Thred Up - Recycling Old Clothing

Thred Up - Recycling Old Clothing

I have been looking at this site for some time, loving the idea of used clothing. I do notice that they have a different collection of clothing, than at my local GoodWill. Which is good! I signed up to see what else they had. 

Turns out, they get these clothes from you and me! They will send you a bag to send your clothing, in great condition, no staining, tears, missing labels, etc, and if they pass Thred Up's examination process, you'll have store credit!  Sounds like a good idea to me, I needed to get rid of my clothing anyways. And, the clothing they don't accept, they donate. 

So yesterday I received my bag in the mail. It's a free bag, they ship it to you free, and there's a return label already on the bag. :) 

  It's a rather large bag, I don't know how much it holds, but it depends on how well you can fold your items tiny! ;) It more than had room for the clothing I had to send them. 

You then peel the sticker off, and fold over the remaining bag onto itself, WITH the label showing. :) And volia, you're ready to send it back. They do mention that it'll take 4-6 weeks, once they receive it, to process everything and decide what they'll accept and then credit your account for. They donate the remaining items!

This is my first time doing this, and I'll update this when things have been credited to my account...IF anything is. :)

What do you do with your items you've decided to give away?

 

30 Piece Wardrobe

30 Piece Wardrobe - How can it be done?!

This is my journey towards getting capsule wardrobes, 30 items for a Fall/Winter and 30 for Spring/Summer. Every person makes their own little rules about this, but the 30 main items seems to be the basic idea that runs through the movement! I long for simplicity, and have been on this journey for over two years now. It seems like every time I get down in my clothing, it explodes once again!

The Nitty-Gritty

Going through my things, I have a lot of bottoms. Skirts, leggings, capris, and one pair of jeans. I have a few tops I love, a few tank tops, and some t-shirts. None of which I LOVE. I realized, while going through my things, that I have maybe 5 things total that I love to wear. The others...well they just cover me. While I'm not a vain person,I have a list of criteria I am trying to follow, with any new purchases.

1. It's modest.
2. It's comfortable.
3. It's frugal
4. It's flattering. 

In that order.

Orange sweater, 3 tops - this was my recent Goodwill find!
3 Capri pants: One nice, one work pair & one relaxed fit.

8 Tops: 2 3/4 sleeves, 3 long sleeved, 3 cap sleeved.

2 shirt dresses

2 jeans skirts, 1 pair of jeans

3 sweaters

5 tank tops (2 not pictured)

7 t-shirts (7th not pictured)

Still missing from the photo line up, is my black, broomstick type, skirt. It's light, and perfect for summer, because of that. Even though it's black, it's one of the coolest skirts I own! And it's perfect for tossing a pair of tights, or leggings on underneath, for Fall and Winter. ;)

Well there you have it...my wardrobe as of right now. I'll be going through these pieces again, in two months, when the weather gets cooler. See what I might need to add, and pull out the seasonal items I have packed away. I can't wait for that! It'll be time to purge once again! :D

10 More Ways to Save Money

10 Most Ways to Save Money!
In case you missed the first 10 ways, click me, and you'll see what else we do!


1) We use washable cloth towels, instead of paper towels.
2) We also use cloth napkins, instead of paper.
3) I prep our food as much as possible. I know this saves us money, because I'm not left thinking we have nothing to eat, and things don't go bad.
4) Use the library!! Seriously, I even use this as a way to check out books that I'm interested in purchasing for our personal library. I've purchased a few books in my lifetime, that were a complete waste of money!!
5) We don't have cable or satellite TV. We do have Netflix again, but we use YouTube a lot, and purchase Amazon Prime once a year. (Although this coming year, we're going to forego Amazon, as it doesn't have we like to watch much).
6) We also have basic phones. While I miss the smart phones ability to keep me organized, it would suck too much of my time and money from me!
7) We eat meatless meals, twice a week now.
8) Our church has a children's closet, we go there to take our out-grown items, and see what they have that will fill our needs. This is a free service, which we have been hugely blessed by! Children grow, quickly.
9) I'll be posting some items for sale, we don't use them, and they still are useful, and it'll help us have some cash on hand, for those little things that pop up, like oh...food, gas, children's shoes because they grew out of all of their shoes at once, kind of thing. ;)
10) I look for what's on sale, and buy enough to last (hopefully) until the next time it would be on sale.




I love finding ways to save us more money, some are instant, some are over time, but all contribute to keeping money in our wallets, than seeing it fly out of the house like it's pants are on fire. :)

Let's Talk Numbers, Shall We?

 Numbers, Smumbers


We have been getting a set amount from the state, in the way of food assistance. I would also, spend above that amount, ALL the time. Until this month, that is. I was curious, and a little nervous, to see just how much I was spending, over the $257 in assistance. On average, we were spending $205.00 over the $257. Of that, approximately $50 would be spent in eating out, usually on the days' we went grocery shopping. 


So it breaks down too:
$407.70 for food.


Ah, That's a LOT Seymour!


Which, if I was doing better meal planning, wouldn't be 'too' bad. However, I KNOW I wasn't planning, and that things went to waste a LOT. So it was a waste of money, to be spending that much. I'm really tired of throwing out food that's gone bad, aren't you?


So now we know, I spent about 1/3 more of our money, on food we'd end up tossing out. Bah, now I'm a little peeved at myself. ;) Here's to better meal planning, and food prep, to make food easier and more apt to be eaten. And, I'll have to brain storm a better plan for the days we go grocery shopping, as well. Saving that $50+ would be awesome!! That's almost 2 fill up's at the gas station. Or plenty of diapers and wipes for the month. Or food for all of the animals, and litter for the cats.


When I think of it like that, it's eat opening to see how frivolous we can get with money, and knowing that it can be spent better, wiser...For some time now, I've been thinking I need to take my life here at home, and think of it as a job. Meaning, I need to organize my duties, my desires, my abilities, and use them to the best intentions. I have plenty of time to get things done around the house, to plan our menus, to cook nutritious foods and snacks, and to take the time to learn how to save money, and use it wisely.


Last Thoughts


Maybe that's where I need to start: by planning out my weeks, to maximize my time, and abilities, so that I can save us the most money, and yet we still enjoy our meals, our days, and maybe just maybe the Lord will bless us in being able to do things together, outside the home as well. :)




What have you done, to change your habits, and reorganize the spending??

My Current Wardrobe August 2015

My Current Wardrobe August 2015 by peggyjean featuring party shirts



This is as close as I can get with Polyvore, to my own wardrobe. Actual pictures, come soon! :) 

Hold the Change, Please. I Wanna Be Frugal Too!

We all want to be frugal!

Trying to be frugal with money for meals, while also being nutritious, can be disheartening at times. When you toss in trying to stay away from gluten, and the other various things, it's even more challenging. Most people can and will use things like whole wheat pasta, whole wheat bread, whole wheat tortillas, homemade breads, pizzas...all of that is out of the picture for us. So cutting costs and being creative is the order of the day, here.


When I see what some people call their frugal budget, I am amazed at their bottom line. I have searched for many ways to make delicious meals, frugally, and our meager budget is meager, by most standards. There are some who spend less than we do, and still make very good meals.


We get assistance...


We have food assistance from the state here, which we've been blessed with. And shortly, we'll be able to get off of it. But I'm using this time as a challenge for myself, and I'm excited. We get a set amount per month, and I've always used that, AND plenty of our own money, to feed us. And we have tossed so much food away, because it's gone bad. No more. I can really only get what we will eat in a two week period of time.


We also get WIC, which is a huge help, in getting the pantry basics we all enjoy. Another post soon, I will share what we get, and what I do with it, to make it fit into our dietary guidelines.


This is basic training for me, soon the wheels will be taken off, and it will be easy to go back to spending whatever, whenever on food. I don't want that. We have things we want to do around the farm and house, and debts we want to tackle. That calls for keeping it sucked in, food wise.


The bottom line


Our budget is $257 a month, for 2 adults, and 2 children (2&3, almost 3&4)
That breaks down to:
$15.63 per person, per week
A total of $63 per week. Which doesn't seem like a lot, however, I don't think we'll go hungry!!


For the first time in awhile, I'm excited about cooking, and planning our various standards. I've been depressed over this at some points, y'all. Deeply depressed...and didn't care what we spent, or what we ate.


So my challenge will be to spend $63 per week (going shopping twice a month), for the rest of this year. That's 20 weeks. Should be fun times! Later, I'll be able to sit down and figure out how much we're able to save, by spending this amount. I also have to look back at what we would spend before I realized I was wasting our money! ;)


I'll be sharing recipes and my shopping trips, and the price book I've started, throughout this journey.

Anyone want to join me?

10 Ways We Save Money, Here and There.

I feel like a broken record, but there can never be too many posts about how people can save money. With the economy the way it is, and with food allergies/intolerance on the rise, it can be frustrating to find ways to keep costs down, and eat well. Especially with growing children in the house!

With limited funds, and some know-how, I believe we're all capable of making nutritious meals, frugally, and creatively. Sometimes we just need that inspiration from others. Here are a few ways we save money, and while not all food related, they do help to easy the funds all around, and give us a little breathing space.

 

10 Ways We Save Money, Here and There!

1. We line dry our clothes. Although I've gotten out of the practice, I need to get back in. It had already shown a huge improvement in our electricity bill.
2. We keep the AC set to 78-79 during the day, and turn it off at night. We are going to switch this a little though. Our new way is: Inside temp set too 80-81, turn on the air after 12 noon, and only as needed. Cool the house to 77-78 to go to sleep, and turn it off before bed.
3. Keep a fuller frig and freezer, to keep the cooling costs down.
4. Meal plan!
5. Don't go shopping without a list, ever.
6. Repair holes in clothes and socks.
7. Repurpose things as needed.
8. Reuse old fencing for the chickens fence.
9.  Make our own laundry soap.
10. We go shopping at the Goodwill, and other discount stores, first, when we need something. Case in point, this past week my husband needed some polo shirts for his new job. I went to Goodwill, and found 4 new polo's for him, in great shape, for $15. When 1 is that price alone, this is a great deal. I'm sure if I'd been at the Goodwill one day earlier, on Sat, when they have their 50% off, it might have been cheaper. But I'm satisfied with what I paid. :) The colors look great on him, and they will last for awhile now.

These are just a few ways, we save money. Check here for more ways we save money!

How do you save money????

Why No Snacks, Semour?

Y'all...we could eat snacks all day long, given the chance. And we have. Recently, I'm sad to say. My children would eat snacks, and not be hungry for real food. Same with my husband, and myself. This had to stop.


So...I said no more to the highly processed snacks, with 1000000 ingredients and zero nutritional value. To be honest, I'm not sure what we'll be doing when the munchies come upon us. I have veggies, applesauce, raisins, and fruits for us all, when we want to snack. And it's going to be limited too.


Occasionally, we will get one snack, which we all love, and enjoy it while it lasts. But no more buying snacks every week, all week...it's not good for the budget, nor the waistline.


Being gluten free, we have an abundance of snacks at our fingertips, but sadly they are, on the whole, nutrient deficient, a sad cousin to their wheat counterparts. I also noticed a change in the children's behaviors, that made me realize they bodies were asking for REAL food. Food that feeds their cells, and brains.


Thankfully, I've been able to make meals that are yummy, and varied enough to capture the interest of the two toddlers in the house, and manage to make the adults pleased too. Although we DO have picky toddler eaters, they are getting better about eating what it put before them.


I also tried putting a small amount of food on their plates, so they aren't overwhelmed by the amount. They will taste it, most of the time and either want more, or ask to leave the table. Then, suddenly, they eat us out of house and home for 3-4 days in a row! Gotta love toddlers! :D


Anywho, I hope that answers any unspoken questions about why some food groups seem to be missing entirely from our menu.

Homemade Laundry Soap !Updated!

 Homemade Laundry Soap!

It seems almost every blogger has a homemade laundry soap recipe. They are really all so similar in nature, it seems silly to add mine into the mix. But I'm telling you, it's a money saver. And we can all use some ideas on how to save money, right?? ;)

I used to get All Free and Clear, usually the smaller bottle...it was expensive.

A 50oz bottle, claiming 32 loads, was about $13-14 and I'd get one per month. Yikes, ouch, and I made that stuff stretch, although it didn't really get things as clean as I'd like too. So I knew I has to make something, or do something differently! Making my own seemed the logical choice.

Let's get to my recipe!


Laundry Soap Recipe


Borax, 4lbs 12oz ($3.97)
Washing Soda, 3lbs 7oz ($3.77)
Ivory Bar Soap 3.1oz each, used two ($.83)
20-30 drops of EO of choice.
Total was: $8.77


Grate the bar soap into a large Tupperware container, add the Borax and Washing Soda, and EO. Mix really well. I use 2-4 Tablespoons per load, more if really dirty clothes, less if not. It works well in cold to hot water. No residues left behind, etc.


I made this June 1, 2015, and I believe it'll run out near the beginning of September. Next time I make it, I'll be buying enough for double.


These are also Walmart prices, which I'll see if somewhere else has them cheaper, because...well I'd like to make it cheaper!


*I know there are some who like to have more of a clean smell, I'd suggest purchasing 1-2 of the Downey Unstoppables, and add that into the above recipe, replacing the EO's. Still cheaper, but you have the scent you want! ;)


Updates!


UPDATED August 24, 2015 ***
It did not last us until Sept 1st, as I'd hoped. I also didn't purchase enough for double.

I went to Frys Grocers Store, and changed the recipe a little, which doesn't really help for comparison! ;) lol But here's the new recipe!

 NEW Recipe:

My lovely stars...I mean ingredients!

And the final results!

Over all, it was $2.20 more than the original recipe.

I added the Oxy Booster from All to help it really clean the clothes. By my best calculations, this batch should last us about 141 loads, using 2 tablespoons per load.  I'll be taking an accurate count of how many loads this washes.. We also have things like Shout, and Spot Out on hand for those pesky dirty spots that ALWAYS happen with animals and children around. I'll update this again, as life moves along. :)




Have you tried making your own laundry soap? I suggest you try, it's easy, SO easy, and you know what's in it! :)

How I Budgeted Our Grocery Money

$250 Food Budget a Month

$250 Food Budget a Month	$125 Every Two Weeks
Meat: (30%) $75	Meat: (30%)  $37.50
Produce: (30%) %75	Produce: (30%) $37.50
Bulk Pantry: (25%) $62.50	Bulk Pantry: (25%) $31.25
Flavorful Pantry: (15%) $37.50	Flavorful Pantry: (15%) $18.75

• Beans will stretch the meat, add to every meal.
• Have a Quinoa and Bean mix twice a week.
• Eat eggs frequently.
• Use simple flavoring, spices, etc (may need to adjust the two pantry ratios)
• Be flexible, if meat is on sale, and doesn’t take the full 30%, use the leftover money for bulk pantry and produce, which can be frozen.
• No processed snacks, or keep it to one special one a month.

The Budget Challenge

The Budget Challenge Week 1 (August 10-August 24)

$125 for 2 wks, feeding 2 adults, 2 children

$31.25, per person ($15.63 per person per week)

Went shopping yesterday, and went over budget, however I purchased things that will last more than two weeks, so it'll even out in the month.

What I got and where I shopped:

Big Lots

5- ½ gal Almond milk, Blue Diamond, original, $10

2- Quaker Oats, instant, $2.50

1- Juicy Juice, $2.00

2- Del Monte Fruit Puree squeezers, $3.00

Total: $17.50

WalMart

Polanders Cherry Jam, $2.12

ACV, Braggs, $5.98

Ranch Dressing, Kraft, $1,98

3- Dried red kidney beans, $4.74

3- Dried black beans, $5,16

3- Dried lentils, $4.38

Great Value Raisins, $2.98

Applesauce, $1.75

Total: $29.09

Frys (Kroger)

Chocolate Chips, $1.69

Popcorn, $3.39

3- Hot dog packages, $6.50

Fosters Split Chicken breasts, $7.10 (8lbs)

Dried pinto beans, $.99

Sharp cheese, $7.99

Colby cheese, $7.99

Peaches, $5.95 (6.01lbs)

Frozen green peas, $3.00 (2 large packages)

Yellow Corn, 5 ears, $2.00 (treat for chickens!)

2- Canned black beans, $.1.38

Coconut oil, $4.99

Cauliflower, 1 head, 4.40 (2.33lbs/1.89 per lb)

8- Blueberries cartons, $10.00

Quinoa, $6.49

Baby spinach, $3.99

4- Lemons, $2.76

Yams, $6.73 (1.99 per lb, 3.38lbs)

Total: $87.79 (saved $51.39, 36%!)

Grand Total: $134.38 (over by $9.38)

Thoughts:

• I still have chicken breasts, ground beef, cod, and some leftover meat dishes in the freezer. So that was a purchase that I didn’t have to do. I couldn’t pass up the chicken deal, at $.97 a pound!
• Big Lots prices are already marked down, from regular grocery stores, so I go there first, to see if anything on my list is priced right.
• I also just started an official price book, as I’d been keeping the prices in my head...which is not always the best idea!
• I don’t like Walmarts recipes! They describe nothing very well. I’m still not convinced that I saved there, but we needed to also get non-food items.
• Random, our sales tax is 8.350%
• We have a lot of frozen veggies, leftover, I'll be using those up, we eat more produce than it appears. lol