You've Purged, Now What?

My house is FULL of stuff we don't need.  Now that I challenged you to fill a milk crate or box with items you don't need, I did the same thing!

What to do with it all?

Sort the items that were collected.  Some things may not be worth more than a dollar if they were to be resold.  I put those items into another box that is marked Yard Sale to sell at a future date.

Then I take pictures of items I feel will make some money  with my Ipad.  These aren't always the best pictures, but I find uploading a picture online much easier from an Ipad.  If an item is a name brand and excellent condition I sell it as an individual item. When I have a few similar items that are not a brand name I sell them together.

In my local area there are many Facebook Buy and Sell groups. I think this is the way it is in most areas now. Hop on Facebook and search Market Place for the names of local buy and sell groups and request to join them.

I find items sell much faster on the Facebook groups then on Kijiji, perhaps because people get notifications.

I list the item description and price and wait.  I usually have many ads online to sell at any given time. To help organize it better for me, once an item is posted on Facebook for sale I put it in a Rubbermaid Container. This way I keep track of what items are already posted, and it makes it faster to find the item when it is sold and ready for pickup.

In a few days, if an item doesn't sell on Facebook I put the item on Kijiji if it is an item over $10.  Selling this way I find there isn't as much traffic. Perhaps this is because most of the items I sell are kid items, which are very active on Facebook.

Items on Facebook  I write available under my picture to bump it up, or write my price that I will sell the item for, which also bumps the item up the Facebook page.

A few times a year I make an album on Facebook of all the items and just write pm if you are interested to see if any of my friends are interested in the items.

I suggest avoiding meeting people for pick ups.  Many people don't show up on time and I've been left waiting for people. I have people come to my house. 

Selling online is a lot of effort. I find it worth it, every little bit helps towards the final goal. I don't find adult clothes sell often, but a lot of my items aren't brands this may be why. In two years we made enough to pay for a trip to Disney World using this method. 

IT PAYS TO BE FRUGAL

Purge Challenge!

Ok, my house has a lot of stuff that we don't need!  Tell me it isn't just me that has this problem?  I took a year and went through my house on a regular basis and would throw things into a container to sell or donate. 
Today, I did another sweep of the house.
Grab a milk crate or a small tote and walk through your house and grab some things that you don't love.   Let the crate sit in your basement or in a spare room for a week, and then re-visit it.  You probably won't want to bring the items back into your home. 
You will find it easier to clean your home as an extra bonus.  I also find it easier to sit down and relax, my eyes aren't constantly scanning all the STUFF in the room.
I just filled up a milk crate with kid shoes that they have outgrown but are sitting in the mudroom, and with some containers that I have been cursing in my kitchen this past week.
Are you ready to accept the challenge?

Rain Barrel

Finally it has rained!  At the end of the gutters at our house we have a rain barrel.  The barrel collects rain and we use it to water the plants and gardens outside. 
Perhaps this isn't a frugal tip since water is free, but it is a great tip to use what we have.

It pays to be frugal. 

Share your books

I love to read, it is one of my favourite pass times.  Being frugal, I don't often buy new books at a book store.  I get most of my books at yard sales. It works out well because I do most of my reading in the summer and I find books frequently at yard sales.  Usually books are prices at a dollar a book, that price can't be beat!  Sometimes I get books that are still popular since most people don't keep books after they read them and more people are reading in the summertime.
Another thing I do is share my books.  I have a few friends that we exchange our favourite books.  This works out great  because it gives us something to talk about as well as being frugal. 
I also get books from the library if I am unable to find a book that I am wanting to read.
Happy reading!


It pays to be frugal.

What's it worth?

Well, if you frequently visit Guess Who's Cheap? you will see my torn love hate relationship with Air Miles. 
I love it when I am getting something for free! Air Miles are always free, and whether you have Dream or Cash Miles, it is a great deal.  But let's talk about what Air Miles are worth in each situation to help make decisions about what to do with all those Air Miles that are racking up.

Cash Miles is the easiest math, let's start there.  If you have your Air Miles set to the cash setting then your Air Miles are worth money.  Shop at the participating stores as you normally do, and at the checkout tell the cashier that you are redeeming Air Miles.  95 Air Miles is worth $10 cash.  This means that one Air Mile has a cash value of 10.5 cents.  
Keep that in mind when you are shopping.  If you see that an item in the flyer has 5 Bonus Miles with purchase, that is about 50 cents in future savings when you redeem.  Before you make the purchase to gather bonus Air Miles take the cost of the item and subtract the Air Miles value (example $3 with 5 Bonus Air Miles is like paying $2.50 for the item) and determine if the item is indeed a sale.  It may be cheaper to purchase the item at a different store for less money.  If the item is on sale at a different store for $2.25 then the item is cheaper at the different location.

Dream Miles are a bit harder to calculate.  To figure it out with merchandise, I used a night at the Best Western as the example.  I figured out that it would be 1490 Dream Air Miles before taxes for a night and the same hotel on the same night would cost $166.50 before taxes.  That makes one Air Mile worth 11.5 cents an Air Mile. 

After seeing these two scenerios it appears that it makes close to zero difference which way your miles are being saved.  When I redeem Cash Air Miles I used to put the money on our debt from our budget. Example: Redeem 95 Air Miles towards $10 cash at Sobeys, take $10 out of the grocery budget and slam it on the mortgage.  Now we do this and put the money towards our vacation fund.

WHERE DREAM VS CASH matters is booking flights.  Recently my family went to Orlando. I redeemed 3000 Dream Miles for each flight ticket( there is always a tax on flight redemptions).  3000 Cash Miles is worth $310, there is no way that my flight was anywhere near this cheap had I paid cash for the flight.  It is difficult to find flights but when they are found they are worth it! 

Keep all this information in mind when deciding how to redeem your Air Miles, and before you make a purchase just for the Bonus Air Miles.

It pays to be frugal. 

The Forgotten Currency...SCENE POINTS

If you carry a loyalty card in your wallet, chances are you are leaving money on the table. 
Most loyalty cards allow you to cash out with minimum points, but the more points that accumulate the better the rewards.
When we were getting out of debt we would redeem points on items we needed, such as groceries.  Then we would take the amount we redeemed in points and take the cash from the budget and put it on the debt. For example, if I redeemed 20,000 PC Points, I took $20 from the grocery budget envelope and put it on the debt.
Today, I am going to give you a tip on what to do with the points that you can't redeem for cash value and are non-essentials.
Today, the SCENE card.
Movies aren't an essential item.  Going to a movie is an expensive outing, and is a treat.  You can use your SCENE points for a movie, or dining at East Side Marios, Montana's or Swiss Chalet.
SCENE points can be collected from visiting the previous places, or from using your Scotia Bank debit card or Visa and both are FREE annual fees.

Here is my suggestion: redeem them as gifts.  Although you can't actually get a gift card with the points, you can be creative.  We used our Skittles movie package points and SCENE points to be stocking stuffers for our daughters. 
We made up a "COUPON" with the name of a movie that was in the theatre during the Christmas holiday and wrote the date we would be going.  It was a great way to redeem the points and save money on giving a gift.  Who doesn't enjoy a night out?
2500 SCENE points is enough for 2 admission, 2 pop and 1 popcorn.  Paying for 4 people to go to a movie with snacks can be close to $100. 
Use your points, be creative and remember IT PAYS TO BE FRUGAL.

Cable

I love to sit back and get lost in a TV show, but often I get sucked in watching things I don’t overly enjoy. 

We don't have cable.  Five years ago we cancelled our cable and home phone.  This has saved us almost $75 a month.  

This has been great and I have found that it has cut down on our mindless watching of TV. We do binge watch shows, and they can be streamed online or on Netflix. 

It takes a bit of getting used to, but worth it.  My friends know not to talk to me about tv shows without asking me if I’ve seen it yet, NO SPOILERS!

This little thing saved us a lot of money! 

I also find that since we don't go to the movies often, we are ok watching older movies.

Holy Heat Wave

Oh my gosh, is it hot enough for you?  If you leave your house, I guarantee you will be asked this question at least 3 times!
We have a heat pump which thankfully provides air conditioning in the summer.  Our first year having it we kept the AC on 18! That was until we got the first power bill and that quickly stopped!
Now to save money on our power bill while still feeling refreshed we set the AC on 22.  The fan speed is set on high.  Our house feels cool, but not cold enough that we need to put on a sweater or pants. This will help save us a big on our power bills.
Also I drink a lot of cold water, and throughout the day run cold water on my wrists to help cool down.

It pays to be frugal. 

August Budget

It is August. Where in the world is summer going? It is time to make or tweak your August budget. There may be a few things that you have forgotten to include.

If you have children they will need school supplies, a backpack, lunchbox, water bottle, 2 pairs of sneakers and maybe some clothes if they took a growth spurt to get ready for back to school.

There are only a few weekends left and you may want to plan a day trip or sneak away for a night.
Put all of these things in your monthly budget.

CHRISTMAS! I have 11 pays until Christmas 🎄 last week I went through my bins and made a list of what I have and what I will still need to purchase.  I figured out the cash I need and will save that during the next 5 months.

What did you forget for your August budget?