EATING OUT WHILE SAVING MONEY IN 2012

If you are like me and like to eat out there are ways to do it on the thrifty side.

1. Use coupons when possible. We like to go to Subway or Quiznos and can often find a coupon in the Sunday coupon savers. We carry these in the car in a envelope with other coupons. When the hungers come we can grab the coupon and go.

2. Avoid the beverage will save you some dollars for sure. I do like my soda with my meal but some times the cost is just unfair and I refuse to buy soda or just boycott that restaurant all together. There is a little cafe in Two Harbors Minnesota and we stopped there on Sunday after church. Order the soda with out looking at the price. Will not go back there again because on the menu it even said NO REFILLS. Just bad business in my opinion.

3. Check out the appetizers section. Now this can be costly but again can me a meal for me. I like Famous Daves small size not your normal nachos. To much for me to eat and I end up bringing some home for hubby to snack on next day.

4. Find something on the menu that will reheat up and still taste good. Buy that eat half of it and have left overs for lunch or next night's dinner.

5. Look for daily specials at some of our local restaurants. Famous Daves has hamburgers every Monday for $5.99 in our area. Another place as Spaghetti dinner cheaper on Sunday nights. Just check around and see what is the great deals in your area.

6. One of my favorite ideas is to go to lunch rather than dinner. Prices are normally less.

7. Some times the food is so generous that hubby and I will share or I will order something small and have a little of what he is eating.


8. Get daily deals Sites like Groupon and Restaurant.com sell restaurant gift certificates for less than face value you may be able to score a $25 coupon, but pay only $10.

Here are 8 ideas for you to maybe save some money eating out but still have the fun of dining out.

Thanks for stopping by.. hope to see you again real soon.. Lets keep saving together.. Grace

Decorating On The Frugal Side Hunting For Treasures

Good morning everyone hope that your end of year is going good, safe and full of time with family and friends.

I always love to read about decorating my small little apartment. 5 Ideas to Decorate a Small Apartment on a Dime by Emily Co. My apartment is small but not as small as some but small.
What I do have is a fantastic view of Lake Superior from the living room, our office and our bedroom.
Unbelieveable, every morning I pull up the shade and am amazed at the beauty that is before me.
I love to go to auctions, estate sales and garage sales not only to find items to resell but items to put into my home.

For $4.00 at a moving sale we added these two nautical pillows to our bed. Since we love the nautical feeling they were a perfect buy.

Hope that you all have a wonderful day.. Grace

Year End Financial Readings Budget

With the end of the year nearing it is time for many of us to look at how our financial house is. Did we pay down debt or take on more debt. How is our savings account. Doing good with money being added each month or nearly empty if not empty.
I am spending a little time looking around the internet to gather articles I find of interest. I will share those with you.
First one is the 50 30 20 budget sounds great and how wonderful it would be to put 20 percent into savings each month. 50 percent is for needs and 30 percent for wants. Paying for our health insurance throws our budget off.

One of the best financial sites is David Ramsey for financial help. Click on the link to read about his baby steps to get out of debt.

This is just two sites that I am high lighting. You can go to msm money and spend some time looking around for other articles on our money.

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. Grace

LETS INCREASE OUR INCOME BY A $1000 A MONTH THAT IS A GRAND A MONTH

If you read my blog you already know hubby and I are semi retired. The semi part is we are always looking for ways to make money on the side to suppliment our income. After all social security and pension plans do not go as far as you would hope. Lesson learned we did not save enough while young so I hope all of you save more and spend less on your journey to retirement.

This morning while reading some of my favorite blogs I saw that Mom's Plans had written a post on making an extra $1,000 a month. After reading further I see that she along with two other bloggers are starting a new site on making a GRAND a month. I look forward to postings to see what others are up to.

Hubby and earn extra money every month buying and selling items on eBay, Amazon and in our booths at the Antique stores. Of course there is the costs to do business this way. Cost of goods , fees at the Internet sites and rental fees at the antique stores. The real test is when hubby does end of the year books so we can file our taxes on this income.

And of course I make a little money with my blogs. Little is the key word but I only do this as a hobby and not full time as others.

My goal is to increase our income by $1,000 a month after all the fees and costs this next year. Time will tell as the months go buy. I hope to share some of this information with you in the months to come.

Antique store #2 is doing better than Antique store #1, but in store #2 I have items out on some shelfs and floor space plus a locked case. Antique store #1 is a locked case only. I do believe this is a important key to success.

We have reopened our eBay store this month. This allows us to put items on eBay for 30 days at only 20 cents a month rather than the 50 cents it was costing us. We no longer get 50 free auctions a month but in the end if we list more it will pay for itself in the difference of fees. The store also allows us extra pictures at no extra costs.

I am hoping all the extra work these last months that our income will continue to increase. I hope that you will continue to vistit my site and watch for postings on our journey buying and selling. My sons say we are pickers and in truth we are.

Thanks for stopping by and lets keep saving together.. Grace

2012 Goal Planning Working At It Day By Day

Hard to believe that 2011 is almost gone. Just days away till we start a new year. Time to work at planning what I would like to accomplish this next year.

1. Cutting down the cost of eating out expense. If we do eat out try to find a coupon to reduce the price or bring home some of it to eat another time
2. Pay down debt  of $2610 this does not include our car that has a balance of $7500
3. Work at decluttering our home by selling items I buy items to resell faster. Boy things pile up fast. Cookbooks, books, barbie clothes and dolls and so much more.
4. Build up our eBay and Amazon sales to about $1,000 a month net
5. Read the New Testament on a daily basis. I have a 5 minute a day New Testament to help me accomplish this
6. Try one new meal a week and blog on it
7. Eat better and find time to walk daily with the goal to eventually lose about 40 pounds
8. Work on my family research on a weekly basis trying to break down some of the brick walls
9. Read at least two books a month one being a non fiction book.
10. Spend more time with family and friends and less time watching TV
11. Be more organized around the home with chores, coupons organizing
This is a good start on what I would like to accomplish this next year. Sounds like a lot but just a little every day will help on some of these goals.
Do you have any goals you would like to accomplish next year?
Thanks for stopping by.. hope to see you soon and lets keep saving together.. Grace

Minimalist Monday ~ Cut The Clutter ~ Discard What Does Not Work VCR Is OUT Of Here

Minamalist Monday and time to think about cutting some of the clutter around my home. We buy and sell on eBay, Amazon and in the antique stores so it is easy for us to accumulate STUFF.
One of my goals for this next year is to organize and declutter stuff. It is always so easy to buy and so hard to find time to get it up for sale on the Internet.
No reason to wait till the end of the year to start this project. We will start right now. Sadly my VCR no longer works. I have alot of Videos and no recorder any more. This next weeks project is to
1. Discard the VCR
2. List the names of my favorite videos and part with all of them. I need to find if there is a place to recycle my video player and then find the best method to sell or give away my videos.
They will either go to a local auction or the thrift store. I am sure there is some one out there with a video player that still works.
I have 2 DVD players so do not need to buy a player that plays both DVD's and vidios. Out goes the VCR this week.

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. Grace

LETS MAKE SOME SOUP ~ CHEESY LASAGNA SOUP ~ Whats For Dinner Saving Money Eating At Home

The weather is cooling off and this is a perfect time to make some soup. Some time ago I made Cheesy Lasagna Soup and it was a winner. Click on the link for the recipe.
I will just have to make us a pot tomorrow. All we have to add is some garlic bread and dinner is not only fantastic but warms the tummy.

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. Grace

Thrifty Cheapskate eBay Friday Followup 12/16/11

What a week it has been. Hard week in my life in my personal life. Sunday evening I found my brother face down on his apartment floor unresponsive. I had tried to call him for several hours to arrange lunch date next day. Trip to hospital in ambulance and is in the hospital in critical / guarded condition. He is now breathing on his own but in a coma. We have hope that he will come through this. They are leaning towards the belief that he had a seizure.
So my thoughts and time has been spent with him. Pray for my little brother Dave.
I have not really been busy listing much this week and have not been out hunting at all which is understandable. No auctions or thrift stores for us.
We have had sales this week and some real good sales from items we had listed all ready.
Hubby sold the Jerusalem Bible 1966 printing for $29.99 on eBay fixed price, there was a small Free Mason book collection for $80.00 plus other books and barbie items. The week totaled out at $218.00.
Amazon sales $34.00 for the week.

So with a update on on sales this week and asking for your prayers for my brother I will leave you for now.

Have a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by.. Grace

CASH FOR TRASH FOR THE LOVE OF UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS Selling on eBay

I have been hearing about the great success of those who find and sell UGLY Sweaters. As I search for them I never seem to come across them. All of a sudden last week I did find 4 that I felt kind of fit.
Of course Christmas is almost here and it is a little late to get on the band wagon. I did buy them and listed them on eBay for 5 days. They did not sell but that is fine. I will just keep them for now and continue to hunt for more UGLY Christmas sweaters and start to sell them next September.
The ones I found are not as ugly as some I see on eBay but all in all they can be quite humorous.
These are the sweaters I found, all were either $2.00 or $3.00 each so a thrifty find.

Do you wear ugly sweaters to office parties or any Christmas parties? I have a sweat shirt that my grand daughters gave me over 12 to 14 years ago. My son had their names with hand prints put on it. The baby is foot prints. I love and treasure it and wear it every Christmas. Ugly in its own way but also a special treasure from my kids.

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together..Grace

Monday Menu Plan 12/5/11

Monday Menu Plan helps me plan my week and keeps costs down by using what I have in the house or what may be on sale at the supermarket.

With going to the auction houses two nights a week we eat lighter with sandwiches at the auction or when we get home. Otherwise it will be easy meals the rest of the week.

Monday auction night
Tuesday Spaghetti with meatballs and bread and butter
Wednesday Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup
Thursday auction night again'
Friday with the weather getting colder and colder I am leaning towards a big pot of our home made chili with crackers for me and peanut butter sandwiches for hubby
Saturday up in the air with what is on the menu and Sunday left over chili

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. Grace

inexpensive easy week for us and with Christmas getting closer it probably will stay the same through the holidays.

Thrifty Cheapskate eBay Friday Followup 12/2/11

Hope everyone is doing great. This is a little late. Hubby's son and family in town. Grandson Carter is playing in a Pee Wee Hockey tournament. Game last night they won 9 to 0
Today's game should be alot harder. Will give you an update when I return.

We had some great sales this last week. One was this group of doll clothes that I bought awhile back at an auction for $7.50. I sold several outfits as separates and did great. Decided to lump them together to make my life easier. Last night they sold for $67.99. Best of all we have already been paid for them
Will edit this with my weeks total when I return from todays Hockey game.
Till then go Apple Valley... Go Carter
Well game is over, sadly they lost to Hermantown. They play again tomorrow and winner gets third place. Fun time with family is what is important.
Totaled up this last weeks eBay sales and we sold $375.00 gross. One item $40.00 has not been paid for so may go into default. Still have hope they will come through. Will put in a nonpayment tonight.
Hope that your day went well. thanks for stopping by..
thanks for stopping by.. Grace

Local Auction Finds To Resell At Antique Store

Monday night was auction night at our local auction house. There was lots of stuff there but not a lot we want to resell.  Found nothing to resell on eBay but we did buy a few things to add to our booth at the antique store. We bought a pair of vintage roller skates,

3 Pyrex casseroles in Friendship pattern

and a leather strap with bells and holly trim.

Just perfect for the holidays.

Try a local auction if you have not as of yet. Fun way to spend an evening with friends.

Thanks for stopping by to visit Grace

eBay Sales Friday Follow Up 11/25/11

Good morning everyone. This is the first of my eBay sales follow up. I hope to share with you how my sales were over the last 7 days on ebay.  From 11/18 to 11/24 we had 11 gross sales and total of $216.63.

Some of the highlights were a copy of The 81st Infantry Wildcat Division in World War II. Buyers father in law was in this company and will be a gift to husband and children. Buy It Now Sale price was $59.99. This was found a while back at a local estate auction and bought in a box of books for about $7.00.

Hubby found 39 Nero Wolfe paperbacks at a used church book store and was able to buy them for $3.88. Sold for $51.00 in an auction.

Balance of sales were several vintage doll clothes bought at a recent auction and an AA book.

Well time to head out to find some more treasures. Today is Black Friday. I will not be in the big stores shopping but heading over to a thrift store that is selling all used items at 50 percent off.
I did make one error in one of my listings and have offered to refund buyers money. I bought several vintage canvas bank deposit bags. The one I sold was nylon not canvas.  Hope buyer still wants it.
Have a great day and thanks for stopping by..Come back to see what I found today at the thrift store.  Grace

Selling Ugly Sweaters On eBay Now Is The HOT Time To Find And Sell

I have heard in the past that a hot item selling on eBay is  ugly sweaters. Sadly this seems to slip from my memory as I visit the thrift stores or I just don't find any to catch my attention.  Want to see some that have sold on eBay recently go to the link or just search on eBay.
I did do some searching and what I see is quite a few that do not sell and my opinion is the starting price may be to high, which means they need to be found extra cheap. Starting at $14.99 or more may be to high.  One of my favorite starting prices is $9.99 unless it is something really special and I do not want to take less at this time.
So as the the month goes on it would be a good idea to keep our eyes out for ugly sweaters at a low price and continue to watch for them especially after Christmas. Stock them till next season Ugly Sweater season.

Have you noticed anything else that is HOT on eBay right now. Would love to hear from you.
Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. Grace

Auction Highlights Finding Small Treasures To Resell 11/21/11

Tonight was auction night. If you have ever gone to auctions on a regular basis as we do, soon people find out what you buy and start to get an interest in those items. If I am buying costume jewelry then they will start to bid it up. If it is found out I sold vintage baseball gloves on ebay all of a sudden the price goes up so high that there is no profit to really be made.
Tonight I decided to walk around and find something small on several tables. Something that is a bit off the wall that I could put in my antique mall.
End of the night I had an unusal coconut head made to look a pirate, a neat vintage nautical picture, an old frame with two wedding pictures or maybe one wedding picture and the other is a lady in white with bible and rosary. Not sure if wedding photo or something else. Have any of you ever seen a early 1900's photo with the bride only, no groom?  Need to figure that out before selling. Sitting under one table was a small box and stuck in there were some vintage Fuller Brush letter openers, old advertising stir stick, beer openers with advertising plus a knife. Buy of the night was a turn of the century knife.

Fun night for hubby and me. A few dollars spent, time visiting with friends. All in all a good time spent.

Hope that your treasure hunting turns out well. Thanks for stopping by.. Grace

I am sharing this at Tales from Bloggerville

How To Make Cheddar Biscuits Like Red Lobster

Well it did not take long to find a recipe. I went to swag search and put in what I wanted and up came some hits. You can find the recipe here

Enjoy Grace

WHAT'S FOR DINNER ~ OUR SPECIAL YUMMY CHILI

The weather is cooling down and perfect time to start making soups and chili. Tonight was chili night at our home.

Recipe is simple but so yummy. No can stuff can ever touch a good home made chili recipe. You can find my recipe by scrolling down and look on the left side for some of my recipe collections.
The picture of the biscuits are left over from dinner last night. We went out to dinner with my brother and sister in law to Red Lobster. They had the yummiest biscuits and we brought home two to reheat.
They are called Cheddar Bay biscuit.  I need to search for a copy of this recipe on the Internet to try to make at home.
Anyone have it please let me know.
Thanks for stopping by... lets keep saving together. Grace

BARBIE DOLLS BOUGHT AT LOCAL AUCTION HOUSE

I am not a Barbie doll expert but I do know a vintage Barbie Doll when I see her. I know enough to look at the markings on her bottom and to check her foot for the word Japan. Last Thursday a box of Barbie's came up for sale at the auction. I had been told that they would be separated and sold by the piece. I spent quite a bit of time checking them out for their markings and their defects.  Among the dolls were a pile of clothes. Many of them Barbie clothes. To my luck they all were auctioned off together and their were not many collectors. I got this whole box for $25.00. I am now armed with books from the library to see if I can figure out the dolls and clothes. The clothes can some time be the real prize. These clothes have been played with so that will hurt some.
Several have some damage and 2 of them I can not figure out where they are from I see no markings. So I am going to share my dolls with you by picture and see if I can get any help.

The first doll I have identified as Twist and Turn Mod Barbie. Marked 1966 Mattel US Patented US Pat Pend made in Japan. Her leg clicks 3 times so she can pose. In the box was her original bathing suit top and what is probably the bottom of the suit. I have listed her for sale on eBay starting at $9.99. Hopefully she will sell for over $50.00 and I will double my purchase price on this one doll. Last night one like her sold for over $70.00.  What is missing from her swim suit is the hard to find belt. She is in nice condition considering she was played with. No neck splits, there is some soiling to her arms.

The doll I am working on know to identify is this one. She is marked Midge 1962 Barbie 1968 by Mattel Patented. Japan is on the bottom of her foot. She also has no neck splits. There is light green at her ears and a couple of spots of green on her arms. I am working at trying to identify her so I know who she is and then see if I have the outfit she wore. Any help is always appreciated. I will continue over the next days to share my other finds in this box of Barbies from the auction.
Thanks for stopping by and if you can help me on identifying this doll thanks. Grace

SELLING WAR BOOKS AND COLLECTING ASH TRAYS LOCAL AUCTIONS CAN BE FUN

Today is Thursday and tonight we are going to our normal Thursday night auction. We have auctions on Monday's and Thursday.
We bought some WWW2 books and a set of Time Life Civil War books to sell at Thursday's auction. Hopefully they will get to them since they are full of items to auction off. Last week we had 8 WWW2  books and sold them for $102.50 we netted $82.00. We bought them for $8.00 and probably got more and sold faster than on eBay. Monday night auctions are not good for books for some reason.
The one thing I saw was some vintage Barbie dolls. Most have some body damage some where, green ears, legs stained and one has a split in neck area. They probably will get bid up to high for me to buy and resell. Time will tell.
What I bought last Monday night was some Las Vegas ash trays. I have started to collect ash trays from casinos and businesses. Since smoking is less popular these old ash trays can be collectible. Fun and inexpensive to buy most times.

I am now up to 18 Las Vegas or other advertising ash trays. This little silver colored one in the second picture almost went back to the auction house as an undesirable. I turned it over and see that it says
copyrighted made in Occupied Japan. It will stay in my collection for now.
Thanks for stopping by and hope that you have a great rest of the week. Grace

Garage Sale Find Nautical Ship Vintage Rhinestone Jewelry Found

Good morning everyone, happy Sunday
Yesterday was another garage sale day for hubby and me. We started out with newspaper in hand. I had listd the closest 6 garage sales in order. Each one was a dud. Either their was nothing for us to resell or it was so over priced there would be no money to be made. My rule of thumb is double at least. If it is a larger priced item I lower that goal at times.
As the day waned away we started to find a few items. Garage sales can end any where from 12 to 2 so hunting has to be fast and fierce.
At one sale hubby spotted 2 lamp shades. One would go on a vintage lamp we put into our home. Once on we have decided not quite perfect, to large maybe. Will remain till I find another one to my liking. Second lamp shade was a brown wicker one. Hubby said he would put on the auction table and hope to make a little money. I was not so sure. But must of been karma because at end of day I spotted this nautical ship that was a lamp. These do sell at the auction house. And it was missing its lamp shade.

Here it is cleaned up and sporting the wicker lamp shade.  It will go to the auction house in September.
As the day ended we stopped at one of our last sales. They had advertised decoys but were all sold old.
On the check out table were baggies of jewelry. Colorful rhinestone jewelry she had bought years ago from a flea marketer seller. Best of all it was end of the day and she was dealing. I got all of this for $25.00. The silver colored piece needs work but otherwise everything is ready to be sold at one of my three outlets ( eBay, antique store case or auction house).  No marks on any of the pieces but still pretty and desirable.
These are just a few of our found treasures. Thanks for stopping by to visit and hope to see you again real soon.. Grace

WHATS FOR DINNER ~ SLOPPY JOES MY WAY

Tonight dinner was quick and delicious.  Sloppy Joes my way not your normal tomato base sloppy joes.
To my fried hamburger I add a can of cream of chicken soup, ketchup and mustard to taste and some salt and pepper.
Before you know it dinner is ready. Sloppy Joes, some beans and a few chips and pure comfort food.
Yum Yum

Hope that your evening is going great.. thanks for stopping by.. Grace

FALL IS IN THE AIR AND GARAGE SALE SEASON IS BUSY

While fall is now in the air there are still lots of garage sales listed in the newspaper or on craig's list. It seems everyone is trying to get their garage sale done or even an extra one accomplished.
I grabbed the newspaper and hubby is on Craig's list. Together we make out a list of some of the sales we will go to.
It is now Saturday and we have all ready been to garage sales on Thursday and Friday. Thursday is quiet but there is always a few here and there. Friday and Saturday the main hunting days for us.
Rules are have gas in the tank, some water in the car, small bills in the wallet and aways know where the closest clean bathrooms are in every area of town.
Main goal is to find clean useful or vintage items we can resell either on line or at local auctions. If it is really cool it may even go to my case at the antique mall.
Some of my finds that will be passed on are 4 vintage dolls ( I have washed their faces so they look a little more desirable). They were a $1.00 each at a garage sale.
next is a vintage Big Boy bank. Cute and collectible. Not big dollars but hopefully I can make a profit. He came from a church sale benefit for kids with cancer. $2.00 is more than I would of liked to pay but good cause and maybe I will get some profit.Also found a small oil painting for $3.00 plus other items to sell including some costume jewelry.  All of these will be in a local auction after Labor day.
Hope that you are having a great garage sale season and if you are reselling I would love to hear your stories.
We have even found some items for our new apartment home. We are decorating mid century. Perfect for two seniors who lived mid century. Those were great times. Great music and first crushes. Oh the memories. Some days I share these stories with my granddaughters. Some of them are shared too often and when they repeat them to me we both have to laugh.
I will share some pictures of my mid century finds soon.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.. Grace

LIFE CAN BE SO SHORT ~ ENJOY WHAT WE HAVE TODAY

It has been a sad week for our family. A week ago tonight I received a phone call that my brother's wife had suffered a heart attack and had stopped breathing.
Hubby and I rushed to the hospital to be with my brother. Rachel was only 55 years old and she left us on Monday to go on with our lives without her. Today is her memorial service. We know that she is in a better place. She will not suffer any more with pain or illnesses.
No longer will we see her smile or hear her say " I love you ".
I do not understand why she had to leave us so soon, but God knows. And until we meet again I am just thankful that she was in our lives for the five years we had her love.

Thanks for stopping by and please pray for my brother David and Rachel's children.
Grace

GOING GOING GONE ~ THE FUN OF GOING TO AN AUCTION

Going to the weekly auction two times a week is on our entertainment / work schedule. Every once in a while during the summer we have another auction at a sellers home. Those can be the best and also can be the most exciting.Wednesday we had an auction in a great neighbor. Doctor and spouse moving to another city. They had beautiful things from art to collectible glass to home items. Lovely furniture and everything between including a collection of Greatful Dead items.
The only problem is the auctions are long, outside and unless you bring a chair you usually stand most of the time. Sometimes you can find a place to rest on a step of the porch.
You can meet and watch alot of interesting people and just watching some of the bidding can be fun. Things can go for hardly nothing and then some times you wonder what are they thinking. It can be easy to get caught up in the bidding and over pay. Now if it something you really want okay but if you are planning to resell than care needs to be taken. We watched some collectible Peanuts a 5 book set go for about $100 to $125.  I am not a Peanuts collector but if I could of bought at a steal I would of bought to resell. I knew that would not happen and I was right. The runner up bidders quit at $95.00 and were disappointed. I leaned over and whispered they probably could find on line at Amazon for about that or less. They were excited and thankful to hear that bit of news.
What I did want was a set of Sherlock Holmes in slip case and we got them I am happy to report. Paid a fair price and will resell.  But until they sell they are mine and are displayed on my living room side table.
Then there was the table of books. Most of the books were common novels. There were a few by local writers or photographers. I would of loved one of the photography books to resell but it went for more than I wanted to pay. But the best part is I had spent a little time looking at the books with my cell phone in hand. I went to Amazon and put in the ISBN to check prices. Some were pennies and others were a few dollars. Then came the treasure. There was a copy of " A Mirror of Nature Nordic Landscape Photography 1840 to 1910 ". Meant nothing to me but after searching the number I found 3 copies selling on Amazon for over $600.  Found this unbelievable so went to Abe books and found there were 3 or 4 copies also selling for over $600. At least one of the sellers are different from the Amazon sellers. The auctioneer would grab about 10 to 15 books for the bidding.  I was bidding against others when this book came up. No one knew what the others were interested in. That can be good and then can also be a problem if wanting different items. I did win this book paying a small price for it.

So treasures can be found everywhere. It probably will take a long time to sell this book but I can wait for the right buyer to come along to want this rare treasure of photos.
Thanks for stopping by... lets keep saving together.. Grace

DEVELOPING A CLEANING PLAN FOR YOUR HOME

I like to have some order in my life, just like so many others. Some times it is necessary to get back to the basics of keeping a moderate clean home, food preparation, errands and laundry.
Today I am sharing what I think can be a great plan to keep the home clean. First off it is important to ask for help from your family members. Since it is only hubby and me it is up to us but things to stay fairly clean around here.
There is several layers to keep my home clean.
Layer 1 is things I need to do every day like making the bed, washing dishes or loading dish washer, picking up around the house and taking out the garbage.
Layer 2 is things that need to be done twice a week vacuming or sweeping if you have hard wood floors like we do, watering plants, wiping down bath room
Layer 3 is more of a deep cleaning once a week job . This could be mopping floor, polishing furniture, getting groceries, doing errands and doing laundry.
Layer 4 is items that are considered special projects. Washing windows, cleaning the stove, cleaning refrigerator and what ever else you may have on your list.

I like to look at as layer 1 is about a half hour a day,
 layer 2 can take about half hour so I try to pick one of these to do it in order during the week
layer 3 could be done on Saturday if that works for you. We usually do these items during the week as time allows. We do errands as we are out on our runs to the thrift stores to hunt for treasures to resell. Laundry can be done while I am home and working on my computer. Grocery shopping is usually done Sunday after church or maybe Fridays after going to garage sales. What is important is to plan and attempt to keep up with the plan. To make my lists and carry them with me.

I hope that you have enjoyed reading some of my ideas on keeping up my home and that you will come back again to read some of my other ideas. Grace

MENU PLAN FOR WEEK 8/1 Spaghetti Will Be On The Menu

Today hubby and I stopped in for a few groceries at Super One for next weeks menu.
Plan is to make our home made Spaghetti Sauce doubling up the ingredients.
Monday we will go to the auction again so either will have Spaghetti early in day or put off having it for Tuesday night and eat simple on Monday like a sandwich

Other nights will be
Meatballs and gravy with mash potatoes and peas
Hamburger patties with tomato soup sauce , mash potatoes and vegetables
Eggs and Hash with toast for a simple dinner
Left over Spaghetti another night during the week
I hope that you all have a wonderful week of menus and happy family times.

Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. Grace

THE JOY AND FUN OF GARAGE SALES LOOKING FOR TREASURES

I love garage sales and with our short summer here in Minnesota that fun is short lived. Yesterday was beautiful. Warm and sunny but not to hot. Before leaving home I filled a small cooler with water and my wallet with some twenties and off we went.
We are on the hunt for items to resell and a couple of items for our selves. First stop was an estate sale run by the family. I love those, you can visit with the family and get items at reasonable prices. First find was a true treasure a paint by number nautical scene. It was painted by her uncle Art and since my dear daddy's name was Art it had to be mine. A while back I saw a room decorated with paint by number nautical scenes. I can not remembe if I saw this on the Internet or in a magazine, but it stuck with me. I know have the start of a collection. I may never find another reasonable paint by number but I have at least one. And I only paid $1.00 for this art piece.

At the same sale I found a vintage brown Samsonite suit case and it matches my travel case that I told you about a few days ago. These will be priced and put in the antique store. This suit case was also only $1.00, what a buy. I found a styrfoam head for 50 cents. Just what I wanted to display my hair bonnet from a vintage hair dryer. I had bought this great vintage GE hairdryer the night before in a box lot for $1.00. It is now up for sale on eBay with a starting bid of $9.99. Mint green in color and with its original box it should sell.

I found so many great items yesterday but it is time to wrap this up and get out of my home to go hunting again. I will share more later. Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.. Grace

PS please do not tell my sons I have started another collection ( vintage paint by number).



WALLET FRIENDLY WEDNESDAY Finding Fun Free Entertainment

Our entertainment does not always need to mean spending alot of  money. Rather than going to the movies or any other entertainment that costs money there are fun things to do that cost nothing or very little.
Just going to the park and watching people or reading can be fun. Maybe bring a picnic lunch and feed not only your self but a few of the birds.
I like to wander down to the beach with my chair and read for awhile.
Many cities have free summer concerts, check this out before the summer disappears.
Ok you like wandering the mall it also can be Free or inexpensive entertainment. We like to wander into Barnes and Noble and read magazines for 30 minutes or so. Walking the mall can be good excercise. The secret is to not make spur of the minute purchases.
I noticed today that there is a vintage boat show this weekend over in Superior Wisconsin and it is FREE. Hubby loves boats so we will attempt to stop over at the boat show after garage sales.
Hope that all of your are enjoying your summer. Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together.. Grace

TIGHTWAD TUESDAY ~ THRIFT STORES AND SHARING A HAMBURGER AT A DIVE

Today is Tuesday and that means it is senior day at many of the thrift stores. After a round of errands this morning at the antique store ( stocking the shelfs with new finds from last night's auction), going to post office to mail off eBay sales and then to another auction house to pick up a check it was time to hit the thrift stores.
By this time it is after 1 and we are getting hungry. Since we were heading to a near by town to go thrifting lunch was at a real " dive " of a bar. It is a dive and they are proud to say that. This little bar was even part of drive ins, dives and diners. They have a largecheeseburger that is so huge hubby and I share it and share an order of fries. Add two sodas and lunch is $9.00 before tip. Hamburger is fresh and very tasty.
Next stop is the thrift stores. We find a total of 3 books to resell, two for hubby and one for me. The next thrift store hubby found a collectible Hallmark of 3 train cars to resell either on eBay or at the antique store.
The last thrift store gave me a vintage Samsonite traveling case for only $2.99 minus my senior discount of 20 percent. This also will be resold some where.
So we had a busy day but full of treasure hunting. Hope that your day was full of treasures also.
Thanks for stopping by.. lets keep saving together .. Grace

I LOVE COOKBOOKS READING THEM AND SELLING THEM ON eBay

I love cookbooks. I love to buy and sell cookbooks. I love to read cookbooks and once in a while I even love to try out a new recipe.
Every time I go to an estate sale, thrift store, garage sale or auction one of the things I look for is cookbooks.

 Recently at an auction I bought a box of cook books for $3.00. Now of course I knew that in this one box was 3 Barefoot Contessa and 1 Baking with Julia ( Childs) and that all were sellable. That $3.00 purchase brought in over $30.00 from eBay auctions. I had a group of Taste food magazines up for sale on eBay last week. Some sold some did not. They will be relisted tomorrow and hopefully will sell second time around.

At another recent auction I bought a large box full of small cooking recipe booklets. It is full I have not even started to count how many I have.
Some of the oldest ones are Recipe Book by the St. Paul Daily News Home Economics Department priced at 25 cents when new. I see no date but I am guessing the 1940's by the picture of the stove.
Then there is a copy of A Primer of Modern Cooking by the Home Institute The Duluth Herald. This is copyrighted 1934.
The third one is The War Time Cookbook 500 Recipes, Victory Substitutes and Economical Suggestions for Nutritious Wartime Meals. It is copyrighted 1942.
Another one is one I have had in the past. Aunt Sammys Radio Recipes Revised by the Bureau of Home Economics. Issued May 1931 for the price of 15 cents.
There has to be over 100 little recipe books. Cookies Galore, Kerr Home Canning Guide, 20 Famous Cranberry Dishes and even one for Famous Maple Recipes from the Vermont Hills.
Hours of reading and money to be made on eBay. Next time you a box of old recipe booklets take a peek you may just find a treasure. If you have a minute take a look and maybe even bookmark my eBay auctions and store items. You may find a treasure now or in the future.
Come back soon and see what else I found at same auction that is sellable on eBay and this box is not cookbooks.

Thanks for stopping by to visit... Grace

MEAL PLANNING FOR THE WEEK 7/24/11

Hello every one, hope that your day is going great. We are having a much cooler day and I am spending it unpacking and looking out the window at our beautiful Lake Superior.
Sunday afternoon and time for me to plan our meals for the next week. With the move money is extra tight and just waiting to see when landlord will meet with us for the walk through so we can get our rent deposit back from old apartment. That money needs to go back into the savings account for upcoming bills. Will be happy when it is sitting there. There is always the fear she will see something wrong and not give it all to us. We also paid a non refundable pet deposit of $300. We moved in to that apartment the beginning of last August and our darling Spooky the cat passed away beginning of October. I shared this with her when giving noticed and asked her to consider returning some of the pet deposit. Time will tell. On top of all that we are waiting to see if we will be charged cancellation charge at the past cable company. We can not have a dish here since there is no balcony or patio to put it on. If we are not charged that fee we will be ahead $250. That would be a great help for sure.
So with all of this going on we will have a frugal meal week using what is in the house and buying no more groceries than necessary.
Tonight ( Sunday ) will be left over hamburger warmed up in brown gravy with a handful of mixed vegetables added. This will be served over mash potatoes
Monday we will go to the auction so will have tuna salad with toast when we return home

Tuesday tomato soup with grilled cheese sandwiches and potato chips
Wednesday Fried chicken, potato salad and beans
Thursday left over tuna salad since we will probably go to another auction that night
Friday Pizza night at home will use a frozen pizza that I bought last week
Saturday left overs
With this menu I will have to buy very little food. We need to pick up the fried chicken, potato salad and some beans. Other than that we should be fairly good for the week.
I will be sharing this over at Monday Menu.

Thanks for stopping by .. lets keep saving together Grace