frugal living

As I’ve mentioned before, our kitchen just does not have enough storage space for a family of eight.  We only have a few cabinets for pots and pans, and it’s just not been working out too well these past 3 years.  In our previous home, we installed DIY pot rack that was a rod that sat on top of the cabinets on either side of the sink, and used that to hang pots and pans.  I’ve been talking about doing the same thing in this home, and finally got around to it this week.

Supplies needed:

1″ dowel rod 36-48 inches long (Less than $4 from Home Depot)

1 package of closet pole sockets ($2-6 at Home Depot depending on the type you purchase)

1 package of pot hooks (I got a dozen for $9 from a local store, but you can get them from Amazon
for pretty cheap as well)

It’s really quite simple.  You just install the pole sockets on the cabinets above your sink, cut the dowel rod to size and put it in place, and start hanging your cookware!

The pots and pans are close enough to the window that they aren’t in my face when I’m at the sink, and they are easy to access when cooking.  Now my two cabinets that were full of pans are freed up for other things, like my absurdly large amount of plastic containers and bowls!

Have you seen the roll out pantry I built to go in the empty space beside my fridge?  It only cost $63 and added 13 square feet of storage space in my kitchen!

My kids love to go out to eat.  I mean, LOVE it.  Unfortunately, my wallet and bank account do not.  One thing that we have started doing is to eat dinner at home, and then take the kids out for dessert.  It’s not something we do all the time, but it’s a nice treat for them and a way to keep from spending a fortune on dining outside the home.

We usually go to a local ice cream shop instead of a sit down restaurant, so that we can keep the bill as low as possible.  Having worked in food service for several years, I always tip extremely well, but that’s difficult to do when you have a limited budget.  Instead of going to a full service restaurant and tipping a server, we just go to a self serve or counter service place where we can avoid paying a tip on top of our bill.  Two of our favorites are Five Spot and Brusters.

Five Spot is a frozen yogurt place where you purchase your desserts based on weight.  During the week the maximum price is $5.00, no matter what you get.  Friday through Sunday it’s only $0.44 an ounce.  Brusters single scoop cones are huge and can easily be split between two people.  They also offer free kid cones for children under a certain height.  If you’re lucky, you may be able to find a Brusters coupon book through your local school, they are only a couple of dollars and are full of BOGO coupons that never expire.

Of course, there are times when I would love to treat my family to a yummy dessert, but going out is just not an option.  I plan ahead for those times by buying a half gallon of ice cream when I’m doing my regular shopping, along with some cheap cones, whip cream, and sprinkles.  They may not get to choose from 50 different flavors, but they still enjoy the homemade ice cream sundaes just the same.

Do you enjoy the out-to-eat experience but find it hard on your wallet?  Have you ever considered just going out for dessert instead?

When we bought our home three years ago, our kitchen was really tiny.  There was a laundry room and “pantry” area beside it that led out to the garage.  We ended up knocking out the walls for that room, closing in the coat closet by the front door, and adding all of that space to the kitchen.  But I still just don’t have enough shelf space to store food for all eight of us.

I saw a post in the past about a roll out pantry that goes beside the refrigerator.  Our old fridge was too wide to do something like that, but we recently got a new fridge that was thinner, leaving us with about 8 inches of space between it and the wall.  So I decided a few weeks ago that it was time to get to work and make a roll out pantry for our home.

I started with a set of plans from Classy Cutter, but modified them to fit our family’s needs.  We need to have enough room for 2 rows of cans, as well as larger boxes of pasta, so I doubled the depth of the shelves to eight inches instead of four.  So instead of buying 1×4 pieces of wood, I got 1×8.  I just bought the cheapest wood available, as I’m on a pretty tight budget.  I also chose to make the bottom two shelf spaces slightly taller than the rest, so I can fit in larger items.  For the back I got a 4×8 piece of thin hardboard, it was about $12 and was in the plywood section.  Be sure to check out Classy Clutter to get the full details about how to make your own, their directions are really easy to follow!

Since I already had all of the screws and nails on hand, all I had to pick up was the wood, casters, dowels, and handle.

Supplies I purchased:

3 1x8x12 boards (cut on site into 2 64″ boards and 8 20.5″ boards)

1 sheet of 4×8 hardboard (cut down to 31.5 x 64 on site)

4 casters (2″ stationary 125 wheels, don’t get the swivel wheels, they make it hard to roll out the shelf)

7 dowel rods (I used 3/8″ rods, and just cut them down to size at home with a hacksaw)

1 cabinet handle (There are tons to choose from under $3.00 at Home Depot)

Total spent: $63

Have you seen my DIY pot rack that freed up lots of cabinet space?  It’s less than $20 to make, and you can have it up in just 5 minutes!

My bed has been sitting on the floor, no frame, no headboard, no nothing, for the last 2 years.  About a year ago I started shopping around for headboards and was appalled by the pricing.  I was griping to my mother, and she said, “Tiffany, just make your own!” Well duh!  I don’t know why I didn’t think of that before!  So I rushed out and bought plywood and the material I wanted for the cover.  I found 2 old, ugly comforters at a discount cloth outlet that were perfect for the padding.  (This particular outlet sells torn and stained fabric from their warehouse by the pound!)

And then I hurried home.

And did nothing with it.

For a year.

Since then, my husband has tried to throw out the wood at least a dozen times, I’ve lost the cover material more than I can count, and my kids have taken over the comforters.  Well, on Monday, I decided I had had enough.  I gathered all of the materials and got to work!

Materials used:

1 4×8 plywood board ($5)

1 used brown suede zippy cover thing ($1)

2 used large, ugly comforters ($4)

Tools needed:

Circular saw

Staple gun

Measuring tape

Chalk

Scissors (I used bandage scissors, they worked GREAT!)

Directions:

1. Measure and cut the wood down to the size you need.

I cut mine .  It didn’t occur to me to take pictures until after I got started, so no visual for this step!

2.  Fold first comforter and lay out across board, cut off excess.

I don’t own sawhorses, so I used two plastic tables instead.  It helped A LOT to line the edge of the board up with the table edge.  I also spent forever hacking away at the comforter with kitchen shears until my husband suggested the bandage scissors.  What a lifesaver!  By the way, it doesn’t have to look perfect. 🙂

3.  Staple around the edges, pulling the comforter tight as you go. Pretty simple, I stapled about every 4 inches or so.

4. Lay out the second comforter, cut slightly larger than the first.

This one will get folded over the back of the board, so cut it a bit longer.

5.  Flip over the board, pull the fabric tight, and start stapling!

Make sure the fabric is pulled very tight, so that you don’t end up with a saggy headboard in a few weeks!

6.  Last step, attaching the cover!

I slide the fabric underneath the board and put in 2 staples on each side as I pulled it tight.  I stapled the corners and then went down the sides to finish it off.

I wasn’t too concerned about it being exactly even and neat, since it’s the back and no one will know but me.  And you.  But you won’t tell, right?

Things NOT to do when making your own headboard:

1. Drop the finished board on your foot while trying to pick it up off the table.

2. Drop the board on the table and knock it over.

3. Fall down on the cement.

4.  Crack the debit card in your pocket when you land on the ground.

If you *do* choose to go all out, be prepared to end up with this beauty:

I seriously thought I broke my foot, but within a few hours, I was as good as new!  Now, onto the before and after shots!

Doesn’t it look lovely?  All for less than $10 and 30 minutes!  What’s your favorite fast DIY project?

We officially moved into our home in October of 2009.  We bought a newish mattress shortly after and I bought a beautiful new comforter set from Garden Ridge for $30.  I couldn’t wait to get it home and on the bed.  It looked fabulous!  Then I washed it.  And this happened.

That USED to be baby blue and chocolate brown.  🙁  So I have been using this horribly faded comforter set for almost 2 years, and can’t stand the sight of it.  But, this past week, Goodwill came to my rescue!  I found this beautiful comforter set for a whopping $30!  It is in immaculate condition and matches my bedroom color scheme perfectly.

I finished the headboard today, the down and dirty tutorial for that can be found here.  Once I got it in place, I added the comforter set for the final touch.  It’s amazing how different your room can look just from changing the comforter and pillows out.  Even my kids are impressed. 🙂

Have you done any low cost decor changes recently?  How did yours turn out?