Do you want to get to the best deals before anyone else?

Today is the final day to enter this weeks give-a-way.

This weeks winners will be announced on Sunday.

Don't forget to enter on Sunday for next weeks give-a-way.

Do you want to get to the best deals before anyone else?  I do I do.
 

I was making dinner the other night and watching the news and I think they said there are over 10 million jobs that have been lost during the recession. The GOOD NEWS is that the economy is picking up. The BAD NEWS, they anticipate about 1 million new jobs being added this year and it will take many YEARS for us to just get back to where we were.  

If I heard that correctly 10 million lost and 1 million added--there will still be a lot of people out of work and it sounds like it will be a very slow and very long recovery.  I know that is not shocking news but it looks like frugile living will be posh for a lot longer.  I am so POSH.  How about you?

I also know I am not telling you anything new by stating "a great way to make those dollars stretch is by going to Garage Sales, Consignment  Stores and Flea Markets".  I know it may sound crazy talking about garage sales when Washington DC could have a historic snow fall, but it is warm and balmy in Southern Florida.  Come summer I will be miserable in the Florida heat. It is too hot to go to garage sales in the summer months, especially hauling 4 kiddos in and out of a blistering hot car.  Right now, the weather here is perfect for garage sales.  Back in Kansas and Missouri garage sales are very different from down here in Florida, at least where we are. Almost all of the communities here are gated. They have big berms and full lush plants around the perimiter of the entire subdivision, even preventing you from seeing into the subdivision to see if it is the type and size of home you might be interested in.  Some of the subdivisions have a community garage sale and "open" the gates.  Seriously, looking for a garage sales should not be that difficult should it? 

GOOD NEWS

Well it doesn't have to be any longer, even if you live in an area where it is easier to get to garage sales, wouldn't it be great to be able to find all of them in one area, saving you time and money. Cutting down on travel time and gas used. Garage Sales, Consignment Shops and Flea Markets will be at the tip of your finger.  Garage Sale Tracker is launching a new iphone app so you can find all the garage or yard sales, consignment shops and flea markets within an area.  Isn't that great news?  You may just beat someone to the sale for that 'to die for' item because of the new Garage Sale Tracker iphone app.  That helps spread the family budget even further and gives you more projects to post to ITS SO VERY CHERI parties, that are open all week long.
Don't forget-I have a new Tuesday party starting:
Its So Very Renovated

Its So Very Cheri schedule looks like this:

up on Sunday Night :
Monday's party ITS SO VERY CREATIVE

up on Monday Night :
Tuesday's party  ITS SO VERY RENOVATED

up on Tuesday Night:
 Wednesday's party  ITS SO VERY TIME TO CELEBRATE

Thursday-Tutorial Thurday- I TUTED @ ITS SO VERY CHERI

Friday-will be open to special themes parties, guest bloggers, who knows what I will come up with...

Monthly party
going on:

its so very NOT QUITE RIGHT

 

--So you are in the KNOW--
You will be the Poshest Gals around.

I just knew, all of you would like to hear about the new iphone app before everybody else does.

This post was brought to you by

  Garage Sale Tracker

Organization on the CHEAP

This is post #2 for today

I am a LIST girl-I probably need to go through a 12 step program because I live by lists.  This is off the subject but it will give you a little insight into my organizational/list way of doing things. When Prince Charming and I were going through PRE-marital counseling, the pastor asked us to take this personality test.  We could not do it together, and I wondered if the TEST shows 2 people to be INCOMPATIBLE--what does the Pastor do.  Does love trump the test r do they just prepare them for a life time of counseling or refuse to marry them???  So we do our test and turn it in and a week or two later he meets with us to go over THE RESULTS. 

I NEED TO ADD IN HERE--This was not our pastor--that is a long story, nor was this our church but it had a middle isle and was newly re-decorated, had nice colors that coordinated with our color scheme.

This is just a couple of weeks before our wedding.  He has been meeting with us for weeks and he says, "I'm really SURPRISED, you both match up in almost every area except two.  He looks over at Prince Charming and says, "she likes lists-she is a PLANNER, she will plan every detail of every vacation you ever take."  He was pretty much RIGHT ON--because not only do I  do LISTS but yes I am a PLANNER.  I have plan A, B and C in my head, at all times, as well as alternate plans if any of those plans go in a different path than I expected.  It goes kind of like this:

There is PLAN A-B-C, that is the plan that you hope will take place but since there are 6 people in our family, I have to be flexible to change plans at any moment, so there is also PLAN A1 (no not the steak sauce) with a PLAN B2 and C and even a PLAN A1-B2 and C3...

I said I have learned to be flexible and I do have to say that not only have I changed some since marrying Prince Charming but Prince Charming has changed as well since being married to the DRAMA QUEEN.

The Pastor then turned and looked at me and said "he is a BY THE SEAT OF HIS PANTS KIND OF GUY, so when you have planned out all of the events that you want to do and when you want to do then and he sees something he would like to do on the spur of the moment, just know he won't plan out all the details of a vacation..  You need to be flexible with the plan and (looking at Prince Charming) you need to get used to a structured plan."  Then he said he would see us in a couple of weeks at our wedding. THAT is a whole OTHER STORY--the pastor did a NO SHOW!!!

Price Charming likes to be home and relax while I like to go go go.  The funny thing about all of this is that Prince Charming held the highest office in his class every year from 6th grade all the way through his junior year and then was Student Body President his Senior year--sounds like a guy with a plan--doesn't it.

We are both very social people (even though he enjoys just being home with the family) and I don't think Price Charming had an enemy all through school.  He befriended everyone.EVERYONE loved him.

Anyway back to my organizational project I did today. KATHY from Creative Home Expressions http://creativehomeexpressions.blogspot.com/2010/01/organizer-recycled-project.html  had made this project .  I looked in the garage but I didn't have any USPS heavy boxes in the recycling trash bin so I thought hmmmm I need to make something today to get things organized.  I had some Children's Place boxes left over from Christmas so I grabbed two and put them togetherso it would be a little heavier, trimmed all the excess edges and then began tapping it all together.  Once it was sealed I began cutting it open so it could be a file box.  Then I grabbed some decorative papers I had-because I have too many things on my TO DO list today and no time to run and get paper.  My sheets had all been used for different projects so I had to piece together enough to cover it. I didn't want it to look like a modge podge quilt form the 1920s when they used whatever scraps they had, I wanted it to still look cute.  Once I had it all MODGE PODGEd onto the box I ran some white tape ove all the edges then covered the box in Modge Podge to seal it. It is drying or I would show you all of my lists, of things I need to get done, neatly filed in their new home instead of in a stack on the desk.....

and here is what I ended up with.

  

FREE--Does the word FREE get your attention?

I recently discovered http://swagbucks.com  Have any of you signed up or used them.  I am no pro at this yet and I guess I am really late getting on this bandwagon.  From what I have gathered you can earn Swagbucks for  doing searches through them, finding codes on other blogs, etc and you can cash them in for smaller free things or save them up for something really big.  They have ipods, x-box, magazines, baseball cards (G1 is all over that one), flat panel tvs, iphone, Tom Toms, gift cards, perfume, posters...I hope they add a Nikon digital camera and a Kitchenade and I will be all over that one girls.

Do you Swagbucks?

Secret Santa, acts of kindness, the Award goes to...

 Remember this from my Chocolate Pumpkin post ?  It will be revealed tonight when I post my new party ITS SO VERY CREATIVE. I love it as much as my Chocolate Pumpkins.

A really cool, FREE GIVE-A-WAY starts tomorrow--The economy, housing market, job market. Where exactly is that market store where you can find a job?

I look forward to everyone's projects.

Be sure and come by tomorrow because I have a FREE GIVE-A-Way starting tomorrow, that you won't want to miss out on.

Then Wed is the Celebrate the Holidays party and on Friday I will start having the home tour.

I forgot to add one of the names to the poll but someone had already voted and I couldn't add it. It was "Welcome to the Neighborhood". Mark your calendars to come by each day.

Thank you so much Michelle from Someday Crafts for the mention and link. Whenever someone mentions me and does a link to my blog I want to repay them by mentioning them and doing a link back to their blog. I LOVE being linked up. If you want to link one of my posts on your blog, go right ahead. It will tickle me pink. Be sure and let me know and I will link back and mention you as well. Thanks so much Michelle. I look forward to getting to know you better.

I did get through all of my followers and changed my pictures etc again. If my pictures is in silhouette with my name. 1 of 2 things, it has switched back or I can't get to you to fix it-e-mail me.

All of this talk about the economy in despair and jobs at an all time low...not what I want to hear when my hubby is about to be putting resumes out, but my faith is not in our government. That doesn't mean I am anti-government and I am not going to even get into politics on my blog. I love our country but we are going through a rough time right now.

It got me thinking about the housing prices dropping all over the country and what does your $ buy these days?

I wanted to check out housing prices to income ratio, what the average income is listed as, the average rates on home loans and what you could buy and still be in the "proper" ratio. calculated risk blog is one source I looked into as well as yahoo answers, government census, home loan basics, and wikipedia. Then I used realtor dot com as my housing price source.

The average income has gone up to $50,233 a year from $49,568 the previous year and while that sounds encouraging, has the average income really gone up? I think not. I think this dollar amount going up is due more to the fact that there are fewer people working and a lot of lower income people have lost jobs and the difference is only $665.

How does this info from Calculated Risk make you feel: Using national median income and house prices provides a gross overview of price-to-income (it would be better to do this analysis on a local area). However this does shows that the price-to-income is still too high, and that this ratio needs to fall another 15% or so. The further decline in this ratio could be a combination of falling house prices and/or rising nominal incomes (Note: this uses nominal incomes, and even if real incomes are stagnant or declining, nominal incomes usually are rising).

Last quarter this index was over 1.25. Now it is close to 1.2. At this pace the index will hit 1.0 in Q3 2009. However, during a recession, nominal household median incomes are usually stagnate - so it might take even longer.

I determined, (based on several sites) that a conservative rate would be 5.2% with a 30 year fixed rate. I only did a 5% down payment. Some families, once they get back to work, may take a while just to save the 5% and so that is why I chose that number. I have no idea if anyone will do a loan at that. Everything has changed so much in the last few years.


There are several different ways different sites use to calculate how much you can afford without having your exact numbers in front of them. A lender will look at your debt to income ratio.

One thing to keep in mind is that lenders will tell you the maximum you can afford, that does not take in to account all of the extra expenses that arise with home ownership or money you may need to spend on fix up or even changing paint colors or an appliance going out...Some people think you should look at between 80% and 95% of the amount the lender is willing to loan you. What a different way of thinking, that is, compared to all of those people, a few years ago, buying homes, with loans for more than the home was even valued at during that time.



So based on an income of $50,233 (and several price calculations later) I decided on $168,000 with 5% down and a 5.2% rate. I used mortgage calculator and liked that they included a tax % and PMI into the price. The loan amount would be $159,600 with 5% down, making the payments

$1,109 monthly or $938 bi monthly

both of these numbers keep you between the 80%-95%

I looked at houses between $155,000 and $175,000, knowing an offer would be lower than the asking price. I don't know which area is nicer but I tried to go with what looked like the best deal for the nicest home, newest home or most square footage. So what can you get in different parts of the country for @ $168,000?

Franklin Park, NJ 2 bed 2 bath town house

Pitsburgh PA 6 bed 3 bath home

Bloomfield, MICH home

Raleign, NC 4 bed 2 1/2 bath home

Jacksonville, Fl 5 bed 3 bath home

Indianapolis 4 bed 21/2 bath home

McKinney TX 4 bed 2 1/2 bath home

Boise ID 5 bed 2 1/2 Bath home

Fargo ND 3 bed 2 bath home

Reno NV 5 bed 3 bath home

Knoxville, TN 4 bed 2 1/2 bath home

Birmingham, AL 2 bed, 2 bath home

Prescott, AZ 5 bed 3 bath home

Boston, MA 3 bed 2 bath condo

Lees Summit MO 4 bed 3 bath

San Diego CA 3 bed 1 !/2 bath

Honolulu HA 0 bed 1 bath 410 sq ft




Sal3m Or 3 bed 2 bath


Be sure to subscribe. It is great for you, you can view all your blogs in one spot. I had one gal, who had no idea what it was. She e-mailed me and said "You are my new best friend". I guess she was pretty thrilled with her new time saving tip. It quick, free and makes blog life so much better. If you have any questions about it let me know.

I love coming to meet you and if you follow me I will come and do the same. If you have not had a visit from me with in 24 hours you need to contact me because I can not find you -due to the way your account is set up, or Google issues. I feel really bad when I can not keep my promise.

Go Green~~Go Vinegar

Have you ever used vinegar? Not in a recipe but for cleaning. It is a great cleaning tool, it is inexpensive and it is good for the environment. I love cleaning with vinegar, salt, baking soda, lemon and good old fashioned sunshine. I am going to give you a list of some things that vinegar is good for but I won't go over everything. It would be the longest post you ever read, if I listed them all. If you have a question about how to get a stain out or what type of product to use I will be glad to answer that. Just leave a comment. (All of these tips are used at your own risk.)



It will kill most mold, bacteria and germs (because of the acidity in it).



Wipe down your counter tops-soak a cloth in un-distilled white vinegar and wipe away.

Need a scouring agent-mix 1/4 cup of baking soda (another eco friendly cleanser) with 1 Tablespoon of liquid detergent. Add in vinegar until you get a thick creamy paste.

Mix equal parts of water and white vinegar, stir together in a microwave safe bowl. Bring it to a boil in the microwave. Wipe down the baked-on, greasy messes, not only will this make cleaning your microwave easier but it will also deodorize the smells.

Clean the wheel of a can opener with white vinegar and a toothbrush, once cleaned add a few drops of olive oil to the wheel and it will move like it was new.

Apply vinegar - full strength to remove tough linoleum stains, Leave it on for 10-15 minutes. For really tough grime you can heat up the vinegar or add some baking soda to it and scrub, then rinse with clean fresh water.

If you rent a shampoo steam cleaner to clean your carpets, instead of purchasing the bottle of stuff that cuts the suds from foaming up you can use vinegar and it will save you a lot of money.



If you have puppies who aren't potty trained yet, blot the accident up-as much as possible, then add a white vinegar and water mix to the area. Blot again until it is almost dry or if you have a wet shop vac you can use it. Once it is almost dry you can sprinkle the area with baking soda-let it dry completely-a few hours or over night, then vacuum up. You need something that nutrilizes the smell or your puppy will continue to go back to that area.

Who needs over the counter window cleaning supplies?
1/2 Cup (non-sudsy) ammonia
1 Cup white vinegar
2 Tablespoons Cornstarch
a Few drops of dish detergent
mix it together and add to your old spray bottle
**you can add a drop of blue food color if you want that color

Remove white water rings from wood-mix equal parts of vinegar and canola oil. Rub with a soft clean in the direction of the grain.

NEVER use vinegar on marble

Add 1/2 C white vinegar to the rinse cycle to cut down on the lint.



Once a month pour
1 C white vinegar into the washing machine
run it through a cycle without clothes and it will cut the scum build up in the hoses and lines.

It is good to run vinegar through your dishwasher and coffee pot as well.

Need a crisp iron crease, dip a washcloth in 1 part vinegar 2 parts water, rig it out, apply to the area and press with a hot iron.

If you have removed a hem or seem and need to get rid of the holes left from the sewing machine, apply vinegar to a washcloth, put it under the area and press, then put the cloth on top of the fabric and press again.

Bath tub film-wash the area with vinegar on a scrub brush or cloth, then apply baking soda and scrub away.

Most of the time you use white vinegar but if you wan to remove smells from your refrigerator put about a cup of apple cider vinegar in the refrigerator. Leave it in there for a few days and the smells will be gone.


If you need to get a musty spell out of an old house or basement, get to the cause of the wettness first, otherwise it will keep coming back but once the problem is addressed you can fill jars about 1/2 full with vinegar and set them around. They will absorb the smell. It may take awhile, (You can also go to a pet supply store and get charcoal-not the kind you grill with) and put it in bags(like old potato bags) and hang them around in the basement and they will absorb oders.

A little bit of vinegar in the water while you are cooking boiled eggs will help them peel easier.

I hope some or all of these tips were helpful to you, Have a great day ladies. I love hearing from you all.

Discounts at JoAnn's Fabrics ad Crafts

If you do not get the JoAnn's coupons-sign up today. They are a great deal. They regularly send you 40% off coupons in the mail. You can sign up in the store or on line. It usually takes about 6 weeks to get the first one in the mail and if you don't take your coupons in every so often to get them scanned your name will fall off their list. You just can't beat getting 40% off something you are going to need any way. There is ALWAYS a project going on that I can use 40 % off.



I got 2 pair of these scissors. One in a lady bug theme and one an alligator theme for my 2 little ones. They see their 2 big brothers using scissors and think they should be able to do whatever they do. These are the little rounded scissors and they were up by the registers and were a dollar yes $1.00-I couldn't pass them up.

DEALS DEALS DEALS

It's always good to get a good deal and find a sale before everything is gone.
Here are some deals I though some of you might be interested in checking out:

Gymboree has a 30% off sale-Everything you can fit in your bag (discount is available online or in stores). GO HERE to check out the deals at Gymboree.

Game Stop or EB Games has a deal--buy 2 get 1 free (online or in stores) use code B2G1FREE at checkout online... GO HERE to check out the deals at Game Stop/ EB games. Sorry I just saw that this one ended yesterday but they still have it up on the site so I don't know if they are still accepting it or not so I won't delete this.

Check out the cute little girl pink shoes at Children's Place for $4.99 (reg price was $19.50)or the boys ragged little plaid tennis shoes for $4.99
GO HERE to see them.

Getting the most bang for your buck when purchasing fruits and veggies

Whenever you go grocery shopping make sure you get the most bang for your buck. Look over the lettuce pick 2 or 3 of the freshest, best looking, biggest and heaviest ones and then weigh them-quickly- before making your final choice. IF it is a set price and not priced by the pound-you want the biggest, freshest one.
Obviously if the biggest looks Likes it's been there for a month and is wilted, I wouldn't buy it. Do the same thing when picking up a bag of baby carrots or celery. They are a bag for a set price-get the most that you can. Even if it has a weight on the package-it isn't guaranteed you are getting the amount it says. It only takes a few more seconds to weigh those items and you will stretch your dollar farther. Isn't it better to get the largest one for the same amount of money that someone else will buy and have a smaller head of lettuce or cilantro,grape tomoatoes or any other fresh veggie or fruit.

GO AHEAD and post your best tip...

Happy Shopping

Pampered Chef Zester

When I made the orange rolls I used my zester from Pampered Chef. The new handle does look different from mine but otherwise looks the same. I have had mine for several years and really like this little tool. I like it better than a fine grater. Click here to CHECK OUT THE ZESTER if you wonder what one looks like. That is how I got the longer stringy orange peel in the frosting. You've gotta love your zester and it is under $10. So next time you get invited to a party you know of one product to check out. It's not the only product I like from Pampered Chef but the one I will tell you about today.

Recipe Notebook

I have 2 matching nice 3 ring binder notebooks that I put y recipes in. I have dividers between all the categories. Each time I have a new recipe I put it into a protective sleeve and store it in my notebook. The protective sheets keep splatters from destroying my recipes or making them look messy.

I have one notebook with dessert, cookies and holiday recipes and the other has all the other dividers for main dishes, veggies, fruits, soups, breads, drinks, sauces, breakfast etc...