How To Inventory Hand-Me-Downs

We've been blessed to overflowing with hand-me-downs and yard sale clothes. The only hard part is storing them!

We use a simplified version of The Tightwad Gazette system. We sort and store future items by age.

Where do you keep all those clothes?

I dream of a basement lined with long clothing racks, but I make do with a high closet shelf and space under the crib.

One could easily spend more on a storage system than the wardrobe itself! We've experimented with all kinds of containers:

• copy paper boxes
• Rubbermaid bins
• Ziploc Big Bags
• Clear trash bags
• Old suitcases

My secret: the container you select is not NEARLY as important as the inventory you keep.

Otherwise, you may end up with 8 shirts to 2 khaki pants! The Tightwad Gazette recommends index cards taped to each box.

I think a master checklist is much easier. Carry it from closet to basement to thrift store. You’ll know at a glance whether you have next year’s Easter dress in stock.

I created a free Google Spreadsheet for our inventory. To begin, I listed every item my kids might possibly need in a year, from swim suits to holiday clothes. Now I simply note each new addition. Under 3T dresses, I pencil in “plaid” or “blue” to prevent duplicates.

Will I fill every need ahead? No way! But the empty spaces on my spreadsheet keep me focused on what we need--and not just another cute sundress!

You can see my personal Kids Clothing Inventory Sheets here:
Girl
Boy
Baby

7 Quick Takes: Frugal Table Edition

Notes from the frugal kitchen, which is noticeably messier after 2 weeks of hard use.

Thanks to Jen at Conversion Diary's 7 Quick Takes for the invitation!

1.

One cucumber vine provides all the free material you need for vegetable peeling lessons. We may be carving swans by September.

2.

Mint is another cheap yet prolific plant. Kids can't outpick it.

3.

Ever since I tasted Shauna's fruit salad, I've diced a few mint leaves into my own. Just a little grace note.

And look! More cucumbers! Soup recipe from Mollie Katzen's Salad People, chilled punch cups from Goodwill.

4.

Dining out can be stressful with kids plus guests, who may not be used to spills at every meal. We all relaxed after vowing to eat at home.

Our best outing, hands down? The fantastic FREE production of Cinderella at the Nashville library's marionette theatre. We may go see it again!

5.

My thrift-store score of Table Topics
led us to deeper conversation and kept the kids at table without as much fidgeting.

6.

When we realized that Sunday brunch might not work, I picked up a pound of smoked salmon salad from Fresh Market ($7) to serve at home.

Excellent budget compromise and so easy with crackers, fresh salad, cheese and fruit.

7.

Potted plants make quick, cheap centerpieces.

I splurged on hanging baskets from Home Depot's $3.33 sale, rotating two between front steps and table.

Between 2 rounds of company, a funeral, and and an out-of-town conference for my husband, it's taking me a while to reset the family routine. I apologize for not updating sooner!

It Never Lasts Long

No sooner had we put the house back together than Elise snuck a pink marker into her white, white bed.

Best Place To Buy Hair Elastics?

Above, a 25-cent box makes an everyday chore a little nicer

I need your advice on hair elastics. Where do you find the best quality for the best price?

Painted Floor Photos

Here are photos of the painted floor in my son's bedroom.

We added a garage sale coffee table for building Legos and a $20 rug to catch the sprawl. (Here's how we store the toys.)

July/August is a good time to look for inexpensive rugs. Walmart, Target, etc. roll out bound carpets for college kids.

Case study: to what degree will Lego bricks abrade a painted floor?

Ask me next year.

Painting Bedroom Floors White

We needed a quick--and cheap--replacement for the dirty bedroom carpets.

After we removed the staples and tack strips, the plywood subfloor had too many bad spots to leave as-is.

I compared laminates and prefinished wood floors, but nothing matched our existing hardwoods.

(By the way, I found the best hard flooring prices at Southeastern Salvage.)

I simply painted the floors with porch paint. I love the shine.

I bought white high-gloss by Sherwin Williams, which coated better than the big box brands I've used in other houses. One gallon cost $40 and covered two bedrooms.

Rolling on another coat is no harder than mopping a floor.

In my heart, I know a green-and-white checkered pattern would have looked incredible.

In my head, I realized none of the beds would fit through the door frames.

I had to move furniture to one side, paint 2 coats, and then repeat for the other side.


The process, though cheap, is not without drawbacks.

We all lost sleep as the kids adjusted to sleeping bags. We had to wait a few days for the paint to cure. We've already had one gouge from a leg without felt pads.

But I'm a rescuer of old and pretty things. A little wear doesn't bother me.

For all the light we gained, an imperfect floor seems like a small price to pay.

Painting The Kitchen Gold

The hardest part about painting is making yourself start.

I still had gallons of recycled paint from my living room project. The equipment was out for the bedroom floors.

Thanks to the pantry organization, all those cans and bottles on the counter had a place to be put away.

I picked up a brush and started painting. By morning, my kitchen glowed!

(Here's a shot of the kitchen room with its original beige wall color.)

Fresh Picked

Above, Elise makes the most of the dahlias that flopped. You can always click the Food For Thought tab above for my fresh-picked links.

How to stockpile @ Momadvice & Pantry stocking strategies @ Coffee Tea Books & Me.
July kicks off No Spend Month @ Small Notebook.
If you're tired of couponing, Money Saving Mom says it's okay to take a vacation.

Y'all will be proud of me. Ever since the pantry problem, I've been crossing off projects left and right. Check back Monday for photos!

Frugal Asset: A Vehicle That Can Haul

bamboo piled by the side of the road, just when my plants needed staking

The Simple Play Fort

According to Molly Dannenmaier's A Child's Garden, "to thrive, children need complex environments."

Our bare strip of back yard lacks any place to hide, splash, dig or explore. But what if I already used up my budget with the vegetable beds?

This week we're working on a simple fort structure--not much more than a platform raised a few feet off the ground.

Andrew spotted these logs in someone's yard, asked permission to take a few, and quickly sketched a plan.