Saturday was our city-wide yard sale. The children popped out of bed and dressed quickly on Saturday, eager to be included in the yard sale shopping. Our oldest two missed most of it because they were helping at our church's sale to support the teen camp. But the rest tagged along. As we set out, I specifically prayed for God to help me find organizational items, and we did successfully find some.
Some of our great finds:
$1.00 silver purse that matches the silver shoes I bought 2 weeks ago for the wedding I'm in this summer ... for use at the reception
$0.25 brand new white dress sandals for 3 yo L to wear as flower girl in that wedding
$5.00 bike we'll add training wheels to for 3 yo L (we have training wheels in the garage already)
$0.50 two stacking cobalt blue cubes for organizing ... plan to use them in our school/craft area -- see update 1 below
$1.00 big plastic file drawer to use to organize our school area -- see update 2 below
$0.10 each for 8 spill-proof Playtex and Nuby cups (we use these alot with our 5 and under crowd and some of our old ones can stand to be replaced)
$1.00 each for two packages of 6 brand new crew socks for the boys
$1.00 pink and white cowboy boots for 3 yo L to grow into
$0.50 brown and denim cowboy boots for Baby G next year
$1.00 pair of super soft quality fleece footed pajamas, size 4T
$0.25 books, including a hardcover copy of one of my Teashop Mysteries I enjoy, a hardcover book I put away for a kid gift, and a hardcover copy of Why ADHD Doesn't Mean Disaster, which I've been wanting to read
$0.25 for a set of two blue plastic magazine boxes (you know the type you use on a bookshelf)
$0.10 each for 3 new Coca-Cola glasses, because mine keep getting broken
$1.50 box of yarn for the girls to weave and knit with
$1.00 each, several VHS movies -- including a new copy of Twister since ours is damaged and it's a family favorite.
$1.00 Greatest Ever Mexican Recipes, large hardcover cookbook in great shape
$1.00 The Wedding Collection: 52 solos arranged for medium voice ... because I have a medium-range voice and maybe someday I'll sing solos again (my daughters also fall in that range, though)
$2.50 for an electric Christmas train ... which we really didn't need, but the boys were drooling over. So, for $2.50 I decided to spoil them a little.
$5.00 bread machine with instruction booklet that I'm promised works and is nice and clean and the pan inside is unscratched. It's a 1.5-2 lb loaf size, and I'm looking forward to testing it this week.
I began making bread with a bread machine 8 years ago, but after awhile it quit rising as well as it first had and I was frustrated. Instead of replacing the bread machine, we bought me a Kitchenaid stand mixer and I moved on to making bread by hand ... but I found it rather time-consuming and began to do it less often. I think I've baked bread once since we moved here, partly because there wasn't a convenient place to put my mixer which was too tall to fit on my kitchen counter. I now have it on a table beside the fridge, but we use the oven very little in summer since we have no air conditioning. I've been wishing I had a new bread machine to make the process of making bread faster and easier. I hope this bread machine solves that problem.Look for an update on that later.
But back to the frugal fun -- my kids love yard sale shopping. For a few dollars, we can find things we need, spend time together as family, and pick up a few new toys or fun books and movies that make the day worthwhile to them. Yesterday we were home by lunch time, because we had plans for the afternoon and evening already, so our only additional cost was 2 Kolaches from one yard sale (pastry I've never had before) and a couple lemonades from a lemonade stand.
If you want to see what bargains others are finding, then join Molly Green at the Econobusters blog for her Weekend Wonders post each Monday.
UPDATE #1 -- The cobalt blue stacking cubes wouldn't work for my scrapbooking supplies in the dining/school room after all. I then tried the bathroom, but they wouldn't fit under the vanity there, stacked or side by side. Then I thought of two other areas ... both would have been a great use for them. One was beside our deep freeze where we tend to stack things up, including two old ice chests we use to store jellos, pudding mixes, and packages of things like sunflower seeds. But that wasn't the winning solution.
Instead the cobalt blue cubes (I love that color!) went into my bedroom. Steve's chore clothes for yardwork and automobile mechanic work were stored in a cardboard 4 drawer chest that was getting lopsided. It was hard to open and shut the drawers. Now his chore clothes are stacked in the two cubes right next to Baby G's dresser. It fits perfectly, and will work so much better than a lopsided cardboard dresser.
UPDATE #2 -- The big black plastic file drawer fit nicely on top of the buffet table in the dining room that we use to store boxes of craft supplies and school items. I'm still trying to decide what will best be stored in there. But in the process, I am also taking the time to clean up the area a bit. I'm afraid my kids have taken to tossing stuff up on top of my file boxes there. It was rather haphazard looking.
UPDATE #3 -- Yes, the bread machine works. We enjoyed a loaf of bread Tuesday night, fresh from the bread machine. The top of the loaf was not smooth, but it was good. We'll enjoy having a bread machine. It can't really provide for all of our family's bread needs, unless I run it daily or several times each day. But it will provide a yummy and healthy treat on a regular basis. Maybe it will inspire me to resume baking bread by hand once the weather cools off.
I couldnt live without our machine. I have several recipes on my site for bread machines; pizza dough, french bread, regular bread, etc. you can visit me at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/coffeewithmrsdani and you can click on recipes in the catagory list on my sidebar so you do not have to go through all of my posts.
I can not believe the money I have saved with our bread machine. When ours starts getting old, I start prowling the yard sales for the replacement.
Welcome to ElCloud Homeschool blog. My name is April, and I'm married to my best friend, Steve. We have 7 active, creative children ages 14, 12, 10, 8, 5, 3, and 1. This blog is where I share about our Christian faith, our family life, our homeschool, and my reviews of curriculum and books. Deuteronomy 6:4-9 is our goal for our family and our homeschool.
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Jun. 8, 2009 - I love my bread machine
I can not believe the money I have saved with our bread machine. When ours starts getting old, I start prowling the yard sales for the replacement.