Hello again!

At the prodding of a dear friend, I will try to revive my pathetic attempt at blogging. I really do enjoy it - I struggle to find the time and sometimes it seems like bragging to post such awesome deals - I know everyone will deal with jealously and I don't really like to make folks sin. Haha. Not really. Mostly it's because I'm lazy.

First off, I will preface my post with money making excuses. At the end of September, we purchased a junky old house to fix up and rent out. The closing was Sept 28th and our life quickly became one butt-busting work weekend to the next. We took off the month of December for Christmas and the requisite festivities but picked it right back up again in January. In February, a distant cousin (who grew up near the house) asked to purchase it. We had planned on renting but with the stimulus money, it would really help them out to go ahead and buy. Sure. Why not? This, of course, meant we had to finish by June 1st (stimulus deadline) and come up with a LOT of dough to finish everything.

Long story short, we cut back our lifestyle to a degree - less eating out and such, and it really wasn't terribly painful. I'm not used to living without a cushy cushion but God was faithful and everything worked out. The new home owners moved in June 1st and we are DONE! No more 8 hour paint days. I've listened to many, many hours of Dave Ramsey on my ipod as I painted until my had was stuck in a permanent claw.

Good News: Saving money in other areas, allowed us to spend the silver talents God had given (both monetary and skill) us on a house that flipped quickly and will make us mucho money in the next 30 years. Pictures are on my facebook if anyone is interested.

One of the most wonderful things about being done with the house was that I was able to start back yardsaling with a friend (and sometimes with Eric and the babes). Deals found so far this year are: Coach mini purse ($2!) - sold on ebay for $30. My friend found a Coach PURSE the same day for $5. Even I was jealous. Coach pill case for $.50 - sold on ebay for $30. Robeez shoes, Sperry shoes, silver necklace that looks just like new after a good polish - retails for over $100, I paid $.50. It looks great on my granny. There are a lots of other things I've found but those were the most profitable on ebay. Clothes for kids are readily available at yardsales - they require some digging but I do love Children's Place and Gymboree. One can find them much discounted secondhand.

I must close in order to make my twice monthly trip to Walmart. I hate that store. One downside of living in a small town is that one doesn't have many choices for shopping. It's 10x better than KMart so I will still shop there.