Pay it Forward

The point was reached. The boxes of baby clothes taking up space in the basement had to go. I tried selling them, no buyers. A week ago I felt the desire to just Pay it Forward with them instead. I put all the clothes on a table, emailed a few friends with babies, told them come on over take what you want for free but you must pay it forward.

The day after one friend called to tell me that because I gave her free clothes for her baby girl she was able to give away a bag of her boy's clothes that she had intended on selling to buy girl clothes. High Five Sheri!

I sorted the remainder of the clothes for three more friends along with 3 bags to donate to a teenage mom program and it felt so good!

There truly is something to being a blessing to others. Last night I posted a couple things on Craigslist that I really wanted out of the house and within 10 minutes of the post they were sold! Today I met the buyer who saves dogs and cats from kill shelters! She has a new mommy cat that the shelter was going to kill all her kittens! The cage and litter boxes and other cat stuff she bought are going to great use.  I came home with a feeling of joy in my heart.

Pay it forward...you may reap a reward!

"I'm bringing the kids presents"

On July 13th we loaded the car with a really big box full of toys, games, stuffed animals, and video and headed to Adventist Hinsdale Hospital's Pediatric Unit.

Its like Fort Knox getting into the unit so once the big doors opened Bianca pranced in and screamed "I'm bringing the kids presents!" The nurses came running in delight and B was ready to distribute.

There was a write-up in the Hospital's newsletter about our annual donation, encouraging others to be blessings as well.

I'm excited for year 3. Better start planning that big bash! What theme should it be?

Setting up some of the goodies for a photo op.

Going to distribute a gift

Baby Noah getting a stuffed animal

The nurses told her to hold the baby's hand. She's trained not to touch babies' hands or faces. Confusion.

Frugal Reality is Setting In!

Wow! Day 7 of our challenge and things are looking way uphill! After tallying all the cash we've spent in just 1 week and what we have left from the cash budget, the next three weeks are going to be FUN, with an F'n in front of the fun. 

What am I going to do this week to keep us on track? Tonight I'll work on our meal inventory and actually create a menu for the remainder of the month (sooooo not fun).  I'll also add more stuff to our online garage sale www.joliet.bookoo.com and I'll stop by Goodwill on Friday to drop off some things.

Maybe I'll find an extra $5 to buy a MegaMillions ticket for Friday's drawing....winning that would help with this frugal challenge 4sure!

Purge to be healthy

Sometimes you just have to purge to feel better. Yesterday we purged our basement and I feel so much better today!

The basement mess was a perfect representation of the disorganization and anxiety going on in my head. The rest of the house is pretty de-cluttered (minus the gazillion toys that always find their way to the floor from their nice cabinet bins), but the basement is where the chaos ensued. Seriously, it was like a bomb went off. I wanted to cry every time I had to go down there-and that's where my make-shift office is!

If there was no place for something on the main floor, "just put it in the basement, I'll do something with it later" was the mantra, yet later never came. Until yesterday. We posted stuff on Freecycle, offered stuff on Facebook, created a big pile for Goodwill, and filled our garbage bins to overflowing!

I'm looking forward to going down there and doing laundry today. Now laundry is another issue all together, but I'll save that for my therapist! :-)