Works for Me Wednesday

Ok I'll admit it, I've been lacking inspiration lately. I haven't been shopping much because we've got 3 weeks in between paychecks so I need to skimp a bit. Today is my shopping day so I'll have some deals to post about this afternoon. As it is Wednesday, I need to share what works for me this week.
1. Recycling-I am all about being green so it was only fitting that I got into our city's recycling program wholeheartedly. I am lucky enough to live in a place that picks up my recycling at my curb every other week. There are many things that can be recycled (particularly in the bathroom) that many people don't think about! Here is just a quick list of things to consider.
-toilet paper rolls
-makeup containers
-lotion or product containers
-boxes from products (toothpaste, lotions, ect)
-any sort of plastics

I have extra space in my master bath to have 2 trash bins. I use one for recycling and one for trash. My trash container normally has hardly anything in it when trash day comes! Find ways to reduce your environmental impact and recycle things you previously threw away!

2. Recycling bins-Ok so this is my second ditty on recycling. As I'm sure you know, I use coupons to help with my weekly grocery budget. One of my tips is to look in newspaper recycling bins for newspapers with coupons! I have one that I regularly check that is very clean and normally very full. I tend to go after the brown paper bags of newspaper that I can pull out and go through fairly quickly in my search for unused coupons. Yesterday, when stopping by I hit GOLD!!! Sunday newspapers still in the PLASTIC!!!! Plus some Coke rewards points that put me over the top for a new magazine subscription :) I brought the newspapers home, went through and found TONS of coupons and put the papers in my own recycling bin.

What works for you this Wednesday?

Works for Me Wednesday...a little late

Sorry I'm a bit late on this one...
My works for me Wednesday this week is more of a confession and a plea for other people to confess in a sense as well.
There are some people who would like to live their lives like that of the movies...I am not one of them. I much prefer to live my life through songs. I have songs associated with almost every important event in my life, every day to day thing, and most cities I've visited. For example, Walking in Memphis reminds me of my club soccer team from high school. I listen to Take Me or Leave Me from Rent after a bad breakup. Lessons Learned puts things into perspective for me when I have major decisions to make. I'm sure I could essentially make a sound track of my life. So that is my challenge to you all, my lovely blog readers....I know you're out there somewhere!!!! Comment what the soundtrack of your life would be with these 10 stages. Feel free to share what song goes with which or leave us guessing. See mine below!
1. Childhood
2. Teens
3. College/Young Adulthood
4. Adulthood
5. Most important life decision
6. Biggest regret
7. Greatest love story
8. Best day of your life
9. Worst day of your life
10. Future

1. Born to Fly-Sara Evans
2. Wide Open Spaces-Dixie Chicks
3. I Gotta Feeling-Black Eyed Peas
4. No Such Thing-John Mayer
5. You're Gonna Miss This-Trace Adkins
6. Settlin-Sugarland
7. Haven't Met You Yet-Michael Buble
8. Don't Worry Bout a Thing-SheDaisy
9. Stand-Rascal Flatts
10. Have a Little Faith in Me-Joe Cocker

It's new to me

Tomorrow I will pick up my new car! Ok so it isn't new, but it is new to me. I have driven a 01 Dodge Neon since I turned 16 and despite the fact that it is still under 100,000 miles, it is definitely time for a new one. Suzie Q, as she has been affectionately named, has had her share of bumps and bruises over the years. Some have scared the heck out of me, but I've learned something from each and every issue we've gone through over our 8 years together.
First in 2002, I was involved in a pretty bad car accident with her on my way to school. I learned to slow down because being late is certainly better than being dead. She took me to Bellarmine University in the fall of 2004 and I learned that home was never more than a car ride away. She was driven over a median by a young man who offered to be our DD in college and I learned that I will likely take better care of the things I work hard for than other people will. My car radio broke my freshman year of college, so I replaced it with a CD player, which then proceeded to stop working as well my senior year of college. It tends to work once the car is warmed up (sometimes after about an hour of driving) which confirmed to me that the Neon is indeed a woman with a bit of an attitude. It also taught me that sometimes silence and a little bit of fresh air is the best way to get your brain working. My driver side door lock was broken while trying to be opened during the 2008 Louisville ice storm causing me to unlock my passenger side door and reach across to the driver side for the past 2 years. It taught me that sometimes problem solving isn't as good as just fixing something that bothers you. This past winter I slid on the ice going about 15 MPH in my neighborhood and hit a truck destroying the back passenger side door. I was ridiculously sick and had taken a half day. I only went to work because I had a case conference that afternoon that had already been rescheduled about 3 times. I learned that in the end, I need to take care of myself first and foremost. I've cried or talked my way out of numerous speeding tickets in this car. She took me to high school, soccer practices, graduation, college, my first derby, college graduation, job interviews, house hunting, my first day of teaching, and to my first home. It will be difficult to give her up tomorrow, but I know its time for me to get a big girl car that is more reliable and safer.

In searching for a new car, I knew there were 3 things I could not live without and 3 things I could not live with.
Needs
1. Power locks/windows
2. Cruise control
3. Working radio

Hates
1. Leather seats
2. Dodge
3. Any model other than a 4 door sedan

I ended up with a 2006 VW Jetta 2.5 that has less than 40,000. The car is in great shape and I could not be more excited! Buying used is definitely the way to go for me. Paying cash and driving a car til it's dead is certainly better than making car payments in my book. I figure I can put that extra $200 a month into savings to buy another car free and clear down the road. If you figure that SuzieQ has been around for 8 years, I have saved $2,400 a year to not have a car payment. Over the lifetime of the car that adds up to a whopping $19,200!

So my plan is to save $100 a month for a car down the road. If I save $1,200 a year for 9 years I will have another $10,600 to spend for another car. I can always save more than that if needed, but I figure my plan works for the time being.

What is your opinion....new or used cars? What are some features you can't live without? Do you have a financial plan to make big purchases like a car? Comment away.

Works for Me Wednesday

A few things that work for me...
1. A cleaning schedule. Since I am off of work for the summer, I find that messes accumulate much quicker than they did during the school year. I created a cleaning schedule so everything gets done. I use a dry erase board in my laundry room to manage and remind me what needs to be done. Here is just a little tid bit of how I have things scheduled.
Monday-Kitchen/Bathrooms
Tuesday-Mow the grass/outside work
Wednesday-Shopping Day
Thursday-Laundry/living room
Friday-Vacuum and bedrooms

2. Getting freebies in the mail! Just this week, I've gotten about 8 samples in the mail. My favorites have been the dog food samples I got from Walmart.com. They are perfect for traveling with my puppy. I cannot believe how much money I am saving by using freebies and the high value coupons that often come with them.

3. Menu planning. I have attempted to do this since moving into my house as a means to save money. I'm really seeing the money saving effects now that it is summer though! Check out this link for some awesome menu planning worksheets! Thanks Money Saving Mom!

59 Buckets of Dirt on the Lawn...59 Buckets of Dirt

Sorry for the lack of posting over the past week. This house has been alive with home improvements. The fence is now in, the grill looks like new, the patio is finished, and the furniture is all in place. My outdoor oasis is complete and thank goodness relax time is finally here.

I'm sure by now you have gotten the drift that I am frugal, but this is not always a good thing. First piece of evidence, the fence instillation. I shared in an earlier post my determination to get the best price possible, but little did I know that $100 I didn't spend would end up costing me a great deal of pain and approximately 6 hours of time. If you've ever had a fence installed, you probably remember that they leave the dirt they dig up at the fence posts unless you pay them some money to take it away. My company was going to charge me $100 for dirt removal. I have some low points in my yard and I was thinking this would be a great way to fill the area in for just my labor. Uggggg I was correct, but my labor was certainly expended during my 6 hours spent moving said dirt to this area in 90+ degree heat. I felt like I was going to die. There were tears, 3 showers needed, sore muscles, and bumps and bruises. I even created the song that is the title of this blog post to the tune of "99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall." It took 59 five gallon bucket trips to complete the job. The pressure was even higher to get all the dirt moved before the rain came on Sunday. Needless to say, it would have been $100 well spent. Although the low points of my yard are now filled and grass seeded, it probably wasn't exactly worth it. Chalk this one up to experience I suppose.

I did snag an AWESOME deal yesterday while shopping with my sister who is home from Ohio for a few days. We went to Big Lots in search of canning jars since everyone has told me they are ridiculously cheap there. The jars were a let down because it turns out I can get them cheaper at Walmart with the coupons that have been coming in the paper lately. The trip was not a total washout though. While looking at a dish chair my sister was considering buying for her apartment next year, I spotted something I've been searching for endlessly! A TAN PATIO UMBRELLA! I snagged a 9 foot wooden umbrella with tan fabric for under $50. I've been searching and most of the time there are insane colors or shotty craftsmanship umbrellas for around $65. I prefer a more neutral color since my patio furniture is black and has tan/gray/black cushions and I'd like everything to match. I couldn't believe it :) Check out the new look of the patio with this shady addition!

You can even spot the grill and fence in the background. Check out my next post for my grill rehab DIY project.

Works for Me Wednesday

I figured I would try a little something new for Wednesdays! Since my blog is titled Sounds Good....I'm going to share a few things that sound good to me each week in Works for Me Wednesday!

1. The USA beating Algeria with a goal in the 91st minute! This house has been hoping all morning in celebration for USA moving on to the round of 16 in the World Cup! Here is Landon Donovan celebrating the goal.

2. Brillo pads. This is my cleaning secret for all things stainless steel. I use them to clean my sink once a week, the tea pot, and those pesky spill savers on the stove that are always getting dirty. I cleaned these today and although they aren't immaculately shiny, they are certainly substantially shinier than they were.

Before

After 3. Playing the Drugstore Game. I'm finally getting good at this. I'm doing both Walgreens and CVS right now and last night I had a semi unplanned trip that worked out perfectly while I was waiting for my sushi take out. I got all of these items between the two stores for $1.64 which was mostly tax. I had $6 RR at Walgreens from last week that I used and $4 of my $7 of ECB at CVS. I earned $6.50 in RR at Walgreens and $4 in ECB from CVS. This means that if I factor in my RR and ECB, I got all of this stuff for $1.14! I am not sure if I can beat it, but Walgreens has some other awesome deals I will be going back for later in the week once I have a chance to go through coupons and plan it out. I really want to get the conditioner to match up with this shampoo so I need to plan out the deal since I cannot use the $2 RR I got on the shampoo for the conditioner or it won't print out another one.

What works for you this Wednesday? Feel free to share any tips that you've discovered that make your life a little easier!

Organization Part One

Today begins the quest for organization. I figured I would start with my office since it is the place I feel most organized in my house. I have a LOT of stuff, but I like to think of it as stuff I need. Everything in my home office has its function. I may not use it every single day, but if I need something it is usually at my fingertips.

I have a downfall in my search for organization...the mail. All the bills and papers and stupid-stuff-you-can't-just-throw-away-because-someone-might-steal-your-identity mail. I hate dealing with it and worse I hate filing it. I have set this system up so I can file things once a week instead of every day. The top has a flag that says "File It" where all the mail goes to be filed. The bottom has a flag that says "Hold It." This is where any important papers I still need go, manuals for my computer and printer, and cards or notes I'd like to keep. By doing this, everything has its place and it is more manageable for me.

I know we've all been there...you need a pen to write down someones number, but one is no where to be found. Thank you IKEA for this wonderful solution. This wonderful bar was actually in their kitchen section with the holders meant for kitchen utensils to dry after washing. I took the spin in a whole new direction and attached this to the wall right next to my desk. The first container is for pens and pencils. The second is for markers and highlighters. The third is for address labels that I periodically receive in the mail from organizations I donate to. All these things are at my fingertips whenever I need them!!!

I have this little tray attached to the desk that I think is meant for a keyboard. Seeing as I have a laptop, I figured I would put it to other use. I have 2 long desk drawer organizers that I got in the Dollar Spot at Target when I was in college. In these are scissors, whiteout, tape, glue/glue sticks, post its, staples, and hand lotion. I also use this space to hold a package of CDs, paper clips, a 3 hole punch, and a box of envelopes. A great way to use otherwise wasted space.

The last storage piece that I use religiously is a set of severely beat up bookshelves I got from Freecycle Indy when I first moved back to Indianapolis. I had the intention of using them in my classroom....that I didn't have my first year of teaching, so it seemed only natural to bring them to my house when I moved. I have one other one that I use in my guest bedroom to hold picture frames. These 2 shelves house all my college education books, regular books, cookbooks, documents I want to save, yearbooks, my college diploma, and a number of other things. I have placed picture frames in front of many of these things to break it up. Right next to these shelves, you'll see 3 boxes. In these boxes are all of the things I might need. Two of them contain all the freebies I will be using in my classroom for my token economy and one contains extra office supplies. They are housed inside storage boxes I got in packs of 3 last summer at IKEA for less than $2 a pack and labeled with blank index cards and tape.

Some people may think this is too much to have the boxes out in the open, but since they are all uniform and have labels, I actually like it. I get in and out of them too frequently to store them away in an area I cannot readily access. This makes the most sense for me. The whole area is less than 3 feet and it fits into a corner I would otherwise just leave empty.

What storage solutions work for you in your at home office space?