Moving On....

I've been wanting to stop back and write a post for sometime and let you all know why I am no longer writing Frugal Indy. In May, we packed up the moving van and headed 2400 miles north west to British Columbia, Canada.


























I plan to leave the blog up for the time being as there are still those of you who like to visit to get recipes that are posted here.




















I am thankful for those of you who I met though the Frugal Indy website and the Savvy Saving classes! It was a real pleasure meeting so many wonderful Hoosiers!

We are enjoying the beauty of the Northwest! I just wish there was a CVS around here!

Have a Blessed Easter - Sunday Meditations

I hope that you will have a wonderful Easter. Easter is the celebration of the resurrection of Christ. It is the basis of the Christian faith. As we read in I Corinthians, without the resurrection of Christ there is no hope for us. Praise to God that Christ is risen and we celebrate that today!



















I Corinthians 15

But if there be no resurrection of the dead, then is Christ not risen:

And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God; because we have testified of God that he raised up Christ: whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead rise not.

For if the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised:

And if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins.

Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.

If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable.

But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them that slept.

For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead.

For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.

But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming.

Then cometh the end, when he shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when he shall have put down all rule and all authority and power.

For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.

The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.

Thrift Store Finds - all for $12

One of my favorite places to shop are the local thrift stores. I was excited when I read in the paper that a new Salvation Army Family Thrift Store just opened at 8310 East Washington Street. I decided to go over and check it out yesterday.

I found that the store was packed with merchandise and that the clothing was well priced. I was able to get all the items pictures below for only $12.

One of the keys to reducing your family's clothing bill is to look for items BEFORE you need them. If you wait until you need the item then you might have to pay full price.

I do not think my son's winter items will fit next year - so I went ahead and got him the next sized coat and snow pants. The blue coat is a very nice Land's End coat that I paid only $3.50 for the yellow coat was only $1.50. It is more worn than the other but will make an excellent play coat. The Snow pants were only $1.75








































































This tie is 100% silk and looks like it was never used. This was only$1.25.

























Our VCR decided to start eating tapes a few weeks ago and so it was time to replace it. I found
one that looked nearly new for only $4. The top was a little dusty - but that was easily fixed. Thankfully it works great!




















Do you have a favorite thrift store here in Indy? Leave a message and let us know about it.

I Did NOT fall off the Planet!

I know you've figured that I fell off the planet right? I've had a few of those weeks where life takes over and blogging has to go on the back burner for awhile.

One of the things I've been doing is massive Spring Cleaning!!! I've also been totally inspired by Thrifty Decor Chick (Sarah) and have done a bit of updating with some paint. I only found her blog awhile ago and I love her ideas.




















Here is an item that I have been working on during the past few weeks. I show you the wonderful new look in a few days. This in an old cabinet that we found in the barn of our first home, it was so dirty and old that it looked like it should go into the trash! I gave it this paint job MANY years ago and am now tired of the look. We use it to hold videos inside and our VCR goes on the top.

Below are some of the pictures that got me motivated to give it an update.

These pictures are from the Thrifty Decor Chick's website and are projects that Sarah did. I LOVE the coffee table. In fact, I bought a coffee table this past week at Goodwill for under $20 and did a redo on it! I'll show you that soon too - I think it looks great!

Thanks Sarah at Thrifty Decor Chick for the inspiration!

































































The paint color that is used here is called Black Suede from Behr (Home Depot).

Stop back in a few days and I will have the finished project for you to see!

Muncie Children's Museum - Free Saturday!

If you don't have plans for this Saturday - head north of Indy to Muncie Children's Museum. This is a nice, smaller children's museum that is a nice change of pace from the BIG one here in Indy.

This Saturday, March 20th, the Museum is FREE from 10 am to 5 pm! You can check out the information here. And for more information about Muncie Children's Museum go here.

Artscow - Get 8 Free 7 x 5, 30 page Photobooks

Artscow has a great deal right now. You can get 8- 7 x 5 photobooks for only the price of shipping, which is only $3.99.

I have ordered several photobooks and other items from Artscow and have been very pleased with the quality of the product.

To get your Free Photobooks sign into your Artscow account or sign up for a free account here. Then go to Credit and Discounts, enter the code 75BKSFEB10 and click the validate button.

This coupon must be validated before 3/3/2010 and you will have 30 days to use your free credit.

If you would like to see an example of a book I did for a present for a grandparent go here. When you click on the link give it a minute to open so that the pictures will be clear. It was easy to make and Grandpa LOVED it!

Backing up Photos and Saving Money on Electronics or other Large Purchases

Yesterday started with my computer informing me that it had indeed recovered from "A serious error". This is not the way to start a day off right! When I tried to sign on, the mouse was not working, and then I noticed that the computer was not recognizing my battery back up which was plugged in - even though the computer said it was not.

I called the tech support and thankfully got a tech who knew how to help - not all techs are created equal! After a few tests we determined that most likely part of the mother board had stopped working - the part that runs the USB ports. The computer was not recognizing any USB port.

Off to Staples I went and got a $30.00 USB card for the PCI expansion slot. I am not a high tech person, but installing it was an easy 5 minute job. Thankfully the computer loaded the 5 new USB ports and worked once again - but now the screen was PURPLE. Ugh. I guess the computer is trying to tell me that it is on life support and hasn't much longer to boot up.

I decided to then go and do something the cheap gene in me has been resisting. I would go and finally buy an external hard drive to back up the 3 years of my family's pictures and the countless documents that are housed on my computer.

I say it is the cheap gene - because it is not frugal - just plain cheap to put your precious photos at risk buy refusing to spend $100 to back them up!

I looked and found what I would buy on the Best Buy website. I checked the store inventory online and it was in stock. So, off to Best Buy I went to get the hard drive. When I got there, I found the external hard drive was priced $20 above the online price. Double Ugh!

I asked an associate about the discrepancy and was told to just go to Customer Service and they would honor the online price. So, I was very thankful I had taken a few minutes to check the item online before coming to the store and that I had asked for the lower price.

I learned a valuable lesson. Before going to a store to make a larger purchase - check the online price and even competitor's prices to make sure you get the best price. If the store price is higher ask for a reduction. I have gotten price matches from competitor's prices at Best Buy in the past also.






A note about backing up photos. I also recommend backing up all your photos to a site out of your home - like Artscow. If your home was to have a fire and your PC and external hard drive were lost you would then still have your photos. It is not hard to do and well worth the peace of mind knowing that your memories are safe.