comment below on your favorite place to find second hand furniture.



Thursday, September 22, 2016

Healthy Grocery Shopping on $50 per week Budget for 1

Dave Ramsey has entered my life recently, and as a result, I have been on a $200 a month food budget which translates to about $50 a week.  I am also in the process of trying to lose weight. Combine these two goals of saving money and trying to be healthy, and it makes for a challenging food shopping list. 

Creating the food shopping list has become a chore, but a necessary chore that saves me every day of the week. Here are some tips I use when prepping to shop and while shopping.

1. Look at the ads that come in the mail. 
I first scan for coupons along the outer edge. If there is something I will actually use, I will clip the coupon. Next, I look for any specials that I may want to stock up on.
2. Create an electronic grocery shopping list on my Shop Rite app.  
I don't even shop at Shop Rite, although they have cheaper prices, but I like the app because it gives me an estimate on what I am spending and it divides the items into categories so that when I shop at Stop & Shop, items are already grouped together and makes for quicker grocery shopping. 
3. Stock up on high price items when they are on sale.  
I have been buying this yogurt for weeks now, but it is over $2 for each one! I still buy it, because it is so tasty and good for me, but eeekk $2?! for a yogurt!  I was overjoyed when I saw this yogurt go from $2.19 to $1.50 each. That's a savings of $.69 each! I bought 10. (Because I also couldn't stock up too much because of the expiration date).
4. Look for coupons in the store. 
It's not always going to work out, but sometimes the coupons are there. I found these coupons for the same yogurt above for $.55 off each (not subject to doubling).  To my delight, they DID double. I only found 4 of them, but that took off $2.20 of my $15 yogurt purchase. I got 10 of these yogurts, original price $21.90, for $12.80 (about $1.28 each). Still freaking expensive for yogurt, but I buy it because it serves me well.
4b. Stretch out the savings. 
I make parfaits with the yogurts I love... but I figured, why does each parfait need a full cup of yogurt?  So I took 3 cups of yogurt and spread it out over 4 jars to try to make this couponed purchase last even longer. 
5. Cut out extras unless you have the money for it.  
This was my full week's shopping... but as you can see, I bought things that I didn't need.  For example, I didn't need seltzer water. But I had the money and it helps me look forward to my lunch.  Also, you may notice I had no meat this week.  I don't buy a lot of meat, because I don't like cooking it for one person.  But if I do want meat, I have a lot in my freezer from when I stock up. If you are not someone who can go without meat, you could opt for no seltzer and pre-cut apples (about $6) and get meat instead. Or, below, you will see I was under budget by $10, so there was still wiggle room for meat.
Also, the vinegar doesn't need to be included in my grocery budget because I actually use it for household things (like laundry softener or cleaning product). I just included it because it's all on one receipt.
6. Look for spices outside of the spice aisle. 
I was looking to re-stock onion powder, but in the spice aisle, it was easily $3.99+.  I came across the Spanish food aisle and saw that the spices were way cheaper. This onion powder was $1.59 (or $1.89 - I forget), but substantially cheaper than the onion powder in the spice aisle. And they were similar sizes.  I have found spices at Aldis for cheap as well. 
6. Get what serves your lifestyle well.
What might be a waste for others may not be a waste for you. The snack packs below were on sale for $1 each. Yes, I could have bought all the ingredients separately and made my own for cheaper... but not cheaper than $3. $3 wouldn't have even bought me a bag of grapes. Buying all the ingredients would be cheaper for a family of multiple people, but I am one person, and it is actually cheaper this way for me and I will have far less waste. 
Speaking of waste, I would have wasted a whole bag of apples, but not these pre-sliced red apples. Would it have been cheaper per pound to buy the bag of apples? Yes. Would I have ate them? No. I am one person working full time, trying to keep a clean home, and still have a social life.  If it is within my budget, which it was, I would rather buy products I actually will eat rather than just buy a pile of lots of food that will go to waste.
My grand total this week was $40.09 - about $10 below budget. With the extra money, I can add it to a "Go Out to Eat Fund" or I can use it later in the month when I want to stock up on frequently bought items when they hit a good price.





Misc. Info:
Some meals/snacks I made with this purchase:
  • Egg Salad
  • Breakfast Parfaits
  • Roasted Italian Vegetables (Used as a dinner and lunch)
  • Omelette
  • Apples and Peanut Butter
I usually always have stuff left over from the week before. That week, I had chicken noodle soup left over. Matter of fact, as I write this, I still have cauliflower left over and a lot of the eggs.

Leave a comment if you want to see more of my weekly grocery shopping on a budget of $50!

Wednesday, September 7, 2016

Reduce Paper Towel Use

Recently, I've noticed how many paper towels we go through. I buy them in bulk at SAMs Club and use the half sheets, but it's still costly and still wasteful. I have decided to implement more cloth rags into my drying and cleaning regimes throughout the day.

First, I bought small dish towels from TJ MAXX in two colors: white and grey. Grey is for cleaning. White is for drying our hands.

I noticed, however, that I had no system in place to keep these towels off the counter. So I purchased a free standing towel bar and a command clip for under the sink. The white towel hangs next to the sink. The cleaning towel is hidden and out of the way.

We still reach for paper towels but less frequently now. 

In addition, I have been purging my closet, and I am going to donate/sell some old clothes, but there were some clothes that had tears or stains. I decided to cut them up and create some rags. I know this isn't a new concept, but if you've been so used to paper towels, you might have forgotten this old practice.

Another idea for quick reach rags is to use left over socks that no longer have a companion. Cut up the center to make a larger rag or leave as is and use as a duster.
I hope implementing these practices help me save more money and help me be more conscious of wastefulness. 

Monday, March 14, 2016

Easter Egg Fillers

Easter has become MY holiday; I have my family over for an Easter egg hunt (kids & adults), and then we eat. With the "kids" getting bigger, it's more difficult to come up with Easter egg filler ideas. 

Here is what I can up with for this year.
KIDS- Boys from 3rd grade to high school (Would work for girls too)
Bath & Body Works Hand Sanitizer
Full Size Candy Bars- I just wrote the kind of candy on a colored index card and they can trade it in after the hunt.
Peanuts
Fruit Snacks
Goldfish
Money- Dollars and change


ADULTS:
Nips- Last year when I was looking for big eggs, I found really expensive ones on Amazon which just wasn't worth it. But this year, I found these large eggs at the Dollar Tree. Once you take off the plastic and remove the lollipop rings, you have a large empty egg big enough to fit certain sized nips: Crown Royal Apple, Fireball (I needed to tape this one), Cointreau, & Ryan's Irish Cream.
Condoms (flavored, because might as well lol)
Full Size Candy Bars (same as the kids above) 
I got the candy bars from the Dollar Tree, but you could get them in a large pack from a wholesaler club like Adams, BJs, or Costco.

Teacher Egg Ideas: You could use the candy bar method for an in class party, or for an in class study game. Put questions in the eggs and have students find the eggs. Then they gave to answer the questions in the eggs. You could also infuse UNO into the mix and add "skip" & "give away" to make it a little more engaging.

I hope these ideas help you entertain a more mature crowd this Easter! Leave ideas in the comments!


Monday, January 18, 2016

Easy to Wear Heel

Last winter, my footwear of choice was always boots: knee high black boots or tall brown riding boots. And while these are still my winter go-to footwear staple, I have been needing a wearable closed toe black heel shoe.  Over the past 4 years, my ability to wear 5 inch platform pumps has dissappeared, barely allowing me to walk in almost any kind of heel for more than a couple hours.  Over the holidays, I wanted to dress up a little, but I didn't have a pedicure, and I had no closed-toe shoes that would have coordinated with my holiday outfits.

I hit up TJ Maxx (last week - so if you go look now, you may have a chance at finding them) and found these rounded pointy toe, black wedges.  I tested them out around my house for about an hour to see if I could discover any issues that would prevent me from not wearing them, but found nothing.  I am wearing them out today for the first time and they are doing well. UPDATE: I wore them the whole day teaching. It was effortless and I definitely recommend them.  


These heels work for me because:
1. The price was $34.99 (by Adrienne Vittadini)
2. The height is just right (about 2 inches - which is enough to lengthen my legs)
3. The structure of the shoe doesn't hurt me.
4. The patent cap toe adds a visual interest that isn't distracting.
5. The pointed round toe can be easily mixed and matched with many existing items in my wardrobe.
6. Not seasonal - Although I will probably just wear them in the winter.
Here I am (#teamnomakeup) wearing all black with my new shoes.  
 
Can we also talk about the dress for a minute?  (Also from TJ Maxx. About $30 - I forget).  I have gained a significant amount of weight, so I have been trying to be considerate of that while selecting outfits.  I bought this dress because it was fitted, yet had the ruching in the right area- the mid section - to prevent any unwanted attention.  I really like this dress because it has 3/4 length sleeves which makes it easy to just throw on and wear to work.

Now might be a great time to snag some closed toe wedges because of the clothing turnover from winter to spring... you may be able to catch a better deal than I did. 


Friday, January 15, 2016

New Teaching Product High School ELA Sub Plans



I've been pretty uninspired with teaching for about a year or so, but recently I received a spark to create a new product for TPT (and for my classroom).  I fancied up "The Moustache," by Robert Cormier, and added margin questions... these 8 pages and 12 questions will surely keep the kiddos busy when you are unable to be there.


Download it from TPT OR for 2 weeks only, if you e-mail me (link at top of page on right hand side) & follow Igobymiss, I will send you this resource for free!

Thursday, December 17, 2015

Further Education for Future Plans Announcement

A repetitive theme here on the blog lately has been about homes.  I've been watching HGTV religiously for more than 10 years.  I remember back when Carol Duvall and Candace Olson were HGTV celebs... I may not have formal training in interior design (yet), but I have sure developed a passion for home design and homes.  A perfect Saturday afternoon would consist of attending open houses just because I want to know what the inside looks like.  I want to know what kind of floors the house has, what kind of counters are in the kitchen, and how many closets are inside too.  I have been obsessed with homes, layouts and decor, for a majority of my life. 

I am a Virgo and I like certainty... the real estate market doesn't provide that.  Teaching does.  And I had to go to college for something, so I chose teaching.  And while teaching has it's benefits, literal benefits, vacation days, etc., I have not been fueling my passion, until 2 weeks ago when I took the plunge and enrolled in Real Estate School.  I still have hours to fulfill, and tests to take, and a broker to find, but I will be a Real Estate Agent soon.


What this means, to start, is that I will still be a teacher but with a Real Estate License.  I can't afford to abandon my career that pays my own mortgage, but this is the first step to fulfilling my passion.  I don't even know if being a Real Estate Agent is going to fill the void, but I think it's a start on my multi-tiered real estate life goals.

So this is my big announcement to friends and family: If you are thinking about listing your home or finding one, let's see if our timing matches up.  I will be a newbie in a field of many experienced (sometimes competitive) agents, but I am obsessed with homes and will be very excited to help you find one of your own that will work for you and your loved ones which will yield you the results you are looking for.

This house is what my dreams are made of.  If I could, I would totally buy this property in New Haven. #goals