$15 Dresser Refinished... Finally!

Yes, I showed you this picture in May.  This has been a long time procrastinator project.  Somehow hauling out the primer and black paint took a back burner to the everyday schedule of life with my 'lil punk-a-noodles. Now this beauty sits in the corner of my bedroom.

Not bad for $15 eh?  See her sister in yellow?  I collect old dressers.  Truth: My new black dresser presently is empty.  It's missing the entire back of the cabinet and the drawers don't work... but it LOOKS fabulous.  I'm sure it will take me another 6 months to restore the drawer runners.  The husband gives me a sideways glance... why did I knock myself out for a broken dresser?

Why?  Because I needed black in that room to make it feel right.  I needed an upright substantial piece of non-working furniture for a mere $15 to take up floor space so I wouldn't have to vacuum in that corner.  And....?

....AND I'd steal horses for those knobs!  $15 dollars is chump change for handles like that!  I'm a sucker for a good drawer pull.

Now the room is balanced... though the dresser's not.  I can roll a marble right off the top.  Everything leans forward severely.  That's fixable too right!  Guess I should have closed that drawer all the way too.  Shameful.  No, this dresser isn't a waste of space.  It's great storage, even if I have to support the drawer when I pull it out.  I could keep plenty in them drawers:)

Now, I just need to finish this FREE dresser I rescued from bulk pick-up day on the side of the road.  No, the drawers don't work, but they will... in 6 more months!
Want to see more DIY projects? Go visit Kimba at her NEW home! or Wendy @The Shabby Nest for Frugal Friday! 

Pinching a Penny 'till it Screams

There isn't any wiggle room in our budget. I think there used to be a long time ago but my memory really isn't that good. I don't mind trumpeting my frugal horn all over blogland because well... it's true... we live very frugally, and we're good at it. But sometimes money gets even tighter than we imagine it could.

So, what happens when a frugal family has cut every common luxury (cable, dining out, runs to Sonic- you get the idea) out of the budget and STILL needs to pinch pennies to survive? Right now our Octo-brood is about as pinched as you can get. As a good friend says, "I pinch pennies so hard I make them scream."

When I need to find extra cash around the holidays I start in the kitchen.

Here are some tips to significantly reduce your food budget:

1. Only buy what you need. This will sound ultra miserly but bear with me. The USDA has a great website that outlines nutritional needs. I offer my kids their needs... because I want them to be healthy and that's what I can afford. Parents: We over feed our kids expensive foods that lack nutrition! Why not offer them what their bodies need and save money? Go visit www.MyPyramid.gov and see the different food pyramids for your age kiddos. Heck, you can even find out what portion sizes in each group you need to lose weight! They have great interactive tools that will help you figure out what the NEEDS are of your family. 'nuff said.

2. Cut out cold cereal. Fix Oatmeal, Cream of Wheat, Cracked Wheat Cereal, homemade pancakes, eggs. These meals fill you up faster and stick with you longer. Try making them overnight in a crock pot and reheating them for a few days for convenience.
3. Monitor the Milk. We buy 8 gallons a week! Geesh, If I let my kids drink as much milk as they wanted to, we'd need to buy stock in a dairy. Nutritionally kids and adults only need a few dairy servings a day. Offer proper nutritional servings of milk products and then let the kids drink good old H2O!
4. Popcorn is a great snack! Popcorn (air popped) is cheap and a great healthy whole grain snack. My kids love this FILLING treat after school. Try different toppings for variety: half butter and half soy sauce (big hit around here), butter and ranch or use ranch dressing powder, BBQ seasoning powder, Mrs. Dash.
5. Eat leftovers. If you hate left overs... start thinking survival. We don't throw any food away. I call left overs "Planned Overs." If we have broccoli for dinner, it ends up in an omelet, soup, or stir fry for the next night. Get creative and try to find a way to reinvent your left over into it's own dish. Soup and quiche are great leftover mediums. Just think how much you save in ingredients by reusing what you already have!
6. Eat less meat. Meat is a great luxury here. We eat it often but I portion it out carefully. Again, I only give the serving size amount per the food pyramid. My 4 year old meat-aholic thinks it's child abuse but I assure you, she's healthy. A 4 oz serving size of meat looks small but really, that's all you need and so it's all we eat.
7. Use nutritious fillers. I try to serve homemade whole wheat bread with every meal. I offer potatoes, rices, couscous, stuffing... anything that my kids love to help fill them up. Vegetables are very filling.

8. Cut the drinks that aren't really good for you. Soda, Beer, Wine, Coffee, Energy Drinks, Punch... I know, I just heard a thud at the other end of the computer. Are you okay? Did I hit a favorite vice tender spot? Might as well throw in cigarettes while we're at it. Ladies, these things add up and really, they aren't so great for you. When you need to pocket change and cut corners... add up how much a week you're spending on liquid pleasures. A Diet Coke a day may take the grumpies away but... oh heck... you get it. Do I still have any friends?
9. Keep Snacks in your car. I started doing this to avoid heading to drive thru's when the munchkins were munchy. Stow granola bars and water bottles under your seat for a quick fix for hungry kids and skip the fast food.
10. Cook inexpensive meals. Duh... I know. Disney Family Magazine has a great article on cheap family meals. Check it out HERE.

For other penny pinching ideas see: Penny Pinching Grandma and Stretcher-Feeding a Large Family.

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Don't forget to grab a button and link up tomorrow for the Friday Boutique. This will be happening every Friday through Christmas. Come link up to your blog post about what you sell and start your Holiday Shopping early!

Halloween Costume Swap

Confession: Halloween is not my favorite holiday... not by a long shot. I used to love it but as costumes progressively get more gross, sexy, and bloody and retail stores rake in bucks second only to Christmas, Halloween has lost it's lustre in this house.

Oh, the other reason I dread it?... I have 6 kids to outfit for the occasion. If I buy a costume... even a cheap one, it's expensive. If I make a costume (other than a gypsy, pirate, mummy or ghost) it's expensive. With Christmas just around the corner I prefer to save my well earned money for family gifts, entertaining, and celebrating things sacred.

So how can you outfit your little tribe for next to nothing?

Have a Costume Swap!

Gather all those church friends, neighbors, girlfriends and PTA moms and pool your resources together to pinch pennies for more important occasions.
::How to organize a Costume Swap::

1. Plan a Date.
2. Decide what kind of swap to hold. Do you want to do a permanent swap?- or run it like a library and check out the costume to be returned to it's owner.
3. Serve Food. Chocolate works best for bringing a crowd... no kidding. You can kill 2 birds with one stone and have a Costume/Chocolate Swap. Mmm... not a bad entry fee to the party!
4. Invite everyone the world. Anyone you think would be interested. Use a service like Evite.com to send invites via email.

5. Give instructions to invitees on how you will run the swap. Have them clearly mark their costumes for sizes and descriptions. You may designate specific places at the party for sizes so choosing costumes will be easy. You may want them to bring contact info to pass along to whomever borrows a costume.

6. Consider giving attendees a number for every costume they bring. The numbers can then be used to fairly organize who chooses first via a drawing or rotation.
7. Enjoy a cheap and easy Halloween and use the money you would have spent on costumes towards bills, Christmas, or crafting (and yes shameless plug... you can sell them for free HERE!)

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Are you going to organize a Costume Swap? If you do, I want pictures and a report of how it went so I can post them here at the Palace! Email me at PrettyOrganized {at} gmail dot com.

Photo Credits: Disney Family Fun Magazine How to's are given for all costumes listed!