Travel with Hotwire

The short version of this story is that we blew a rod on the engine of the motor home, and had to book a hotel for this weekends convention.

My tip: Try HotWire! We were able to reserve a very nice hotel, with free breakfast (including fresh fruit, meats, juices, coffee; not just doughnuts), free wifi, microwave and refrigerator, indoor pool, free parking, king size bed... many amenities... the price? Just $36 +tax!

We are just three minutes to Meijer, where we bought simple foods that we could take into the conference for lunch and heat up in the room for dinner, saving us from eating out.

The "discounted rate" available at similar hotels in this area were $99 and up, so we are very pleased with the rate we were able to get with HotWire.

The author of this blog; Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mom to six, help meet to her husband and the author of Vacation Education Books.

Find Treasure with a Metal Detector

I received a metal detector for my birthday present (Thanks mom)
I've been wanting one for a long time, but didn't want to spend for one.
It just arrived from UPS yesterday, so the kids and I had to try it out.
In our own yard we found a dime and two pennies!
Then, we learned a lesson about metal detecting. It is not a perfect science. Our two year old dumped out the bucket that we were putting our treasure in, and then we were not able to find the coins again (even with the metal detector!)
Also, this is not an activity for white pants! So, next time I will wear grubby clothes and no matter how dirty it is, I'll put it in my pocket.
After dinner we went to our local park and searched some more
We found five foil gum wrappers (not treasure), one bottle cap, a zipper tab, and a little metal brush (it looks like a blush brush, but is all metal and is stamped 1819). We don't know what it is yet, but Dad thinks it might be a car part?
Caitlin also found two quarters, but I don't think these count because a man approached us as we were detecting. I had the machine and Caitlin was on the ground digging. He asked what we were looking for, and we said coins mostly. So, he tossed two quarters over to her and said, "see if you can find these."
So, she got to keep the quarters and the rest went into our collection of treasure. Who knows what we will find next.

The author of this blog, Corinne Johnson, is a Christian homeschooling mom to six, help meet to her husband Don and the author of Vacation Education Books.
www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Just sound advice

This is a quote that I have kept around my house as a reminder to me whenever I am tempted to buy something. Perhaps it will help you too.

"The cares of gain are threefold;
the struggle of getting,
the frenzy of increasing,
the horror of losing."
author unknown

The author of this blog, Corinne Johnson, is a Christian homeschooling mom to six, help meet to her husband, and author of Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families who love to learn; unit studies for families who love to travel.
www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Save on Ink, printing costs, maybe even make money

Here's my money saving idea for today.
Staples stores offer a $3 reward for returning used ink cartridges for recycling. You can bring in any brand, up to 10 per month. (That's $30)
Staples is 20 minutes away, but we were near there for something else today, and so dropped off our cartridges. I didn't need anything so I have credit on my rewards account, which I will use the next time I am over there and need an item. Packaging tape is usually cheapest there when we buy it in large quantities.
They do this in hopes that you will put $3 towards a purchase of a $50 ink cartridge, but you can use it for whatever you want. I don't use it for anything that I wouldn't normally buy there.
Here's how we use it to our advantage. We have been able to get ink cartridges (new) on Ebay for around $3 to $4 each. We've also found them at resale shops for even less. Because we are constantly printing pages for a variety of reasons, we go through a lot of ink. We can now take up to 10 of these cartridges in for a $3 return, making our ink costs nearly free.

The author, Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mom to six, a help meet to her husband Don, and the author of Vacation Education Books. www.vacationeducationbooks.net

God is amazing. He always provides for us.

This past week alone, God has been showing us how he will provide if we just trust in Him.
When we ran out of bread and I thought I would have to go to the grocery store to get some; a lady from our church stopped by with seven loaves of bread that she just happened to find when cleaning out her freezer and thought we could use.
When the motorhome broke down on the highway and we had no money to pay for a repair (or even for a tow), God sent His children (loving Christian men) to help us out.
When I was just about to order shipping supplies for our Ebay items; God told me to invite someone to our church. I did, and when she came, she brought a bag of shipping supplies. She just had them laying around and was going to throw them out, but thought we might be able to use them. They were just what we needed.
Today, Don needed to work on his Haggadah, and so we offered to be out of the house, so he could concentrate. I needed a free activity to do. Yesterday, our pastor announced that a group was going to over to the local university to a Wildlife Center, it was free except for the lunch ($2.85 per person). We told the kids they could each buy their own lunch with their spending money and I would take them. The day would cost us $17.90, plus the cost of gas and parking, the wildlife center was free. We were able to get a free parking pass because we arrived early and someone had gotten extra, and after lunch, the lady at the cafeteria said that the kids were free. That's a God thing! The whole day cost us $2.85 (for my meal) plus the gas to make the twenty minute drive.

Oh, and I almost forgot! when we told how God sent men to help us with our motorhome in Sunday School, another good Christian man stepped up and mentioned that his garage had taken apart a few motorhomes and might have some spare parts for ours.
Hallelujah! Prais God from whom all blessings flow!

The author: Corinne Johnson, is a Christian homeschooling mom to six, help meet to her husband and author of Vacation Education Books. www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Saving Little Saving Big

We have been experimenting with little things that we can do around our home to save money. Our experiment to see how much money we can save by not flushing the toilet until necessary at a rate of eight tenths of a penny per gallon may seem like a waste of time and energy to some.
We are at this point, because all of the big savings changes have already been made, and we are trying to be creative and find new ways. I find that the BIG savers are quite obvious, however sometimes we can get caught up in our financial troubles and miss the BIG things.
If you need to make more money, not just cut expenses, then I would suggest planning a rummage sale, listing some items on Craigslist, or Ebay and exchanging your trinkets for cash that will pay for essentials like food and heat. I do realize that this is a market where a lot of people are trying to sell and it seems that there are not so many buyers.
But, my first tip for today is to start with sites like Ebay and Amazon: search for the items that you have and are willing to part with. Use the completed listing feature on Ebay and find out who is buying and what they are paying for items like yours. Once you've done a little research, choose the items that are likely to produce the biggest return, and get them up for sale. No one can buy it if you don't list it.
Our experience has been that people are still buying, they are just looking for better deals. Good luck

The author: Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, help meet to her husband, and author of Vacation Education Books. They have been without a regular income for 18 months and continue to share their lives with others to encourage families when a job is lost it doesn't mean that all is lost.

The Incredible 7 person shower

I have found that I am capable of staying in the shower until the hot water runs out; so are my daughters. This is a huge waste of resources.
So, I invented the incredible 7 person shower. To put this to use in your house, you may need to make a small purchase (less than $5) and you may need to address modesty issues if there are any.

Here's how it works:
Two girls get in the shower, turn on the water, and take turns washing and rinsing (one stands under the water, gets wet, moves out to lather; 2nd girl moves in, gets wet, switch, first girl rinses while second girl lathers)
Mom waits outside the shower, but in the bathroom, getting undressed while girls are in the shower.
First girl finishes rinsing and gets out of shower, second girl rinses, mom gets in, second girl gets out. Girls leave and send dad in.
Dad gets undressed while mom is in shower.
Note: when only one person is in the shower; use the "navy shower" to stop water flow during lather stage. This is where you might need to make a purchase. A 'navy shower' is a showerhead (about $2 at Walmart) that has a lever on it to stop the flow of water without turning it off or changing the temperature; well worth it's cost.
Mom gets out, dad gets in. Mom leaves bathroom and sends in boys. Dad gets out, boys get in...
you get the idea.
We have put this into effect (not everyday, sometimes we skip showering altogether, but that's for another article), and can rotate all seven of us (baby still gets his own bath) in and out of the shower before the water runs out.
Everyone gets clean, girls even have time to wash their long hair.
The trick to quick is start at the top and wash down, then back to the top and rinse down. It can be done much quicker than people think.
Imagine how fast you would clean yourself if you only had cold water to work with. That's how fast you can be out of a hot shower too!

This blog is written to encourage cheapskates. The author, Corinne Johnson, is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, help meet to her husband Don, and author of Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families who love to learn, unit studies for families who love to travel. www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Recycle water, quit flushing the toilet

Okay, we are in the middle of an experiment with our water usage. After the coffee filter experiment, we knew that our water has a cost of just under a penny per gallon.

That means that it is the cheapest and healthiest drink by far!

But, we also took a look at how much water we use each month and decided to try to lower that amount even though it isn't all that expensive.

The current experiment? We pay per gallon that comes into the house. There is a fee for water and a fee for sewer, assuming that whatever comes in; an equal amount is going out. Also, we know that the same quality drinking water is being piped in to flush the toilets.

We have shut off the water to the toilet tank (this will also prevent our 2 year old from flushing just because he can), and instead have placed a shallow tub in the kitchen sink to catch any water that would have gone down the drain. Each time the tub fills up, we use it to flush the toilet.
It takes about two gallons of water to flush the toilet, so we are waiting to see how this affects our overall usage as well as our actual bill.

This blog is written to explain how our family of 8 survives with as little income as possible.
The author: Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother to six, help meet to her husband and author of Vacation Education Books
www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Getting your money's worth

I prefer to spend no money at all, but if I do spend it, I want to get my money's worth; an idea I hope my children inherit. Thursday, our son found a grocery cart filled with K'NEX pieces for $9. We had to go online and find a set of directions, but spent all day Friday and much of Saturday putting together a Turbo Coaster. We had plenty of pieces and lots leftover, and it is quite entertaining to watch. The educational value for our son (who looked up later that retail value of the Coaster kit ($80), and learned math, science and engineering in the process. He also learned the value of saving his money. $9 is a lot for an 8 year old to spend, but he had enough saved up that he was able to make this purchase. Two days of entertainment just building this project, plus the fun of watching and playing with it now that it is done, and we can take it apart and build something else later.

Not all Money Savers actually save money

This morning as I went to make coffee, I noticed a built in filter basket for my coffee maker. This little basket is removable and is a permanent filter that we can simply fill with grounds and there is no need for paper filters. I can see the reasoning behind this invention as four fold.
1) Cost: Never buy coffee filters again
2) Eco-Friendly: No waste of paper filters
3) Convenience: Never run out of filters, never need to add them to the grocery list
4) Space saving: One less item to make room for in your cupboard

However, here is a reality check based on our experience with this machine.

The built in filter basket has to be cleaned out after each use. I don't mind except that the old grounds don't completely dump out, and I have to spray out the basket with water. Since I live in town, and pay a city water bill, I think the cost of the water used might exceed the cost of the paper filters. I would also say that I think the water used exceeds the eco damage done by the paper filters (they are thin and nearly disintegrated by the water and grounds by the time they hit the trash can).
I have not thoroughly tested this theory, but started with these facts: 200 filters cost $1.99, plus tax @ 6% $2.11 - about seven months worth; our water bill is about $40 per month.
Note: This apparently is very conservative, another family of 7 (we are 8) pays double that - when I heard this, my first question was 'have you checked for leaks?',but that is just how much they use; twice as much as us.
So, I figured that a $ amount wasn't a very accurate measure.

The actual cost of water is about $.0079 per gallon (just about 8/10 of a penny).
I used the filter and rinsed it out, measuring the water used at 3.5 cups.
200 uses would take 700 cups or 43.07 gallons.
At a cost of $.0079 per gallon, It would cost me about 34cents for 200 uses.

So, my assumption was incorrect! This little basket is actually a BIG money saver. $1.77 might not seem like much but that is like getting 84% off - you would be crazy to bypass that kind of clearance sale.

So, in conclusion:
Cost? yes
Convenience? throwing out is more convenient than cleaning out, but not by much.
Eco friendliness? I don't know. Does 200 paper filters do more or less damage than 43 gallons of water wasted?
On the issue of space saving? The built in filter wins here too.

This blog is all about spending as little money as possible, preferably none.
The author: Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, help meet to her husband, and author of Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families who love to learn, unit studies for families who love to travel.
www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Trade, Barter and Choose your friends wisely

Since we are approaching tax time; I should mention that a true "barter" system may have tax implications.

Here are some examples of ways that you can save money, and help others save money too, just by being friendly. Let me first say that I am always available to help others out, I give away the items I don't need, and I do a lot of favors, not because I expect anything in return, but because I just think it's the right thing to do. Also, if someone offers us something for free, we always say yes, knowing that even if we don't need that particular item, we can pass it on and the giver will know that we are grateful for anything they have to offer. This way of living has made it so that everyone knows we are happy to take things they no longer want, and that we find good homes for things we don't need, so people are happy to help us when they can.

1) After being evicted, a renter left our house full of trash. We expected to pay $140 for a dumpster, but then a friend showed up and offered to take care of it. We had to bag it all up and separate the metal for recycling. We did spend about $20 on garbage bags. In the process, a neighbor found out we had someone hauling metal to the recycling center and offered him some old appliances to take also.

2) When our car kept overheating and Don wanted to try some minor repairs (hoses and such) before taking it in, we called a friend who has been working on cars as a hobby for most of his life. He is even in the process of setting up his personal garage with all the fixin's for automotive repair. He & Don worked together to make the repairs on our van. A major benefit of this arrangement is that these are two men who both love God and working on the van is an excuse to hang out all day talking about their faith. Later on, we were remodeling a garage at our rental and offered this same friend the cabinets for use in his garage. That's just what friends do!

3) One summer, we had a friend who was working maintenance at a local Christian camp and needed a camper to stay in since they provided hookups, but not actual housing. We loaned him our travel trailer (he lived in it full time for the next two years). Later that first year, he was over and noticed our garage roof leaking (not just leaking, it actually had several large holes in it), and so he spent his next few days off repairing and putting new shingles on it.

4) There is a man who we have hired to do a few household projects for us over the past ten years. He always goes above and beyond and never over charges us (this is particularly impressive since we have had some experience who unscrupulous contractors - you know who you are). This man has become a dear friend and we often keep in touch with him. When our car battery needed replacing, he gave us one that had only been used a few months. We just had to go visit him to get it. It was well worth the trip.

5) Last January, my friend and I both had new babies, about ten days apart. We had both spent the summer scouring yard sales for cute clothes. Now, since neither of us knew what we would have, we ended up with a collection of boy and girl outfits. I had a boy and she had a girl; so I'm sure you can guess what we traded. This is a great example of friends helping friends. We didn't shop the same sales, and so I found deals she wouldn't have and she found deals I wouldn't have. I had no intention of putting pink dresses on my son, and so no use for those items, but I was immensely blessed by an abundance of adorable little blue suits that I would use.
We each gave up something that had no useful value to the giver, but did for the recipient. That is a great trade!

There are some things that are helpful when trading.
1) Be generous when you are able, without expecting anything in return. We have a man on our street who owns a snowblower; and when he blows his own property, he does the entire block, just because he can. I bet that people often think of him, when they want to do something nice for someone.
2) Don't be too proud to accept help, even if you don't necessarily NEED it. We could have paid for a dumpster, or bought a battery, but when help was offered, we graciously accepted. We have a friend who is always offering to help people, but because he works a lot of hours and spends most of his free time working on things for others, some think he is too busy and don't accept his help. He spends all his free time helping others because it is what he loves to do, and he is disappointed if he offers and is turned down.
If you have ever done something nice for someone without them asking, you know the wonderful feeling that comes from serving others. (If you've never experienced this, then it is high time that you get involved in a service project or mission trip, because you don't know what you are missing.) I used to be too proud to accept help; "I can handle it all by myself" was my attitude. I was happy to help others, but never to accept any help, because I didn't think I 'needed' it. Then, it was pointed out to me that by denying someone the opportunity to serve, I was denying them that wonderful feeling that comes when you know that you have helped someone else. Taking that away from them is just plain mean. So, I have learned to swallow my pride and step back and say yes when someone offers to help me. It has brought us many blessings.

This blog is all about ways to live without spending money, and is written to encourage those who are trying to.

The author: Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, help meet to her husband and the author of Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families who love to learn, unit studies for families who love to travel.
www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Give Your Dryer a Break - 50cents a load

The average cost to run one load of laundry through an electric dryer is 50 cents; an expense, but what are the alternatives?
I don't mind hanging laundry on an outdoor clotheline, but it is a time consuming task, and I have to wonder whether or not my time would be better spent on a task that provides a better hourly wage.
I live in Michigan, where the sunny days are few and far between. My grandmother lived in the upper peninsula and hung out her laundry all year long. She taught me that they will still dry in the winter, no matter how cold, it just takes longer.
At 50 cents a load, I was not very motivated to hang laundry outside, but then the dryer quit working. The financial cost of having the dryer increased significantly. A service call (just to find out what is wrong, not to get anything repaired) is $70. So, then my question becomes, how inconvenient is it to hang up laundry for a savings of $70?
We decided to try it before calling a repairman. So, for about four weeks we have been without a working dryer. Our washing machine still works fine. We have found that with our family of eight, we can wash two loads a day and keep up including towels, bedding, and diapers.
We have not yet hung anything outside, instead we are using a rack in the laundry room, the bathtub, towel rods, banister, stair rail, over the bathroom door, etc. Anywhere that we can think of to hang items, we are using in an effort to keep up without having to take it outside. (There have been some negative 15 temperature days here, it's more than a little cold).
We are able to wash and get dry two loads per day. Assuming that the actual amount of dirty duds we produce has not changed, we were washing and drying an average of two loads per day with the working dryer also. That is a cost of $1 per day to run the dryer. So, over the past month, the broken dryer has saved us $30 in electrical costs. I don't have the actual electrical bills to prove this, it is only an estimated guess.
An added benefit is that the air is normally very dry here in the winter, but the hanging clothes allow moisture to evaporate, increasing the humidity in the air. So, if you used a humidifier, you could turn that off too, saving even more.
As an added note, we will likely get the dryer repaired at some point, however, I think not having it for awhile has helped to change our perspective on its importance. We will be on the road traveling for our ministry for much of the summer and there has been a lot of discussion about our laundering options in the motor home. Living without the dryer has been a reminder that while we have lived with one and taken it for granted most of our lives, it is not necessity, and no matter where we are on the road, we can make due without one.

The author of this blog: Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, help meet to her husband Don, and author of the series Vacation Education Books; travel guides for families who love to learn; unit studies for families who love to travel. To find out more, visit www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Don't let other people pressure you into spending $

I should know by now that I will almost always end up the fool if I spend money!
Case in Point: Our newborn son was baptized this last weekend. A week ago, I got a call from a mom (I won't say whose, but it wasn't mine) very concerned about what kind of luncheon we were preparing for our guests to enjoy after the baptism.
My plan at that time? NONE
Not only did I not plan a luncheon, I hadn't even planned to have any guests. But, I had just given birth two weeks earlier, apparently, I wasn't thinking too clearly.
Feeling guilty (mostly because I knew that if I didn't have a plan, then this person was going to go to the store and buy a bunch of food to compensate for my failure), I decided that I would put together some simple snacks in case anyone wanted to stop by the house after church. This would be 10:30ish - I figured I could get away with snacks as opposed to a whole meal.
Now, I manage to spend no money by avoiding the store altogether, not because of any fancy shopping techniques. By the time I got home, I had spent an entire day, been to three different stores, spent $200 and had a van full of food; every possible item that my potential 'guests' might want to eat. Then, I recruited my daughters and we spent an entire day making dips, cutting veggies, making cookies and so on. Every member of our church could come by and there would be enough food to go around.
I didn't need to do all of this - but, I had this obsessive desire to make sure that my one particular guest wouldn't feel the need to buy any food for us; the only thing that bothers me more than spending money is someone else spending money on me because they think we are somehow deprived. Well, I did accomplish that, but here's how God made me feel like a fool...
Saturday evening, Caitlin became ill, Sunday morning she was throwing up in the bathroom at church, Don was so sick he barely made it through the service, and I wasn't feeling so great either. We suggested to all of our family that they not come by the house lest they get ill as well, and while we had a ton of food to share, we didn't think that food prepared by our hands (just hours before we were vomiting) would be very healthy for others to eat.
But, it gets even better. My refrigerator is often nearly empty. I have a full pantry and freezer and make meals from raw foods, so mostly leftovers go in the frig, and then we eat those up leaving a mostly empty refrigerator. But, now it was full of all the prepared foods we had made. Sunday, half of our family was sick and we had no guests, so very little was eaten. Monday, we began to get our appetites back, but then attended a fellowship dinner where we visited for quite awhile and were one of the last to leave. They packed up many leftovers for our family to take home. We felt very blessed.
As we arrived home Monday night, I said to my husband, "I feel like an a-s for spending $200 on junk food, and now I have just received a weeks worth of meals for free and there's no room in my refrigerator." I can think of several bill collectors who would have liked it if I'd sent the $200 to them instead!
So, the moral of my story is that if God has always provided for you, know that He will continue to, and don't be the fool that makes purchases based on someone else's idea of 'need'.
If someone comes to visit, and wants to buy you groceries; try not to be offended. Or if you cancel the cable and sell the tv, then someone who loves you thinks that you are deprived and buys you a tv/vcr for Christmas... just be thankful!

Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, helpmeet to her husband Don, and author of a series of educational unit studies based on favorite family travel destinations. She writes about their life without regular paychecks to encourage others to follow God's lead wherever it may take them. Learn more about them at www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Saving Money While Making Money Too!

I wrote recently about saving $ by recycling. I failed to mention something very important. There are some items that can be recycled and you can actually get paid for bringing them in. We have a county recycling center that will take many different items; there is no charge to bring the items and drop them off. There is also no financial incentive for bringing them in and dropping them off, except for the money saved through trash bags that didn't get purchased.

However, many metal items (particularly aluminum) can be recycled at a junk yard or specified metal recycling business. These businesses can sell the metal to companies that use it to make new products, and will pay you for bringing it in. Copper has been especially lucrative this past year. So much so that in our area there has even been a rash of thefts of metal items from peoples yards.

There are ways to get metal other than stealing it!
1) If you have a truck, a dolly and a strong back, you can post a notice on area bulletin boards stating that you would gladly haul away old appliances and other metals for free. You are offering a service to people who want to get rid of these items, but are unable or unwilling to drive them to the recycling center themselves. Most centers will purchase the metal based on weight, so the heavier the appliance, the bigger the payout.
NOTE: Call your local metal recycling center to ask about current rates (they are not all the same - if you have a couple of places to choose from, one may pay out better than another). Also, be sure to check on regulations for appliances that contain FREON, like refrigerators and freezers - you may have to do some additional work before these can be taken in.

2) Trash picking. We have not done this ourselves, but know a friend who has had some success at it. He regularly trash hunts for several types of items, but also carries a pair of wire cutters in his truck. When he comes across a trash pile that has old electrical items (like tvs, vcrs, lamps, etc), he cuts the cord from these, and puts them in the back of his van. When he has a large pile, he can take them to the recycling center (his local center will purchase the cords by weight; they take off a certain amount for the plastic outer). If metal prices are especially high, and he has the time, he will strip off the plastic outer and take in the wires for an even better payday.

Remember that like any commodity, metal prices fluctuate with the market. Call around and regularly check on the current rates. It may pay to take a small load when prices are high, or it might be better to store the items until you have a large amount if prices are low.

Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of six, and help meet to her husband Don. The Johnson family has lived without a steady paycheck for 15 months, and by the Grace of God continue to have all their needs met. This blog is to share the tips and tricks to making a living and supporting a family when no one has a job.

Free Clothing Center

The free clothing center; our community has one, and yours might too. It's run by volunteers, and only open for a few hours three days a week, but everything is FREE. There are no income guidelines and you don't have to fill out any paperwork: except that they do ask you to sign an agreement that anything you take is for your own personal use and that you won't resell it.
Obviously, I like it because I have eight bodies worth of clothes to shop for - a free center helps out a lot. I also like donating items there because then I feel like I'm trading. In our family (biological and spiritual) there is a lot of hand me down and pass me around items when it comes to clothes. We are often given bags of items with a message, "I was taking this to Goodwill, but thought you might like to go through it first." We always say yes! Anything that we are sure we won't use, goes to the free clothing center; I drop the items off and take a list of items I do need and look for them while I am there.
My clothing budget last year? I spent $5 (for a whole bag) on baby clothes at a yard sale. One of the items was a nearly new Columbia snowsuit; I sold that for $7 online and kept the rest for our new baby. My oldest daughter got a new pair of church shoes from the same sale (they weren't priced and she went up to ask; the lady said $5, and Summer said, "oh, I only have $2" and started to put them back. They lady said, "oh, alright, I'll take $2" (She wasn't just saying that to get a deal, that really was all the money she had with her).
So, overall, I spent nothing on clothing for anyone in my family, until Christmas, when my husband needed new jeans, and we couldn't find them at the clothing center. We've spent about $10 on mens jeans at area Goodwills and thrift stores. We also received two new pairs of kids tennis shoes and one pair of pajamas for each of the kids (all from Grammas at Christmas). I personally have an aversion to purchasing anything at a retail store!
I expect this year, I'll spend about the same amount, or possibly less, now that I have gotten more experienced at picking out items from yard sales that sell well online. Maybe I'll even make some money back this year! Isn't that what "making money from home" is all about?

Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother to five (almost six) children, a help meet to her husband Don and the author of Vacation Education Books. Learn more at www.vacationeducationbooks.net

HOW I SAVED $156

In the city where we live, curbside trash pick up is every week. There are seven people in our family, and we create trash! The cost for this service is just the cost of the bags. They will only pick up certain bags and these must be purchased at a rate of $15.51 for a package of ten bags.
For the purpose of this illustration, I will round the cost of the bags to $1.50 each. Our family filled about three bags per week, for a cost of $4.50 per week. Multiplied by 52 weeks adds up to $234 per year.
Then, we found out that our community had a local recycling center. We can take cardboard, newspaper, glossy paper (like magazines, catalogs and much of the junk mail), metal, plastic and glass).
Now, honestly, we did not put a lot of effort into this project and still do not recycle every possible item that we could, but we did manage to set aside enough recyclable items each week to bring our average down to one bag per week. That's $1.50 multiplied by 52 weeks, for a total cost of $78 per year for trash removal.
$234 that we were spending minus the $78 we are currently spending equals a savings of
drumroll please!
$156 per year.

Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother to five and a help meet to her husband Don, as well as the author of Vacation Education Books. Learn more at www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Sharing the Recycling Bin

I should have known that I wasn't the only person with great ideas. I did know actually, but it's still just a tiny bit frustrating to see someone getting to the trash ahead of you! AAAAARGH!
Have you ever been there? When you stop at a tag sale, and you see a great looking dresser, solid wood, dove tailed drawers, for just $5 and a BIG SOLD! Sticker on it. AAAARGH!
Or you see the item you've been looking for... in the arms of another shopper!

Well, we've been having great fun and great luck digging items out of the recycling bin and selling them online. We've dug out hundreds of coupons (my daughters have now been given the job of cutting all of these out, checking exp. dates and organizing them - for a small fee, of course); we've collected hundreds of magazines, some of which have sold for as much as $7.95 online (many sell for $1 or even in a penny auction, but we are certainly making money at this little venture.

I know I'm not the only person who does this; it wasn't even my idea, I got it from someone else's blog who actually makes a living selling magazines and magazine clippings (we aren't making that much money... YET). But, we've been having a lot of fun looking for treasures, and seeing how much they'll bring, if anything (sometimes we take as many items back to the recycling center as we took out).

But, here's the rub! We went over there the other day, actually our son was part of a workshop in a nearby building. It was our intention to head straight over to the bin when he was done. However, we arrived to find two women already actively digging in the bin. AAAARGH!
I wasn't mad really, but more like, "Hey! That's what I was just about to do!" Just like when you show up at the yard sale to find someone leaving with the item you really wanted and think, "Hey! I was going to buy that!"
I kept catching myself peeking out the window across the parking lot to see if they were still there. The longer they stayed, the more convinced I was that they were getting all the good stuff ahead of me. AAAARGH!

However, it was not as bad as I thought. Nothing ever is! I was sure that going to the bin now was a waste of time, but my husband insisted that we should check anyway. We went over to the bin when we were done with the workshop and the other garbage pickers were gone. We did have to dig a little deeper than normal, but we found many good items that they either didn't see or saw and didn't want.

In the end, we still found some good items, and were reminded that there are others who have the same idea as us, no corner on the market here, and also reminded that while we got a good haul that day, it would have been better to get there first.

So, if you are hoping to live off the items you find in the trash (and it can be done), be sure that you are digging early and often! And, don't give up even when you sometimes get there late!

Corinne Johnson is a Christian homeschooling mother of five, almost six; a help meet to her husband in his online sales business and the author of Vacation Education Books: travel guides for families who love to learn; unit studies for families who love to travel.
Learn more at www.vacationeducationbooks.net

Praying for Cash!

Prayer pretty much always works. Of course, we aren't talking about praying for frivolous items, but for our necessities, and this is actually just calling on God to keep His promises. He says that He will provide for us, and so when this last month, our renters didn't pay their rent (which we had planned to use for our house payment), I began to worry. I try not to let myself get too stressed out. But, the house payment is our biggest bill each month and it's not a bill that can be covered by a few days of trash picking (usually).
We sell items online on consignment, and right now we are down to a lot of small items. These are good for day to day needs, a few dollars here, a few dollars there, but nothing in our current inventory looked valuable enough to bring in the $800+ that we needed. We were really relying on that rent to come in.
We worked every spare moment, organizing and listing, visiting our favorite trash spots, hoping to find some big item that would sell for a miracle price. We sent an eviction notice to the tenants, hoping that it would remind them to pay their rent (I don't enjoy the idea of having to evict anyone). And, most importantly, we began to pray that God would somehow provide the funds we needed to cover the first of the month bills. My experience has been that He always provides, but quite often it is at the very last minute, sometimes even after the shut off notice has come!
Then, we got an email from an online buyer who said, "I love this item that I bought from you (for $10). Do you have more? I'd like to buy them all." We had a two whole boxes full, 108 in all. We offered a significant discount on the lot, and the buyer paid immediately. Praise God!
To be honest, I am a do it myself, rely on my own intelligence and ingenuity, and when all else fails, ask God for help. But, admittedly, He has provided for us in ways unimaginable. So, while I may continue to post and boast about all of my money saving genius ideas, I do know where it all really comes from - so here's to giving credit where credit is due.
And, here's to praying that the rent still comes, soon.

Corinne Johnson is a stay at home mother to six, help meet to her husband Don, a homeschooling mom and author of Vacation Education Books. Weareunemployed.blogspot.com is a mission to encourage others that a family can live and work at home together, and survive financially without anyone having to be separated from the unit for hours or days at a time.
Do you work to live, or do you live to work?