Frugality Tip: Sell Your Old Junk

Usually I just donate our old stuff since it’s the easiest route, but lately we’re trying to make money for our dream goal of going to LegoLand in California someday, so we are saving every cent we can. Here’s the order of events in getting rid of stuff:

Garage sale. Oh, how I hate having a garage sale, but my kids love it, so I reluctantly do it about once a year. For one thing, we are not early birds. We never end up making money, but this year I decided to advertise it for free on Craigslist and put in the ad that we were only open from 10-4. We made $45, which is like half a ticket to LegoLand.
Consignment shop. We have a kid consignment store down the road, so I took all the toys that did not sell at the garage sale (they’re too picky about clothes) and tried to sell them there. I made another $14.

Craigslist. I put an ad on Craigslist advertising a “lot” of toys for one low price. Perfect for a daycare or a new grandma trying to stock up her house. I put special stuff in their own ad (Littlest Pet Shop, Thomas trains, my husbands tools). We were able to quickly unload a tool of my husband's for $15. (I never have buyers come to my home unless my husband is home because I'm a big scaredy cat).

Thrift stores. After about a week, what was left went in the back of my van and to the local thrift store.

Your challenge: to sell some old junk and not spend the money on fast food. Put the money away ... like in a savings account!

Games to Play with Baked Lays on Mother's Day: Go Chip

This here is what you'd call a "break" from Frugality Month. I'm not loving the theme months, but I'm committed (or should be ... ha!), but I can take a break on the even days if I wanna.

On Mother's Day Michael and I were on the deck eating Baked Lays. All of a sudden he put them in his hand all fanned out like they were cards. He said, "Let's play Go Chip."

I didn't miss a beat and put my own chips in my hand and made a discard pile of chips. We started playing, like this:

Michael, "Do you have a .... [pause] chip?"

Me, "No. Go chip." Then he picked from the discard pile. Then I asked, "Do you have a ... chip?"

Michael, "Yes." Then he gives me two chips that are close together in his hand. I eat one and add one to my hand.

We continued on like this for a few minutes until our chips were eaten.

Then I started laughing my butt off at the absurdity that is us! We have a lot of fun around here!

Frugality Tip: Use the Library

You Know You Have a Good Book When …

I love the library. So I sometimes have to wait months to get my hands on the latest bestseller. It’s free!

I used to overuse my PayPal account to buy used books on ebay (imagine if Amazon and Half.com took PayPal!!!). Then I realized I was getting books, reading them and then never looking at them again. So I’d sell them for a fraction of what I paid or just give them away. I know, some people save every book they’ve ever read, and I used to do that. Then I took a look around my 1,327 square foot home and saw the space our homeschooling stuff took up and realized I just can’t save books unless I’m using them for something.

You know you have a good book when …

… you want to stay up late reading it.

… you lock yourself in the bathroom pretending to be having bowel issues.

… you read instead of watching The Real Housewives (or your favorite show).

… you get excited to get back home to dive into it.

… you find your mind wandering in social situations because you’d much rather be with your book friends.

I'm so excited about adding Amazon to my blog ... you can now purchase books directly from this site. Sometimes you check out a book from the library and just HAVE to own it. Or sometimes you hear the title and HAVE to own it (like how I just had to have The Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family, and my friend bought it immediately, as well!).