Keeping the bugs away on the cheap and safely

Nothing is worse than settling down on the couch and noticing a big, fat, black, slow fly circling your room.  Occasionally alighting on your feet and generally annoying the crap out of you.  I stumbled across this handy dandy tip online and it really works.  This keeps Flies away from your doors and your porch. 

Here's what you'll need. 

What you will need:
A clear plastic sandwich bag
2 1/2 cups of water.
A bottle of lime juice.
2 teaspoons of salt.
Two or three paper clips
And some shiny pennies.

You will also need a bowl and a spoon which is are not in the picture.

I have tried this without the salt and the lime juice, just the pennies and water and it seems to work as well.  However, the original recipe calls for lime and salt





Mix all your ingredients together in the bag and use the paper clips as your hanger.  It really worked for me, kept most of the flies away from our stinky garbage can as well :)

Also with using only the water and the pennies it only cost me around .10 Cents :)

Memorial Day Cookout $

Entertaining is expensive.

I shopped at Aldis for all our staples as they seem to provide the cheapest grocery options within a reasonable driving distance.  I got enough stuff for ten people for $50 which would only be five dollars per person for food and no one is going to need to bring anything.  This is actually pretty great :) There was some hamburger meat on sale that was a better quality and marked down so we don't have to eat pre fabricated burgers *(blech) and chips, fruit, corn on the cob, and some no bake boxed cheesecake and toppings for those. i could have saved more if I would have noticed that the crust was contained in the cheesecake box... but I didn't :( Oh well, with everyone bringing the drinks I am going to have a pretty good cookout for our frinesd. I'm excited that I could get the food for it without breaking the bank. It isn't going to be fancy, but I don't think anyone that will be in attendance will really care. 

This weekend I visited a really cool store in the town over from me. It's called the Flying Pig and everything in it is used/new but donated for charity.  It is a charity shop, all the proceeds go to help children in families with terminal illnesses.  So the things are very nice and very reasonably priced.  There are also two great antique shops that have some reasonable prices that you can ask if they can 'do a little better' on the price for you.  I shopped there and my local goodwill on Friday, not amazing finds, but It is cool that I found some new stores that have affordable, 'green' alternatives to typical retail therapy. 

Frustrating

I keep hearing in our local newspaper how things are 'Turning Around' for the unemployment numbers in local counties, but I received another 'Thanks but No-Thanks' letter in the mail today from a 2 hour interview I had over three weeks ago.  How frustrating is that? I often wonder what employers are looking for. You sit with someone for over two hours, answer all their questions, make little jokes, be charming, and have a good time, then you hear nothing untill you get the 'You're great, but there's someone who more closely meets our needs.'  Siiiiiiigh it's just frustrating.  Any of you who are also searching for jobs have to feel the same way.  These mailed rejections are hard to take first thing in the morning. 

But we have to stay positive.  Being unemployed is giving me a chance to go through all the stuff I need to get rid of in a garage sale, which could potentially bring in some extra money.  There are lots of Tchotchkeys around this small house that could potentially be offloaded to some other unsuspecting hunter. 

I have been walking and biking around alot which has also given me the opportunity to find nice little finds in people's refuse, including a Schwinn bike that only needs a new tube and some grease on the gears, and a 1940's wooden laundry table.  I will post pictures tomorrow so you can see me little jackpot finds. However, TGIM (that guy I married) says he hates me being unemployed because then I bring more stuff into our house... 

Rummage finds

I found this glass chip and dip bowl, a cute owl hot pot stand, and a basket for my bike, all for $2.00. The bike basket alone would be over $25 in the store. I just have to raid my husbands random nail and screw collection and I have a great bike basket for my items.

Forced Frugality

Nothing requires you to re-evaluate your spending and the expense of even simple things as much as a lay-off.  Many of us are finding ourselves having to cut back on everything from coffee to vacations. 

I am beginning this blog to share my ideas and my thoughts for living frugally.  Which is not as easy as one might think. 

I become sick of hearing about $5 meals which require you to have a plethora of items already stocked in your cabinet that if you were to purchase individually would cost you well over $100.  I am also not the craftiest person in the world so having my reconstruct my own bathroom wall, create a rug out of plastic bags, and start distilling my own wine is a little out of the question. 

This is an account of a real girl who has to live in the real world, when a layoff happens, and your income stops, unemployment hasn't started, and you have no money to speak of.  We are all struggling in one way or another and if  I can help or give you a new idea, I have done my job.  I will do my best to be honest about all the prices and the practicality of completing projects.    

Tomorrow T.G.I.M. (That Guy I Married) and I are going to a local church rummage sale to see what they have.  I don't need anything in particular. But I might.  I have spent the majority of my week off so far, biking everywhere that I can to avoid paying $3.72 per gallon or around $66 for a full tank in my car.  This week I have so far spent $38.12 on plants for my small garden.

I will report on the findings or lack thereof of fodder found at the first rummage sale of the season tomorrow.