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Thursday, April 30, 2009

Sell or Donate Your Books

This week I've been talking about what to do with the items after you have done your Spring cleaning and purged your house of the unneeded items. If you are a book lover, you know how these quickly these can accumulate. The book clutter becomes worse when you have children outgrowing their book collection. As part of Happy to be at Home's Thursday Thirteen, I'm going to give you 13 ideas on where you can trade your old books for cash or new books, as well as places to donate.

Amazon.com is a reputable company and features a used section along side the new books.
Barnes & Noble is another reputable merchant who offers a used section.
Ebay is great for vintage books and books in high demand.
Half.com is associated with Ebay. I've bought from them before with great success.
Cash4Books.net sounds like a great program. I have not yet tried it, but this site is first on my list to try out.
Half Price Books These chains are found locally and offer cash for your books, music, videos and magazines while you wait.
Independent used book stores - These will be different in each community and depending on your town, there may be several to choose from.
General consignment shops - Again, these will vary by community, but children's books would do quite well. Even better, look for a children's consignment shop and take the books and games there.
Consider taking some books to your local children's hospital. Not only do the children enjoy reading material, but often the parents are away from home and would probably appreciate a temporary diversion.
There are numerous sites online where you can donate your books. Each program differs and there are options for helping children, low-income families, urban children, and soldiers.
PaperBackSwap.com is a popular place to swap your books for the price of shipping. I have never tried it, but have heard positive comments about it from other bloggers.
If you homeschool, check the groups in your town or in the next town. Many groups gather in the Spring and Summer for book swaps or book sales.
Swap with friends and make a party out of it. Choose a theme, i.e. children's books, DIY books, fiction, inspirational, etc. Invite some friends to your home and trade books while enjoying a snack.

What ideas do you have for unneeded books?

Labels: Amazon, books, cleaning, frugality, money makers, organization, Thursday Thirteen

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Thursday, April 30, 2009 3 Comments

Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Clean Out the Fridge - Ideas for Leftovers

This week I have been writing about what to do with all your "stuff" when you are Spring Cleaning. The refrigerator certainly needs our attention when we are cleaning and I'm guessing a fraction of what is in the fridge needs to head straight to the garbage. If you have any edible leftovers remaining, you can stretch them into a new meal with just a little creativity.

First and easiest, rewarm the leftovers, but create a buffet. Let the family choose, as if it were a restaurant. The younger children love this, but don't forget to give your restaurant a name. If you have small children and especially if they do not like leftovers, create a quick menu in which they can select their own dinner. My children loved the menu idea when they were younger, especially when mom sported the folded towel draped over one arm as their server.

If you have eggs, possibly a little meat, some veggies and cheese, you can make a quiche. If you're doubting the men in your life will be receptive to quiche, you can call it "Ham and Egg Dinner Pie" or a "Chicken and Spinach Bake." You get the drift... You can make the quiche with either a homemade or store-bought crust, though the store-bought will be quicker. Provided you have a little creativity and a few necessary ingredients, you should be able to find a quiche recipe that will work.

If you routinely have small amounts of leftover meat (ground beef, ham or sausage are the best) you can start a bag in your freezer to collect pizza toppings. When I have ground beef or chicken, I sometimes turn the pizza into a barbecue or cheeseburger pizza. I mix in a little barbecue sauce with the pizza sauce and top it with shredded cheddar instead of mozzarella.

If you have an assortment of noodles or rice, veggies, and even a little meat, you can turn it into a soup. Just grab some stock, choosing an appropriate one based on the meat you have on hand, and rewarm in a pot. Add a few suitable fresh ingredients to stretch it into a big enough meal for your family. Depending on which foods you have left from a Mexican dinner, you might be able to create a taco soup. A minestrone can be created with leftover pasta and beans. The veggies, rice and noodles can also be good ways to stretch canned soup when your time is limited.

If you have chicken and veggies, you could mix up some dumplings from a baking mix or even from scratch, and allow to cook until done on top of the chicken soup. In addition to stretching the meal, the dumplings will be helpful in thickening the soup.

Betty Crocker has a series of recipes using Bisquick called Impossible Pies that are also great for using miscellaneous leftovers. While the recipes call for specific amounts of the veggies and meat, I'm certain that you could do a little substituting if you are comfortable in the kitchen. However, there are so many recipes for the Impossible Pies that you may not need to substitute.

I hope this helps you find some new ideas to spice up your leftovers. Using food before it goes to waste works for me. You will find more Works for Me Wednesday Tips at We Are THAT Family.

If you enjoyed this post, please check my main page tomorrow or subscribe to the RSS feed (top right) for more "Spring Clean Out" posts.

Labels: cleaning, Everything Egg, food, frugality, fun with the kids, tips, Works for Me Wednesday

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, April 28, 2009 5 Comments

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Clean Out and Sell

Spring is a great time of year to purge your home of the items that have worn out their welcome. While some people prefer to automatically donate the items, which is wonderful and admirable, today I'm going to list the options for selling your items. Come back later this week for donating ideas.

Yard sales (or perhaps people in your area refer to them as tag sales, rummage sales or garage sales) are a tried and true method to cashing in on your unwanted items. As my children have gotten older, they enjoy making crafts or coffee and lemonade to sell. In the past, we have used the proceeds from the sale for a family activity or purchase. By doing that, we do not need to keep track of how much each person earns and the children have incentive to find items to sell.

Craiglist is much like an online yard sale. I have noticed this service works the best if you are in a larger city, but it is well worth trying this free option.

Ebay has changed a lot over the years and seems to be ideal for vintage pieces, collectibles, and boutique items at discounts.

Consignment stores are invaluable to a growing family. I recently wrote about how I shop for free at my local consignment shop. Once or twice a year, there is a huge consignment sale in our town where a large number of families will meet in a gym or meeting hall to buy and sell from each other under one roof. You can check for one in your area at Kids Consignment Sales.

There are numerous online auction and swap sites. I am not familiar with any of these to recommend them specifically, but there are certainly a variety available if this is the type of service you need.

Consider an outdoor flea market. If you have visited the flea market before, gauge whether your items would be a good fit based on the other outdoor vendors. There will be a small fee to set up, but you will have a steady stream of customers.

Do you have other ideas for selling your unneeded items?

This post has been linked to:
Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life
I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

Labels: cleaning, frugality, money makers, tips

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Sunday, April 26, 2009 8 Comments

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Homemaking by the Season - Home Maintenance

If you are anything like me, home maintenance is one of the more mundane, albeit necessary tasks of keeping a home. However, for few hours of work, money will be saved for weeks and months to come.

First, there are several good websites that feature checklists of the chores we should focus on this spring. A great place to start is Bob Vila's Home Maintenance Checklist. Among many other suggestions, he mentions changing filters. We will soon be turning on the A/C units and considering they are usually the most expensive drain on our electric bill, having these operating at maximum efficiency will save us money. You may also want to take a peek at the unit outside and make sure it is clear of grass clippings and lawn debris. If the air flow is restricted by leaves and grass clippings, the unit will be less effective. Lastly, check your unit to see if it functions as you expect, before you actually need it. You will get repair service much quicker in the spring than you will on the first hot summer day when many people are turning on their units for the first time.

Second, if you have never planted a garden before, this is the year to start. As you know, food prices have been climbing and the job market is still unsteady. Free food growing in your backyard will make your grocery budget stretch even further. It is not too late to start, though in some parts of the country, it is certainly time to be quick with your garden plans. Phoebe at Cents to Get Debt Free loves gardening and blogs her progress, so if you need some inspiration, be sure to check out her site. Even if you think you do not have room for a garden, square foot gardening provides efficient use of a small space and container gardening requires even less space.

A quick frugal tip if you are wanting to start a garden: The smaller family owned nurseries are going to be much cheaper than the big box garden stores. In our area, we have several that are so small that the business is conducted from a greenhouse on the family's property. I do not even recall seeing advertisements or even large business signs for this type of nursery, but they have more variety and are probably half the price of the larger businesses. These businesses depend mainly on word of mouth suggestions and the locals who just drive by. If you are new to this hobby, consider asking friends and family where they buy their plants.

Lastly, we are probably all familiar with the fact that spring cleaning should be done. Rather than provide a checklist of the necessary chores, I just had to show you how to make it more fun. I found a CD at Amazon called Lifestyles: Music for Spring Cleaning. I had to laugh because it is certainly not the type of music that would get me through a day of tough cleaning, but maybe someone would enjoy it. It's beautiful music though. If this is not your style of music to clean to, pick out a selection of your favorite songs as well as a reward for yourself to enjoy when you are finished, and see if that helps you get through these necessary chores.

Come back tomorrow for a more relaxing and amusing way to enjoy the warm Spring weather.

This post is linked to these great sites:
Talk About Tuesday at The Lazy Organizer
Your Life, Your Blog at Real Life
I am Blissfully Domestic at Blissfully Domestic

Labels: cleaning, garden, home maintenance, Spring

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, April 21, 2009 3 Comments

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Fast and Free Homemade Cleaner

I have white counter tops. I love the crisp and clean appearance, but they can be an absolute pain. I've had gorgeous shades of purple from grape juice and a beautiful pink from something I couldn't identify. Usually a quick spray of a commercial cleaner is enough, but when regular kitchen cleaners don't do the job, I have a quick and powerful cleaner that I can whip up from my pantry.

I do not have exact measurements, but it's easy to eyeball. Just put a little bit of baking soda into a small bowl. A couple of tablespoons will probably be more than enough. Then, add just enough lemon juice to make a paste. This paste is one powerful cleaner. Just rub it onto the stained item and if it's stubborn, let it sit for bit. If the stain still won't budge, cover the stain with the homemade paste and let it sit outside in the sunlight for a while.

Once when an item transferred rust to my white dishes in the dishwasher, I used this paste and it came right off.

Do you have any tips for great homemade cleaners?

For more tips, visit Works for Me Wednesday at We Are THAT Family.

Labels: cleaning, frugality, recipes, tips, Works for Me Wednesday

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Tuesday, March 10, 2009 9 Comments

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Double duty with clean microwaves and clean sponges

There are very few things that I am fanatical about. First is not ever, ever, EVER allowing noodles in my grandpa's Best Ever Texas chili recipe. If you are from the Ohio Valley area, like me, or can cook a mean pot of Texas chili, you can understand what a big deal and paradox this is. (For those of you who do not understand the problem here....Texas Chili must never be defiled with noodles. But, most people in my neck of the woods think chili is best with noodles. Herein lies the problem.)

The other fanatical obsession I have is my microwave must always, and I do mean always, be spotless. I have one of those plastic, inverted bowl type lids that is constantly being used and washed routinely. This helps keep the microwave clean most of the time and I quickly wipe up any spills before they dry. Sometimes though, a family member tries to be helpful and cook something themselves in the microwave. Since they do not share the same microwave compulsion as me, inevitably, there will be splatters as a result of their electromagnetic culinary skills. Of course, I am quick to clean the mess that they "didn't see" but when I miss one of these events, I have a double duty trick.

I sanitize my dishwashing sponge in the microwave and when it is done, the dried on nastiness will wipe off with no effort. Just grab a papertowel and wipe down the entire microwave as soon as you remove the sponge.If you do this routinely, your microwave will never be dirty either and you can join me in my clean microwave compulsion...

Ok, seriously now...A word of caution: it is recommended you sanitize the sponge for 2 minutes, but this makes it dangerously hot. To prevent fire, the sponge must be thoroughly soaked before nuking.

The jury is still out on the best way to sanitize since there are variances in sponge sizes and power levels in the ovens. Because some germs are rather nasty, I would be remiss to say I know the best way, but this is how we do it. The microwave though...that's another story. We've got that one nailed.

For more tips, visit Rocks in My Dryer for Works for Me Wednesday.

Labels: cleaning, tips, Works for Me Wednesday

# posted by Heather@justdoingmybest @ Wednesday, February 04, 2009 3 Comments

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