❈Sac Thrift Chick❈

I've decided that no matter how organized you are, moving is a pain in the butt. Still, planning and organization goes a long way to making the move easier. As a follow up to Top 10 Tips for Packing Early for a Move here are five more tips I found helpful. 1. Take notes. Alphabetizing makes me happy, but I knew that as I packed up my CDs, that ABC-order I so love would get a little mixed up in the boxes. To solve this problem, I used paper placeholders to mark the beginnings and ends of shelves within the box. If I opened a random box, all I had to do was look at the first placeholder to tell me where to shelve that stack of CDs. "Shelf 4 begins with Jet," for example. 2. Take pictures. Books are one thing I don't alphabetize. I arrange books by genre and, of course, group books by the same author. Having a picture of my bookshelf before I packed up my books made all the difference. All I had to do was pull it up on the computer and I could glance i

To say we are fans of Halloween would be an understatement. We think about Halloween for months in advance. Our creepy house decorations have made little kids afraid to approach our door. We revel in putting together costumes from thrift store finds and crafty creativity. We win costume contests ... a lot. And we do so on tiny budgets. Sometimes we plan a month in advance, and sometimes the costumes are literally a day-of surprise. Halloween Through the Years 2005 1950s Prom Zombies for Trash Film Orgy's Zombie Prom Cost: Under $10 for zombie makeup and a white shirt from a thrift store.  My costume is a one-of-a-kind '50s prom dress with a shirt underneath for warmth.  2006 Flava Flav and his Flavor of Love Winner  Cost: $5 for my clock from Target. The rest we had. We used dog chains for necklaces. The big hat is actually a Goofy hat from Disneyland. Aaron's jacket and my dress were thrifted. 2007 Sam and Joon from "Benny

I think I'm having the most organized move of my life, and that includes all future moves. I should be; this move is taking forever to actually happen. The tenants at my future home stopped paying rent over two months ago, and apparently that's how long it can take to evict someone in California. It's a frustrating saga I won't get into it. I thought I would, however, share some of my tips for an organized move, especially tips on what you can do well in advance of actually moving. 1. Create a box or basket of moving supplies. You want one place to hold packing tape, scissors, your labeling pen, etc. You also want an organizational system for all the pins, pens, screws and batteries you'll come across. (Make sure to separate the working batteries from the dead.) I like to use little jewelry boxes and small plastic containers to hold these items. After each box is sealed and labeled, the packing tape and Sharpie are immediately returned to this baske

In my marriage, we have a little rule that too often gets broken:  Laura should listen to her instincts; Aaron should heed Laura's instincts. The first night we painted, we broke the rule. To paint the furniture, we had to move the glass table top. Aaron laid it atop three patio cushions. I questioned whether that was really a good place for it to sit. I thought it might break, but Aaron insisted it was fine. I should have protested a little louder: The next day I found this: Oops.  Sometimes things go wrong.  But sometimes they go right, too.  The white paint is really transforming my weathered furniture.  Next step: The dreaded sanding of the futon. Like this? See the finished product here !

Lying on my patio couch with a good book and an Otter Pop is one of my favorite ways to spend a summer evening. My patio couch was a killer CL steal five years ago: $50 for the couch, two chairs and a glass-top coffee table -- and it was a gift. The cushion covers my not be my style, but the cushions themselves are oh-so-comfortable. Each year the set has become more and more weathered. This past summer, my husband thought standing on the arm of the couch to reach something up high was a good idea.  It was not. And since we are moving, I agreed to let go of my beloved couch (and one of the chairs) if I could find a replacement.  A used full-size patio couch is not easy to come by, and especially not for anywhere near what we paid for my entire set! After much CL disappointment, an idea occurred to me: A futon. I already had great cushions; I just needed a frame. The futon needed to be a queen, solid wood, and it needed to be super cheap. I browsed CL daily an

While in the middle of my master bedroom makeover, a chain of events transpired that made updating it a moot point: We are moving, and not to just to any ole place, but to my beloved childhood home. So while the upcoming move has stopped my house redo, (it's time to pack!) I'll get to decorate a whole new house! And I did get to (basically) finish my bedroom. I didn't have to change much in my bedroom. I love my antique dressers, so they were going nowhere. But I did need a new entertainment center to hold the TV my friend gave us. The entertainment center I had used for about nine years didn't fit the new (used) TV. I was a little bit sentimentally attached to the entertainment center because it had been my gramma's, but it was time for something different. I looked and looked on CL, but couldn't find anything that matched our bedroom, had the right measurements, would hold our TV, video game consoles and stereo, and was at the right low price. I loo

I am an ad-watcher. I don't always have the money to jump on a furniture piece I want, so I watch, hoping no one else buys it. Sometimes I miss out, but many times, the price either drops drastically, or it gets posted for free, and then I snatch it up. The latter is how I transformed my living room. I really wanted a sectional to replace my blue recliner and red Ikea couch. Although I thought the red sofa was just the cutest thing, it wasn't that practical or comfortable. But the pickings were slim what with my small, odd-shaped living room and even smaller budget. So I watched and waited. Then the price on one of my possibilities dropped from $150 to $80. The ad made it clear the owner was moving and just needed it gone. I couldn't tell what it really looked like from the picture, but it was in my neighborhood, so it was at least worth a look. In person, it wasn't all I hoped. The size and shape were perfect, but the fabric and color weren't really &quo

The long-promised follow up to Part 1: Top 10 Tips for Selling on Craigslist. Everything in this collage was free! Again, I can't give away all my secrets (especially how I get so much good stuff for free!), but these tips will help you find that must-have item and pay the right-price for it. 1. Search for all applicable keywords. If you're looking for the perfect coffee table, also search for "table" and "stand." What is clearly a coffee table to you and probably to most people, might just be a table to the seller. Some people refer to dressers simply as "drawers." Why? Who knows, but as you become familiar with the numerous terms sellers use, you will find the gems hidden from everyone else. Keep typos in mind, as well. Every day there's a "coach" on Craigslist, and I'm not talking about the designer handbag. 2. Narrow your results, unless you like scrolling for days. Personally, I like to start my minimum am

If you had visited my house once a week for the last couple months, every week you'd notice something different. I've been on a mission -- changing furniture, adjusting decorations and getting a little crafty with it. When I'm on a mission, there's not much that can stop me. This can be to my detriment. If my back could talk, it would say, "She's a mad woman! She keeps moving furniture and hanging pictures and adjusting and readjusting everything even through the extra pain I'm giving her!" And it's true. One of my copy editors once told me I have "an eagle eye for details." In the area of the details of decorating (colors, balance, alignment) it's to the point I'm a bit obsessive compulsive. Room by room, I'm updating my house while making profit. I sell the old for far more than the new, so I have no guilt about indulging in my domestic diva side.

Shop Your Way Rewards from Sears and its affiliated stores is my new favorite thing. I briefly mentioned it in this post, but I had only just begun to get into its awesomeness. I am not a paid spokesperson, although I kind of feel like it with the regular freebies they offer week after week. Now, to some people, receiving $4 (4,000 points) to spend almost weekly (in store or online) may not seem like that big of a deal. But I put that $4 to good use. Recently, I needed to buy a baby girl shower present. After looking at the registry to see the kinds of things the parents needed, I went to work browsing Sears and Kmart. With my first $4, I bought this Carter's kitty-face hooded towel in pink . Normally $20, on clearance for $10. With my points, I paid $6.43 after tax. Then another 4,000 points arrived. So I got a six-pack of cute Gerber washcloths . Normally $5.49, on sale for $4.39. I used $4.10 of SYW rewards. They shipped free to my house for a grand total of $0.31

You know how some people are "PowerSellers" on eBay? That's me, but on Craigslist.org. I sell, buy, score free deals and give away my own free stuff ... daily. And I have for years now. I can pick up a free item, put some work into it and make hundreds off it. I can buy a piece of furniture for my house, use it for years, and then resell it for more than I originally paid. I am a Craigslist pro. While I have to keep my best Craigslist secrets to myself, I thought I would share some general tips for selling success. Posting Ads 1. Pictures: Show the item from all angles. Take pictures during the day, under good lighting, so the pictures reflect the actual color. If the item photographs different from its true color, explain in the ad. Take a close-up of the design/fabric and a close-up of a tag showing the brand. For electronics, take a close-up of the controls. 2. Measurements: Include the height, width and depth of furniture. Include the screen size (mea

The Mission: Dress up for two family weddings on a warm April day. The first, a reception for my husband's stepsister at an LDS church, starting at 2. The second, an outdoor carnival-themed wedding for my stepsister at a vineyard, starting at 4:30 and going until about 10:30. The Challenge: Choosing a dress that was comfortable, flattering and modest enough for the first reception without being too hot to wear in the blazing sun at 4:30. And that went with comfortable -- preferably open-toed -- shoes to give my injured toes some relief. (My right foot got into a fight with the vacuum. The vacuum won.) The Choice: This $10 dress I picked up from Goodwill on Arden Way at Halloween time. The Dress Problem: The dress is low-cut -- makes my chest look great, but I didn't feel comfortable showing that much skin for the occasion. The Solution: Wear a black lacy camisole underneath and a little sweater (from Thrift Town's 99 Cent Sweater Sale) over for the first rec

Happy Earth Day! We're celebrating Earth Day by planting a free shade tree from SMUD . I only wish we would have done this five years ago when we moved in, since apparently it takes about five years for the little tree to grow big enough to provide any shade. Oh well. My lifestyle is all about, "Recycle, reduce, reuse ... and close the loop." (You're welcome for putting that song in your head.) A few of the super simple "green" things my husband and I do and recommend include: Using reusable shopping bags. Compared to plastic, reusable bags hold more and are easier to carry. Plus, most stores give a small discount for each bag used. Using reusable water bottles. I simply do not understand buying water in individual bottles -- does not compute in my head. Washing dishes and doing laundry during "off" hours in the late evening to save electricity and save on our bill. We've also had our house weatherized as part of SMUD

I finally hopped on the homemade laundry soap bandwagon, and I can't believe I waited so long. (And by I, I mean I did the research, but my wonderful husband did all the actual work while I watched "The West Wing" on Netflix.) This soap cleans really well, is crazy cheap, and the prepared laundry detergent does not trigger my uber sensitivity to certain scents, especially those often found in laundry soap.* This is how much a doubled recipe makes. That All container alone holds 172 ounces. I used a recipe that's found on countless blogs and articles, so I definitely don't deserve credit for it, and I don't know who does. The various blogs I've seen this recipe on estimate that you're paying about a penny per load, and I believe it. The recipe calls for: 1/3 bar of an old fashioned soap, such as Fels Naptha, Zote or Ivory 1/2 cup washing soda 1/3 cup Borax For about $5 at Walmart (all found in the laundry aisle) I got: 1 bar of Zote