Blog: Pam's Pennypinching With STYLE

Pam's recounting of how her ancestrally thrifty habits have helped her in modern life in ways none of her foremothers could have imagined!


Showing 8 posts in the Budget and Finance category for this blog.
Swap Meet/Recycling
Friday, September 25, 2009

We are going to share a space with a buddy up at the boat for a "boater's" swap meet. Dragging up the cardtable and display items - like shallow containers for jewelry and miscellany.  Also going to try to sell my handknit scarves - and plan to drape them over a piece of cardboard.  Hubby assures me that folks will like them enough to buy them, we will see.  I just want some more $ for my yarn stash, as I am running out of nice colors! (The rest will be Xmas presents - everyone is getting a scarf this Xmas!)

It works that way with my old books, too - I try to recycle them to pay for my book habit. Recently found an outlet that will take them - oh, goody! I am good at gleaning books, even nice hardbacks,from thrift stores, etc. - so I can almost profit from taking them to a used bookstore. 

Checked with a local vintage clothing store - and found out that they are taking in winter merchandise after Halloween. (I did buy a vintage huipil which I mended nicely....I do love those things & have several in my "collection".  They have gotten expensive, so I grabbed this one when I saw it for about $20 bucks.) I have a few vintage wool things to take in them. There are also two designer dresses I should take to a high-end resale shop.

Trying to go through the little tsochtkas (odds & ends) I have around the house for the sale - Have filled a box with all that stuff.  It's amazing what ends up selling.

So - wish me luck! A recounting of how it went next week -

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images:
   

0 Comments | Post Feedback


Eyeing the Penny Jar
Friday, September 19, 2008

No, I haven't gotten to the penny jar yet - but I AM trying to call in old debts with the help of PayPal's automatic email service! Doesn't help to TRY.  We DID get $100 back from a debtor/friend last week!

Also wrote a new article for associatedcontent on my latest freebie hunts and fixed another frugal article.  I am there under www.associatedcontent.com/pamelamunro -  The $ from there is going into my new PayPal MasterCard debit card - I am keeping track of the total(s) on the back with a sticky. Check my articles out, ok? Somehow it makes me feel like a little girl with my old cash register bank!

I also cashed in my MyPoints points for a GAS card! Every little bit helps.  And I am even trying to get the minimum $30 from inboxsavings! That will take a while.

I am entering everything at Lucky Contests, too.  Elle and Allure have a LOT of contests/prizes. Also got a Smashbox blush for being on the Allure readers panel.  And I joined the Elle insider panel, too. 

I do like the elle.com website - but I dont' know how they can continue to sell magazines! I did subscribe to Allure when it went down to $5/year! But for the rest, I am getting the free ones!  Just got an issue of Interview and of Southern Accents.  Now the problem will be finding a home for the mags I have read. (FYI both mommysavesbig.com and freestufftimes.com have sections for free magazines/catalogs.)

I always have gone after the free stuff when I felt broke! 

Thanks for the comments.  As one reader said, it's nice to know that you are not out there in a vacuum, just talking to yourself!  So keep that feedback coming. 

Also let me remind you that I am at twitter.com/pamphyila with posts on blog updates and even twtr tips!

Let's hold on to each other, if only in the cyberworld - things are getting bumpy!   But WE know HOW to GET THRU!!

0 Comments | Post Feedback


Frugal Carnival Newsflash!
Saturday, August 02, 2008

Check out the Frugal Carnival - a whole slew of frugal blogs, hosted this time here http://www.studentscrooge.com/2008/07/29/festival-of-frugality-136-summer-school-edition/#comment-318  Lots of info!

www.studentscrooge.com looks interesting & you can get an RSS feed - By the way - anyone have any success with ours/mine? (I also annouce new posts at www.twitter.com/pamphyila - that's how hi-tech I am - i.e., in comparison to the frugal carnival lot - not very - but enuf, I guess....)

Hey - I realized that our "vacation" was probably a "STAYcation" - because we stayed close to home ? - but as I commented on studentscrooge, almost ALL of my vacations have been like that - so I thought a "Staycation" was staying AT HOME!  Guess I just am accustomed to thinking frugally - anything else is a splurge - and you know, it makes that all the more FUN.

Images:
   

0 Comments | Post Feedback


Funny Ways to Pick Up Extra $
Thursday, May 29, 2008

The funniest way I heard to literally "pick up" extra $ was to look for dropped coins near the drive ins of fast food outlets,as everyone always drops change! I still do stoop to pick up pennies, myself.  As far as I am concerned, pennies are STILL $ - and I have no compulsion about ever paying with CHANGE.  Having worked in retail, I know lots of shopkeepers LOVE to get extra change, as they are always running OUT! And those pennies are great for paying those tiny extra bits of sales tax that always make the totals uneven.

But the fact that I have been doing this longer than most came to me when a friend was trying to get rid of a junker car.  He and my husband were trying to GIVE it away - without success, and I immediately said, sell it to a junk car dealer. 

They will actually tow it away FREE andeven GIVE you some $ for it! (And the car goes to car parts heaven, a good place for it, so everyone is happy.) They would have passed up the $100 the car fetched, even in non-running condition.  Not me the veteran penny-pincher!  All those little (?) hundreds of dollars add  up in one's budget & are fairly invisible, if you know what I mean....

Then I spent the afternoon experimenting with Amazon's Mechanical Turk - at www.mturk.com - to see how picking up little bits of $ for assorted cybertasks goes.  This - besides being a call center - is supposed to be one of the few legit ways of making $ at home. 

I went for the re-writes, because due to vast experience, I can do that rather quickly.  But the payments were still small - $.80 - $1.00 for 30-60 min. work.  And you wonder about the minimum wage! But it's cyber piecework, like when women took home shirts to sew, etc.

It wasn't bad - altho I ran into some technical issues, I couldn't straighten out - and I did make some $ - which I understand can only be redeemed at the Amazon store.  But I buy books & music, so that's ok.  But the return for the time spent even for ME, who writes & types fast, is low.  But it's the sort of thing that if you were stuck at the airport with your laptop - or if you have a cyber addicted teen who wants to make some pin money - it might be a good idea!

I can make more $ writing little online article at www.associatedcontent.com, which goes directly to my Paypal account - but even that is funny money - as the amounts are so small.

But next time, just remember to count your pennies, stoop to pick them up and don't hesitate to explore ways new to you to pick up a little more!

 

 

 

 

 

Images:
   

0 Comments | Post Feedback


Free $
Friday, May 09, 2008

Go here at Revolution Money Exchange before 5/12 & they will put $25 in your acct.!

https://www.revolutionmoneyexchange.com/ReferAFriend/...

They say it's like Paypal w/o the fees....hey the $ things work - I just got $10 from another $ gambit....

& Mention ME at pamphyila@yahoo.com & I get referral $, too - (which you can also do with your friends.)  Not bad, huh?

Images:
   

0 Comments | Post Feedback


eBay
Thursday, November 02, 2006

Have been bidding for some good wooden recorders on eBay & learning my lessons about that.  Watching the prices carefully and getting updates often.  I also did my research on the brands & am bidding on lesser known but reputable makers. (The internet makes research so much easier.)

But I can see how addictive the process can be & so easy to go over your budgeted amount.  I think I will come out to the good - as a new recorder of that quality would be $70 - but - also watch shipping, etc.  (I stumbled onto an Australian site & saw the shipping in Aussie dollars - the U.S. shopping was twice as much...) Also beware getting international goods - I feel better about things in the U.S.

It may hot be so good for other things - but if you know what you are looking for it seems good for hard-to-find items like used intsruments. (And there's a good guide on eBay for those buying used musical instruments.)  My advise is DO YOUR RESEARCH.

 

 

0 Comments | Post Feedback


Pennies add up
Thursday, November 02, 2006

Thought we were running out of candy for the trick or treaters - so I broke out the piggy bank - Didn't need to use it & in putting it away counted $5-6 since I started putting in small change a month or so ago - Not bad  - I have also opened a savings account (again) and joined the Bank of America program "Save the Change" which rounds out to the dollar when you use your ATM card & puts the balance in your savings account. (And they match the first $ up to something like $250!) - It used to be so easy to put $ in my little account when I was 10 or 12 - What happened?  If nothing else, the change is almost invisible. But how so I get it into the bank?  Coin star machines? I saw one in a bank back east.  Now that would be easy.  They are all in supermarkets here....

6 Comments | Post Feedback


WalMart
Tuesday, September 05, 2006

I don't know how to post this elsewhere - but personally - with very few exceptions, I don't think Wal Mart is particularly inexpensive!!! The clothes you see there can be gotten elsewhere cheaper.  I have only shopped there when I used to be working there doing demonstrations & I would hunt down sales and markdowns to stave off boredom.  YOu can do a lot better by shopping at discount stores & other outlets & probably save time from wandering around those huge places, too.  I would never make a special trip to go to WalMart - unless they had advertised something I wanted at a good price....Are your shopping choices really that limited where you are? 

0 Comments | Post Feedback


Author:
pamphyila
L.A., CA USA
Navigation:
Blog Home
RSS Feed
Photo Album

Categories:

Beauty
Better Living
Books
Budget and Finance
Cars
Christmas
Cleaning
Clothing
Craft Projects
Craft Tips
Emergency
Entertainment
Freebies
Garage Sales
Halloween
Health and Body
Jokes
Links
Make Your Own
Thanksgiving
Travel
Valentine's Day

Archive:

November 2015
October 2015
February 2014
January 2014
May 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
August 2012
July 2012
June 2012
May 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
May 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
July 2010
June 2010
May 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
July 2009
June 2009
May 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
July 2008
June 2008
May 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
June 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
© 2020 MyFrugalLife.com - A ThriftyFun.com website!
Disclaimer: MyFrugalLife.com cannot accept any responsibility for any injury or damage that you may cause to yourself, others, or property when following any advice given on this site. MyFrugalLife.com has no control of how you may use information you get from this site and does not attest to the validity of any information found within. Much of this information comes from third parties (newsletter readers and other contributers). Use advice found in our newsletters and on our site with common sense and at your own risk. If you see something in our newsletters or on our site that you disagree with, please let us know. Our goal is print only valuable information and advice.