On Valentines Day, this year I found out that one of my mothers had
passed away (I have a very complicated family structure and genealogy
is not a cheap hobby).  So I took a not too thrifty flight to Orlando
to pay my respects. But a friend of mind got me thinking about
gratitude and all that it can do in your life.

True, deep and genuine gratitude is the thriftiest way to say I love you.

Time: 10 minutes
Budget: 0

Thank you for
claiming me
dressing me
dancing with me
believing in me
watching me grow
protecting me
financing me
letting me go

Thank you for
hugging me
holding me accountable
building bridges
and, inventing stars

Thank you for
slam dunks
mucky frogs
backyard gardens
and inch worms

Thank you for
smiling
and letting me spark light in your eyes.

Thank you.

From my friend Maggie

http://www.thevintagebazaar.com/

Sweet!

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Living_Room_Rug.zip (1.71 MB)

When I was a kid, my mom used to get a lot of our stuff from the scratch and dent sections at a bunch of stores. In my childhood, that was more like Meijer or Kmart. But my mom is awesomely awesome and made sure that our house looked rad even though we had very little money. So she passed on this skill to me. It is one that I am slightly loath to share, but it just saves you so much damn money, I can’t help myself.

Over the years I have put this into practice and come up with a number of great finds. There was the awesome couch cover in San Francisco for $5.00, the end table in Detroit for $20, and most currently a living room rug for $175. The rug, an IKEA Stockholm, was originally $299, there was nothing wrong with it. It had been a floor sample, and it was not even dirty! I happened to have encounter this fabulous find while with my mom; we both did a dance of joy. The rule with IKEA is that their expensive stuff is worth the money, in terms of quality, and with their cheap stuff you should take a pass.

With Scratch & Dent or As Is, there are a couple of things to keep in mind:

1.  You should always check the product very carefully. There could be stuff wrong with it that might harm you, nails, staples, broken seats or legs... YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE HARMED..
2.  Bring a measuring tape with you, cause you can’t return it, you buy it's yours, mistakes and all.
3. Do you REALLY need it, does it work with your plan, just because it is cheap it may seem more appealing? 
4.  Is it clean or has someone else used it? Fine if they have, but try to discern why they returned it.
5. If it is out of the box it may be missing pieces or directions, CAN YOU TAKE IT ON, like for real can you handle it, or will it sit in the the box, in a closet?
6.  If you really can’t see a use for it, or think it might be to complicated, let it go, someone will find a use for it.

Most stores have merchandise that was harmed in transit, used as floor models, returned, or past seasons, and you should not be afraid to ask. The bigger stores give bigger bargains cause they want to get rid of it. Though, I would like to send you in the direction of local community business, as a rule, they can’t afford to make as many mistakes as big places, so there is less of a discount. For your conscience, I would check to see if store employ fair practices, like, giving their workers insurance or not using child labor. But I am not a preacher, right now, I am a bargain hunter.

Of course, not all of it is what you want, and not all of it is totally a bargain. But, for the love the hunt, these are the places where I have found the best gems this way:

1. Crate & Barrel 
2.  IKEA
3. Target
4. Chia’sso
5.  CB2
6. West Elm
7.  Architectural Elements (San Francisco)
8. Value City 
9. Williams Sonoma
10. Sur la Table
11. Urban Outfitters
12. Anthropologie
13. Pier One
14. Big Lots (yes, Big Lots)
15. The Dollar Tree (candles, candle holders, actually I may just write a whole entry on the Dollar Tree)

You get a double whammy of Thrift rules in this posting, Thrifty rule #5 Scratch and Dent is where it’s at and Thrifty rule #6 Don’t be a snob, you can find useful stylish stuff anywhere, if you are really looking.

The living room is on its way right now we have spent a grand total of $175 for the rug. Yippee. I am ordering the tree photos next week, you can hear about those misadventures then!

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Awesome_Birthday_Present.zip (712 KB)

(More photos of the bag in the next blog)

As I move forward with the contemplation of my living room, there are other things that come up. Things of GREAT importance, like my little sister’s birthday. My little sister is awesome, she is fashionable, she lives in Atlanta, she is hipper than I am by a mile, and yet I have to find a way to WOW her for her birthday.

Since I cannot spend a gazillion dollars on her. She wouldn’t want me to anyway, but I do have to figure out a way to do something awesome. So I was looking around a few sites like Swiss Miss and and at artists like Kazzki  and found patterns and books on How to Make Leather Purses and Totes. (In the interest of full disclosure I was a costume designer for 7 years and my mother did teach me to sew young, but these types of projects rarely require more than sewing a straight line and having good aesthetics.) I was so excited that I jumped up and down because I knew that I could take the basic ideas behind the things I saw on the high-end design blogs and marry them to the craft aesthetic of esty and DIY.

So I headed to the thrift store and purchased, one large wool sweater, $3.05, and a pretty cool belt, $1.05. For a grand total of $4.10 and a 3 hours investment of time, I made my little sister and awesome bag for her birthday.  Look below for directions on making the bag…Small update to this, I tried to get ambitious with the design and severely mangled the first attempt. So I went back to the thrift store, found a better sweater for $2.55, and two more belts for $1 a piece. So the grand total is more like $8.65 and 5 hours. Still a bargain but I would suggest, if you are making your own patterns, give yourself some time to play with it.

I filled it with a copy of Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou, from $0.01, on Amazon and a LEILA Peace ring, $14, at Billion Dollar Babes. So that leads me to Thrifty Rule #4, on-line shopping can save you money as well as time. If you have the ability to surf the net you can always find a way to get something cheaper.

Directions on the bag:

1.    You can felt it in the washing machine, hot water, heavily soiled setting

2.     Dry it on high as well, let it get nice and snuggly with itself

3.     Using your pattern cut a rectangle (see this is where I messed up and tried to make a circle with a cut-out handle, too ambitious) go for tote bag size, 14inches or so by 12 inches or so

4.     Stitch it up on three sides

5.     Cut belts to about 18 inches long

6.     If you are using leather belts you may need to punch them first

• This can be done using a nail and a hammer
• With a sharpie mark several holes across the ends about 3 centimeters apart
• Put it on a board or plywood, something that can take the point of the nail
• Make the holes(then you can stitch in on by hand)

7.  Attach the handles one and one half inches in from each side, at the top

8.    Feel free to add decorative details—but not too many, just make it pretty.

Breanna’s Birthday Budget $25.00

Bag supplies $8.65

Leila Peace Ring $14.00

Maya Angelou Phenomenal Woman $0.01

Total: $22.66 (2.34 under budget)-not including shipping or personal labor

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Honestly_the_thriftiest_and_fa.zip (1.95 MB)

So I bought these amazing chairs from craigslist. I got 4 Thai bentwood chairs that are mid century knock offs for $30 a piece. The one catch, that they had awful black pleather on the seats. I took myself to Humboldt Park to inspect them, they were A-OK. So, I threw them in my trusty Subaru. 

Yippee, my favorite issue of TimeOut Chicago.

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Thrifty_dating.zip (733 KB)

I am knee deep in two projects, the living room and my little sister’s birthday present. Both have kept me moving and my fingers busy.  So, I have had little in the time for typing. However, I did find myself pleasantly surprise with my ability for a supreme cheap dates this weekend. So I thought I would share my favorite Thrift date, in Chicago, for under $25.

I live in Edgewater so for me, this is a no brainer, but for those unfortunate souls that have to make it up here, I suggest in the name of thriftiness that you get on the train, if you live in New Jersey (read Logan Square or Humboldt Park). If you live a little closer, bikes are the way to go.  Thrifty Rule #3 Walking is always the thriftiest form or transport, bikes are second, then public transport.  If you are on the train, take the red line to the Foster stop, walk east to Sheridan, turn south and walk down a couple of blocks. Tweet  is on the west side of the street. It is one of the best brunch spots in the city and their breakfast are big enough to share, no joke, really. There is an interesting mix of hipsters, hipsterish moms/dads and baby’s in sunglasses, college kids, North side families with high schoolers and yer average Joes.  If you get there between 10:30 am and 2pm  you will wait, but then these days you have to wait practically everywhere, and honestly it is worth it (they have free coffee).

 It is cash only (yeah for them, they are also on the Thrift, NO FEES, yay!)

I would suggest splitting the Chiliaquilles, seriously, for $9 you can both eat well, if you need more carbs just get a side of the most delish hash browns, for $2.50, and some coffees—your good to go. If you want to splurge they also have AWESOME Bloody Mary’s. After a leisurely brunch of beans, eggs, cheese, tomatillo salsa and, tortilla chips, walk your way to east to the the Lake Michigan path.

The walk to the lake path is about 5 minutes but the whole date walk will take about 1.5 to 2 hours, including a stop for hot chocolate; it is beautiful and worth it. I like to have my camera with me, but you can also just spend some time looking out at the Lake. From this far north the city looks like shiny polished Legos and no matter what season the lake is always an interesting shade of blue. This past Monday, it was slate, my personal favorite.  If you want to stop for some Hot Chocolate on your way, I suggest the Coffee and Tea Exchange, on Broadway, it is a little jaunt off the path but worth it.  They are nice, local and, serve fair trade coffee. All coffee is expensive; for a real thrifty date, bring your own thermos, then you can also put bourbon in it. YUMMERS.

At Fullerton walk over to the Lincoln Park Conservatory. It was built in the late 1800’s when people were super obsessed with exotic plants. And they have a great collection. The parks district does host special seasonal shows, but their general collection of plants is the real star. It’s a great place to go anytime, but in the winter it is especially energizing. My favorite room is the Fern room, all misty and mysterious, with plants named after power tools and toothy animals. You can soak up the mist and take in the warmth, there are benches to sit on, so that you can sketch or chit chat, or just sit and space out. Experimental Sound Studio  has an on-going music collaboration with the Conservatory and you are surrounded with sounds that make you feel like you are in the middle of a Hitchcock movie. Scaring your date is encouraged, just make sure you stay on the path, but run a few feet ahead and then jump out, BOO. Best of all the Lincoln Park Conservatory is FREE. That’s right, nada, zilch, nothing.

Total for a full day of Awesomeness, transportation not included:

Breakfast: $ 17 (including tax and tip)

Walking: Free

Hot Chocolate: $5.00

Lincoln Park Conservatory: Free

Total: $22 bucks (bring your own thermos, $17)

Have a great week!

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Living_Room_Re-Design_2.zip (3.8 MB)

This is what my living room looks like. My upgrade budget for this living room is a mere $600. I am starting with a lot of things already procured over the years; I am basically embarking on a version of the Apartment Therapy Home Cure.

I would like to point out that everything in this room, save for the couch, that was a $1500 floor sample purchased after Christmas and the entry table, also a sale find for $123 since one of the leg brackets was missing, are thrifted, yard-saled, flea marketed or trash-picked. There is not a thing in this living room (save the couch) that was more than $300 (okay the TV, but in my reality it doesn’t count, I don’t really even see it). Most things were less that $50, that’s right, even the gorgeous designer fabric winged-back chair (that was 50 bucks at a yard sale). My mantra is to have a plan and stick to it, spend the time you need to, and get the things that not only work, but that you also love.

Time can sometimes be seen as a luxury, but when it comes to saving more, time is not a luxury but a necessity. There is a saying in the design world you can have two of three things at any given time, fast, good or cheap. So if you want something fast, it is either going to be expensive or kinda janky. So, Thrifty Rule #1 is that time is your friend, make a plan and stick to it.

Earlier this week a commenter asked what to do about the expensive items that you want for any project and I advised back that if you simply cannot live without it then you have to save for it. There is really no way around this! If you HAVE to have a certain item and it is a piece of art or well made, then you are probably going to have to pay full price for it, unless you know the person/company and they are willing to work out a deal. I have traded many a thing in my life with friends that have awesome skills, but in the world of consumerism, it is who you know, and if you don’t know them, you will probably have to pay top moola for it.

Now the real deal with ”The Thrift“ is that we are concerned with creativity and flexibility, meaning that we:

Fake it, Create it, Trade it or Search for It

We also spend some time waiting, as the best way to get the best deals is to be really patient.

On the living room redesign I have identified two things that will move me in my direction. There is a lovely installation in Lincoln Park of trees painted Yellow and Orange. This weekend I will take my camera down there, and take a few snapshots, then in Photoshop, I will collage them together at a size that runs the back of my couch (80 inches). You can have large format photos printed at a number of places on-line. There is this one amazing place in Jersey, that of course I forgot the name of, and I am waiting for Lara to get back to me with it (her partner is a photographer, and therefore one of the many individuals that I look to for thrifty sources.) Thrifty Rule #2 Your friends rule, they help with thriftiness. It is great bonding and everyone likes to be in on saving a buck. Ask them, and give freely of your own information.

The other is a blue rug from CB2 (a great source for thrifty modern stuff if you have to buy new). I suggest to always go in and feel the product, look at how it is constructed and what it is made out of, because even though it may look good, a lot of the stuff, since it is a budget price, can be poorly made or of low quality materials.

Current Living room budget:

1. Paint $75 (see chip and color)

2. Rug $299

3. Photograph $20

Talk to you in a few days….