Buying scondhand

I have another purchase to add to my secondhand list for this year. My old and cheap vacuum cleaner went out in spectacular fashion last week with a flash that shorted out the entire house. This left me with some anxiety (4 kids, carpet, no vacuum, gasp!!)

So yesterday I brought home a Wertheim with a power head and all attachments. The new model of this cleaner retails for about $1500 - the one that I bought secondhand has been re built and has a new motor for a price of $500.

We've spent a bit of time running around the carpet with it and are amazed (and a little disgusted) at how much dirt and dust the new machine lifts.

Secondhand price $130

New price $ 1500

Saving $1000 (!!!)

- Total savings tally for 2010 -   $1, 320


Hey, don't forget the giveaway (click on the button on the sidebar). I'll be back later today to draw the random winner.

Easy fix for old pants

How many times do you find the elastic gone in a pair of pants or skirt that are otherwise fine? I saw these cute stripey knit pants at the op shop for a few dollars but the elastic around the waist was useless.

I had a length of fold over elastic (FOE) in my stash and thought of a quick way to fix the pants. I unpicked the old elastic band (admittedly this took a while but I knew it would be neater than just cutting it off). Then I simply stitched on the FOE (I had measured it around my daughter's waist to get the right size first) with a zig zag stitch while stretching it as much as possible.

Have you ever used FOE? I know some of the Crafty Mamas use it for neck binding on t - shirts and tops but of course it's main use is nappy making. Nappy supplies stores stock it.

The odd things our children do! This is how I found my almost 3 year old girl the other day, sitting perfectly still. Can't say I blame her, it gets pretty rowdy here!

Buying seconhand as well as this and that...

Do you remember my previous post about buying secondhand?

The latest purchase is a lawn mower, which was a necessary after the other mower (which was also secondhand and very old!) gave up the ghost. The cost of this one was $130 - a new one would have been about $350. It runs beautifully.

Secondhand price $130

New price $350

Saving $ 220


Total savings tally for 2010 - $320
So far, all savings have gone towards the mortgage as extra repayments.

In other news my sewjo seems to have evapourated this week, it must be the tiredness. I think right now I am more tired than ever before, I really need a good nights sleep but the little one won't have it. I keep telling myself it will soon improve, I know it will...

We are going away over the weekend for one night, I've been looking forward to that! I'll give details upon our return, there may also be some pics of a new feline addition to our family.

God bless and have a great weekend!

Heart swaps and op shops

I sent off my offering to my swap partner in the US for the Share the love heart swap over at Natural Suburbia. I can't show the whole thing until it reaches the intended destination - lets just say it's something that every creative soul needs!

I finally got to the op shop today to look for some drawers for the girl's room. Although sadly lacking in the furniture department I found a lot of clothes for me so all was not lost. One thing I love about being able to sew is knowing you can alter clothes that are too big, that's a huge bonus if you're an opshopper!

Husband has taken 3 of the children out mountain climbing (it's a small mountain!!) and baby is in bed, so it is wonderfully quiet and full of possibilities here.

Hope you're all having a great day, I'm off to explore those possibilities!

Buy secondhand!

One of my goals for this year is to save money by always looking for a second hand alternative before buying new. Not only will this save me money, but can often mean better quality in the age of the "made in China" sticker. I also think in this throwaway society we waste far too much, and I don't want to contribute to that.

Throughout the year I'm going to keep tabs here on how much I've saved on items that I've bought second hand. Here is the most recent purchase - a used television (no I haven't relented on my views of TV, it's for a new Xbox, not for watching! )

1. Television -

Second hand price $170

New price - Couldn't find an exact price but it would have to be at least $270, more like $300.

Saving - $100

For the record, I looked at used xbox 's but the price was no different, so decided to buy new.

Next purchase - bunk beds.........

Total savings tally for 2010 -     $100