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Need Extra Money?

September 16, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

Need extra money? Search through your house and ask yourself these questions.

What do you have that you haven’t used in 6 months or more?

What clothes do you never wear, have crammed in storage totes or the back of a closet?

What clothes did your kids outgrow?

What decor do you never use?

Jewelry you never wear?

Storaged items you never use?

Gifts you never used, and come on, let’s be honest, never will?

Holiday decor you aren’t planning to use or sat through 2 seasons un-used?

SELL THEM!!

Ebay, Craigslist, consignment stores, FB  pages for selling in your local area, yard sales, seasonal kids’ clothing sales. Be creative. Don’t use just one outlet but try to cross-post smartly. Once you have your space organized with the things you want to sell it will make it much easier.

Make sure things are clean, unstained, all in one piece, and in good condition. If you have the packaging for it that is even better.

This summer I made $200 between 2 yard sales, $30 off a kids’ clothing sale, and approximately $30 through online networking with other locals through Facebook. It’s addicting. Thankfully most days I don’t feel like selling my kids. (JOKING – I wouldn’t want to sell my kids even on our worst days.) Even better, get your kids involved in selling. It’s a great way to teach them to be smart with money. This is especially beneficial when they have too many toys and want yet another new toy.

 

We would love to hear some of the ways you make money on the “stuff” cluttering up your house or a brag on your most awesome score. Please share in the comments below.

 

 

Filed Under: Back to Basics-extreme couponing for the beginners, Home Sweet Home, Raising Smart Spenders Tagged With: ,

{recipe} Lazy Man Pierogies~tastes like pierogies without all the work!

September 13, 2012 by · 8 Comments

I come from a strong Polish background on one side, hence my love of pierogies and all other things starchy. I would die on a no-carb diet.  I love a good pierogy and good ones are very hard to find. Mrs. T’s are not good ones. Good ones are also a ton of work and hardly anyone does it anymore, only little old ladies in basement church kitchens in the Polish Catholic churches in the coal region….and they are a dying breed. On the 22nd, I am heading down to the Polish Festival in Wilmington, with my cousin from my Polish side. We are *that* dedicated to searching for good pierogies.

A few years ago, my stepmother got a recipe for lazy man pierogies. Really the next best thing. I don’t make it often because my hubby doesn’t like them. But with the big game coming up in a few weeks, thought I’d post it. If you are grilling brats or something similar, this is a nice, complementary side dish, and it can be made ahead of time and feeds a lot of people. I’m going to post my stepmother’s recipe, and add my comments/alterations behind it, because I have altered her recipe a bit.

So yummy and buttery…..and carb loaded, oh well.

 

Lazy Man Pierogies
 

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Real homemade pierogies are a LOT of work! Use this shortcut recipe to make “Lazy Man” pierogies which are not only easier, but taste just like pierogies!
Author:
Recipe type: fattening
Cuisine: Polish American
Serves: 10

Ingredients
  • 1lb of lasagne (I still do this with the lasagne you boil, have never tried the no-boil kind)
  • 5lbs of potatoes
  • 1lb Velveeta (I use cheddar, or substitute 8 oz of sour cream, so it’s 8 oz cheese, 8 oz sour cream, not a fan of Velveeta)
  • 2 med onions, diced (my parents love onions, I use like half of one small onion, I don’t like mine as oniony as they do, blech. Or I use green onions.)
  • 4-5 sticks of margarine (seriously? No wonder my dad is on Lipitor. I use one, and I use butter, not margarine.)

Instructions
  1. Sautee onions in margarine.( Now there’s a picture–2 onions sizzling away in 5 sticks of margarine. Blech. ) Peel, cut and boil potatoes for mashed potatoes. Make mashed potatoes (it is best to peel the potatoes, don’t short cut here and do them with skins on) and mix in the cheese. I sautee my little half onion in a half stick of butter, and I put the other half a stick in my mashed potatoes. Do not use milk when you mash your potatoes, or use very little. (This is why I sometimes use sour cream.) Cook and drain your lasagne noodles.
  2. Layer and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.
  3. Basically, you’re making a ‘lasagne’ but you’re using your potato mixture as your filling.
  4. Only my parents do their layers this way–noodles, potatoes, onion/margarine mixture.
  5. I do mine very similar, but I mix some onions in with the mashed potatoes, and then do a small layer.
  6. Their’s is a bit too oniony and greasy for me.
  7. Use chives, salt, pepper to taste.
  8. Try to end your layers so that you can do a bit of melted butter on top to prevent drying out.

Notes
It can be made ahead of time, just if you do that and refrigerate (up to 3 days) you’ll have to increase your baking time a bit, as your stuff will be super cold from the fridge. My parents have made it and frozen it with success, I’ve never tried. I don’t have success freezing potato items.

Filed Under: Food & Recipes Tagged With: ,

Consignment Sale: Pass it On (Wayne, Pa)

September 10, 2012 by · Leave a Comment

I got the consignment sale fever. For around 4 years I have been faithfully shopping kids’ consignment sales every season. I credit my $175-$250 seasonal budgets on THREE kids to the ability to shop these sales. This is the first year I have consigned any of my things and after the first sale I am hooked.  I took the rest of my un-sold items (and a few more things I pulled together) and into another consignment sale they go – Pass it On in Wayne, PA.

I have never consigned here before but I am so excited to be part of this sale and see how it works out for me. I am really disappointed I won’t actually get there to volunteer (and buy) because I would love to be in the middle of it all. I am hoping I can stop in on my way out of town because I need kids’ clothes for winter BADLY!! (Would it be bad to get to my husband’s family reunion a little late so I can shop first?)

With baby,  kid and maternity clothes, toys, books and movies,  baby equipment, furniture, and accessories, there are usually plenty of items to fit into any budget and help those dollars stretch a bit farther.

What I have loved about the Pass it On sale in the past is that it wasn’t in one huge open room. There was plenty of space but things were separated out nicely so I didn’t have to navigate around tons of tables, rows of stuff on the floor, and I most certainly didn’t need a map of the area, which is a pain when you just want to get in and shop….but not lost and bewildered. It helps make it a little less overwhelming.

Another thing I love about this sale is that 100% of the profits go to the Salvation Army Red Shield Family Residence in Philadelphia. The women who coordinate this take on such a big job, not even to profit from it but to share with others in needs. If you aren’t familiar with the Salvation Army Red shield Family Residence, it is  emergency housing shelter that is safe and welcoming. it offers  non-judgmental services with respect and  compassion. Their goal is to help the residence gain self sufficiency. Many of the families sheltered here are young mothers with babies. What a fitting charity for a kids’ consignment sale to choose to serve.

WHEN:  September 22, 10 AM – 1 PM. You can also find it listed on our calendar of events.

WHERE: Wayne Presbyterian Church
125 E.Lancaster Ave.
Wayne, PA 19087

QUESTIONS:  wpcpassiton@yahoo.com

CASH ONLY

Have you been to this sale before?

Do you have any tips and tricks for consigning?

We would love to hear from you.

Filed Under: Back to School sales, promotions and time saving tips, Fashion and Beauty, Home Sweet Home, Kids & Families Tagged With: ,

Foto Friday~16 x 20 poster + 40 prints for just $3

August 31, 2012 by · 1 Comment

I’m going to try a new feature……not many seem to be interested in Fashion Friday (which I will still do occasionally) but you all seem to love photo deals, so I’ll try a photo offer every Friday. Hopefully I’ll be able to find one every Friday!

This week, it’s York photo–get a 16×20 custom poster plus 40 free prints for just $3. Use code YORK16. Exp 9/30.

Filed Under: Photo Deals Tagged With: ,
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