We got an amazing number of things done today, from all our usual Saturday errands to lots of other errands.

While DH and DD picked up the tuned-up bike at the bike shop, I hit the hardware store, the post office, and the library. I bought a shower head with a spray shower for our master bath, in the hopes it'll help keep that shower clean. I used a $10 off coupon, and thus got my grass seed for patching the bare spots almost free. My ebay sales and the the Amazon trade-in went to the post office. The weekend's entertainment all came from the library DVD section--including a number of very good British crime series we've been watching.

Our biggest triumph was the carpet outlet. Home Depot has been giving me fits about laying the carpet, and we've had several disputes with them. I decided to can them and go to the local store--in business for 80 years. The salesman was so easy to deal with, and he scheduled the install for this week! I could've kissed him--he made it all so easy. Then on to the farmer's market for loads of veggies and Office Depot for a grade book. In the current insanity, the university no longer provides them. How they expect us to take roll electronically in a classroom without a computer is beyond my wits.

We also rented a cottage ALREADY! for next year's holiday in the UK. We've been scoping out this one for quite awhile, and they only had one week available for next summer--so we took it. I also got laundry done and started a pot of stock from last night's chicken bones. Is it the cool weather? Or did the planets just align to make everything super easy today!

Today I listed one of the textbooks I unearthed in the office, and lo and behold, Amazon offered me a couple bucks more than the going price for it.
It listed originally for $45, but a used copy was selling for $19, and Amazon offered me $22 postage paid.
They don't offer cash, but an Amazon gift card (almost as spendable as cash in our house). Has anyone else used this? It looks as if they're trying the system on textbooks. But I'm happy to send it to them (or their clearing house) immediately without the problem of listing it.
I'll let y'all know how it goes, and I'm adding the $22 to my ebay totals.

I'll bet most of us have been there. I took DD to Target to return a couple things and pick up some coffee. About $100 later, I staggered back out into the sunshine with two bulging bags.

At least I remembered the coffee----

My Women and Lit class starts tonight. I'm bringing snacks for me and a big old bottle of Diet Coke someone left at my house to share with my students. We don't drink Diet Coke, and I'll bet they'll be happy to have it. Small price to pay for listening to me yammer on for 4 hours!

I've sold the last of the discarded textbooks that I foraged (and blogged about). I'm happy they're gone, and my bank account is also happy.
But I've been at the P.O. so much, I suspect the postal workers think I have crushes on them.

And I've managed to freecycle everything from a load of kid's videos to a pinata. Someday I'll find the floor in my office. It's probably time for me to list some more of my mom's things--perhaps tomorrow morning.

I suspect it's the cooler weather, but I feel upbeat and energized about my world. Or maybe it was the holiday?

The Home Depot measuring team is coming out tomorrow to measure our basement for carpet. That and the closet system are the last steps before we move things back in there. Progress!

I'm not enjoying these "no paycheck" months. Although I intellectually know that we'll have to pull money from savings over the summer--especially with child care and vacations--it's always hard for me to have so much spending and only DH's paycheck. We usually live on his salary alone, but holidays and home remodeling come out of my saved salary.

But I sold another book yesterday and got the ebay sale posted, and I have bids on two of my new listings.

I've signed on to do some copy editing for a new textbook starting next week; I just wish it would start now. I'm such a sad case; I really like to work!

I'm a happy gal today because I sold some of my great aunt's dishes on ebay. Not for a lot, but it's a start.

And we had a very thrifty trip to Walgreens to begin
some school supply shopping. My favorite pens (I'm such a pen freak) are on sale, and we got about half the stuff DD needs for third grade for $6--and made a buck on the Colgate toothpaste with my coupon.

I also got a load of clothes on the line and am now inspired to list some more dishes.

Nothing succeeds like success, as my mom used to say.

Reading Jeffrey's posts about foraging food has got me thinking about what natural foragers most of the folks on this list already are.

Here's my example:
Faculty at my university have a "free books" table in our department office. They're meant for department employees, not students. Many of them are slightly used textbooks, and sometimes they sit there for months. While ordering sample copies of textbooks and then selling them is clearly wrong, these are used texts and other books that folks just don't want anymore. So here's my foraging. I've been picking them up and listing them on Amazon and half.com. Is that bad? I pick up one or two--I never walk out with a huge stack. If they have no value on the reselling websites, I donate them to Goodwill, the Salvation Army, or wherever I'm dropping things off.

Why is it I never know how much to spend on gifts?
Tomorrow is DD's last day of school and the parents chipped in for a teacher gift, and I had no idea how much to throw in.
Tomorrow is also DH's birthday, and I have no idea how much I "should" spend.
This is always an issue. I recently spent $100 on a wedding gift for my nephew, and some of my friends thought that was way too much. Others said they routinely spend $200 on gifts for relatives.
Kid's birthday gifts are another fraught one. For an 8-year-old? I try to keep them from $10-$15 with more for "special" friends. But I never know.


In other late-breaking news, the basement contractor forgot about the basement window when measuring for our closets. We now will have one fewer closet and a sort of bookcase-alcove spot in front of the window. I guess it saves on the door cost, but I'm already mourning the closet.

The last day of school always reminds me of how glorious that day was when I was a kid. Freedom!

I took a bunch of stuff to the charity shop yesterday, and bought a compost bin on the way home. I'm not sure whether it was the right one or not--it got mixed reviews, but this is our first foray into compost, so we'll see.

I've got four ebay auctions ending this morning, and the oddest thing is what's selling best: the white fur headband from my 40-year-old Chatty Cathy doll. And Dh wanted to throw it away....

It's cool and rainy here today, so after a trip to the grocery store, it's stay at home and clean day.
I'm still in the midst of the battle to see what the child has outgrown; the short answer is nearly everything from last summer!

Well, maybe not super yet, but I've started another round of decluttering and ebay selling. I'm continually floored at how much stuff we have, and will offer up some of DD's clothes on freecycle as well.

I've also decided to devote the next six weeks to improving my overall health and keeping a health and food journal. Nothing's really wrong; I'd just like to have more energy and eat better consistently. On that happy note I've made a pot of Italian veggie soup to prepare for the onslaught of snow headed our way.

Super Bowl Sunday is usually spent on the taxes, but we were busy yesterday with playdates and Sunday school and university prep, so they'll have to wait a bit.

I've got lots of other money things to blog about, but they'll have to wait until tomorrow.
I do a few online surveys: Pinecone, Carol Adams, Buzzback, but I'm thinking of NOT doing e-rewards any more. Their "rewards" are lousy (too many magazine subscriptions and things we don't use), and they seem to
demand an awful lot for the not-so-hot rewards. Any one else use or dump them?

I've decluttered four Gourmet magazines to my happy-to-have-them co-workers. It was fun to get rid of them, and have people happy to get them. And I checked out rates on the safe deposit box that I blogged about yesterday. $17/year sounds like a reasonable amount to me. I also mailed my book sale.

I remembered to use my Walgreen's vouchers and coupons when buying a birthday card for my father-in-law, so the pennies have been taken care of.

One more (I was going to say final, but I have to see this "salesman" Saturday, and I'm sure he'll disappoint yet again) rant about the doofus car salesman. He e-mails me asking when we're going to pick up the car with no specifications about transferring the plates, the registration, what kind of payment he'd like. He's not sure he can be there when I drop $18,000 on him on Saturday. What kind of salesman is this? I wanted the final total to get a certified check, and he doesn't know. Finally some other person at the dealership returns my call.

I should get his commission. He did nothing but stand in the way.

I'll start with the good news. We've agreed on a deal on the used car we've been looking at. We pick it up on Thursday, and it's beautiful. Now for my rant: Why is buying a car from a dealer such a stupid, irritating farce? We offered them the same price last week, and the salesman did the huge melodrama routine with asking the manager, and we were crazy to think we could buy the car for that price. We were then about $1000 apart. Yet a week later, we're at the same price? All because we walked out? It's so inane!

On my decluttering front, there's plenty in the old car's trunk that can go. And I've sold another book and freecycled some of my mom's earrings.

Still trying to figure out what we're going to do about buying a car over the weekend. There's a well-priced model four hours away from us, but I really don't feel like 8+ hours on this endeavor. But I guess we will if we have to.

I sent four kids' books to work with DH since no one wanted them on Craig's List.
One of his co-workers wants them. I'm making another bag for the library friends' sale. I'm giving myself 6 points for the donations. I got some moisturizer free from a survey company, and just when I was almost out of my usual brand, so that's a nice bonus!

I also bought a short-term bond fund today in my IRA to get a slightly better yield on the cash in my account. I'm generally against bond funds, but don't feel like stepping back into the market just yet with this cash.

We also sent some money to Haitian relief yesterday. It doesn't seem like much, but we pray it will help.

I've lost some steam on my purging projects this week. I'm hoping plenty of sleep tonight will help me get going tomorrow. Tiredness always makes me eat more and spend more!

I sold two books today for a total of $104!
Six Points plus all that nice cash.
It pays to clean the office!

Yeah, it's still coldish today, but we have lovely blue skies. That always lifts the spirits.

My new class started last night and I have 30 students. Thirty may not sound like a lot, but that class lasts 4 1/2 hours. I came home, took two ibuprofen and went to bed. But I avoided spending anything at the vending machine there, which is a triumph of sorts.

I'm giving myself 1.5 points for throwing out more of DH's elderly spices and recycling the jars. I did throw the ancient cardamom pods on the "compost heap." And listed a bunch of things on Craigslist and Amazon, so hoping to reap some nice rewards there.

I hope to get out for a walk under these sunny skies!

After a frustrating Saturday, the weekend got a bit better. We made an offer on the used car I'd like, still crossing our fingers that my car lasts for a bit longer. But the salesman made virtually no counter offer, so I'm letting it lie for a bit. I wonder if he'll call me back? Any one have any experience with used car negotiating with a dealer?
The upside was the dealership is so posh they have a customers' lounge with a coffee bar and Haagen Dazs ice cream so DD got a nice cone and we had some coffee.
But I want a REAL counter offer on a car that's been sitting on the lot for 3 months.

DD started skating lessons which I knew would be hard for her. But she went out with us again yesterday--screaming for the first 10 minutes, then asking to go again.

In between we got to the Salvation Army to drop things off and I found my ornament storage box at Target.
I'm giving myself 12 points for the Salvation Army dropoffs and just listed some kids'videos on freecycle.

My evening class starts tonight! It's one of my favorite classes to teach, so I'm looking forward to it.

This morning I recycled three empty wine cartons, my husband's annual reports on a stock he owns that are over 10 years old, the contents of my shredder, and all those all NYT Book sections that are so hard to part with.

The vintage books I listed didn't sell on ebay, so I offered them to my university library. They were thrilled and are writing me a big tax deduction.
I don't suppose Disney Steve will let me add that to my total?

No, not the guy on the forum with the problem. This is legit.
I made money on illness this week. Both DH and DD had some sort of odd sinus infection. Both were prescribed antibiotics, and with the prescription coverage and the $25 gift card CVS is offering with a prescription, we came out almost $40 ahead. Very strange and I feel oddly guilty about it.

I sold a dress on ebay, and I've listed some cute children's vintage books. I'm adding $4.74 to my total.

I have some freelance work which really needs doing. I hope to get to it over the weekend. It promises to be a lovely somewhat sunny one!

We've had a productive day. I sold DD's Fisher Price play set on Craigslist for $75, we did tons of errands, dropped off junk at the Salvation Army, and sold a couple of books to HalfPrice that weren't worth the Amazon listing.

I'm adding the $77 to my ebay total, and I'm happy to report my one solitary ebay listing has bids.

Happy and Productive Weekends to all of you!

I went out to lunch with a friend today and to some garage and estate sales. Nothing was particularly enticing, but I bought some unopened packs of 3M window plastic for next fall for 50cents.

I received and deposited a small check from Walgreen's, and want to thank Nance for her advice about the moneysaving mom blog. It's helped me get some great bargains at Walgreens. Our church is putting together gift bags for orphanages and some of my little bits from Walgreen's will go there.

I've got lots of work ahead of me getting ready for my online class and for a conference paper next fall. I should probably start a savings fund for that trip, since I'm sure the university will have no professional development money.

I also listed our DD's outdoor playset on Craigslist and had lots of interest. Someone's coming to get it on Saturday morning. I hope it works out.

Happy Holiday weekends to all of you! Is it bank holiday in the UK this weekend too?

I remember now why I don't go to Target.
Although I had (well, maybe) to go tonight since my iron completely quit, I knew it would be too enticing.

I had a friend who maintained you couldn't get out of Target under $100, but tonight it was $99.67. I bought really cute sandals for DD, the new Dylan CD for me, and more than a few other things besides the iron.

Sadly enough, all this temptation could've been avoided. I came home, unwrapped the new iron, but decided to give the old one one last try. Despite not working all day, the minute its rival entered the house, it started working just fine. Now if I can just return the new one without venturing deeper into the store!

Oh, and my ebay items sold. Add $5.73 to my total

I'm heartbroken that Walgreen's has gone the way of CVS with the dumb register rewards. I loved the Easy Saver catalog and the refillable gift card with the 10% bonus.

I'm speculating the shorter expiration date on the Register Rewards and their easier-to-lose flimsiness has something to do with the bad corporate decision (at least bad for me) at Walgreen's.

Bah--and they're a lot harder to use too.
Double bah.

I had some happy bargain shopping today. Good old Walgreen's was giving away reusable bags with a coupon that also gave you 15% off. I got a nice bagful of things, including discounted "Easter" stuff (Just decorated with flowers and great for gifts)for under $5.

The grocery store also had great bargains, so it was a good day for frugality. My IRA statement did put some of this penny-wiseness into perspective. Although it's up from February's totals, I probably shouldn't have looked at last year's numbers. But Suze Orman's right--you gotta look at where you are now.

School's started around here again, and I've walked the six blocks from free parking both mornings in the subzero windchills. Admittedly I've bought a cup of discounted coffee after that, but it gets me going in the morning.

I have happy news about a book sale that netted me $84.09, so I'm well into next month's ebay totals. Hooray!

Everyone is talking about layoffs at the university, so I'm trying to be positive and upbeat. But so many of my students are jobless right now, I wonder how they're going to make it.

I arrange for students from last semester to sell their books to this semester's students to try to cut out the bookstore middleman. I hope that helps them.

One small sale on ebay to cap off the end of break so adding $2.25 to my challenge.
Can I make my $100 goal?

Break is officially over and I'm back to school in the morning. Nothing like single digit temps to make me clutch on to my travel mug!

I'm slowly getting over my disappointment at my lost class. I keep reminding myself to search even harder for bargains and to ask myself on every purchase, "Do we need this?"

On that note, I sent DH and DD to the cheap-o haircutters, both with coupons, bought a couple cards at the dollar store, and went to the dread Best Buy to get the digital converter boxes. The guy tried to sell us the most expensive ones, but we ended up with the $49 ones, so for the two TVs, it only cost $20 after the coupon. We also got Turbotax there as I anxious to get to the taxes. DH tried to get me to buy an Ipod case, but they were $30-$35 there.

After a trip to the library, (and the Jo Nesbo book I wanted!) we came home where I bought an Ipod case for $10 including shipping. It was the same case and brand that was $35 at Worst Buy.

All in all we saved a fair chunk of change, and I'm confident I can make some of my lost salary up.

Homemade pizzas tonight!

I've sold another book, and am happier about the decluttering than the $4 I got for it. I'll list some of DD's outgrown clothes later too.

But today seems like a day for new beginnings, so I'm devoting most of it to getting stuff in order, readying myself for the upcoming semester of teaching, and thinking about the upcoming tasks for the country and for all of us.

I wish you all a happy Inauguration Day.

Like everywhere, our concern has mostly been the weather, but it's been a bit warmer today.
We're geared about about the inauguration and it makes for great discussion in my class tomorrow night.
I've made a couple of ebay sales and a couple of Amazon sales to the total of $56.46 which I'll add to my ebay challenge money!

The promise of more snow this weekend followed by subzero temps next week makes the upcoming days perfect for scouting out junk in the house to sell on ebay. I freecycled some kids' books today in the interest of decluttering and listed something on ebay.

I was aiming for a NSD, and thinking I could actually put a plus in the account today when I returned some tights to Marshall's. Unfortunately, I did not turn around and walk out after I did the return, but bought a few really cute plates and cups with NY, London, and Paris skylines on them. They were only $3.99 each, and the sets will make really cute gifts for friends that have shared all three cities with me. That's my rationalization, darn it.

Soup making and ebay on the horizon.
Too bad I can't sell soup on ebay!