Hooray!
This Friday and Saturday Kidz Kaboodle on 6th Avenue in Tacoma will be having their monthly 25-cent sale! What do I mean by that exactly? Everything…and I do mean everything, in this sale is just 25 cents. If you can put up with aggressive shoppers, cramped quarters, and a lack of organization for some great deals on used baby and children’s clothing and gear, this sale is for you.
For more information, please see my previous posts about this sale:
Back from the Black Hole (my personal experience with this sale)
Making out like a Bandit at the 25-cent sale (my friend’s Susan experience with this sale; her deals are pictured above)
Have you ever shopped this sale? Planning on giving it a go this week?
Reader Julie emailed me about an upcoming, local event she thought some of you might want to know about. While I've never heard about or attended this event, it sounded definitely worth checking out if you live in the Seattle area!
Smartie Pants is a one-day event held in a Seattle loft (Westlake), where you can sell your gently used women's clothing and/or buy! The event is open to the public on Saturday, March 27th.
This reminded me a bit about the fashion swap I attended last month which was a lot of fun! Julie also mentioned that she'll personally be selling 3 huge bins of high-end clothing during the swap.
This might be a great chance to: 1) clean out your closet and make a little $$ and/or 2) freshen up your wardrobe for less!
Please be sure to read all the details HERE, particularly if you are interested in selling as you'll need to do some things in preparation.
Anyone attend this event before? I'd love to hear from you!
My friend Rebecca has been apparently organizing fashion swaps at our church for a few years now. I got to attend my first one ever last nigt. I had such a positive experience and wanted to share with you how it worked in case you wanted to organize something similar with your group of friends, church, etc.
First we were asked to bring clothes we no longer wanted. The ask was that they were keeping with current styles and in good condition. Once I arrived at the church, I was shocked to see how many women were in attendance and how it was set up. It looked like a store!
There were three rounds, each lasting about 10-15 minutes. During each round, each lady could pick ONE item. This way there was some control! After the third round, we were able to take as much as we wanted. It was so much fun! There were shoes, handbags, dresses, pants, jewelry…you name it.
I was honestly a little nervous how this would go. After all, what if I left empty handed? What if I didn't find anything I wanted? Well guess what – I ended up with a garbage bag FULL of new clothes! My favorite find was probably a Polo black sweater. I also found a great brown wool sweater, a couple dressier shirts, a couple skirts and some basic tees. I'm known to usually wear jeans, one of my shirts from my past races, sneakers, and a sweatshirt. My wardrobe got a nice little update last night and it didn't cost me a thing!
Thanks, Rebecca – for organizing this. You win TWO extra big gold stars for helping the women of our church look stylish – and still keep it frugal!
Yet another company is stepping up to the plate to help those needing employment.
Office Depot is offering free resume copies and free faxing to help job hunters. From now through May 30th, you can receive up to 25 single-sided copies of your resume as well as fax service to five domestic numbers for up 25 pages.
You can find the details here.
Incidentally, if you are needing a job or assistance during this challenging economy, I want you to know I am actively looking to post deals that offer value to you. You can find these deals under the category entitled "Surviving the Recession" on my blog.
Thanks, Moms by Heart!
I just received an email from one of my all-time favorite companies, Franklin Covey.
This Friday (24) and Saturday (25) only, those who have recently experienced a job loss can receive a FREE 2009 Franklin Covey planner. On either day, you can pick yours up simply by heading to a participating Franklin Covey store. And on Friday, you have the added option of receiving one via their Call Center, (800) 654-1776 between 7am – 6pm MST. To claim your planner, you will need to provide the name of your last supervisor and place of employment and the date you were laid off.
If you've never had a Franklin Covey planner, you need to know these are not your average "day planners." Franklin Covey planners are tailored to helping you achieve your most important goals and lead a productive life. They were designed using Stephen Covey's bestseller, "Seven Habits of Highly Effectve People." If you are interested in learning more about the principles in his book, you can request summary for free here.
I highly recommend anyone and everyone who has been recently laid off to take advantage of this planning system. This is an extremely generous offer from Franklin Covey!
If you have questions, you can reach them at (800) 654-1776 or via their website.
As part of my effort to bring you valuable resources to "Survive the Recession," I wanted to share with you a generous offer I found out about today from Walgreens.
Starting today and throughout 2009, Walgreens will be offering free care clinics at their Take Care clinics for those who lose their jobs and health insurance after March 31, 2009. These clinics will run Monday through Friday, 11am – 3pm and provide basic health treatment for concerns such as respiratory ailments, skin conditions, allergies, infections, and more. Spouses and children are also eligible to receive care.
To find out where the nearest Walgreens Take Care clinic is to you, go here and for more information about this program you can go here.
Thank you, Mercedes!
I've been doing a little thinking over the past few weeks about how I can work to make this site a better place to help you improve your bottom line. While the main thrust of this blog is, and will continue to be, how to save money on your groceries and household items, I think I'd be amiss to not share with you other ways to make a significant difference in your total financial picture.
If you're like most people, your biggest fixed monthly expense is your mortgage. I recently heard about a program that I think will end up benefiting a fair amount of folks (Obama estimates 5 million homeowners), and I wanted to take the time to share a bit about it. Maybe it will be of value to you.
It's called Making Home Affordable, and there are two categories of folks it's meant to assist:
- Refinancing for homeowners who make their payment on time, but whose homes have lost significant equity.
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Modifications for people who are struggling to make their payment, perhaps due to a recent job loss.
If either of the above describes your current situation, I highly recommend you stop by their site to learn more now. Click on the "Find out if you are eligible" button to determine if this would be a potential solution for you. Then contact your mortgage lender and let them know you're interested. Because the program is new, your lender may have only limited information at the time of your call. But getting the ball rolling now is an important step in ensuring your home remains affordable for many years to come.
Also, please note that this is a government-sponsored program. Unfortunately, there are a lot of scams right now centering on "foreclosure assistance." If you are in need of assistance with your mortgage, I encourage you to contact your lender first and be wary of ANY group asking for money upfront to help save your house.
Photo credit Dez Pain
