Non-essentials being put to good use





photo credit



In Richmond VA, there is a wonderful organization called CARITAS.  Their website states that CARITAS is "a faith response that provides for the most basic needs of people who are suffering---food and shelter, home furnishings, and employment".

My sweet friend works for a part of this organization called the CARITAS Furniture Bank. This means that ANYONE can donate their furniture to the furniture bank and it is housed in a warehouse. Then, if you are a person who is coming out of homelessness (a shelter for example) you can go to the CARITAS Furniture Bank and "shop".  It is a well-designed system of provision, in that different size families receive different things. For example, a family that consist of one adult and two children-may get a voucher for one dining table, four chairs, one couch, a coffee table, three beds, and three dressers...so on an so one. A bigger family would recieve more based on their family size. The formulas are very specific and the "shopping trip" is need based.  Wouldn't it be nice if more of our shopping trips were need based?

However, those who donate to the furniture bank don't always know that and they graciously give all that they have-outdoor furniture, chandiliers, bean bags, wine racks etc. Because CARITAS wants to provide for a person's basic needs, CARITAS staff take these items which they call "non-essentials" and sell them at the CARITAS Indoor Yard Sale several times a year. The proceeds go right back into the operation that help support this non-profit.

I love everything about this idea.  So....check it out. (Rain or shine-it's an indoor yardsale)

When:

Friday, June 29 10am-4pm

Saturday, June 30 9am-1pm

Where:

CARITAS Furniture Bank
1125 E Commerce Rd
Richmond VA 23224

Future Sales:
July 27/28
August 24/25
Sept 28/29

 

To quote Kelly Ripa

Friday night  my husband wanted pizza. We hadn't gotten pizza in a while and so we first thought of our favorite place in the city, which is walking distance from our house. It's kind of expensive and I do hate that part. So, we paused to think some more.  Then,  he looked at me and said "What about Costco?" We do love Costco pizza. They do have tables. You can get a large pizza for $9.99 (which would last us a few days.)

So in support of what  Kelly Ripa recently said, "Going to Fiji is not marriage, going to Costco is marriage"....off we went. (I think she was referencing The Bachelor/Bachelorette series.)

We walked around for awhile, waiting for our $9.99 pizza to bake and we saw these:

Two movie tickets for $14.99.  (Now, in a few days I am going to post about ways to see/get movies for free, but assuming your city doesn't offer those options), we thought this was a fair deal.

We wondered how many of you would like the idea of your date night being--picking up a couple of these babies while you walk around Costco waiting for your  $9.99 pizza to bake.

Now I realize, that there are a lot of free date night options and $25.00 still may be a little much...but we just had to stop and appreciate Kelly's quote that evening. It was fun to walk around Costco and talk with no real mission in mind. We may be the only people in an America who walked out of Costco that night with no  other purchase in tow.



Grow something and eat it

This weekend we had a chance to visit my parents. It was Father's Day weekend, so that made it a bit more special.

I talk about couponing a lot and saving money at the store, but honestly, there are better ways. Here's what my mom and dad do:

My parents grow corn, tomatoes, potatoes, squash, cabbage, peppers, cucumbers and green beans. That's 12 rows of vegetables, 80 feet long. Last year, my dad did the math and realized that if he would have bought all of those vegetables at the store, he would have spent about $2,000.  The cost (not including his labor) to grow the garden was about $125, which includes plants, seeds, fertilizer and insecticide.  That is something.

Now, I realize that is just not possible for everyone. My friend Amanda writes a blog and here is a post she wrote about their new garden. Actually, she has written several posts, so if you go to her blog and hit the "our garden" tag, be ready to be inspired. Here's my favorite picture from her garden posts:

Maybe, that is more your speed? Or space? Or skill? 

And then there is our garden:

One basil plant.

Can  you believe that I am the daughter of the man who grew the first garden you saw? I'd like to blame it on the fact that our back yard gets very little sun, but my dad would know better and since he reads this, I better not.

At the end of the day...here's the point. Grow SOMETHING and eat it. Even if it is just one little plant. It really will make you happy.

1/2 price Chick-fil-A milkshakes

If you live in Richmond, VA and like milkshakes, then read on. 

Very Important:  This is for the WILLOW LAWN location



photo credit

$9.00 on the line

I assist a client with some personal assistant needs who lives in a community with a Homeowner's Association. Regularly, I open his mail and find a letter from the HOA. I have never seen anything like it. He violates some rule almost weekly. "Your grass is brown" (I guess so, since it never rains in Richmond). Or, "Your front porch needs a fresh coat of paint"  (His porch is stained wood, so that really means the TWO small risers that lead to his front door).

Clearly, a clothes line is out of the question. They might call 9-1-1 if he put one of those up in his back yard.


I used to live in a neighborhood like that. No clothesline for me either. Now, I live in the city and pretty much anything goes. But here is the problem:

This is the size of our back yard. Not ideal for a permanent clothesline.

 

So, my dad (before I was married) came up with the pefect solution:

 

A retractable clothesline! The line coils up when not in use, but I can pull out the line whenever I need it. He attached the opposing hook to a tree on the other side of our property.

And so now sometimes our back patio looks like this:

For city living or for pulling one over on your HOA. Whatever you need. This retractable clothesline  costs all of $9.00.

$500 worth of merchandise cost her nothing

One of the fun things about writing this blog is when others get excited about their own experiences and share them with me.

I got a text this week that said, "I have 701 Kroger gas points...can't maximize better than that!" (That translates to mean that this person would get $.70 off/gallon that day when  he went to the gas station).

Another friend regularly texts me about his savings at the grocery store. That may not seem that significant until you find out that this is a single male. Single. Male. Couponing. Love that.

I got this email recently from a friend and it was so encouraging, I thought I would share.  She asks if she won the prize of the week. She may have just won the prize of the month, year and decade.

"I'll have to tell you what my husband I did. A week ago we went to Kohl's and bought a Dyson vacuum cleaner that I've wanted for ages.  It was $450 plus tax, so I had a yard sale and made $485 the weekend before.  A friend gave me her 30% off coupon and I had $20 in Kohl's bucks, so the vacuum ended up costing $319.  Kohl's gives you $10 Kohl's bucks (use just like cash) for each $50 you spend, so we had $60 to spend in the next few weeks.  The 30% coupon was still good so we went last night.  We really didn't need anything so we decided we could each spend $40.  We looked and looked and I ended with six pairs of Gold-toe socks, a cute pair of sandals and a bottle brush.  My husband got a nice leather belt and two shirts.  It was so much fun.  We got all those things plus the vacuum and didn't spend any of our money.  Do I win the prize for this week?"

I know this woman well and she and her husband are faithful tithers (givers) and so that just makes the story that much sweeter.

It must be Tuesday

I got married almost 6 months ago and couldn't be happier about who I married. He is all kinds of wonderful. Prior to tying the knot, I essentially lived alone for well over a decade with the exception of the occasional roommate who needed a place to land for a few months and very cute 2 year old who settled in for about a year and a half. All my roommates (Michelle, Becca, Anna, and Jessica) including the little one, Alfonso, were great roommates for lots of reasons and it didn't hurt a bit they they were also organized. I kind of like that. You've probably noticed.  Actually, I don't care so much if you are organized until it starts to seep into my space. Then, I care.

So, now I share a home with my husband who is  not neurotic normal in this area. He actually is very loving in that sometimes he gently challenges me with the hard questions about whether something needs to be done right then. It really does help slow me down, reflect and turn off auto pilot. However, at the end of the day, I am just made this way--to love order.  I make no apologies for it and most of the time, feel like it serves our marriage. He would agree. But, he serves our marriage too. Here's just one example that happened several weeks ago.

Back Story: Here's a glimpse of our dining room.

Here is a glimpse of our dining room on a recent Tuesday night. How do I know that it is Tuesday night? Because the window is showing me darkness and there are two of Joe's suit jackets on the back of the dining room chairs.

Monday: deposit suit jacket here at the end of the work day
Tuesday: deposit suit jacket here at the end of the work day
and so it goes...

Reflect on the rest of the room. Ordered beyond reason, really. And then the suit jackets. It's funny because as much as I don't love it, I kind of do. I love that I am married and suit jackets are a part of my life. I love that my neuroses has not driven him to be nervous in our home about where his stuff lands. I am blessed to remember that he has a great job that he loves. Mostly, it just reminds me that this our OUR house and no longer mine. Something I have been waiting to come to pass for years.

But to add icing to the cake--this will make you adore him:

I asked Joe on a Thursday night if he wanted to have dinner inside or out. He looked into the dining room and saw the four suit jackets (4=Thursday, you know the drill) and thought for a minute. Then, he turned to me and in a loud whisper pointed to the dining room and said, "Not in there, they are having a board meeting." 

Then I just die laughing and nothing else really matters.

(I asked him if the board meeting might be over by the time my parents visited that weekend and he said he thought it would.)

And that's what it's all about

Not the hokey pokey.

I started writing this blog with one intention. That intention is outlined in the "About Me" section of the blog and also cut and pasted here:

"....Living consciously is about living with an awareness of what you have, what you need and love, avoiding wastefulness and being a good steward of your money so that you can be charitable. This is not a blog about recycling or zero-waste living, although I think those things are great. I will offer ideas from my work as a personal assistant and trade tips from working in the home organization business....We get one life and I want to live it consciously."

And so, examples of that concept are the things that stir my soul, but obviously cannot happen everyday. I'd like to think that the everyday decisions that we make in this area set  us up for opportunities to "show up" when it is time.

I posted last week about an upcoming yard sale that was scheduled for this past Saturday. The intent was to raise money to bring an orphan home from China. "Adoption yard sales" are becoming more popular and some friends  pulled it off like nobody's business. You can read about that here. (Parts one and two)

"Be aware of what you have so you can be charitable." Charitable so Charlie can come be with his family. Twenty five hundred dollars ($2500) was raised to help bring an orphan home just because  lots of people took a break from their everyday and made a conscious decision about their stuff.

It's life changing. Just ask Charlie when you meet him.

A little Farm Fresh Inspiration

It's Wednesday, which means Farm Fresh is doubling coupons of any value that are $1.00 or less.

I wanted to tell you what I got during last week's trip, so you  might feel encouraged to give it a try.

I got all of this plus 4 instant pasta packets that are not pictured (because I had already bagged them up for the food closet at our church) for...................................................................

 

$1.00!!!!!

That is four bottles of salad dressing, two bottles of barbecue sauce and two bottles of jelly. Total cost for all those bottles = $1.00 + tax. The funny thing about it is that as I driving home from the grocery store, I was starving and I thought -I have nothing in those bags that I could actually eat. And frankly, that is how it goes sometimes.  

Getting What you Paid for

The other day I saw an advertisement for an upcoming show on Rachel Ray. It was a teaser for an upcoming segment and it appeared they were going to talk about how you can get the most from your cosmetics. I didn't see the show but was able to see the segment here on their website. It offered some unique ways to make sure you get the most out of cosmetic purchases. It made me wonder what you all do to make sure you get what you pay for-every drip or every cranny. Here's something I do regularly with the Clinique Foundation I use:

 At this point, there are no more squirts left when I try to squirt, but I can see plenty of make-up remaining.

 So, regularly at this point in the game, I make a single cut down the middle with my scissors.

And here's why. All of this make up, would otherwise just go to waste.

I just store it in a zip lock and can easily get about 3 more weeks out of it.

Tell me about some of creative things you do to get what you paid for!

Domino's Pizza Deal

My husband and I watched a little segment of CNBC's Mad Money this past week. There,  it was  announced that Domino's Pizza is offering US customers a 50% discount off all pizzas ordered online at menu price. Use promo code 50OFF now through 6/17 when you order online.
And for those who prefer gluten free, they have a gluten free crust as option.

Richmond Bargains said the following: "I priced a large cheese pizza at $6.81 after discount and taxes, excluding a delivery fee."

Father's Day-June 17th

Don't forget Father's Day  this Sunday. I wanted to quickly mention a few places you might consider getting your card this year. A few weeks ago I mentioned the Dollar Tree as being a good place to pick a card. They sell them 2 for $1.00

Here's some other ideas.

I recently discovered cardstore.com. A few weeks ago, they had a coupon code for a $.99 card +free shipping. This website lets you personalize the card as well and gives you an option to send it direcly to the receiver's addresss (saves you a stamp). I just took a peek at their website and realized that $.99 deal is over. Shoot. Sorry for being slow out of the gate to share about that. The deal for today isn't quite as good, but take a look around their site. I have gotten 2 free cards since finding the site and then another for $.99. I appreciate their frequent deals.

Lastly, CVS is offering $3.00 in Extra Care Bucks if you buy three Hallmark Cards (retail value of $1.49 or more). It's like getting 3 cards for $1.47. Pretty nice deal.

Most importantly, I hope you are a dad to be celebrated or know a dad or two that should be celebrated/remembered. We do in our home and are grateful for that.

Weed Out Wednesday

Weed out Wednesday was a regular post before this blog petered out I started planning our wedding. I realized this last week when I was reminded of a friend's yard sale. Her family is having a yard sale to raise money to bring home their orphan son. If you live in Richmond, you should check it out. And if you can't, maybe it will inspire you to donate to someone you know who is having a yard sale for the same reason. I can't think of a better reason to get rid of your stuff.

I love the idea of giving something away in order to offer someone a home.  It's easy to fall into the thinking that Americans can provide more for orphans. And yes, in many cases, we have better health care, educational resources, healthy food options etc. But it's just as easy to fall into the thinking that an orphan needs my stuff-toys/books/new clothes/his own room etc- to make his life better. And that, we know, is some faulty thinking on our part. So, this yardsale reminds me that in this land of consumers, provision for another human being isn't found in the stuff. Because if it were, there would be no yardsale. Rather, there would be a clothes drive/toy drive to get Charlie home.

Charlie needs a family and his family will "sell the farm" to make sure he gets here safely and quickly.

So this Wednesday, in honor of Charlie, I can't think of a better reason for you to take 15 minutes and  find 15 things for your "give away box" to give to the next orphan yard sale you hear about.

Here's  a picture of our box that we keep to the right of the basement steps all year long. If we can't get this to Charlie's family by Saturday, I'll get it to the next family)

And if you live in Richmond and want to visit this great yardsale family, by all means.

(Here's the craigslist link for more info)

The title is a bit deceiving

For the last few years, I have gotten/ purchased an Entertainment book.



We use it as much as we can and it really has paid for itself over and over. My friend actually had a blog for a while chronicling all her savings using the book. As the year transpires, the price of the book reduces incrementally. Six months into the year, they are now advertising a sale price of $5.00 when you become an Annual Renewal Member!

 

The book offers discounts for restaurants, museums, golf, dry cleaning, flower delivery, rental cars, tanning, department stores, car care services and a whole lot more. It's not just entertainment, hence the deceiving title.  In Richmond, we use the Home Team Grill coupons all the time because there are five! There are also coupons for Dicks Sporting Goods and some other national chains. If I could offer one improvement,  the book should have less "buy one get one free" offers, because you don't always have a person with whom you can share your deal. Even so, it's $5.00. Try it out or give it as a gift. We got one for our wedding, so now we keep one in each car!