On Saving Money and Keeping House

Really, I could not figure out what to name this post. It includes the idea of saving money, organizing my home, having a yard sale, doing without a maid...I guess it all went together in this post...hope you make sense out of it!

Recently I told you about me having a yard sale. I had made a decision a while ago to organize our house, because I just realized I could not keep it organized the way I would like to; it seemed we never had enough closet space for all our things; everything cluttered so fast I could not quite keep up with it. I had read many times that in order to be less busy, one needed less stuff. I knew we had too much stuff.

I eventually had a maid to help me with keeping my house clean, because I thought I could not manage. But then. I started thinking. We are still in debt. And I think I can afford a maid? It only costs me 18 US. per day. (correction: I realized I had calculated this wrong. It's more like 15 US per day, which will change the numbers...)I had looked at the small picture, not figuring how much that money will amount to in 5 years!.. Hmmm. That is close to $8,000 Bze in 5 years.  Who can afford that anyway???  The prospect of having a yard sale really started looking good, because I realized I might ease up my time a little while organizing my home, and maybe even get rid of the maid, and who knows, maybe even make a little extra cash...

On the last day my maid was here, (before I knew  for certain I was laying her off that day), I sat down with my notebook and pen, and tried to figure out if I could make it on my own, with our children's help. I divided the work she did in one day over three days per my week, and came to the conclusion that, yes, I can do it! I can tell you it was a tremendous relief on my part to come to that decision. I told her that was the last day I had work for her, but for her it was no problem. She had other work waiting for her. 

I dove into getting ready for the sale. I started really looking forward to it, having never had a yard sale before. Because I was already in the money saving mood, I decided the children should try to sell cookies and lemonade for their upcoming Children's Bible Camp. They were so excited about it!

The yard sale day came. I was ready! I had rented the space for a small fee, but I expected to make enough to make it worthwhile. The location was prime. Unfortunately my grandfather passed away the morning of the sale, but since I had some volunteer help from my nieces I was able to leave in between. It worked out well.

Can you imagine I was happy when I counted the money at home, and found out we had made over $700 Bze? All that money for cleaning house! I was so happy that I had made this decision. It was worth all the effort and hassle.

One more thing I did to be able to organize my time was to make a homemaking binder. That is another subject I might cover some time, but for now suffice it to tell you that it has really helped me stay on track. Daniel enjoys coming home to a clean house nearly every day instead of only on 'maid day', and all that money in the new savings account from the yard sale and the savings from having no maid is a constant happy reminder that I made a few right choices. I am no longer dependent on the maid as I realized I had started to become.

I am not telling you all this to make you think I am somebody, and I know how to manage things. I am just trying to encourage you, as I have been encouraged by other bloggers. If I can save money, organize and de-clutter my home and free up some time, so can you! At one time I didn't believe I could, but then I read a post by Aunt Ruthie from Sugar Pie Farmhouse, and I took matters into my own hands and set out to do it! I have Aunt Ruthie to thank for inspiring me like she did.

Here are a few yard sale photos.

 Hi Lisa! Thanks for stopping at the sale! 

 All those nice girlie toys that my big girl had outgrown. It's almost sad to see some of them go, but I made sure that all the money that came from the things that belonged to them, they could have and do with as they pleased. I was happy when they both wanted their money put into their savings accounts. Perhaps they have learned a little about money already.

 I believe we did so well because we had quality things to sell, and most for reasonable prices. We made sure things were clean and packaged neatly. I noticed that all the little baggies of small toys that were a quarter or 50c were ALL gone at the end of the sale. Many of those small toys could have been thrown away and no one would have known the difference, but this way it all adds up. Don't take anything for granted! I had 10cents items too, and those are the things people buy.

(just to give you ideas if you want to make a sale...)

 Books sold very well. They are not as easily to come by around here so people always look out for a good deal, and they found it here.

No,  I did not sell the wallhangings and blankets, but I am not unhappy with the end result.

 Here are the little sellers. Lemonade did not sell too well, but cookies yes! 

I had them walk around with the cookies towards the end and they sold most of them. What they did'nt sell they took to daddy's work place some days later and sold there, along with some more lemonade. So far they made over half of what the camp costs them, and they are learning some very valuable lessons at the same time. AND hopefully some interactions skills as well, which are still sorely needed, them being so shy as they are. One or two more trips to the work place, and they should have done their duty for this year.