FALLing in Love Friday: Powell's

This fall, I've decided to dedicate Friday blog posts to things with which I'm falling in love. You can read more about what I'm falling in love with here.

It's time to clean house. I mean really clean house. I want it all gone! OK, well not all of it, but most of it. Though we've cleaned house several times over the last few years with our numerous moves, it's always an overwhelming task. To minimize that "OMG, what have I gotten myself into?!" feeling, I'm attacking the house one (very) small area at a time. The other night, I got a hankering to reduce the pile of to-be-read (that I will never read) books on my bookshelf nightstand. Half an hour later, two-thirds of the books were boxed up and ready to be ousted from the house.

As I looked at all the money that was once spent on said books, I began wondering if I could get a few bucks for them. I went to Amazon's marketplace and realized that too many people had the same idea, and I'd be lucky to sell the books at all, let alone for more than a penny. So on a whim, I Googled "selling books online." The first hit was Powell's Books, a Portland-based bookstore that I had actually heard of and from which Hubby had purchased books a few years ago. "Why not?" I thought and gave it a go. Minutes later, I was selling books and falling in love.

All you have to do is type the ISBN numbers into a search box, and within seconds, Powell's tells you how much they will pay for the titles they want.

Now, don't get me wrong: Out of a box of 40ish books (yes, just from my bookshelf nightstand - don't judge), Powell's only wanted to buy four titles for $1.50 each. BUT it costs me ZERO to send them those four books, and, in return, I will get $6 in my PayPal account that I otherwise wouldn't have had. And before you tell me not to go spending the money all in one place, I use PayPal enough to make purchases that it will be like getting a $6 discount the next time I buy scrapbooking supplies or something from Etsy. And knowing that I have at least another 40 books to cull, there may be a few more dollars in my account before the month's end.

Update: Since first drafting this post, I went through another bookshelf and fared much better: Out of 20-25 books, Powell's accepted eight and deposited $11 in my PayPal account. Now I'm officially addicted, and Hubby is nailing down books in the house.

FALLing in Love Friday: Couponing

This fall, I've decided to dedicate Friday blog posts to things with which I'm falling in love. You can read more about what I'm falling in love with here.

I get the "don't buy it unless it's on sale" gene from my mother... when it comes to clothing. When it comes to grocery shopping, though, I've never been good at saving; my eyes and taste buds rule my purse. The strings on said purse need to be tightened a bit over the next few months, and so, after setting a monthly budget, I started researching the frightening world of couponing (said in a Kramerian "moviefone" voice).

image source

Thanks to TLC, the word struck fear in Hubby's heart. I promised that I had no desire to "go extreme," that I wouldn't start hoarding shampoo, and that I wouldn't fill the guest bathtub with cans of cat food. I wanted to save money, but I didn't want that savings to come at the expense of my already limited time. The one thing I did understand about couponing was that I had to match coupons with sales to get the most savings, but I didn't really understand how to figure that out efficiently. After a quick Google search for couponing basics, I stumbled upon Southern Savers, a site that gave me a much better understanding of how to get the maximum savings out of coupons and also takes most of the guesswork out of that weekly process.

Armed with some knowledge, I decided to start out with only one store, the one I normally shop at: Publix. I signed up for their digital coupons, which I love because all I have to do once I get to the store is enter my phone number in the credit/debit card payment machine, and the cash register automatically deducts my coupons when the cashier hits the "total" button. It takes no time at all for me to click the little boxes of the coupons I want and then email my list of coupons to my phone, which I can then reference while shopping.

Deciding to start small made the idea of couponing less overwhelming; still, I wanted to make sure these extra few minutes were worth it. I downloaded the Southern Savers savings tracker and was surprised not only by how much money I was saving, but also how much better I was getting at saving money as I gained more practice. After just a few shopping trips, I learned when to use coupons and when to save them for a better deal. Thanks to a very helpful cashier, I also learned this week about the hidden treasure at the front of every Publix: store coupons which can be combined with my digital manufacturer coupons for extra savings!

I've used coupons for three consecutive grocery trips and, with only a little knowledge and even less time, have saved anywhere from 10%-16% off my bill, for a cumulative savings of almost $50 for the month. The benefit of shopping like this, as opposed to dropping hundreds of dollars at the bulk warehouse - especially when there are only two of us to feed, is now visible to me.

I will never be one of those people who drives around to five different grocery stores to get the lowest price; however, I can see adding a drug store to my shopping day in the future. It's become fun - not a chore - to see how much I can save. And I intend to keep it that way.

What are you in love with this week?

Suppertime! (for $10 or less)

The girls at Girl Talk Thursday are talking food tonight, so how can I not join the convo? The way to my heart is through my stomach.

"So, you’ve got $10.  Dinner needs to get on the table.  What’re you going to serve?"

This one is easy. When I need a lot of food fast for not much money, Mexican is the way I go. There are a plethora (the other way to my heart is by using the word "plethora") of dishes I can make with any or all of the following ingredients: fake meat crumbles (or real meat if you're a carnivore), black beans, refried beans, corn, salsa, hot sauce, cheese, Mexican or saffron rice, chips or tortillas. If I'm feeling fancy, I might add some cumin or cilantro. These ingredients are never in short supply at our house and are used for burritos, enchiladas, nachos, quesadillas, Mexican lasagna, or Mexican casserole. The best part is that I don't need to break out a cookbook. It's fairly difficult to ruin Mexican food and incredibly easy to fake it. If made right, it also feeds an army, which means leftovers for our little family of two.

Mexican: it's what's for dinner.