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Saturday, April 16, 2011

Why Didn't I Think Of This Sooner!

For years I have kept a pad of paper on my fridge, but it always bugged me that I had to walk the 2 feet to my hutch to grab a pen to write on it. So this year, I took an old pencil box from school, cut off the top and stuck a flat magnet on the back. Yipee - no more extra steps to grab a pen!



It kind of bothered me that I had two different sets of kitchen chairs - the same design but a different stain - so after seeing my sister-in-laws beautiful dining room table complete with black chairs, I bought 4 cans of black spray paint - semi-gloss from Walmart - 98 cents a can and spray painted the chairs. I then took a steel wool pad and sanded them - showing wear in the seat, and around the curved top - finish with a coat of spray polyurethane - "new" "matching" kitchen chairs for under $5!

Just read an article that said that grocery stores rotate sale items about every 3 months. Now I know how much to stock up on items. Before I would guess how much spaghetti I should buy at the bottom price and hope it went on sale again before I needed it. Now I have a good gauge on how much to buy.

Speaking of buying - I got 2 phone calls and many shouts "Mom, come here" last week - there was a new show on TLC" called Extreme Couponing. I was a bit excited to watch, even though I don't use a lot of coupons. By the end of the show I was completely turned off. It should have been called Extreme Hoarding - I am sure there are completely respectable people that do an awesome job with their coupons, but I felt like this showcased stockpiling for the sake of the deal. I never brag about how much I "saved" it is more about what I didn't spend in the first place. If I don't need 30 bottles of antacids, why would I be excited to get 30 bottles for a penny. I am not discouraging coupon use, but be wise, don't mistake "saving" with wasting your time and money on items you don't need in the first place. We live in a world that tells us more is better, well, more is just more.

So there you have it - 3 good ideas and 1 idea I will be skipping - not bad for making cents and sensibility!! Let me know what good ideas you've come up with lately!

3 comments:

  1. Oh you don't know the half of it! Not only are they nutty hoarders, but it appears that they are also committing coupon fraud!
    http://www.jillcataldo.com/node/16258

    I'll be honest & say that I almost never use coupons. I'm no good at remembering them, I shop a lot at Sam's where you aren't allowed to use them, and I don't get the paper either. I do work those sales pretty faithfully though! :)

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  2. You don't know how much I love this post...it is as if you were reading my mind!! Like the idea of the kitchen chairs... might try it soon. Love the idea about the pens on the fridge, I'll let little Michael work on that one this week. Have a great time this week simply enjoying the wonderful gifts you have been given!!

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  3. don't lie mom, the reason you loved it the most was because it opened with Andrew's grad. picture.

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