Since I am on a tight budget and we are trying to pay off bills, I went to my favorite place, Savers, lol.
I was happy I did, I got some nice items and it came to under three dollars, you can't beat that, goodies for me and no guilt.
I found some beautiful batik fabric and a new stitchery book. The fabric looks hand dyed, have no idea, but it is beautiful in person and it is 2 yards, not bad for a 1.99. I have been buying batiks when I can and want to work on art quilts and free motion, so this will be a nice addition.
This is the fabric close up, you can see the puckers in it. Will definitely be interesting to work with.
The book is also wonderful, brand new condition. It has a nice intro section for threads and fabrics, etc. It has photos of flowers and the stitches she uses to make them. Some flowers are stitchery, some mixed with fabric, ribbons, crewel and even some cross stitch, so wonderful book to learn how to make and embellish flowers.
The back section has flower examples and nice diagrams for stitches. I have been wanting a nice stitch book, so was thrilled when I found this. I think I got myself some nice treats for myself;)
I like many of you, are struggling to pay bills and always looking for new ways to save money. The past few years, I have been stocking up on fabrics, wool and general supplies. I buy everything with coupons, so save even more. Now I can work on projects and not have to worry about running out. I buy from the sale racks and I make dinners that last. That saves money and time. I know many people use leftover chicken and bones to make soup. I do the opposite. I buy a large package of chicken breasts and make my broth with that. I use some of the chicken in the soup and the rest goes into a stir fry with brown rice. A nice healthy dinner plan for cold nights.
So for tonight, what do you do to save? Give me your best tips and you will get an extra entry into the giveaway, to be drawn on Sunday night. I finished stitching a new project tonight, so that will be revealed on sunday and a special freebie for all.
Now onto the winner, had to come back, since I forgot, lol. The winner is....... Prim2Pink!
Congratulations! Please email me with your pattern choice and I will email it to you.
15 comments:
I"m not good at saving anything! I"m not the person to ask!!!
Buying generic isn't always the cheapest. The regular grocery store cycle prices from high to low every 3 months. Buy at the lowest, plus use coupons to get great bargains. There are grocery/coupon match up sights to help with the process. I now am getting good at reading ads and looking for deals. The other night I got 3 pckgs of Nestle chocolate chips and 7 Duncan Hines brownie mixes for a total of $8.06. It's fun to see the $ being saved! (but I have 4 kids to feed!)
Laura
It was so much fun reading the captions from your last post. Lots of creative comments there! :)
Save money? Me? That is a tough one & I'm not very good at it. One thing I do try to do is get all my errands done at one time - rather than make more trips to town than needed.
There is a HAPPY DANCE going on here right now! I can't believe I won one of your patterns. THANK YOU!!! I'll be getting an email sent to you right away.
My way of saving is to do a lot of canning & freezing of the goods from our garden.
Judy
Congrats to Prim2Pink. I am heading on over to visit her at her blog! As for saving ... for several years I have tried to adopt a new motto, SIMPLIFY! And of course as a prim lover, I love to "make do." Seriously, hubby and I have reduced our debt to only our house mortgage and have only one credit card used for emergencies only. We don't use credit, don't have cable TV (use Netflix and have a nice DVD library), I'm an avid reader and resell my books on eBay, we drive our cars until they wear out, I only wear black pants to work so it cuts down on the number of shoes I need to go with my outfits! I do a lot of crockpot cooking and try to come up ways to re-use leftovers. We have virtually given up soda ... have turned to filtered water, kool aid, and veggie and fruit juices. I think we are coming to a very hard time in our economy and I may start actually hoarding canned goods! Yikes that sounds scary! We don't feel these things have in any way diminished our quality of life and we finally have a great savings account balance and we sleep better a night knowing we are practically debt free! I also buy in bulk whenever I can. BUT I still buy quality cuts of meat and am still very careful about what ingredients are in the pre-made, pre-packaged foods we buy! Sorry, didn't mean to run on and on!!! Also, 90% of the wool I use in my crafts comes from wool clothing I find at thrift stores.
Biggest one for us NO Credit Cards! We use debit cards but our motto is if you don't have money for it you don't need it or really can't afford it so we save for bigger things rather than buy now.We got rid of the cable bought a roku and subscribe to hulu and netflix which streams directly through the roku box to your tv.I pay $18 a month versus $130 cable bill and get all my favorite tv and movies when I'm ready to watch them.(I never have much time for tv but like to watch certain things so it's there whenever) I also try to clip coupons and will buy things I normally wouldn't if I'm getting it for pratically nothing.And make sure before heading to the craft store to clip the 40% off coupon.Warm Blessings!~Amy
I think most people have ways to say here and there. I buy very litle package foods. I use coupons when I can. I take my lunch and drinks to work. On and my fun tip is I love to use tarts from Yankee candle to make the house smell nice after cooking dinner. well, they are 1.99 I use a votive candle instead and cut it in half 2x the tarts for 1/2 the price. I also signed up on their website to get discount offers.
cathy
Great bargains you got!
Look for the best sales. I love to find a good bargain!
You indeed are a saver and got some great bargains. What works for me the best is if I use credit cards..pay them off when the bill comes. I don't have lingering balances besides the mtg. I too...save what I spend. If I spend $100 that means I had to save that too!
It's amazing what you can do with a dollar when every dollar counts.... thanks for sharing your talents for finding a good bargain & sew with what you've got....
I love your wonderful gifts...my tip to save money is to make out my menu for the week every Sunday and just go tot the store once, instead of every day. We also shop Costco, and buy in bulk for staple items. And then there is the quilt fabric...I have been trying really, really hard to use my stash instead of going to the quilt store!
Great ideas. My favorite way to save is to walk into Joanne Fabrics with a fist full of coupons. They'll take as many as you bring in as long as they all have different scan codes and are from what they consider a competitor. So, if I want 10 items - I bring 10 coupons . . . and get 40% off of EVERYTHING!
Well I just found your blog and love it! I am not the best at saving, but I will say when there is something I see I try to think this way:
A Need, A Want, or A Wish.
A need I will buy.
A want I will stop and wait 48 hrs.
A wish I will save up and see if the wish can stand the test of the time it takes to save the money.
I cook and bake from scratch plus I can and put up food in the summer. It's nice to have a pantry of food to start a home made supper.
Like you, I use coupons and always, always buy from the sales rack. I haven't paid full price for something in decades.
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