Cleaning the roof of the Casita was a bust. The mildew had mildew and the vinyl was really brittle so we've opted to throw it out and create a new roof. Celina had a great suggestion (see Friday's comments) about where to find fabric that might work well for this.
For anyone who was wondering what this looks like check out this link to get an idea. Ours is a round one. We've actually decided to put the screens away until next summer. With only two weeks of summer vacation left, it doesn't make sense to rush to get it all set up. Now if only I could find a little space in the garage to store it.
Thinking of our overcrowded, moderately disorganized garage actually brings me to a little project I've been thinking about. We've got a lot of stuff that the boys have outgrown. I don't mean clothes. I'm thinking more of outdoor toys and things like small lawn chairs. You know the type, cute little ones that now make the boys look like grasshoppers when they sit on them. There's also a plethora of other rather abstract stuff. Lamp fixtures that we no longer need, field hockey sticks that are too short to be used, bikes that have good frames and not much else you get the idea. I'm tossing around the idea of having an everything is a $1.00 or less tag sale.
In our area there are online tag sale sites where you can advertise your upcoming tag sale no charge. Knowing that I can avoid the fee of running a newspaper add makes this idea plausible. Of course there's the time commitment of a tag sale but I've been informed by Jim that there's enough yardwork to be done at home to keep the whole family outdoors until December. Based on that, manning the tag sale shouldn't be a problem. It seems to me that this might be a good way to clear out some clutter and make a little spare change.
I should point out that the rules of our local Freecycle & Ecycle sites forbid the reselling of items obtained from them. I totally agree with this and any items that were obtained through these sources will be offered for free or donated.
5 comments:
I think a dollar sale sounds like a great idea!
Katie, I have a question for you. How much do you estimate you spend monthly for food for your family? Hubby and I are having a hard time agreeing on a food budget and I'm just curious if I'm out of line or if he is. I respect your opinion because your vegan and your frugal and you make up some healthy and delicious dishes.
We spend between $350-$400 per month on food. About $250 of it is our monthly food coop order, about $80 is our membership to our CSA (We have 2 shares in the summer and 3 in the fall. With freezing and canning this comes pretty close to getting us through the whole year.), $50-$60 is our soymilk, what's left is spent on incidentals like ketchup.
I'm only including food in that estimate not things like toilet paper, toothpaste or dish detergent. Also, there are certain spikes along the way, like apple picking in the fall. I spend around $100 to get enough apples to can for the winter. In the summer I break down and buy veggie hot dogs and buns because they're fun not because they're a bargain. I hope that helps.
now that i've seen a pic..look at walmart for those stand up shade tents...i have one, its not screened it..but you may find one with damaged legs or hardware missing as all you need is the fabric...i got mine on sale for about 40 bucks in great condition in the fall...so you could manage to get it cheaper...also maybe post an add for a broken one..you might luck out and get the fabric..
Celina
Thanks for the info. My husband and I spend between around $300 and it's just the two of us. I do all the meal planning, shopping, and cooking. Hubby wants me to cut our budget back a bit (down to $200) but it's difficult. I don't grow enough of my own produce and don't can either. I'm sure those two things would help but at this point, I'm trying to simplify my life right now and I think that gardening and canning are not very simple (not to mention I really don't like gardening anyway). And I suppose if hubby really wanted to save money, he could start a garden and learn how to can. I know I "waste" money on some things like pre-bagged spinach and romaine, but the other day for example, hubby decided to buy a full head of romaine and not the pre-bagged because it was cheaper even though I told him he'd be responsible for cleaning and preparing it and guess what? It turned bad in our refrigerator. In the end, not a money saver.
Crystal,
You know joining a CSA might be just the thing for you guys. You can get the pesticide free produce at a lower cost but you don't have the time commitment of gardening.
Canning isn't as hard as you might think but again its a time commitment plus you have to initially buy the equiptment. If you have the freezer space, freezing is a lot more forgiving.
You're definitely right though, if something is cheaper but sits in the fridge until it rots, its not a money saver at all.
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