GARAGE SALE SEASON CAN NOT COME FAST ENOUGH

Almost the middle of February and I am getting antsy for garage sale season. It can not come fast
enough for me. At this time of the year hubby and I limited to either thrift stores or the local auctions.

There is estate sales every once in awhile but they are always priced higher so I have to watch myself so I do not spent too much for an item. There is one estate sale today and bargain day tomorrow so maybe I will find some treasure to resell. Hubby and I went to one of the local auctions last night. Pickings were slim. I saw one mid century round shelf I liked was considering to resell but it went to high to buy and make any money. Then there was a cute little chair mid century also, I considered it until they moved it to go with a desk that it did not match. There were boxes of books but nothing caught my eye, hubby is more patient and dug a bit and found two boxes that he thought were worth while bidding on. He did the bidding and won the two boxes. We went through them and picked the ones we wanted and the remainder will be resold at another auction. After they finished with things we were interested in we left and headed home. Got home just about 9 pm and sat at our computer to check out our books. I ended up listing four of them on Amazon for an asking price of $ 75.00 . The treasure of the bunch in my opinion is this 1915 copy of Duluth Central High School yearbook. I had not bothered to look in these boxes because it looked like old junk. That behavior will change from this day forward. This is my high school and they closed it for good last year. Shame on the beings that chose to close my school and then sink money into the other two high schools. That is another rant for future days. Duluth Central opened up in 1892 in down town Duluth and it is a thing of beauty. This yearbook is fantastic, after all these years it is in amazing condition. There are 266 pages plus an index of the students and the quality of the pages is outstanding. This would make a great addition to any family history collection. I will be selling this vintage year book  But until it is sold will enjoy looking through it. There are at least two memoriam's to students who died before the class graduated. One is a female named Rae Madge Abraham who died from illness and then two boys who drowned. The boys names were James Arthur Kelly and Gerald Francis McCormack. I did not have any family members living in Duluth at this time so no chance of finding family members. Have you found anything of interest to resell lately.  I would love to hear your stories of found treasures.

THE 50 30 20 BUDGET PLAN ARE YOU SAVING ENOUGH FOR YOUR FUTURE ?

Have you given any new thought to your budget and how to make a budget? Or are you like many and it is money in and money out. If you find yourself at a much younger age than this retired senior writer then you may want to take a good long look at your budget.  Are you saving enough for an emergency or for your retirement?  If not why not grab a cup of coffee or tea or what ever and sit down with your numbers.
What are your needs?
What are your wants?
Are you saving anything. ?

The following is directly from the Internet with a link to read more if you want of the article.

The first step to creating a 50-30-20 budget is to allocate 50% of your monthly income to your must have items in life. This is a roof over your head, food, clothing, water, medical care etc. You need to make sure you are allocating only must have items to this part of the budget. Must haves are not a new shirt, a cable bill, gym membership, or anything other than absolute must haves to survive. Once you have done this you have completed the 50 portion of the budget.

The second step to creating a 50-30-20 budget is to allocate is the 30 portion. The 30 portion is the 30% of your monthly income that you can spend on what you want. This list can include your gym membership, cable bill, eating out, a new pair of shoes etc.

The third step to creating a 50-30-20 budget is the 20 portion. This is 20% of your monthly income that you are going to set aside in case of an emergency, or to pay down any debts that you owe. You can use this money in the event of a medical emergency, or in case you ever lose your job and need to have money available.

I will not get into specifics about our income or our outgo but I can tell you that we are just squeeking by with our needs and wants.  Problem is there is no money going into savings,
charity giving is very low which is not okay with either of us and our weekly allowance is not enough. This weekly allowance covers food at home, food out, gas for car or any kind of entertainment.

This leaves one way out and that is to make more money some how. How much money would that be a month is the key to all of it. I know what this figure is for us. It would be great if we could bring in $1200 to $1500 more a month net. To that you have to generate some sales some where. Means I may need to go and get a part time job some where which is something I do not want to do really.

We have different options since we buy and sell to suppliment our income. We do this either at Amazon, eBay and selling items either at the antique store or at the auction house. But how can I accomplish this in the time we have.

 Now it is your turn to take a look at your budget, your needs, wants and are you saving enough for your future.

Thanks for stopping, I hope that you will be back some time and take a few minutes to look at some of my other postings. I will be sharing this over at Saved Quarter blog


Read more: How to Create A 50-30-20 Budget | eHow.com http://www.ehow.com/how_5318525_create-budget.html#ixzz1lozUM300

MONDAY MENU PLAN ~ LETS MAKE SOME SPAGHETTI SAUCE

It is Monday and time to plan what we will eat this next week.  I like to make one item on Tuesday night and we can have left overs during the week.

Last week we had our Cheesy Lasagna Soup and ate it a couple of times.

Tomorrow night we will make our home made Spaghetti Sauce and that will be good for a couple of nights.

The rest of the week will be sandwiches at the auctions and either meatballs with gravy and potatoes or my  home made sloppy joes or hubby's rich burgers.

Hope that your menu plan is tasty as I know ours will be.  Grace

ORGANIZING MY FAMILY PHOTOS STEP BY STEP

I have over 100 years of photos, family photos of my ancestors both sides. Family photos of my children, photos of trips hubby and I have taken. Photos that I places I found interesting. Lake Minnetoka in Minnesota on a beautiful day, Minnihaha falls in the Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. At least I think I made it there every season. Photos of the Mississippi rising during the Spring thawing run off.

I need to really start on a day by day start to organize these. If I take only thirty minutes a day to do something I will be further ahead than I am now.

While at our down town library to do some family research I came across this book and brought it home.


Preserving Your Family Photographs by Maureen Taylor. I have had it three weeks with good intention. It is due in one week. Starting today I will start a commitment to read through it piece by piece starting at chapter 8 " Ways to Organize " Keep It Simple " and work day by day a few minutes a day to at least get a start.

Step 1. Look through all images and make a list of people, places and events
Step 2. Decide on an organizational plan and try it with a small group of images
Step 3. Estimate supplies you may need (storage boxes and sleeves)
Step 4. Purchase these in bulk to save money
Step 5. Set up a work space
Step 6. Begin sorting
Step 7. Create a file of images in need of identification
Step 8. Create a file of photo copies of pictures requiring conversation or restoring
Step 9. Start labeling and boxing
Step 10 Create an index if necessary

My first step will be to jump to step 5 and find a space for a work table. I have the perfect one to put into my office.
For today I will read through chapter 8 and clear out the space in my office for the table.

Over the next days I will set the timer for 30 minutes and start to do something with my photos. Anything I do will be better than doing nothing with them.
I will be sharing this over at my genealogy blog for those readers.  Most of my photos have to do with family.

Thanks for stopping by.. Grace

WHATS FOR DINNER ~ HAVE YOU TRIED MY CHEESY LASAGNA SOUP YET?

Several months ago I made and shared a recipe for Cheesy Lasagna Soup. Today while pondering what we should have I decided it was time to give it another try. Easy, simple and totally FANTASTIC tasting.

So if you want a good easy soup for a winter night or even for a pot luck dinner give this one a try real soon.

I am sharing this at Frugal Follies Thrifty recipes
thanks for stopping by Grace

TIDY TIP TUESDAY ~ GIVE UP UNREAD SUBSCRIPTIONS

TIDY TIP TUESDAY IS TO GIVE UP UNREAD SUBSCRIPTIONS

You may notice that I do not offer deals on magazine subscriptions. I figure there is a lot of other blogs that offer magazines subscription deals and if you want them you will find them out.

 I rarely order magazines and when I do they end up just sitting there and not being read like they should.

Recently one of our grandsons was selling magazines for a fund raising.  Hubby and I went through the list and found only one of any interest to us.  Anything that may of interest us was not listed of course.  We finally decided on the Money magazine.  We can find it interesting but the truth is it really is not read enough to justify the cost.

I would rather go to the bookstore, sit and look at them for half an hour and leave. I there one I really want I will just buy that one magazine right then.

Hubby and I decided that the next time grandson is selling magazines we will just suggest they pick one their family would enjoy and we will pay for it.

If I was to get a magazine at home it would be one to do with genealogy and hubby would want one on his favorite collecting hobby.

How many magazines do you get in the mail?  If they are read every month great if not you could tidy up by giving up unread magazine subscriptions.

Thanks for stopping by..Grace

FRUGAL FRIDAY TIP SAVE MONEY USE THE LIBRARY

One of the best ways to save money is to use your local library. Rather than buying a book new you can go to your local library and sign it out. Besides books they also have movies for you to rent.
We were involved in a reading group and borrowed the book.

Now a new book has been chosen so hubby and I will go to the library tomorrow to take out the new book. It is also the book that the city wide reading group has chosen to read. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot.


And if you are into genealogy like or have been thinking about starting to do research, check out the research section they have. I am like a kid in a candy store.

So much can be found at your local library and as long as you return them on time there is no cost to you.

Thanks for stopping by for a Frugal Friday tip.. Grace