Hello again, savvy savers! Today, I wanted to share with about one of my favorite sites on the internet, Freecycle.org!

I love Freecycle. When I say I love Freecycle, I mean it, truly! Freecycle.org is a website, run through Yahoo, that connects people looking to get rid of household items, with people who need certain items; this method helps keep belongings out of landfills, and puts it in the hands of those who truly need, or want, the items! One great bit of advice I give friends is that if they are looking for furniture, craft materials, building materials, toys, clothing, uniforms, or some other needs, try Freecycle first! I thought I’d share some tips on Freecycle etiquette that I’ve picked up in my time using five freecycle groups in three cities here in my area.

Here’s how to start using Freecyle in your own home:

1. Start a Freeycle.org account; sign-up for an account, find the group closest to your town, and once your account is approved by a group moderator, make sure that the organizations emails are secured as safe-senders in your email accounts.
2. Post an offer. With any free site, its always best to start terms off with your best foot forward, and this case its by posting an offer to give away a free item you can part with; with Spring cleaning on the near horizon this should not be a hard endeavor! Be sure to start your ad with the following ISO (in Search Of), INO (In Need Of), or VES (Very Eagerly Seeking), followed by a colon, and then the desired item in question.
3. Be considerate and realistic. Be sure to ask for things you truly need; asking for outrageous, egregious, or expensive items will cause your account to be suspected, or possibly deleted by group administrators.
4. Ask for an item. Once you have given an item away, or made arrangement to do so; once you receive your item, always be sure to post a group note stating it has been taken, and while on the site post your first request!
5. If someone offers you an item, be prompt in making arrangements to pick the item up, and after doing so always remember to shoot the sender a thank you email, as well as to return to the site and list the item as haven been received!
6. Keep up with Freecycle.org emails. Be sure to check back often, and if you are able to do so, offer items to wanted ads, and never be too proud to ask for items from others!
7. You will never receive a blessing with a closed hand, or mind! Be sure to think of your fellow group members before throwing out household items, as you would be surprised in what others may be in need of.

With all of this stated, I wanted to give you all an example of one set of items I received recently. There is a lady in my local group. She and I have exchanged items several times, and as she knows that I coupon and upcycle furniture, she often writes me to take things off her hands. This past weekend she wrote and offered me a pair of perfectly fine, white rocking chairs! Why was she getting rid of them? She felt that my husband and I, as a young couple, should have a place to sit and converse with one another! Is that not amazing? In addition to this, over the past year I have received antique mason jars, fabric, buttons, end tables, trunks, and other fun items!

I highly recommend this site, and hope you will use it soon!

Here’s to saving,

Hello again, savvy savers! Many of us already know that Craigslist is a great place to buy and sell stuff. But did you know that you can also find a ton of free stuff on Craigslist? I’m going to walk you through how you can find the best stuff on Craigslist and get it all for free.

To see if there are any deals in your area:

• Go to Craigslist.org
• Under the homepage, create an account.
• Then go back to your home page, and select your Country.
• Then select your State.
• Then select the city or areas closet to where you live.
• Under the middle “For Sale” column, you will see a hyperlink for Free, and then select this link.
• Read over the description of the free stuff. There may be pictures of the free stuff as well.
• If you’d like to get the Craigslist stuff for free, you’ll need to contact the person who is giving it away. They may want you to call or email so follow whatever directions they want you to do.
• If the description doesn’t state how to contact the person giving away the free stuff, click on the email address near the top of the page to email them
• Browse away! 

A few tips once you have found a great Free Item:

1. When you have found an item you are interested, click the reply button and type a message.
2. Always be sure to keep your initial messages short and direct; ask only if the item is available, and then say thank you.
3. Once the giver has responded stating that the item is available, be sure to set up a time to meet for item pick-up.
4. Always select pick-up locations that are in public, during daytime hours, and try to take someone with you, safety first!
5. The most important part of this process, be sure to arrive ahead of time, and do not stand a giver up. It’s poor Craigslist etiquette!

I would also advise checking nearby groups, too! I have been able to find items such as a free piano, not in my city, but within an hours drive, and even with the cost of a U-Haul for three hours, it far outweighed the initial cost of the item; this one haul alone I saved $2,400.00 over the appraisal price of the item! Also, be sure to favorite/add the free site link to your favorite web browser tool bar, so you can check daily to snag any awesome deals in your area! 

Here’s to saving,

Hello again, savvy savers! I hope you are all well rested, and ready for a new No-spend Challenge! So, for today we will tackle selling on Facebook.

So, why Facebook? Well, it’s super simple to sell your unwanted stuff on Facebook local Buy, Sell, or Trade groups. So, today I am challenging you to look for Facebook sale groups in your area to post, sell, and profit from your household items, clothing, sporting goods, and baby items.

You might consider the following great benefits to selling locally on Facebook:

• On Facebook, you set your price and there’s no one taking a cut of your sale price or charging you to host your listing.
  You can set your own preferred method of payment.
  You also have the opportunity to become part of a community where people are looking for bargains as much as others are looking to declutter their homes.

So, if you decide to start selling, here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Search for your state or region and the word “sell” or “buy” to find local buy/sell/trade groups.
2. If there are none, you can always start one and get the word out in your community!
3. You may find that many of the groups are closed, so you’ll have to ask permission to join, and others only accept certain types of listings.
4. Many have strict listing requirements and limits on how many items you can try to sell per day in order to stave off spammers and scam artists.
5. Be sure to check out each group/administration rules prior to joining.
6. Once you are a local group member, list your own items for sale, and set your own prices.

Once you have items listed for sale, here are some pointers to keep in mind when negotiating locally:

• Be sure to note whether you’re willing to ship something, or—in the case of furniture or large electronics or appliances—whether you’d rather the buyer come pick it up.
• Be specific in your pricing and listings; do not use vague terminology, such as “make me an offer.”
• Be prompt in answering questions, commenting on posts, as well as taking down notices for sold items.
• Always check your “other” folder in Facebook messenger; those whom you are not friends with, will have messages posted to this folder, so be sure to check it often to not miss out on any awesome offers of sale!
• Every 24 hours you can “bump” a listing, an action which will automatically move a listing to the top of the groups wall by typing “bump” in the comment section under your listing; this can be done once per item, per group, per 24-hour period.
• Be courteous. Allow users to ask questions, and then try and sell to the first inquiry before continuing down your list.
  Don’t be afraid of offers or hagglers. Know your items worth, not it’s sentimental value. In order to make a sale, you must be willing to negotiate on price; this doesn’t mean accepting insulting, low-ball offers, but reasonable offers.
• When scheduling a pick-up time, schedule your drop offs in a well lit, public place, and bring a friend or family member with you. Also, if selling multiple items, have your buyers come in 15 minute increments to avoid wasting gas and time waiting on buyers who may be no-shows!
• Have fun! This goes without saying you should have fun, even when selling goods!

So today, I challenge you to start selling your items on Facebook using these steps:

• Set a small goal, say $100.00 in value, or ten items to sell.
• Find a local Facebook Group.
• Join your group.
• Prep your items for sale; make sure items are clean, ready for pick-up, sorted, and photographed.
• Be patient! Sales take time.

So, for today’s challenge I did the following:

• Overall, I set a goal to sell $100.00 on Facebook.
• I listed ten clothing items, several new with tags (NWT).
• I have also already made arrangement for pick-up, and so my items are now listed as pending pick-up (PPU).
• I made sure to set my Facebook setting to notify me of all new messages, so that I can quickly check messages on my pc, laptop, iPad, and iPhone quickly. I am a third done selling, and have thus far potentially earned $78.00! 
• I feel that I am quickly going to make my selling goal! 
• I also cross listed items into several other local groups, and a local vintage group, too!

As well today I was also able to accomplish:

1. As part of my #Choose30 Daily Challenge, I woke up at 7:25, walked my fur babies, showered, & dressed to my shoes. (Thanks, Flylady!)
2. Worked on my daily Motivated Moms Planner.
3. I finished a day’s worth of clerking assignments ahead of schedule!
4. I cooked from my pantry for each meal.
5. Read my daily devotional.
6. I waked two miles.

Yesterday I saved:

• I eat at home this evening for dinner, saving our family $6.95. 
• I recycled, upcycled, and composted one bins of deluge, and saved $0.25, the cost of 1 trash bag. 
• I cooked three meals from my home pantry, saving $6.81 in the process.
• My family drank water today, and saved $0.69, the cost of a 2-liter of soda.
• I also did not watch cable tv, and saved $3.68 by doing so.
• I lost a half day’s worth of electricity costs, and saved $3.00! 
• I earned a $200.00 tax receipt from donating goods to local charities. 

Total amount I saved my family: $21.38

This months savings goal remaining: +$21.38

Here’s to saving,

Good morning, savvy savers! Can you believe we are almost half-way finished with this No-Spend Month! WooHoo! So, today will be the final day of this months No-Spend Challenge Cleaning projects! 

Today I want to focus on one of the most neglected areas in my home, and perhaps yours, my couponed stockpile. Yes, the cave of Frugal Wonders! My stockpile, housed in my homes basement, though it’s well lit, houses many built-in shelving features, the area still seems to always be in need of rearranging, sorting, and cleaning! The one saving grace of this area, the exhilarating feeling I get each time I am able to gaze over my shelves, from the shampoo to the paper products, and then proceed to “shop from my home!”  

My stockpile, though hard earned, is an immense blessing to my home. And as they say, to whom much is given, much is asked, and this rule equally applies to my stockpile! My stockpile saves my family thousands of dollars a year, but I must honestly admit is the most neglected area in my home. But no more! So today, I challenge you all to clean up your stockpile! 

Here are a few tips to get you started:

1. Rotate your stockpile. “Rotating your stockpile” means rotating your stockpile per season. You will need to place goods in order of expiration date, my seasonal usage, as well as keeping climate into consideration; you may need to start storing it in one location for summer and another location for winter, in terms of baking tools, cans, chemicals, etc.. 
2. Long Term Storage: If you plan to store any item for longer than a week or two, you need to know its long-term storage requirements. Some items will only last months or longer if stored in a cool, dry place. Some items must be stored in a refrigerated or frozen environment in order to last longer. Make lists, and create sub-areas in your stockpile; examples are canned goods, cosmetics, paper products, etc.
3. Take Note of Patterns: Start a list of your product usage, this will allow you to see what you need, will use in a years time, and what should be donated accordingly. Unused goods are cash wasted.
4. Last Forever Items: Nothing lasts forever. Even goods such as bottled water, start to have an altered taste after a decade, so keep this in mind.
5. Canned and Preserved Goods: Keep inventory and note the dates of home-preserved items; a rule of thumbs is to keep items no longer than eighteen month. 
6. Pests: Pests love your stockpile, almost as much as you do! Be sure to check goods monthly, especially in Summer, and any goods that look altered, chuck immediately! 
7. Dehumidifier: Humidity can alter and mold many goods, so consider running a dehumidifier twice weekly. When able purchase an energy saving dehumidifier with accumulated survey gift cards for free, then deduct part of the cost off your tax return; the deductible amount will pay for the power used to dehumidify your stockpile space!

So, all-in-all, not bad for a mornings work! Keep in mind, this project took me a little less than three hours, during which time I was able to clean out three shelves of goods, and the best part… I assembled sixteen boxes worth of goods which are being donated today to a local women’s shelter and homeless pantry! This project took three hours, I was able to clean out three shelves of goods, and the best part… I assembled sixteen boxes worth of goods which are being donated today to a local women’s shelter and homeless pantry! Also, if you chose to donate goods to a registered non-for-profit with a 501 (c3) tax status, you can claim your goods at half the current market pricing value (so be sure to price goods, save receipts, and use price point guides as you prep items for donation), and the tax receipt you receive can ultimately reimburse you for all of the good, gas, ink, and paper expenses for your coupons thus far this year! Woohoo! 

As well today I was also able to accomplish:

1. As part of my #Choose30 Daily Challenge, I woke up at 7:25, walked my fur babies, showered, & dressed to my shoes. (Thanks, Flylady!)
2. Worked on my daily Motivated Moms Planner, before heading out this morning.
3. Read my daily devotional.

Yesterday I saved:

• I received a $200.00 tax receipt for donating goods to charity.
• I also did not watch cable tv, and saved $3.68 by doing so.
• Ate from my weekly menu, three times, and saved $8.91.

Total amount I saved my family: $212.59

This months savings goal remaining: $0.00! ($1,079.75 saved thus far)

So, how is your week looking? What are you saving this week, I’d love to hear about it!

Here’s to saving,

Hello again, savvy savers! For this weeks Wednesday Ways to Save, I wanted to share with you my list for the things to buy in August here at The LadyPrefers2Save!

Here’s what to be on the lookout for:

• Laptops; online outlet stores are offering laptops and net-books as much as 60% off!
• Back-to-school items, including paper products, dorm furniture; check manufacturer and store websites for money-saving coupons before shopping!
• Office supplies, even if you do not have school-age children; remember that most office supply stores will also price match ads!
• Summer apparel, with shorts and sleeveless shirts up to 70% off.
• Patio furniture & grills, up to 75% off; Target and Walmart are the places to check on these normally high ticket items after the 25th of this month!
• Year old Halloween and Autumnal Decor; many large and small retailers will start the season with 75% off savings, then go back up to 25% off for the holidays, especially craft stores!
• Turkey and Ham; if you freeze your meats for the holidays, then now is the time to purchase them at under $0.10/lb at Walmart, for example!
• Holiday toys; All major retailers have already released their perspective top-ten lists for the must-have holiday toys, and many can be paired with manufacturer coupons, purchased now, and stored for priced half of what they will be Black Friday! Toys should be purchased before Halloween to save on holiday markup then discounted pricing!
• Cola; cola pricing, around Labor Day, will be at its lowest price point until Christmas, so stock-up now. A good price point is for any 2-liter under $0.50 each, 12-packs 4/$10.00, and 24-packs under $3.50!

What to Wait To Purchase:

• Fall clothing, like sweaters and long sleeve shirts: October is the time to buy these items at rock bottom prices!
• iPhones; As the  new iPhone 6 is set to be released in September, October will find 5S and 5C phones slashed in price!

Here’s to August savings!