Thrifty Living

Four months and counting plus a little baby thrifting

| Rene'

I can’t believe that we are almost to the halfway point with this pregnancy.

At this point I am going to warn you. I had a funny post planned for today. And then I forgot what it was I planned to write about.

And that pretty much describes the general pregnancy brain fog I have been in for the last 3 months.

My husband says the fog makes me less neurotic. So I guess that’s a plus if you live with me.

A negative to this pregnancy thing is that I can’t seem to brush my teeth without throwing up. I have to strategically plan when to brush my teeth so I don’t projectile vomit.

Sometimes my strategy works and sometimes it does not.

TMI?

In other baby news, I started a baby registry last month, but then quit 10 minutes in because all the unnecessary baby stuff was stressing me out.

We have spent so much time this year de-cluttering our house that imaging all the baby paraphernalia I was going to need was depressing :)

My sister and sister-in-law are going with me this week to finish out the registry. I am hoping the moral support will keep me from having a panic attack with all the options :)

But I have found a few great deals for baby necessities that I could not pass up.

I purchased a white metal crib, the exact mattress I wanted, and a MamaRoo baby swing all on the thrift..

For a grand total of $130. Saved myself several hundred dollars for items that I really wanted.

I may end up painting the crib (with baby-safe paint) but at this point I have no idea.

With all the stress of listing our home to sell, finding a new home and then moving the one thing that I keep looking forward to is decorating a nursery in our new house.

The fun/stressful part is I have no idea what the room will look like because I have no idea what house we will be in.

Which is also why we will be finding out the gender of the baby next month. I can only take so many surprises at once.

Happy Monday!

3 Months of Bad Hair

| Rene'

At the beginning of this year I was in dire need of some help.

Hair help.

This is how my hair is supposed to look.

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Unfortunately, my hair did not look like the examples above.

I know I was going through some crazy hormonal stuff at the time which sometimes causes my hair to be extra oily.

But the build-up/oil in my hair was beyond some basic PMS symptoms.

I was not using extra hair products, conditioning, or excessive washing.

I just could NOT get my hair clean.

It was strange and disheartening.

In the past when I had a mild problem of hair product build-up, I had used the old stand-by.

click photo for affiliate link

And I still love this Neutrogena Shampoo.

It’s just not for extreme cases of hair funk.

Anyway, I went to my hair dresser and told her my problem.

She washed my hair and was SHOCKED at how dirty it looked even after a deep shampoo and blow out.

So she said, ” Go buy cheap Suave Natural Clarifying Shampoo and use it for every wash.”

click photo for affliate link

I have to say I was a little skeptical, but I did as she said.

And after two weeks my hair funk was cured.

I still only wash my hair every 2-3 days, but the oily build-up is gone.

And I am so thankful to have my normal hair back.

Thanks, Rebecca!!!!

Home Improvement: $3 door hardware update

| Rene'

 

This project may take the cake as the cheapest ever.

It is very easy and is perfect for rookie DIYers. Just follow the instructions below.

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One $3 can of paint covered 12 sets of door knobs.

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A couple of tips to make sure this project is successful.

1. Make sure the hardware is clean before you set it up to paint. Do NOT place the hardware on a plastic bag to spray. Use cardboard.
2. Buy Rustoleum paint with primer built-in. I bought flat black. It worked great. Don’t cheap out on the paint.
3. Do 2-4 light coats with a hour of drying time between coats. Do not spray paint in direct sunlight. The sun causes the paint to do weird things.
4. Do not touch the painted hardware for at least 48 hours! It really takes that long for the paint to cure and defume. DON’T RUSH.

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I seriously can’t believe I didn’t do this 3 years ago when I moved in. It makes such a big difference in the look of our home.

Next up, painting brass ceiling fans!

This post contains affiliate links to help pay for the costs of this blog. 

Retail Therapy: Estate Sales and How I Shop Them from Home

| Rene'

You all, we have been working hard getting our house ship shape in order to put it on the market.
One of the areas that really needed some love was our deck. My husband plans to pressure wash and refinish it once the weather cools off, but I also knew I wanted to stage it somehow.
So I started searching Craigslist and estate sales for a simple rod iron set that would give a little life to our deck.

After looking about 6 months, I finally found a set that would work. An over-sized heavy duty comfy set with custom cushions for $130. Then I picked up an umbrella from Goodwill.

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The cushions are not my favorite, but I will recover them once we move and I know what the outdoor area will look like.

If you have ever shopped estate sales you know that they don’t cater to full time working schedules. I miss lots of them because I am at work (or let’s be honest, sleeping in on a Saturday morning).

But I use a website for local estate sale auctions that is wonderful. Seriously. You can shop for used couches from your couch.

Proxibid.com is awesome because it’s an international site similar to Ebay, but specifically for local estate and real estate auctions.

I have gotten all sorts of things from them: furniture, appliances, and household stuff.

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I highly recommend them.

Go enter in your zip code and see if there are any online auctions in your area:)

A Food Storage Solution That Won’t Make You Lose Your Mind (or your paycheck)

| Rene'

Do you know what drives me nuts?

Garden hoses.

They get tangled and kinked.

And it causes me to want to be the kind of person who cusses(only slightly kidding).

Well the other thing that drives me nuts is plastic food storage containers with all the mismatched lids.

It is enough to drive a woman mad.

Seriously.

Anyway, recently I discovered the cheap solution- freezer safe, top shelf dishwasher safe, microwave safe, and BPA free.

And the BEST PART is that they all use the same size lids. Hallelujah!


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 The bonus is that when I take meals to new moms etc I don’t feel bad sending these containers because they are so cheap, and I can even write the instructions for serving on the lid- using a sharpie and masking tape.

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I recently made a huge batch of chicken stock using the 8oz containers.

The price and availability make them perfect to use in kids’ lunch boxes too.

Click each photo for the specific links on Amazon.

This is the size I use for chicken stock, wine for cooking and condiments.

The cost breakdown on this size is 35¢ each which is even cheaper than the dollar store brands.

16 oz- individual salads and pastas as well as leftovers
32 oz- this is the perfect size for big batches of salsa, soups and chilis

They also offer this super large 1/2 gal size, but it has a different sized lid to I opted out.

This post contains affiliate links to help pay for the costs associated with this blog.

Retail Therapy: Spring Basics 2015

| Rene'

 I hope spring has sprung in your neck of the woods.

Spring sprang at our house and then we had our yard graded last week.

So now we have a yard of red mud with some new grass seed thrown on top.

Real life, folks. Just real life.

Anyway I have been doing some closet purging and refreshing for the new season.

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Dansko Women’s Tasha Sandal

 I needed a casual sandal with a little heel because of some sciatica I am still dealing with. 

And because my favorite pair of neutral brown wedges got eaten by a dog we were sitting on.  :(

I purchased these last week and I have not taken them off since. They are the most comfortable sandals I have ever owned.

I keep telling my husband I feel like I am walking on clouds. It took about 24 hours to break them in but no blisters and my feet have never been happier.

A bit pricey, but Danskos last forever. The last pair I owned for 5+ years and they still look new.

I did have to size up because my foot tends to be a little wide.

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Women‘s Draped One Piece Black Stripe

 We are headed to the beach in early May and I also needed a new suit. Or as we called it when I was growing up, “bating suit.”

Somewhere along the way we dropped the “h” and no one ever corrected us.

This is basically the greatest swimsuit ever made (slight exaggeration, but only slight). Lots of support for the chest and tummy areas but still super cute and reasonably priced.

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Some cute little spring studs for $8. Just that simple.

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I purchased one of these tunics from Old Navy a few weeks ago. The shirt is super light weight but well made.

It comes in lots of fun colors.

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These pants are a newer version of my favorite linen pants that I gave away to two readers this month.

I just bought these because I love stripes and I love linen. So basically it’s a match made in heaven.

And last but not least I am hoping to snatch of few pieces of the Lily Pulitzer line for Target in April.

This post contains affiliate links. 

Retail Therapy: A Trip to Goodwill

| Rene'

 I get asked occasionally how I put my home together from so many thrift and consignment store finds.

My brain is weird number one and my style is eclectic so that helps, but I also put together vignettes in my head to help me a picture how something will look with the other items that I own.

And sometimes I go so far as to put stuff together in the store to see how I like it together so I can determine if the said item is really a good buy.

Because a $10 chair is a great deal but if you bring a $10 chair home and you can’t use it you wasted your money regardless of how good a deal it was.

And when you thrift or consignment shop you don’t have the luxury of going home to measure or really taking much time at all to decide because  when you come back the item is almost always is gone…

Because of the Goodwill vultures! Hang on to your treasures while you are in the store. Finders keepers!

So last week I quickly put together an arrangement with

canvas art $25,

gold book ends $5,

a bronze lamp $8,

yellow wing back chair $80,

and a turquoise ottoman $12.

PS. If you saw a red head putting room arrangements together in a Goodwill store last Friday that was me. I got lots of crazy stares.

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These bookends would probably get spray painted white if they came home with me.

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 And I would buy a bright white drum lamp shade to replace the grody cream one.

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Tips for Goodwill Shopping

 

I love how this little reading nook came together in 15 minutes for under $150. That’s chic cheap!

Retail Therapy: It’s All About the Pants and a GIVEAWAY (Winners Announced)

| Rene'

Winners randomly selected by random.org:

Landerlm and Jamie.

Ladies, I will email you this week for your selection, color, size and address.

Thanks for reading! 

Enter your email address to follow this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

I have found some great pants recently that I just had to share.

First of all it you are taller and/or thinner these probably won’t be the best finds ever because I am going to assume that finding pants that fit is not as uncommon than finding a four leaf clover. (√got in my St. Patrick’s Day reference)

But I have a really hard time finding pants that fit and don’t make me feel like a sausage in a casing that is too tight.

Great mental picture right?

I own at least 2 pairs of each of these pants.

I know I have blogged about the leggings before but you all: THEY ARE THE BEST. I have them in every color.

Old Navy just stocked their linen blend pants for the spring. You need these pants. They even come in petite. They fit every shape and size plus as long as you pull them out of the dryer quickly you don’t even have to iron them. They are perfect office-y pants if you have to wear office-y clothes during the (HUMID) southern summer months. Bless our (sweating) hearts.

The workout capri pants were a desparate purchase because I was so tired of washing my workout pants multiple times a week.

But thankfully I actually love them and purchase 2 more. They are light weight but not see through which I love.

Pants

1, 2, 3

Now to the fun part: THE GIVEAWAY.

Giveaway

Two winners will receive a pair of the above pants, your size and choice of color.

Giveaway is over.

To enter: just leave a comment below with your favorite season.

For three additional entries share on facebook, instagram or twitter and then leave a comment below that you did.

A winner will be picked on Tuesday, March 3rd PM via random.org.

International entries welcome.

Happy (almost) Spring!

Retail Therapy: It’s All About the Pants and a GIVEAWAY

| Rene'

Winners are:

Landerlm and Jamie. Ladies I will email you this week for your selection, color, size and address.

Thanks for reading! 

I have found some great pants recently that I just had to share.

First of all it you are taller and/or thinner these probably won’t be the best finds ever because I am going to assume that finding pants that fit is not as uncommon than finding a four leaf clover. (√got in my St. Patrick’s Day reference)

But I have a really hard time finding pants that fit and don’t make me feel like a sausage in a casing that is too tight.

Great mental picture right?

I own at least 2 pairs of each of these pants.

I know I have blogged about the leggings before but you all: THEY ARE THE BEST. I have them in every color.

Old Navy just stocked their linen blend pants for the spring. You need these pants. They even come in petite. They fit every shape and size plus as long as you pull them out of the dryer quickly you don’t even have to iron them. They are perfect office-y pants if you have to wear office-y clothes during the (HUMID) southern summer months. Bless our (sweating) hearts.

The workout capri pants were a desparate purchase because I was so tired of washing my workout pants multiple times a week.

But thankfully I actually love them and purchase 2 more. They are light weight but not see through which I love.

Pants

1, 2, 3

Now to the fun part: THE GIVEAWAY.

Giveaway

Two winners will receive a pair of the above pants, your size and choice of color.

Giveaway is over.

To enter: just leave a comment below with your favorite season.

For three additional entries share on facebook, instagram or twitter and then leave a comment below that you did.

A winner will be picked on Tuesday, March 3rd PM via random.org.

International entries welcome.

Happy (almost) Spring!