Turn Shabby Into Chic

Everyone has heard the saying, "You either have time or money." In the summer, I have more time and way less money due to the fact that one of my big contracts is tied to the school year. But, because I am home more, I get the itch to fix up around the house at a time when I have less money to do so.

I don't let my lack of money stop me though, I just use it as fodder for exercising my creativity. We have a couch that was given to us around seven years ago and though still comfy, it is showing signs of its age. I don't tend to buy furniture as people are always giving me furniture, so when my current acquisitions start to look shabby, I make them last a little longer until something better comes along.

 It seems that the arms of
furniture wear out faster
than other parts, though
I blame my dogs for this
as they stand here to get
a better look out the living
room windows at passers-by. 

The damage to the back of
the sofa is also due to the
silly dogs who used to stand
on the back of it to look out
when the couch was in front
of the living room windows.

Obviously these damaged parts of the sofa need to be addressed and without any cash outlay. I realized that I had purchased some forest green napkins at my thrift store for 50 cents that could work to cover the arms of the sofa.

I also realized that I had a throw in the cranberry color that I could use to cover the torn center back cushion of the couch.

Prior to covering the problem areas, the whole couch just looked sad and made the whole living room look run-down.

The dog doesn't mind the shabby couch but I sure do!

And now the after-

Not perfect but a whole lot more appealing until something better comes along! How do you manage when you are short on money but need to do some fixing up around the house?

Tighten Your Spending, Not Your Living

People who know me and later find out that we live on a very low income are amazed to discover this information. Some think that given our low income, we get some kind of government assistance such as unemployment or food stamps to make it. However, that is not the case for our family. Our philosophy is that we will trust God to provide what we need, and we will do the very best with can with the resources available to us.

Some of the resources we have are ourselves and our abilities. I love to learn new skills and I love to shop for bargains everywhere I go. Recently, our living room furniture's well loved look started to get to me. I decided to go to the thrift store to see if I could find something to use to freshen up the look of the couch and two side chairs. I don't have any funds for replacing the furniture at this time.

I had a coupon in my possession for the thrift store that would allow me to save $5.00 off a purchase of $15.00 or more. I went looking for a large bedspread to use as a couch cover, a nice piece of fabric to use to recover the living room chairs, and a fitted sheet to use to cover the seat cushions on the couch.

My living room is decorated in the colors mauve, forest green, cranberry, and white. I found a large mauve bedspread, a forest green queen-size fitted sheet, and a drapery panel in forest green that has a nice pattern in it. I also found a new Christmas tablecloth at the same time that has mauve colored poinsettias on a cranberry colored background. I spent around $17.00 for these items. Let me show you the before and after on the chairs.

I can't believe I let the chairs
look like this as long as I did!

 We had originally bought these chairs as part of a lot of twenty chairs for $40.00 at an auction. So, the chairs cost $2.00 each and we have had them for around seven years. This is the third time I have recovered these chairs. Each time, I look for inexpensive fabric at a thrift store. The drapery panel I bought cost $2.99, so I recovered each chair for $1.50 plus the cost of the staples in the staple gun, and my time to recover the chairs. I spent around 1 1/2 hours removing the old fabric and putting on the new fabric. I kept the contrasting fabric from the previous recovering job because I liked that look but I still have enough fabric to change it if I decide to do so later.

All freshened up for the new year!

We have to keep a tight grip on our spending so that we have as much of our income available as possible to pay the non-negotiable bills such as the house payment or electric bill. However, tightening up our spending doesn't mean we don't enjoy our lives. We do everything everyone else does; we just do it differently.

Case in point- I have been wanting a pair of warm, snuggly boots for quite a while, but I was unwilling to spend the money that would be required to buy such boots at a retail store. Every time I went into my favorite thrift store I made sure to look at the boots they had in stock. A week ago, I finally found exactly what I wanted in my size. The boots were only $4.00! The only issue with them that I had to resolve was to buy new laces. I bought an inexpensive pair for $1.97 because if I had bought the suede laces, I would have spent as much for them as I did on my boots. I may upgrade to the suede laces but for now I am quite happy with my boots and laces.

I told my husband that these boots have changed my life. I get
very cold in the winter and once my feet are cold, I can't get warm
for a long time. These boots keep my feet nice and toasty. I can
stay outside longer and more comfortably. I am one happy gal! 

Would it have been easier to go to the store and buy a pair of boots when I needed them? Maybe for some people it would have. For me and my family, when we have a need we know we have to be a bit patient to get that need filled. Would it have been easier to get new chairs rather than to find the fabric and make the time to recover the chairs? Again, for some people that answer would be yes. 

In our family, due to our restrictions, we have developed many useful abilities and attitudes. We are generally content with what we have, we have learned to do many things so that we can live within our means (cooking, baking, making simple repairs, doing simple maintenance around the house), we are grateful and appreciative of whatever we receive, and we help each other as much as we can. 

My younger daughter and her boyfriend recently brought us a microwave and coffee maker that they did not need. A roommate had left the microwave and they had gotten a Keurig so they didn't need a full size coffee maker any longer. 

I cleaned the microwave and improvised a foot to replace the two back feet that were missing. We had been without a microwave for nearly a year but I didn't want to spend money on a cheap model microwave and then have to spend again when I finally had the funds to get the over the stove model I really want, so I just did without. My daughter knew we didn't have one and rather than selling her extra one, she blessed us with it. My coffee maker had also died and again, I want a certain model of coffee maker so rather than buy a cheap one I decided to learn to make coffee without a coffee maker until I could get what I want. Here are a couple sites that I found helpful:

http://www.articlesbase.com/coffee-articles/how-to-make-coffee-without-a-coffee-maker-1967702.html?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=ab_paid_12&gclid=CPPr69eR47sCFUho7Aod7lIAEA

http://www.ehow.com/how_4505550_brew-coffee-coffee-maker.html

If it had bothered me to be without these items, I would likely have gone to the thrift store to get them while saving for the nicer ones I ultimately want. I find that the thrift store allows me to have just about anything I need or want and still stay within my budget. 

Letting others know of items you need is also a useful way to tighten your spending but still get what you need. Lots of people have no longer needed items cluttering up their homes and would be happy to pass them on to someone who can make good use of these household goods or clothes. I belong to my local Freecycle (https://www.freecycle.org/) and have gotten lots of needed items for free as well as decluttering my home by passing on no longer needed things to others who need them.

Anyway, I hope you are getting the idea that there are a lot of ways to manage when money is tight and still enjoy your life. There will be more posted on this topic throughout the year and I hope to hear from you so I can learn more!

Super Saver Saturday Landscaping

I have to confess right now that my husband and I are scroungers. If someone has a pile of nice looking rocks, lumber, furniture, or whatever piled up on their curb for the taking, we are the folks who are likely to be carting it away to use in our home or yard.

I like to make good use of still useful objects. I also like to re-purpose items to extend their lifespan. I am not a rabid recycler type but I do like to live within my means and if that means scrounging to accomplish something I am trying to do I am not averse to doing so.

A while ago, my father-in-law had my husband help him to neaten up his yard. In the process, he showed Joe a large amount of landscaping edgers he no longer wanted. Hubby contacted me to see if I thought they might be useful to us and I agreed that we could put them to work in our yard.

Yard sale purchased lawn furniture in front of house before I began creating new garden bed.

 We have lived in our home for 16 years and we are now in the process of of
repairing and remodeling what the years and a restricted budget have done to the house.

Today I spent some time arranging these edgers in my front yard so that I could have a new garden bed. Since I am off work this week for Spring Break, it is the perfect time to get some tasks done!

Looking much improved even before adding soil and plants!

I spent about 1 1/2 hours digging the soil to insert the edgers and moving the edgers to the garden bed area. I have a bit more to do before I am done installing the edgers and can add soil and plants. I got a Home Depot gift card for Christmas from my sweet husband and I plan to finally use it to get the soil for this project. I will do a combination of purchased plants and planting seeds to fill in the area. Purchased plants will give me color right away and seeds will be very affordable and fill in around the purchased plants to make the garden bed lush and full over time. 

Just need to dig in five more edgers and the new bed will be complete!

Once the plants are in the new garden bed, we will have a nice view when relaxing around the fire pit!

I am in need of some new cushions for the lawn furniture that hubby acquired for me about five or six years ago through a great yard sale deal. The current cushions have seen about four summers here in central Texas and will be allowed to retire before much longer. I bought the current cushions one or two at a time until I had the four cushions I needed. I may try my hand at making the new cushions by using the old cushions. My favorite thrift store often has great deals on fabric and I could sew new covers for the old cushions. The firepit was a gift from my three younger sisters a few years ago for my birthday.

It may take me longer to get things done the way I would like since they need to be done with little to no budget, but when I see what I have been able to accomplish I am very happy and satisfied with the results. What are you doing on a shoestring in your home and yard?

Adulthood, part two

My youngest son is graduating from high school in May! I feel like I am graduating too!

I am on a quest to get my home back into an adult status. I feel somewhat like when I moved into my first grown up place and wanted to decorate and organize it for my maximum enjoyment. I think I am entering Adulthood, part two.

I find myself eradicating the Captain Underpants books that are somehow still showing up on the bookshelves in unexpected places. I am not as patient when my daughter leaves my grandson's rattles and baby seat strewn all over the living room.

Just today I turned a bookshelf that was housing some home school curriculum that hadn't been used in four years into a storage for my exercise equipment. My kettlebell, jump rope, free weights, exercise videos, yoga mat, and more are now all housed in one place.

I don't want tons of responsibilities these days...I have elected to work part-time instead of full-time (see my previous post Full Time Job No Thanks). I want to take French classes, write and submit articles, and enjoy an adult beverage in the evening.

Don't get me wrong- I love my five kids and two beautiful grandsons. I just want to enjoy time with my husband and time for myself. Adulthood, part two is something we all should aspire to enjoy and explore!