Everything's Coming Up Green

Posts Tagged ‘Being Green’

Last week my mom and I loaded the girls up, packed plenty of snacks and water and headed out with a list of potential garage and rummage sales to tackle. I will admit that I was not quite as prepared as I would have liked. I didn’t have our route mapped out; I didn’t get our lunch packed (I did pack Emma’s though), and I didn’t get up quite as early as I would have liked though we left only 15 minutes later than I had planned. If there is one thing about West Omaha that I reeeally dislike it’s that the housing areas are severely screwed up! It seems like every other street is a circle or a dead end. We did finally find the first house. And I walked away with a sack full of items. It was mostly filled with 4-five wick Citronelle candles that I scored for $.50 a piece! I found a few fun things for Emma as well.

Next stop was the rummage sale. It.was.the.jackpot! I scored tones of stuff. Unfortunately when I was taking pictures of my spoils I forgot to separate out the items by specific stops. Oh well I guess it doesn’t matter that much. It certainly isn’t life changing for you or me.

The next one was a bust. It was one of those that when you walk up you can smell everything and it is not good. It smells like nothing is ever cleaned and everything smells the same. The mother was very nice and her kids were very sweet, but, um no. Not going there. I hopped back in the car and we were off to the next one. There I got a box full of balls for $2.50 and a sweet frame that I am going to refinish. I laughed at the price of the frame because it was only the second day of the garage sale (it was going for four days) and it had already been reduce twice. Why you ask. Because they started the price at a whopping $15! It’s a cool frame don’t get me wrong but not in the best of shape. I paid $3 and that was good for me.

Home décor and craft stuff

Kids stuff

Scarves

Pink necklace and earring set $2

2 mesh bed rails $2

All those tiles for $5!

The blue necklace I scored for $1

So I won’t list everything but I will hit the highlights.

Adjustable Booster seat $1

White stool $.50

Bag of scarves $1

Fall figurines $2 for pair

New bag of Raffia $.50

NWT Children’s Place Swimmer shoes $2 (for E for Vacation next year)

There was a ton more but it is late and my brain is fried. You can see it all in the pictures. It was good but it is definitely difficult garage sale shopping with two small children. The problem is in the Omaha area Thursday and Friday are the big days to garage sale (which means hubby is at work and can’t watch the kids) and you need to start early. My girls are not early risers (thank you Jesus!) so this poses a problem on that one. I love, love, love it though! And I will be doing it again.

Have you scored any hidden treasures at a garage or rummage sale recently? Join in and brag away!

       Whether you believe in “saving the planet”, reducing the number of plastic/paper bags in your house, or like saving every penny you can, bringing your own bags to the grocery store is a great idea. It has become increasingly popular for stores to offer incentives for customers to bring their own bags. In Omaha, Whole Foods offers a whopping 10 cents per bag, bakers and Hy-Vee offer 5 cents per bag, and Target has started offering 5 cents per bag as well. All it takes is a little thought ahead of time and you are set to go.

How to get started

       Before you go out and purchase a bunch of bags look around your house for bags that might work. Even paper or plastic sacks from previous purchases will work in the beginning. I have not paid for a sing bag in my arsenal. During Earth day (month) many stores and websites offer free bags or have their bags deeply discounted. Now granted $1 for a bag is not bad and you will definitely get more than your money’s worth but two or three for $1 is even better.

Consider making your own.

     You can check out the instructions here at Martha Stewart’s site for making bags out of t-shirts. I have several I have set aside to make into bags that no longer fit or have sweat stains in places that will be cut off for the bag; shirts that I can’t wear anymore but can’t bear to part with. I’m sure we all have one or two of those around the house.

On top of the monetary value, I personally feel so much better walking out with my own bags and not a bunch of plastic bags that never seem to go away. I could get on my soup box about how we use a material that was meant to last a long time for one time uses, but I won’t, there just isn’t enough time for that and you might miss my point.

       Ultimately when you are trying to be frugal and make every penny count you need to take advantage of every opportunity. $1 a week adds up to $4 a month, which adds up to $52 a year!

Do you have any creative bag ideas?