Craigslist

craigslist

The Free household loves Craigslist.

Loves it.

We use it a lot.

It is such a great tool and marketplace to both sell and purchase.

And we have had a lot of success with it.

Here are some items we have sold:

2 vehicles

Wii

Laptop

Air conditioner units

Furniture

Home decor

Area rug

Clothes

Video Games

Packing materials

Things we have bought:

Our Scion Xb

iPod

Roomba

Xbox

XBox Live membership

Xbox hard drive

Landscaping materials

Wheels for our Xb

Video games

Motorcycle accessories

*Knock on wood* we have had zero issues and have gotten great deals.

Some people complain that their stuff just doesn't sell, so Mr. Free told me his strategy for selling on Craigslist.

Mr. Free's tips for selling on Craigslist:

* Be ready to part with the item. You have to price it to sell. Sentimental attachment will cause you to want to price the item higher, and in turn wont sell.

* Research the item you are selling and if it is being sold by others on Craigslist, to get a price point. If no one is selling that item on Craigslist, check Amazon or Ebay for a starting point.

* Be prepared for haggling. Use your judgement in lowering the price, but many people buy from Craigslist to haggle. We usually price things to give some haggling wiggle room. If we have a lot of interest in the item, we usually will stand firm in our price though.

* If you do not want to haggle at all, be sure to write FIRM after the price in the post.

* If your item hasn't had any interest in a week, lower the price.

* Always post pictures. Take good quality pictures as well. The item needs to fill the frame. People want to see what they are buying. Also make sure item is squeeky clean before taking pictures. You want it to look brand new.

* If there is several features about an item, list it out vertically. It is easier for the buyer to see and looks more impressive.

* Recommend great ideas for the item you are selling. Mr. Free likes to point out that the item would be a great gift for certain holidays.

* Always highlight that the item is from a non-smoking home.

* Always do CASH only and LOCAL only. You will get scammers e-mailing you asking if they can send a check or wire money. This is ALWAYS a scam.

* The last thing he always puts in a post is his contact e-mail and his cell phone/text. Buyers like a variety of ways to contact you. If you are uncomfortable with that, by all means just do e-mail.

* Lastly, if at all possible bring a friend and meet at a public place. This ensures your safety. Having a weapon on you also isn't a bad idea. Again, we have never had any issues at all, but it doesn't hurt to take extra precautions.

Does anybody else have any other tips for buying/selling on craigslist?

Any questions about Craigslist for Mr. Free?

Why I'm being Susie Homemaker this summer...

This summer I've been very motivated.

I have been working hard to get our home in tip-top shape.

Here's why.

2 summers ago I didn't work.

I had just graduated college, and had my teaching job lined up for the fall.

So I took the summer off.

What did I do that summer?

Nothing.

Well, not nothing.

I slept.

I went shopping.

I watched TV.

I perused the internet.

This created a lot of tension in our marriage.

I was young, dumb and selfish.

Mr. Free worked hard all day at a job he hated.

He did this to provide for us.

For me.

He came home tired.

What did he come home to?

An unkept wife in an unkept home.

This frustrated him to no end.

Don't get me wrong.

He knew I deserved some 'me time'.

However....not 3 months straight of it. : )

During our engagement, we read 'The 5 Love Languages' by Gary Chapman.

A very interesting read.

I learned that Mr. Free's 'love language' is Acts of Service.

Mine is Quality Time.

He knew I loved him by me helping around the house.

When I would do the dishes, mop the floors, clean my underwear off the floor.

All those things showed him I loved him.

That is not my love language. So I didn't think much about it.

Looking back now, I am sad and ashamed almost to how I spent that summer.

That time could have been spent blessing my husband and our home.

Instead I wasted it to be self-indulgent.

But I look back and have learned a lot from that.

This summer I am very blessed to have this time off, and have declared that I will use this time to be a blessing.

Happy Anniversary, Mr. Free!

Mr. Free-
3 years ago we said 'I do'.

It's so hard to believe it has been 3 full years!
We are going into our 4th year of marriage!

It has been a blast.
You have shown me so much.
You have shown me how to live life to the fullest.
You have shown me how to live out my faith for others.
You have shown me how to love others.

You are an amazing man and I am so thrilled you chose me to be your wife.

Love,

Your adoring wife. : )

Our closet- done!

Our closet is NOT big. It is the biggest in the house though.

So, for the last few months I had just crammed in as much crap as I could.

And it was not working.

So today, I crossed something else off my Summer List.

Here is the awful before:

And the MUCH better After:

No, it isn't amazingly beautiful.

But it is functional.

Mr. Free and I both share this closet, so I think it is set-up (and purged!) to be much better.

I have been dreading this task, so it feels so good to check it off the list!

The next project that will not be fun is the kitchen cabinets.

Luckily I hardly have any, so it won't be too bad. : )

Now that's looking at the glass half full!

I hope everyone is having a great summer, whether you are at home or at work. This is a beautiful time of the year!

P.S. If you are in the KC area and would like to buy some of my homemade bread, I would LOVE to bake you some! Currently I am offering white or ultra-grain bread for $2/loaf

or Garlic Parmesan for $3.50/loaf.

Just leave me a comment or an e-mail!!

I'm having wayyy too much fun at home. : )

Goals

So, I've already reached some of my summer goals in the first week!

I've also lost 2 pounds!

Woohoo!

Thus far I have:

Organized our bathroom

Organized the top of our fridge/kitchen cabinets

Made homemade bread

Made homemade jelly

This weeks goal is our bedroom.

It needs to be organized and simplified.

Today I'm going to start on the closet.

To help me get motivated, I love looking at pretty pictures.

Enjoy!

contemporary bedroom design by los angeles interior designer Debbie L Talianko

contemporary bedroom design by 4.bp.blogspot.com

contemporary bedroom design by dc metro interior designer Paula Grace Designs, Inc.

eclectic bedroom design

eclectic closet design by makingitlovely.com

*Sigh*

Time to get to work!

Homemade Bread

I've been venturing to the Farmers Market weekly to pick up some fresh-made whole wheat bread.

It was sooo tasty and I loved that it didn't have any preservatives or high fructose corn syrup.

But at $3.50 a pop, it was adding up.

I have this abundance of time right now, so I figured why not make my own bread? Just like the olden days.

So this morning I awoke before my husband, put on a pair of high heels and pearls and headed to the kitchen.

Ok, all of that was true minus the high heals and pearls. I NEVER wear heels. Ever.

Yesterday I ventured to Costco to get some ingredients I knew I didn't have.

Whole grain flour and yeast. I figured buying in bulk would be much cheaper and save me from having to run to the store to get more ingredients.

At Costco the only kind of whole grain flour they had was Eagle Mills All Purpose blend of White and UltraGrain flour. It supposedly looks and tastes like white flour but contains the goodness of whole grain.

It was $5.99 for 20 lbs. With the recipe I have it will make approx. 23 loaves.

I also bought 2 pounds of yeast from Costco for $3.69. This should yield approx. 76 loaves.

The ingredients are:

3 1/4 c. flour ($.26)

1/4 c. honey ($.20)

1/4 c. milk ($.09 Shatto milk)

2 1/2 tsp. yeast ($.05)

1 c. water (free-ish)

1 1/2 tbs. butter, melted ($.25)

1 tsp. salt (already had)

Non-stick cooking spray (already had)

Price per loaf: $.85

That is a weekly saving of $2.65 or a monthly savings of $10.60.

Yearly that would be $127.20.

Not too shabby!

I perused the internet for awhile and found a recipe I think I could modify to my liking. It seemed simple enough.

So here it is.... pics and all.

The ingredients

My surprisingly powerful $15 Stand Mixer from Target. With dough hooks.

Put 2 1/5 tsp. of yeast in the bowl with 1 cup warm water. (Not too hot or it will kill the yeast)

Mix them together until the yeast is completely dissolved.

Next, add in the melted butter (cooled off a bit), the milk, the honey and salt. Stir it up.

Add in 2 cups of flour and start mixing with the mixer.

Add in 1/4 c. of flour at a time until the dough is just barely not sticky to the touch anymore.

Let the stand mixer knead the dough for 10 minutes.

Spray a bowl with non-stick cooking spray and place the dough in that bowl.

Put the bowl in a warm place.

I put mine on top of my gas stove set at 200 degrees.

Cover for an hour and let it rise!

It should double in size!

Punch it down, then place the dough on a well-floured area.

Stretch the dough out to a rectangular shape.

Roll it up.

Place it in your well-greased bread pan.

Cover again for another hour in a warm area.

It should fill the pan.

Place in the oven at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Ding! Bread is done!

Let it cool completely before slicing.

Not so bad after all!

You can make more than one loaf at a time, and can freeze the dough if you'd rather do that for the next few loaves.

Homemade bread is a bit time consuming, but for most the process you can do other things since it is mostly just rising! A great time to do housework, read a book, sleep or write a blog entry!

Please let me know if you've tried it or have another great recipe!

My next goal is to make homemade jam. Mmmm.....

P.S. I am eating a slice now with Shatto butter and cherry preserves. Oh my....SO delicious!

A different side of me...

I didn't get much 'house stuff' done today other than running errands and practicing for a wedding I am singing in tomorrow.

So I thought, "What the heck. "

Want to hear me sing?

I'm a music teacher by day but don't talk about it here much.

I love to sing. I really do.

I've also 'rebelled' against singing a bit too.

See, my whole family is musical. My.whole.family.

So I had taken kind of a 'personal break' from my own music.

But I love it. I really do.

One of my many goals this summer is to write one of my very own songs. That would be an amazing accomplishment for me.

Anyways, here I am singing 'I Will Be Here' by Steven Curtis Chapman.

Enjoy!

I'd love to hear some comments....but please be nice...I am really putting myself out here people.

Plus this is a crummy Garage Band recording. : )

I'm on a roll....

While I relish in my newly organized bathroom, I decided to keep with that momentum and keep tackling some projects.

As I sit in my living room I would always stare at my fridge and all the junk on top of it.

Ugh.

Here is the before:

And the after:

I love this wire basket my in-laws got me from Nell Hills. I have used it all over my house, but I think it looks great holding my kitchen linens!

The basket holds overflow of pantry items. Since we don't have a pantry.

While I was in the kitchen and up on a stool, I decided to simplify the tops of my cabinets as well.

As much as I would like to only have pretty decorative things up there, our kitchen is just too tiny. I have to utilize that space for practical things.

Boo.

Here is the before:

By the way, I hope to switched to recessed lighting in the kitchen sometime soon. I hate this light fixture.

And the after:

Better right??

I feel so blessed to have this time off this summer.

This is my first summer not to be teaching summer school. It's pretty weird to have all this time, but I feel so fortunate.

I've been able to sleep in, spend quality time with my hubby and get our home in tip-top shape!

Thanks for watching as I work on our home this summer. I know I love seeing other peoples transformations so hopefully you enjoy our little journey as well.

Mission Organization: The Bathroom

Ok. I always vowed to be real on this blog.

And I've always admitted that I am not a naturally an organized person.

Gulp.

So here it goes.

I decided to begin my mile long list of summer projects. I started with organizing my gosh awful bathroom.

Here it is before: (don't judge me!)

Our open-to-the-bathroom linen closet

Underneath our vanity.

The drawers.

So today I carved out an hour and got to work.

I went downstairs and found some little basket things that could be used to help organize.

And a trash bag.

Then I went in and purged and grouped things together.

I wound up with a whole trash bag full of no-longer-needed junk.

I also re-purposed some glass containers I had around the house to make it look a little more pretty.

Here is the oh-so-much-better after:

Linen closet

Under the vanity

Top drawer

Bottom drawer

Re-purposed glass jar holding soap. I think it's pretty!!!

Re-purposed glass vases to hold q-tips and cotton balls. Hi Mr. Free!

Another shot of the closet.

So what do you think?

I am super stoked to finally have a place for everything. Before, I just knew it belonged in the 'bathroom' so would cram it anywhere I could. Now each object has its own place. : )

*sigh*

Our Envelope System

Mr. Free and I started off marriage by doing the envelope system, but somehow went wayward.

And so did our budget.

So we are back to it.

The infamous Dave Ramsey made the envelope system popular (which you can read about here)

But it's really quite simple. And works quite well.

For our household, most of our expenses are done online. Including:

Rent (soon-to-be mortgage)

Insurance

Utilities

Internet

Cell Phone

Netflix

Gym

Those are all fixed expenses that do not fluctuate.

We have those directly deposited out of our checking each month.

Our un-fixed expenses if you will, are what got us into trouble.

I would "budget" $60 for fun money for the month, but I wouldn't really keep track. I'd wind up spending $100+ instead.

This is where the envelopes come in.

For our household, we have envelopes with cash for "Groceries", "Pets", and "Fun Money".

(Our gasoline amount fluctuates as well, but we put that on our credit card and quickly pay it off to earn points).

Mr. Free and I have decided a set amount for each of these expenses, and cash goes into that envelope.

In the beginning I used actual envelopes, but they quickly tore.

I decided to whip out this scrapbook embellishment organizer to do the job. (Any coupon organizer from the $1 store would work)

I made tabs for each of those areas, as well as tabs for "Coupons", "Receipts" and "Stamps".

Having all of these things together has been a lifesaver!

I am no longer scrambling to find a receipt or leaving my coupons at home!

I am not, not, not an organized person by nature. This system is helping us sooo much.

The biggest part of this system is that you decided on the amount of cash for each category, and you only use that cash. Don't dip into other categories. Don't use your debit or credit card for those categories.

Hopefully this shed a little light on how we budget. The Free household has some major life and financial goals in the next 5 years, and we must be diligent in preparing financially for those things.

Readers, do you have any questions or any other budgeting tips to share? Do you currently use an envelope-ish system?