Like Merchant Ships

Eye Candy

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 03:48:00 +0000

Each spring I skirt the amazing Easter display at Fresh Market. I want to scoop twenty little chicks into my basket, but walk away, empty-handed.

This year, I found almost-identical German chocolates at Aldi for $1.29 a bag.

A small pleasure, made even sweeter.

Foil Pans For Freezer Meals & Deliveries

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 00:44:00 +0000

I feel like a chump for ever buying foil pans at the grocery.

GFS Market, a restaurant-style supply store, stocks every size from mini loaves to giant steam pans.

Sold individually, prices range from 19-cents to $1.50.

Pictured above, a dinner delivery that's easy on the budget:

Mexican lasagna (similar to this, but meatless) and sliced canteloupe, packaged in my thrifty new finds.

How To Calm Down When Someone Paints On The Dining Room Table

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 19:41:00 +0000

Motherhood may be the most effective way to detach from material possessions...

...whether you want to or not!

Beauty isn't found only in the bargains. It's the people who color our lives.

A Woman Inspired Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 17:05:00 +0000

Today, Sandy (The Reluctant Entertainer) and I are sharing our secrets for "Entertaining On A Budget." We'll be talking about making the most of resources like time, money, and family--all while focusing on others, not image.

If you're visiting here from A Woman Inspired, welcome!

Click on the hospitality category to scroll through pages and pages of ideas related to entertaining, or use the search box for specific topics.

above, kids learn to prepare hot breakfast cups for the homeless

The New Year, The First Snow

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 21:14:00 +0000

Even my jumbled pile of snow gear seems like a fresh challenge.

Since December, we have pinned together gloves, searched for the long lost boot, and grown out of snowsuits. I'm saving those, so little worn, to hand down year by year.

Just when the Lands End catalog starts tempting, a last-minute thrift stop turned up boots and snow bibs on clearance for $2.50.

Right on time for our half-inch blizzard!

(Above, pottery hen nests in a red berry wreath on the outdoor table.)

Shortbread Gifts

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:12:00 +0000

Current project: ginger shortbread using a yard sale Brown Bag mold.

Share your frugal baking tactics at Frugal Hacks today.

A Nutcracker Ballet Party

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 01:48:00 +0000

I blinked, and Elise became a young lady.

We've spent this fall collecting leaves, baking cakes, and oh yes, taking ballet lessons.

Here are some shots from her class' Nutcracker Week party.

I bought a roll of tulle, gumdrops, pink glitter and a thrift store nutcracker.

Everything else we borrowed from our 2 Christmas boxes.

Andrew built a Sugar Plum Tree by sticking gumdrops on branches.

It stretched across the whole table for only $1.

The nostalgic candy garland came from Dollar Tree years ago.

Our Land of Sweets:

Pink "tea," sugar plum cakes, chocolate mice and snowflake pizelle cookies.

Cheap, easy details:

Play the Nutcracker Suite for background music. Display ballet storybooks checked out from the library.

I traced ballet slippers from this free template. The girls glued, glittered, and took their ornaments home in paper sacks (10 for $1 at Hobby Lobby.)

For a more elaborate party, you could paint your own nutcrackers or make these no sew tutus to share.

Here's hoping that your December will be filled with equally sweet memories!

Raised Beds In Retrospect

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 04:31:00 +0000

We plucked the last few okra and buried raspberry canes in hay. Yellow leaves blanket the front yard, ready to be chopped and layered on all 3 raised beds.

Our humble start at gardening surprised us. So few weeds, so many vegetables.

Definitely worth the investment. We may even skip the CSA next summer.

Bake Sale Packaging

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 12:57:00 +0000

Coffee filters remain my favorite cheap packaging for baked goods, like these super-size cake squares.

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 14:28:00 +0000

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 13:38:00 +0000

Hello there!

I stepped away to get our school off to a great start, but I didn't realize how hard it would be to return. I've decided to stop posting here for a while.

Though blogging has never gobbled much of my time, it does require focus--focus that I need in order to stretch and grow in other areas.

Don't worry, I'm not giving up my thrifty ways. I just won't be documenting it for the time being. I plan to keep bookmarking my favorite frugal links under the Food For Thought tab and return for the occasional update.

Thank you for your friendship and understanding!

Taking The Legos Away

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 18:24:00 +0000

There came a point this summer when I whispered some fateful words:

If you don't stop it right now, I will take away ALL the Legos in this house.

He must not have believed me. Not my finest parenting move, but I had to see it through to the bitter end.

Can I tell you how painful life without Lego has been--for both of us?

So it was as if the clouds parted and a heavenly ray of light shone down upon this battered but new box at Goodwill. The $2 tag matched the money he'd earned. I kicked in the tax.

We leave thanking God for this little bit of grace.

For both of us.

Dinner Improvised

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 01:51:00 +0000

Here's to make-ahead summer suppers.

Combining sale ingredients (75-cent organic ricotta!) with garden vegetables.

A lower carb lasagna which uses the last 2 zucchini? A win!

Recipe from The Italian Dish, inspiration from Happy To Be Called Mommy.

How To Inventory Hand-Me-Downs

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 14:25:00 +0000

We've been blessed to overflowing with hand-me-downs and yard sale clothes. The only hard part is storing them!

We use a simplified version of The Tightwad Gazette system. We sort and store future items by age.

Where do you keep all those clothes?

I dream of a basement lined with long clothing racks, but I make do with a high closet shelf and space under the crib.

One could easily spend more on a storage system than the wardrobe itself! We've experimented with all kinds of containers:

copy paper boxes
Rubbermaid bins
Ziploc Big Bags
Clear trash bags
Old suitcases

My secret: the container you select is not NEARLY as important as the inventory you keep.

Otherwise, you may end up with 8 shirts to 2 khaki pants! The Tightwad Gazette recommends index cards taped to each box.

I think a master checklist is much easier. Carry it from closet to basement to thrift store. You’ll know at a glance whether you have next year’s Easter dress in stock.

I created a free Google Spreadsheet for our inventory. To begin, I listed every item my kids might possibly need in a year, from swim suits to holiday clothes. Now I simply note each new addition. Under 3T dresses, I pencil in “plaid” or “blue” to prevent duplicates.

Will I fill every need ahead? No way! But the empty spaces on my spreadsheet keep me focused on what we need--and not just another cute sundress!

You can see my personal Kids Clothing Inventory Sheets here:
Girl
Boy
Baby

7 Quick Takes: Frugal Table Edition

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:47:00 +0000

Notes from the frugal kitchen, which is noticeably messier after 2 weeks of hard use.

Thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary's 7 Quick Takes for the invitation!

One cucumber vine provides all the free material you need for vegetable peeling lessons. We may be carving swans by September.

Mint is another cheap yet prolific plant. Kids can't outpick it.

Ever since I tasted Shauna's fruit salad, I've diced a few mint leaves into my own. Just a little grace note.

And look! More cucumbers! Soup recipe from Mollie Katzen's Salad People, chilled punch cups from Goodwill.

Dining out can be stressful with kids plus guests, who may not be used to spills at every meal. We all relaxed after vowing to eat at home.

Our best outing, hands down? The fantastic FREE production of Cinderella at the Nashville library's marionette theatre. We may go see it again!

My thrift-store score of Table Topics
led us to deeper conversation and kept the kids at table without as much fidgeting.

When we realized that Sunday brunch might not work, I picked up a pound of smoked salmon salad from Fresh Market ($7) to serve at home.

Excellent budget compromise and so easy with crackers, fresh salad, cheese and fruit.

Potted plants make quick, cheap centerpieces.

I splurged on hanging baskets from Home Depot's $3.33 sale, rotating two between front steps and table.

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 13:21:00 +0000

Between 2 rounds of company, a funeral, and and an out-of-town conference for my husband, it's taking me a while to reset the family routine. I apologize for not updating sooner!

It Never Lasts Long

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:41:00 +0000

No sooner had we put the house back together than Elise snuck a pink marker into her white, white bed.

Best Place To Buy Hair Elastics?

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:37:00 +0000

Above, a 25-cent box makes an everyday chore a little nicer

I need your advice on hair elastics. Where do you find the best quality for the best price?

Painted Floor Photos

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 12:24:00 +0000

Here are photos of the painted floor in my son's bedroom.

We added a garage sale coffee table for building Legos and a $20 rug to catch the sprawl. (Here's how we store the toys.)

July/August is a good time to look for inexpensive rugs. Walmart, Target, etc. roll out bound carpets for college kids.

Case study: to what degree will Lego bricks abrade a painted floor?

Ask me next year.

Painting Bedroom Floors White

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:19:00 +0000

We needed a quick--and cheap--replacement for the dirty bedroom carpets.

After we removed the staples and tack strips, the plywood subfloor had too many bad spots to leave as-is.

I compared laminates and prefinished wood floors, but nothing matched our existing hardwoods.

(By the way, I found the best hard flooring prices at Southeastern Salvage.)

I simply painted the floors with porch paint. I love the shine.

I bought white high-gloss by Sherwin Williams, which coated better than the big box brands I've used in other houses. One gallon cost $40 and covered two bedrooms.

Rolling on another coat is no harder than mopping a floor.

In my heart, I know a green-and-white checkered pattern would have looked incredible.

In my head, I realized none of the beds would fit through the door frames.

I had to move furniture to one side, paint 2 coats, and then repeat for the other side.

The process, though cheap, is not without drawbacks.

We all lost sleep as the kids adjusted to sleeping bags. We had to wait a few days for the paint to cure. We've already had one gouge from a leg without felt pads.

But I'm a rescuer of old and pretty things. A little wear doesn't bother me.

For all the light we gained, an imperfect floor seems like a small price to pay.

Painting The Kitchen Gold

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:25:00 +0000

The hardest part about painting is making yourself start.

I still had gallons of recycled paint from my living room project. The equipment was out for the bedroom floors.

Thanks to the pantry organization, all those cans and bottles on the counter had a place to be put away.

I picked up a brush and started painting. By morning, my kitchen glowed!

(Here's a shot of the kitchen room with its original beige wall color.)

Fresh Picked

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:34:00 +0000

Above, Elise makes the most of the dahlias that flopped. You can always click the Food For Thought tab above for my fresh-picked links.

How to stockpile @ Momadvice & Pantry stocking strategies @ Coffee Tea Books & Me.
July kicks off No Spend Month @ Small Notebook.
If you're tired of couponing, Money Saving Mom says it's okay to take a vacation.

Y'all will be proud of me. Ever since the pantry problem, I've been crossing off projects left and right. Check back Monday for photos!

Frugal Asset: A Vehicle That Can Haul

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 12:32:00 +0000

bamboo piled by the side of the road, just when my plants needed staking

The Simple Play Fort

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 12:45:00 +0000

According to Molly Dannenmaier's A Child's Garden, "to thrive, children need complex environments."

Our bare strip of back yard lacks any place to hide, splash, dig or explore. But what if I already used up my budget with the vegetable beds?

This week we're working on a simple fort structure--not much more than a platform raised a few feet off the ground.

Andrew spotted these logs in someone's yard, asked permission to take a few, and quickly sketched a plan.

Thoughts On An Organized Pantry

noreply@blogger.com (Meredith) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 14:02:00 +0000

I did some deep thinking surrounded by Rotel and Ziplocs. Here are a few conclusions as I vowed to be a better steward of my resources:

The pantry is always cleaner on the other side of the street.
When I only had a kitchen cabinet for food storage, I was sure a walk-in pantry would solve my problems.

Now I know the problem is me.

If you can't see your food, you may buy it twice or let it spoil.

I made a special trip for oatmeal when a whole new canister sat on the floor. I let onions sprout and sweet potatoes rot.

I was too tired to get the pantry organized, but my lack of organization used more energy in the long run.

Emergency preparedness starts in the pantry.

My 5-gallon jugs of water expired last year, and we had eaten through the peanut butter reserves. I am so grateful I have the chance to restock before a tornado blows through.

Pantry organization begins and ends with me.

Though I muttered a lot about snack-spilling kids and tall people who hide the garbage bags, this is my job. Doing it well depends on self-discipline.

(Click here to see the organized pantry BEFORE and pantry IN PROGRESS.)

Has organizing ever brought your own heart-issues to light?