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!).

Frugality Tip: Stop Spending Money on Unnecessaries

Say “no” to every telemarketer who calls, even if they talk about childhood cancer. I like to turn it into sport, like when they call about me paying for life insurance or funeral costs for firefighters and cops. I feel a little bad, but I have to ask, "Um, my husband pays for OUR life insurance, so why aren't THEY paying for their OWN life insurance?" or "How come my tax dollars aren't going to the vets instead of you calling ME personally and asking me for money, 1/2 of which is going into the pocket of your CEO?" The telemarketer gets all flustered and doesn't know what to say, and that's the end of that.

Buy ONE box of Girl Scout cookies every year, not 10.

Spend less at Christmas (we don’t go crazy AT ALL, but I noticed last year the kids were tired of opening presents after about the 4th of 9 … so this year how about 5 gifts per kid and head to Craigslist!)

Spend less on gifts for the endless birthday parties we attend (working on an article on this; remind me to link to it once it’s out)

Check Dave Ramsey’s site and contact an insurance Endorsed Local Provider to see if we can get a better rate on our car and home insurance. Cancel full coverage on our trashed-out minivan, which will save about $30 per month.

If I can’t afford a $5 coffee, then I can’t get it until the next writing check or payday, no matter how badly I may want or need it. I’ll just make coffee at home or else buy a $1 iced tea at McDonald’s or take a B12 with a bunch of water.

Share your ideas with me!

25 Ways to Make Some Extra Money

f you can’t cut your expenses, here are some ways to make extra money as a stay-at-home mom who doesn’t want to put her kids in daycare (I’ve starred the ones I’ve personally done) ... oh, and don't forget your husband can also do some of this stuff if he's only working part-time or something like that:

*Mystery shopping

*Market research

*Babysitting at home

*Babysitting at churches
 Babysitting at health clubs (free membership included usually!)

*Freelance writing (magazines, but also sales letters and marketing manuals, as well as ebooks (GetPublishedParentingMags.com)

*Blogging

*Magazine delivery to businesses

Newspaper delivery

Mowing lawns (good exercise, Mama!)

Dog walking or sitting

House sitting

Anything you were good at in your previous work life that you can turn into money at home (legal advice, PR services, proofreading, doing taxes … sky’s the limit!)

*Sell some crap (books at Half Price Books, garage sale, Craigslist, consignment shops)

I wrote an article once called Moms Making Money and researched some obscure ways to make money at home, which include*:

Audio-to-Text Transcriber (www.TigerFish.com; www.ProductionTranscripts.com)

Direct Seller (www.TiensNA.com for health and wellness products; www.TheTravelingVineyard.com for fine wine)

E-Juror (www.eJury.com; www.TrialPractice.com)

Online User Guide (www.about.com; www.chacha.com; www.JustAnswer.com)

Online Tutor (www.tutor.com)

Professional Blogger (www.BlogHer.com; http://www.blogsvertise.com/)

Sales Call Verifier (http://www.voicelog.com/)

Telemarketer (www.Intrep.com; www.Telereach.com; http://www.west.com/)

Virtual Assistant (www.TeamDoubleClick.com; http://www.virtualassistantjobs.com/)

Virtual Customer Service Agent (www.AlpineAccess.com; http://www.workingsol.com/)

Virtual Publicist (www.OrcaCommunications.com; http://www.wasabipublicity.com/)

*Tory Johnson’s Work-from-Home Tips www.abcnews.go.com/gma/takecontrolofyourlife/story?id=2621388&page=1 (except for Professional Blogger sites)

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