I do not admire your fancy schmancy car.

In my volunteer financial counseling, I have noticed that one of the biggest financial problems people have is a car payment. I was about to fill in the end of that sentence with restaurant spending, but I realized that's not the biggest problem. So I will tackle restaurant spending another day.

The average car payment is $460. If you are paying something like that each month, imagine what else you could be doing with that money. Stop and think right now, I'll wait.

Did you think of what you would do with that money? Tell me in the comments!

I have talked to several people who have bought new cars in the last year and have big car payments, but are living with their parents. If they were driving old, paid off cars, they could find a small apartment for the price of their car payment. At least in my area you can. A quick search on ApartmentFinder.com found several.

Many people think that they will always have a car payment, only new cars will be reliable, you should get a new car if yours reaches x amount of mileage,  you should sell your car before it starts breaking down, or that once it breaks down a few times, it's time to get a new one. In reality, unless you have the type of repair that costs several thousand dollars, it is cheaper to pay occasional repair bills than to get a loan on a new car and start paying car payments.

I hope this blog reaches you before you get a loan on a brand new car. But it's not too late if you have bought (and borrowed for) a new car. But you got a really good deal on it, you say? Why is it that everyone tells me they got a really good deal on their brand new car? Could it be that car salesmen are good at making us think that we got a good deal?

It's no secret that new cars lose a lot of their value as soon as you drive them off the lot. If you didn't have a down payment, you now owe more for your car than what you can sell it for. You can find out what your car is worth at kbb.com It will take a while for you to pay the loan down to what it is worth, but I suggest you do just that. Then sell it.

Are you part of a two car family? Is there any way that you could make do with one car for a while? Do you live and work in a place for public transportation is reliable? Is there someone you can carpool with? If any of these is an option for you, you can do without a car while you save up cash to pay for a used car. If not, you should save up $1,000-$2,000 for a cheap used car. While you are driving the cheap used car, save up to buy a better used car, unless there is someone else more important to do with your money at this time. The good thing about a $1,000 car? It will hardly lose any value. When you go to sell it, it might still be worth $1,000.

When buying a car, always look at Consumer Reports. Your library might have it, or you may have to pay about $6 for a one month subscription. You can look up a car from any year and see how well it is expected to perform in several different areas. Then be patient. You won't see the best deal right away. Wait for the right one.

In my research, I learned that the average car is about eleven years old. Each year, this average goes up. That means cars are built better and are lasting longer, and age/miles is not a reason to get rid of your car.

Maybe it's just my age, but when I was a kid, I remember ten year old cars looking really old. Now, for the most part, they don't look old at all. Of course, I'm not interested in cars, and I don't pay attention to them except to wonder if the drivers of fancy schmancy cars are in debt up their eye balls. In fact, I am so uninterested in cars, that when I was in high school, and my parents bought a new used car, it took me about a year to be recognize it with confidence. This car was so nondescript that I always had a fear that I would walk up to someone else's car and get in and die of embarrassment.

Why does this car come up when I search for "most nondescript car"? This car is definitely fancy schmancy.

I believe this is the most nondescript car. It is practically parking lot camouflage.

So instead of admiring your friend's new cars, let's start a new trend of admiring your friend's oldest cars. Have a contest to see who can keep an old car the longest. We used to drive a car that was almost old enough to vote. We did not really love that car. When it rained, it poured. Inside. Especially when turning left. But we saved up while we drove it, and bought better cars for cash. Our current cars are six and eight years old, and they feel brand new. And they are going to last a long time.

The Varied Amazing Uses of Cardboard

Yesterday, you may have seen a $100+ kids teepee on my blog. Today, I will share with you instructions on how to make your own teepee.

1. Obtain three or more pieces of 1 x 2 wood five feet long.

2. Set them up in the teepee shape you want and tie them with twine wrapped around many times.

3. Measure the triangles formed between each piece of wood.

4.Get some canvas or other sturdy material of the appropriate measurements.
5. Cut the fabric in a zigzag pattern to best utilize the fabric.
6. Sew it together, then on to the wood.

Or, don't do that. Because kids don't need all that. Kids need to pretend. Sometimes pretending doesn't come naturally, and you have to teach them how to pretend. But after a few times of pretending them with them, they will be making up their own pretends. "Mommy, it's raining inside the house. This broom is my umbrella." If you have a teepee, it will look cute, but it may only be a teepee, when a cardboard box can be so many things.

Take this particular cardboard box. It started it's life by bringing us something wonderful from Amazon. It was stored in the garage with a few other boxes. Then it made itself useful as a drop cloth while we spray painted something blue. (Husband doesn't like it when I spray paint right on the grass, even though it will grow out. Gosh.) Cardboard boxes make the best drop cloths because they don't slide around much like actual cloth and plastic. If you're using it outside, it won't blow in the wind and attach itself to the painted surface like cloth and plastic.  When you're painting inside, it's so easy to push them up against the wall when they move. When you drip paint on them, they soak it up just enough to let it dry quickly, without letting paint soak through to the floor. Canvas drop cloths will let paint soak through. Plastic drop cloths will allow paint to puddle and not dry quickly. Then you can step on it and track it around. So it was used again as a drop cloth in the laundry room when I painted the walls.

Then the children wanted to make a train, so this box joined two other boxes, they all had hand holes cut in them for carrying purposes, and they followed Husband, the engine, around being coal cars and box cars. They were just walking around, following each other, carrying boxes and pretending they were train cars. Isn't pretending wonderful? Then the Children requested "shields" and Husband used this box to cut one triangle and one circle shield. Then this two year old requested a box this morning, and I noticed that it was now a little building with a perfect triangle door and circle window. I added some packing tape on the corners so it wouldn't be so floppy, and it's a perfect teepee.

See the blue paint?

See the white paint inside?

 

Windows don't make good doors, apparently. Please forgive me for taking a picture before I helped him get out.

I've also used cardboard to line the bottom of my reusable grocery bags. It makes them sturdier and easier to fold. The cashiers seem to appreciate the cardboard too.

So keep a small stack of cardboard handy for when you might need it. We store it behind a low shelf so it doesn't take up much room. 

What other uses have you found for cardboard?

Indie Craft Parade

I got to go to the Indie Craft Parade yesterday. I didn't think I was going to because I was sick and I did not really feel like I could concentrate enough to drive all the way downtown and find a parking spot by myself, but sweet Husband took me, dropped me off and took the kids to a park while I browsed. 

I love the craft parade. I'm not sure what makes it a parade. But it does sound more hipster with that title. And there were hipsters everywhere! I don't get out much, but I'm fairly certain there was a much higher than normal concentration of hipsters at this event. I was afraid they would notice if I took their pictures, so I didn't.

This parade had the whole ball of wax: hair accessories, jewelry, clothing, purses, baskets, bags, scarves, dolls, doll clothes, tee pees, chairs, journals, bookmarks, stationary, food, tea towels, ceramics, paintings, yarn, and fiber crafts. Where else can you buy anatomical fiber art hearts complete with valves and blood vessels? Who is the target audience for this item? And none of these things are at bargain prices. Not that they should be. This is not Walmart. These are artists, and I know from personal experience that it takes a long time to make beautiful things. I think the reason I don't try to sell my crafts is that I would have to charge such a high amount in order to make a decent wage based on how long it took to make, plus the cost of the materials. I don't spend that much on things, so I couldn't bear to charge that much. At least, not at this time. Here's some of the lovely things I saw:

Awesome earrings I can't afford, but I'm sure they will find a happy home.

Amazing kids' teepee for more than $100. But as for me and my house, we will throw a blanket over some chairs and be content.

The sign for Overton Iron Works. They made shelves and signs and things from pipes.

These paintings are cool, but I think they would look better as an animated movie than as art on the walls.

I really like these dolls. But they are out of my price range.

I imagine that if I had some of these leather journals, I would write really amazing, best-selling stories in them. With a journal like that, my whole life would probably be more interesting.

You can see more pictures of what was for sale here. Maybe get some ideas for what you can make yourself. That's one of the reasons I went.

Here's what I bought:

Two skeins of roving that I can spin into yarn.

 Last year I bought some roving and made a scarf. But it was only enough for a very small scarf. So this year I bought two, and I hope to make it into a larger scarf. The colors aren't the same, though. So I appreciate your opinions. Should I combine these into one ball of yarn or two separate?

I crocheted them together so you can see how they look together. I love that surprising bit of yellow in there! She hand paints the roving from her own sheep over at Merciful Hearts Farm.

I also bought this infinity scarf. I wasn't going to buy it at $32, but I asked if she would offer a discount since it was almost closing time for the parade. I had my eye on a green one, but she had a pink one that hadn't sold very well, and she offered it to me for $25. I like the pink one, too, so it came home with me.

Me and my scarf after a lovely dinner in downtown Greenville.

As we were leaving, I thought I'd take some pictures of Greenville, in case you haven't been here. It's a beautiful city with lots of great shops that are generally not in my budget.

You should see Falls Park.

Maybe I'll take a walking tour soon and do the mouse scavenger hunt so you can see more pictures of my city.

This august monument was in a cemetery we passed after we went past the turn we meant to take. Does anyone else get interested in old cemeteries?

 Tell me in the comments, one skein, or two?

Goodbye Summer

Summer is coming to a close. Well, sort of. School has started and the neighborhood pool is closing, but we are still having ninety degree days here in South Carolina. With the closing of the pool imminent, we wanted to make sure we could get to the pool one last time and savor it as much as we could. In fact, we have been to the pool three times recently and each time I thought it would be our last chance to swim for the Summer. The forecast improved one time, and then we found out the pool would stay open one more week than we thought it would. But each of our three last times, I made a point to enjoy it and stay as long as we could. It is going to be about nine months before we can swim again. And I realized that because I had made a point to enjoy it, I really did appreciate it more.

Things are more precious when we know they are going to end.

Shouldn't we live every day like we know it is going to end? Enjoying things to the fullest, choosing to be happy? One day we will look back. And I hope that we remember that we did great things and had wonderful fun and did not sweat the small stuff. Some day my kids will be bigger and I will wish that I had played with them more.

I was going to mention, as part of my "saving money" theme, that when you don't buy stuff as often, that it is more enjoyable when you do. Scarcity being what makes things special. But I will just leave it at that.

Goodbye Summer.

Of course, I am excited about Fall.

Dyeing on the train tracks.

Did you know that you can use fabric dye on wood? I thought my sons' train tracks would be a little more fun if they were blue instead unstained wood color. You can dye any wood that is small enough to fit into your largest pot. It doesn't take as long to dye wood as it does to dye fabric. (I'm not very good at dyeing fabric). And dye is cheaper than stain.

Just stir it in the pot for a few minutes, fish it out with stainless steel tongs, rinse it in water, and dry it on paper towels.

Dye doesn't affect the plastic parts.

When you paint or stain, you have to do one side, let it dry, do another coat, let it dry, flip it over, repeat, repeat, make sure you don't get any paint or stain on the plastic. With dye, you can do ten at one time and you're done.

It's too bad I didn't have a pot big enough for this.

Look at that adorable chubby hand! Is it just me, or does Thomas look a little creepy?

I'd like to try dying wood for this project. Except I would use something larger than coffee stirrers. Something about the size of paint stirrers, but not paint stirrers, because I don't think the paint people would appreciate me absconding with that many paint stirrers when I don't have paint stirring in mind. Anyway, as I've mentioned, there's a better way to stir paint.

Bunting!

Ready to celebrate Memorial Day! (You don't mind this was three months ago, right?)

 I love bunting. I read a long time ago in Better Homes and Garden magazine that you can get the kind of plastic lined fabric that is made for outdoor tablecloths, cut triangles, and sew it to a line of fabric without even having to sew the edges. That is a great idea, but my fabric store only had that plastic fabric in two ugly colors. So I had to use regular cotton. Since I like things to be different, (and easy) I made some rectangle bunting instead of the usual triangle bunting. This is easier because you just fold a rectangle in half and sew up the sides.

Do you know about assembly line sewing? When you finish sewing down one side of your fabric, instead of pulling it out, cutting the thread and putting the next piece in to sew, you just leave a small space without pulling the fabric out, or cutting the thread, and start sewing the next piece. Do one side of every piece, then do the other side. They will all be hooked together like a ladder. Just cut the thread between each one when you're done. This will save a lot of time on this sort of project.

Here's a good example of assembly line sewing:

Just kidding. Here it is:

I sewed the top with half inch wide double fold bias tape. So much easier than cutting thin strips of fabric and ironing it and sewing it together.

I changed it up by making some wide and some skinny.

Then my friend was having a baby and I wanted to make something special, so I tried the triangle bunting. I cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape I wanted so they would all be the same.

I laid this out to figure out which color I wanted in what order with what color letter.

Some of you may have fancy machines that cut out letters, but since I don't have that, I printed out some letters in the font I wanted. I carefully cut the paper letters out, pinned them on to the fabric, and then cut the fabric. I'm not gonna lie, that took a while. But I really like making things. If I wasn't spending my time cutting out letters, I would have been spending useless time on Facebook. 

I ironed on the letters with fusible webbing and then sewed them on applique style before I sewed the triangle halves together. Sew the bottom two sides of the triangles (right sides together) and cut off the point at the bottom so the extra fabric isn't bunched up inside.  Turn it inside out and use a knitting needle to poke it out extra pointy. Iron it and sew around the edge for a more professional look. Sew the top to some double fold bias tape. Make sure you leave enough room on the end in order to hang it up.

We had the baby shower at my house, so we hung it up as a decoration and a present, which is not the usual way of doing things. But I don't feel bound by tradition.

I'm pretty sure I put those toys away before the shower started.

Here's a funny picture of my two year old for no reason.

How to organize your thread

Not too long ago, my craft room was covered with plastic drawers full of yarn, fabric, batteries, paint, coloring books, and all kinds of craft supplies. I had my eye out at the yard sales for a big solid wood cabinet with lots of drawers. Eventually, I'm sure I would have found just the right piece of vintage furniture, but we ended up buying something new and very heavy. It was my anniversary present. We had to ask the neighbor to come over to help us get it out of the van. Thanks, neighbor!

When we got rid of the plastic drawers, I wanted a pretty way to get organized. So I found a thrift store frame. You might have a good one in your closet. It was a pink frame, and obviously we can't have pink frames hanging about, so I spray painted it. I found two and a half inch finishing nails. Husband told me they were called finishing nails. It means they have a very small head and you can easily fit your thread on it. Depending on what the back of your frame is made out of, you might need to add a piece of cardboard, or a thin piece of wood. I got a pretty piece of scrap-booking paper that it turns out, you can hardly see, and then I hammered the nails on top of it one and half inches apart. I didn't need a large frame since I don't have that much thread. Each spool takes up about two and a half inches square, so you can figure out how big a frame you need.

This would look prettier if all my thread was the same size and shape.

I put all of my tiny spools in a jar.