The Big White Farmhouse

intentional living, little by little

No.429: A List of July’s Frugal Accomplishments

JULY’S FRUGAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

My Goal: Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.  
And if you have to spend money, do it with intention.

+ Summer seems to be a great time to sell old school books on eBay and I’ve been having a lot of luck.  I save boxes and packaging from my own online purchases and reuse them to ship out the books.  Frugal and environmentally friendly – a win/win!

+ I am in the process of sewing a scrap quilt completely by hand using a variety of fabrics that I’ve been hoarding forever – some given to me from my late grandmother, a few I purchased over a decade ago, even a couple pieces of clothing and an old pillowcase.

+ I made cutoffs for Sophia from a pair of her jeggings.  They had big holes in the knees and would have ended up in the trash.  Turned out so cute!

+ We had summer squash coming out of our ears this month!  I cut a handful of them up in rounds and froze them for later.  A few recipes we’ve made:

+ I purchased two new dresses for church on ThredUp.  I had credit from sending in a clean-out bag along with enough points to get $10 off of my order.

+ I used the water from the kids’ kiddie pool to water my wildflowers in the front beds.

+ We harvested and shelled our “crop” of dry kidney beans.  (This post was helpful.)  We had quite the laugh since it ended up only being enough to feed us for probably two or three meals.  Oops!  We’ll definitely have to increase the amount we grow next year.

+ Mark gave four of the boys haircuts.

+ TJ needed new sneakers and I found an outgrown pair of J’s in the hand-me-down bins.  They were still in good condition but were a little dirty around the bottoms.  Nothing a Magic Eraser and a little elbow grease can’t fix!  Now they’re back to white and ready to wear.

+ Ebay had a monthly promotion that waived the listing fees for 200 items.  I listed 19 items, mostly books, saving me almost $7.

+ I replaced our very outdated family photos with pages I pulled from a vintage painting book.  I love how unique they are and that this short-term solution was free.  I’ll get those professional family photos redone someday.
Your turn!  What did you do to save a little money this month?
P.S. I pin frugal ideas to this Pinterest board if you need some inspiration too!

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Previous Frugal Accomplishments: 
2019: JULY  //  AUGUST  //  SEPTEMBER  //  OCTOBER  //  NOVEMBER  
2020: JANUARY  //  FEBRUARY // APRIL  //  MAY  //  JUNE

No.428: Homemaking Notes on a Monday // Vol.03

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The weather outside is // 

Hot!  This is the part of summer in Virginia when we tend to hibernate: we complete our outdoor chores/projects/exercise first thing in the morning and then stay inside until after dinner.

On the breakfast plate this morning // cinnamon and spice oatmeal and a big, (not so) hot cup of coffee

As I look outside my window // everything’s looking a little crispy.  Most of our grass is dead and my wildflowers are looking sad.  We did get a few days of rain last week and everything and everybody is grateful for it.  

As I look around the house // I’m happy with what I see.  I have been a crazy lady on a mission – cleaning and decluttering everything in sight!  Hoping to keep up the momentum.


In the garden // is a work in progress.  Woo, am I learning a lot this year!  Both of my squash and zucchini plants died late last week due to squash vine borers, so I pulled everything up, found another open spot and planted both seeds again.  I watched a Youtube video with a gardener in the same zone who said that this should work and that I’ll get a good fall harvest before our first frost.  We’ll see!  Gardening is one big experiment.

On this week’s to-do list //
  • reorganize the refrigerator (it’s a wreck in there)
  • order light bulbs for the dining room
  • list at least 10 things on eBay
  • take donations to Goodwill and the ReStore
  • drop off return at UPS
  • bake oatmeal raisin cookies

On the menu this week //

Monday: pulled pork sandwiches and fruit
Tuesday: grilled chicken cobb salads
Wednesday: Refrigerator Clean-Out Night
Friday: bean and cheese burritos with tortilla chips and guacamole

Currently reading // My fiction book right now is Follow the River by James Alexander Thom, which is way more intense than I expected!  I’m also reading Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand – a random pick for me but so far, so good.  My religious book is Eucharistic Miracles and Eucharistic Phenomena in the Lives of the Saints by Joan Carroll Cruz and I’m loving it.  I keep reading entire passages aloud to Mark.  

What I’m creating at the moment // I’m about a third of the way through hand-sewing the top of my scrap quilt and still enjoying the process.  Since most of my life is focused on efficiency, it is strangely refreshing to do something that is so slow and inefficient.

New recipe I want to try this week // I’m dipping my toes in the skill of preserving and I think this recipe for small batch refrigerator pickles would make a good starting point.

No.427: 2020 Gratitude // 30

the sunflowers have opened!
a renewed motivation to get things done
that my son can make us homemade tortillas all by himself
the shade from our big tulip trees in the backyard
my new chapel veil
tasting cucumbers and cherry tomatoes that I grew – delicious!
air conditioning on super hot days
rain (finally!) after weeks of drought
that we only lost power for a few minutes vs. much longer
Our Lady of Sorrows
a great week of sales on ebay
surprise books in the mail (thanks, Dad!)
planning bedroom and bathroom updates with my daughter
cranberry lime sparkling water
pink sunrises
my six healthy children

No.426: What I Decluttered // April, May, June & July 2020



Months #7, #8, #9 and #10 for my 1,000 Item Declutter Challenge!  Here are the ground rules:

  1. Only spend 10 minutes at one time and only in one specific area.  
  2. Monday through Wednesday, seek out items that we no longer need and make a pile.  Then Thursday through Saturday, make a plan for how to deal with them.  (This has worked so well and avoided that dreaded box of “what should I do with these?” items.)
  3. Possible places to find new homes for items: Ebay/Poshmark, Facebook Marketplace, Trash Nothing website or the local Buy Nothing Facebook group and as a last resort, Goodwill

I feel a responsibility for the things I have and want to be intentional with how I dispose of them.  Questions I asked myself: If it’s here, what purpose does it serve?  Can I use it up?  Can I enjoy it vs. keeping it tucked away in drawers and boxes?  And if not, can I let it go to someone who may need it more?




Decluttering: COVID Lockdown Edition!
Well, this has been an interesting time for decluttering!  Since we’ve been quarantined, I have focused most of my energy with actually using the things we own vs. getting rid of everything in sight.  I did continue to list and sell some things on eBay, which was an unexpected bonus.  All in all, not a huge dent in my goal, but something is better than nothing, right?

WHAT I DECLUTTERED THE PAST FOUR MONTHS

  • 13 books.
  • One math answer book and one teacher guide.  Sold on ebay.
  • One history activity book.  I purchased this not realizing that I already owned it!  I decided to sell it on ebay versus paying the return shipping.  I didn’t get all of my money back, but enough to forgive my silly mistake.
  • One holster. Sold for Mark on ebay.
  • One brand new sippy cup. Sold on ebay.
  • One pair of sneakers and two pairs of slippers. Well loved and too beat up to give away.  Into the trashcan.
  • One pair of boys shorts.  Sold on ebay.
  • Six bags of wildflower seeds. These were from the BWF days.  I planted them in our flower beds and they’ve completely transformed the front of the house.
  • One “throw and grow” pack of flower bombs.  Another unsold product from the BWF days.  I filled in a few bare spots in the flower beds with these.
  • One teacher guide and seven picture books that go with it. I’ve started lesson planning for next fall and I took another look at some of the curriculum on our shelves.  I didn’t see us returning to this one, so sold it on ebay.
  • 4 pieces of a math curriculum. Another curriculum that I don’t see us using.  Summer is definitely the best time to get these sold quickly!
  • One DVD.  Sold on ebay.
  • One magazine. Into the recycling bin.
  • 3 free samples.  I used up two little lotions and we finally tried out a new coffee sample that’s just been sitting in the drawer.  
  • One bathing suit.  Sophie’s bathing suit from last year is too small, so we sold it on Poshmark.
  • 4 bags of shredded paper.  Junk mail and other personal paperwork that needs to be shredded counts as clutter too!  I’m counting each full container (which is the equivalent of a plastic grocery store bag) as one item.  Added most of it to my compost pile.
  • 2 grocery sized bags of random paper I’ve saved for years.  Into the recycling bin.
  • 13 pieces of Sophie’s and my clothing.  I filled and mailed in a ThredUp Clean-Out Bag right before the lockdown started.  So far, we’ve sold thirteen items.  The return in payout is really small (like $1-$3 a piece), but something’s better than nothing, I guess!   
  • 6 pieces of clothing.  Off to Goodwill.  These are pieces in good condition, but don’t have much resale value and weren’t substantial enough to warrant a post on Trash Nothing.
    Items decluttered: 70
    Money made: $185.44


    Total items decluttered so far: 573
    Total money made so far: $741.84


    P.S. To “count,” the item had to physically leave my house.  So while I have listed a handful of things online, those aren’t counted until they have sold.

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