Non-Domestic Mama: Saving Money

Showing posts with label Saving Money. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Save Money with the Ultimate Christian Living Bundle

Do you love to read? If you didn't you probably wouldn't be reading my blog, would you? I mean, you must really love to read if this is how you spend your time! I'm just saying, there are probably some better blogs or books you could be reading.

Like all the eBooks in the Ultimate Christian Living Bundle.

And you probably like to save some money don't you?

I know I do.

Every year I see these awesome eBook bundles and I plan on buying one because I am a huge fan of books and an even bigger fan of eBooks. Less clutter = less de-hoarding for the win!

I am also a huge fan of getting more eBooks for less money. Count me in! Because, I don't know if anyone has noticed but money hasn't started growing on trees yet. When it does, you better bet I will probably kill those trees anyway because my gardening skills are seriously lacking.

Where was I? Oh right. More books = less money!

Unfortunately, I usually wait until the last minute to buy the bundle.

You know, because I get busy.

The bundle is only available for 6 days and I always think "I have a week."

Guess what? 6 days is less than a week. As I learned the hard way on day 7. Which was when I realized I waited just a bit too long. Because, busy.

I end up spending the rest of the year kicking myself because I really want that book and that book and that book and all of those books that were part of the bundle I missed out on because I procrastinated.

Don't make the same mistake I did and miss this opportunity.

Buy the bundle and save the money. Save the money, people!!!

They also make great gifts.

Check it out.

Save Money with the Ultimate Christian Living Bundle

Here’s what you need to know about the sale:

When? 8 a.m. (EST) Wednesday, November 5th until 11:59 p.m. (EST) Monday, November 10th (or until 18,500 bundles are sold).

What? 75 eBooks plus eCourses and more, PLUS over $160 worth of bonus products you’ll really use!

Where? Purchase the bundle HERE.

How much? Well now, that’s the best part. The entire package is worth over $1,140, and it’s yours for as little as $34.95. Sweet deal, right?

Want to know what’s included in the bundle?

Of course you do!

Eyesore Wall Turned Gallery Wall

There is a wall in my house I like to fondly refer to as the problem wall.

This ugly little wall is nicely located right between the front door and the laundry room door.

The designers of this house put a lot of thought into the location of all the eyesores. Where should we stick all these ugly things? Doorbell speaker, alarm speaker, thermostat, smoke detector, motion sensor.

We could put them on the wall next to the laundry room. Tucked away where no one will ever see them. But you know what would be even easier? Sort of but not really. We could put them a few inches away on the wall that is visible from the entryway, and the hallway, and the stairway, and the dining room, and the living room, and you know EVERYWHERE! Oooh ya, let's do that.

Seriously.

And not only is the stuff not pretty, it's about as ugly as possible. The alarm speaker and motion sensor are newer. Yes, we could put this stuff around the corner but this wall already looks ugly. Let's just add to it. Ahem.

The smoke alarm is not even functional so I should really remove it. Even though I know the wires leading to it aren't live, (had them checked) it still makes me nervous to just take it off and have those wires floating in the wall. So, I will wait until someone who knows what they are doing can remove it.

Let's not even mention the fact that the thermostat is crooked. Crooked. For really.

The doorbell is an... antique. I am not totally in love with the style.

The first thing I did when we moved in was try to eliminate all the brass everywhere. I did remove the decorative thingy off the front and was considering painting the brown part. I also removed the side chimes and discovered they are in fact functional so back they went.

After spending much time/energy/angst trying to change it, I decided to just embrace it and work with it. After all, it is part of the history of the house and would a plain speaker box really be any prettier?

Plus, brass is back in! Bring back all the gold things we finally managed to get rid of!!! Right? I'll never fully understand trends.

At first, I fixated on covering all the uglies but I was worried about the functionality being compromised. I also worried that covering them would just end up looking like I had covered something up.

Then as I was browsing gallery walls on Pinterest, (I have always had a bit of an obsession with gallery walls) I realized the ones I loved the most had a mixture of frames and other oddities.

So, if I surround the ugly stuff with pretty stuff maybe people will notice the pretties and ignore the uglies?!

Obviously I NEEDED to run right out and start buying stuff to hang on my wall!

Except that wasn't really in the budget. So, I decided to work with what I had and I could always add to it later.

Stuff I Want: Doors / Stuff I Did: Curtains

When I walked into my house for the very first time and saw the living room I fell in love. Not as much with how it looked then but with how I envisioned it looking. It had so many of the features I was looking for. I instantly felt at home. I just knew it was the ONE. It was actually the first house we looked at so, because we didn't want to be the people who just bought the first house we saw, we went around looking at all the other houses. Then we came back and bought this one.

This is what the house looked like.

This is actually the picture from the listing (with my husband's notes) because we, in our enthusiasm to move in, never took any before pictures.

What I loved? The stone fireplace. The space. The two story vaulted ceiling. I hadn't really wanted a two story house but if I was going to have one I wanted the stairs to be spectacular. When I saw that railing it took my breath away! How cool is that railing? I had never seen anything like it. Best of all check out those doors!

Ok. Maybe not those doors in particular. But the doors they could be!

Something like...

Source: pella.com via Rachael on Pinterest

Except white. With Bordeaux shades. Exactly like this.

Shortly after we moved in I decided to price my new doors. Just to know. So that the next time I had a few hundred dollars burning a hole in my pocket I would be prepared.

I gave the salesperson all my specifications. I knew exactly what I wanted and would settle for nothing less.

He gave me the grand total.

Clipping Coupons

There's something you should probably know about me. Whenever the latest greatest fad comes along and "everyone's doing it" I tend to dig in my heels and blatantly refuse to follow the trend out of principle. This is why I refused to read the Harry Potter books or Twilight. It's also why, when everyone started watching Extreme Couponing, I rolled my eyes and ignored it.

Something else you should probably know about me. When for some reason I am forced to give these things a chance I tend to find out there is a reason why "everyone's doing it." Like when my roommates started reading Harry Potter out loud to each other and I thought, Hmm, this book sounds kind of interesting. Or when my husband popped the Twilight audio book into the CD player in the car during a road trip and I found myself hooked.

Also I usually find that instead of getting casually interested in something I have to get all out obsessed. OBSESSED .

Recently by chance? fate? divine intervention? my husband and I were watching a show on the DVR. When the show ended and flipped back to TV we both sat and vegged for a minute trying to get the strength to drag ourselves off to bed. As we sat there we couldn't help but pay half attention to the show that was on. Extreme Couponing.

My Kids Have a Bedroom!

A couple of weeks ago, bright and early on a Saturday morning, my husband and I packed the kids up in the car and drove the hour drive to his mother's house. After dropping off my husband, the kids and I then drove an hour and a half back, past our house, to a birthday party for one of my son's best buddies. (My son was rather dismayed that for some reason it took 2 1/2 hours to drive to the birthday party!) While we were having fun splashing and eating cupcakes, my husband and his mother were in her van, driving the five hours to my parent's house. They stayed for a few hours and then turned right around and drove back.

At around 1am I got a call from my brother asking me if my husband had arrived home yet. I looked outside to check and discovered, to my surprise, a vehicle in the driveway containing my brother and sister-in-law!

At around 2am my husband arrived home. He had dropped his mom off at her house and we would be taking her van back the next afternoon.

Why?

Don't You Just Love It When . . .

You realize your daughter has grown out of all her clothes.

And realize they were almost all winter clothes anyway.

And it's 106 degrees outside.

So you go to buy her some t-shirts and shorts.

And wonder when clothes, for her, got so expensive.

Wasn't it just last year you were buying cheap t-shirts and shorts for her for $3 & $4?

Now they are $7 and up!

So you buy her two t-shirts and two pairs of shorts to get by.

New outfit. She picked it out herself!

And you consider going through your son's old clothes.

She could get away with wearing a Hulk t-shirt with a skirt. Right?

Then as you are rummaging through the closet you find . . .

Stuff I Want: Beds

Since Time Warner made me clean my kid's room, and now they have all this inordinate amount of space to actually play with their toys, and act all crazy running around and dancing, I think it's high time we start to fill up all that space with actual furniture.

Specifically the furniture that has been lurking in our hallway, and the "bonus room," which is really not a room at all, but more like an extra wide hallway, or part of the dining room, or part of the living room.

Dresser in the Hallway

Of course, it only makes sense to put the beds back in the room as well, so we can finally have our room back to ourselves.

Obviously the simple thing to do would be to move the beds they are currently using back into their room. Right? But when can things ever be simple?

Stuff I Want: Kitchen Shelf

Previously I mentioned that I enjoy a little activity I like to call Online Window Shopping. In the spirit of wanting stuff I don't have, I thought I would start a little series entitled Stuff I Want. This is where I get to tell you about all the stuff I wish I had. :)

Sounds exciting doesn't it?

I know you are on the edge of your seat.

What will she wish for first?

Behind door number 1 is . . . *drumroll*

A new shelf! *applause*

Wait. What is this girls obsession with shelves?!

Stuff I Did: New (Puzzle Foam Mat) Floor

This weekend was spent installing a new floor in the kids room.

You may recall our incident with the pipe gremlins that resulted in one ruined carpet and two kids without a room of their own.

After all the plumbing was repaired and enough time had elapsed to be relatively sure (holding our breath) that there would not be a re-occurrence (again) the time had finally come to install a new floor. I still really wanted to put cork in but we were and are still wary about possible future leaks. Excess funds haven't exactly been flooding in (pardon the pun) either so we had to come up with a more economical solution.

Online Window Shopping. It's Free!

I love shopping online! Now don't get me wrong. I can spend a generous amount of time shopping in a physical store but my real passion is what I call online window shopping.

Cooking Attempt: Muffins!

My current challenge is to try to do more cooking. I am trying to eat healthier and provide my kids with healthier options. This is a big challenge in a family full of picky eaters. I am also not the worlds greatest chef despite the claim of my 4 year old. I am trying to get away from my dependence on convenience foods. An added bonus will be all the money we save in the process.

My Mismatched Thrift Store China

Growing up I always remember the excitement during the holidays when we would decorate and set up the table for dinner. It was so much fun to go into the deep dark recesses of normally unused cupboards and carefully take out the fancy china dishes. We would wipe off the three inch layer of dust and wash everything very carefully by hand before setting the table. Something about those dishes made those holiday meals taste that much better.

Noritake Crestwood Platinum - 50 piece set, service for eight

Stuff I Got: My New Mainstays Shelf

I recently bought a bookshelf from Walmart for my kid's room and I love it!!

It was $25 for a tall Mainstays 5 shelf bookshelf. Usually the little 2 or 3 shelf bookshelves cost more than that! When I bought it I assumed it would be very narrow but I was happily surprised. It is perfect for the kid's bedroom! I am putting all their decorative items that I don't want them playing with up on top. They have a couple of books I want to keep in good condition like a few signed by the author so I will put those on the top shelf. Then I have baskets and plastic bins to organize their toys in for the rest of the shelves. I am tempted to buy another one for their room. I have also gone around the house finding all the places a bookshelf would fit perfectly. I just need 7 or 8 more so far! At that price how can I resist?

Cooking Attempt: Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings

Hamilton Beach 33967 Set 'n Forget 6-Quart Programmable Slow Cooker

I have to be honest. I am not the world's greatest cook. I also am not very motivated to remedy that problem.

If I see a recipe with too many steps or ingredients I do not even attempt it. Time is also a factor. If it takes more than 5-15 minutes to prepare I will probably not do it. My s tove and oven are rarely used. If microwaves didn't exist I would probably starve to death! I am always on the quest to find truly quick and easy recipes. I have bought countless "easy" recipe books or few ingredient books. I always browse through the recipes only to find 30 minute prep time and ingredients I have never even heard of. I also do not want to spend hours wandering around grocery store aisles searching for an ingredient without having any clue what section it might be in. Is it a fruit or a type of bread? Maybe a spice?

Pages

Wednesday, November 5, 2014

Save Money with the Ultimate Christian Living Bundle

Here’s what you need to know about the sale:

Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Eyesore Wall Turned Gallery Wall

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Stuff I Want: Doors / Stuff I Did: Curtains

Friday, November 11, 2011

Clipping Coupons

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

My Kids Have a Bedroom!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Don't You Just Love It When . . .

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Stuff I Want: Beds

Friday, March 11, 2011

Stuff I Want: Kitchen Shelf

Monday, January 31, 2011

Stuff I Did: New (Puzzle Foam Mat) Floor

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Online Window Shopping. It's Free!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Cooking Attempt: Muffins!

Monday, May 3, 2010

My Mismatched Thrift Store China

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Stuff I Got: My New Mainstays Shelf

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Cooking Attempt: Crock Pot Chicken and Dumplings