Garbage Haul Off ~ Hoarders ~ Decluttering

 Bailey had book club on Friday, so we didn't clean in Dad's space downstairs. But on Saturday, Timmy, our friend and garbage man, came and hauled off several appliances. 

I had received a quote from a company in town that wanted $100 just to haul off the freezer, so I worked out a deal with Timmy instead and bartered the hauling off of trash in exchange for a refrigerator that Dad had just bought recently and some cash as well. #bartering
So, Timmy hauled off the freezer that had stopped working who knows when or was unplugged by a neighbor helping Mom at one point in time, an old stove, a smaller refrigerator, a toaster oven, microwave and printer. 
None of the items were worth saving to me and would have needed some serious scrubbing to get clean that I was unwilling to do, and even then I didn't know if they worked or not. I'm not afraid of hard work or scrubbing and have done my fair share of that, but these were not worth it to me. 
I'm thrilled to have them all out of the way, especially the freezer. I told my sister it was bad, like don't open the lid bad. LOL
I'm not sure what Dad was thinking with all the refrigerators. He had two downstairs, and four in his home across the road, and about three of them were brand new. I put one of the smaller ones in my bedroom to hold some of my medicine that needs refrigeration. 
Dad and Mom both were hoarders, but Dad had more hoarded than Mom did, I think. Bailey and I lived with Mom upstairs and I cleaned out and decluttered up here regularly, which could be the difference. Even after Mom's death in 2022, I threw out bank statements with used checks she had kept from the 1960s. 
Dad did not throw away much at all. For example, he had about seven printers down in his office. We threw one of the big ones away yesterday and I kept one for use in my own office. The back of Timmy's truck can only hold so much at one time. 
I think yard sales, flea markets, and thrift stores can be good, clean fun, but there has to be a limit. I buy things that are useful and I use them, and if I don't use them, they are going to the next consignment sale because I like a clean and uncluttered home. 
In my lifetime I have had plenty of places I've cleaned out. My Father-In-Law needed help cleaning out his home when my brother-in-law and his wife lived there for a while. Then the same home needed cleaning out again after FIL passed away. We had to rent a dumpster for that clean out. 
The home my exdh and I bought when we were married, was left hoarded up by the people who owned it before us, but had passed away. We threw away stuff from the 1940s in that house. 
It has been interesting to find some old things like some of the letters and stuff I've found. And there is plenty of useful stuff as well and stuff people are willing to pay for and I've found some things to use up here.  And remember that old saying, "one man's junk is another man's treasure". 

BelindaHomemaker at HeartMortgage & Debt Free~ Living within our Means ~My Linktree
~ She looketh well to the ways of her household ~Proverbs 31:27

Saving Money on Garbage Bags

Pictured above is a package of toilet paper that we normally purchase. The package holds 36 double rolls, so the outer package is rather large. Here is what it looks like empty:

This is large enough to line our garbage can in the bathroom, so naturally I use these to save money on real garbage bags. 

I also use plastic bags from the grocery store, provided they are the large ones, to line our garbage can with. I usually only get those around the holidays like Christmas. 

This is another small way we save money here. 

Do you have any ideas to share on how you save on garbage bags?

Belinda
Live simply by not spending money you don't have.
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011 - 2015.

Saving Money on Cat Food

Last spring I ran across a very good sale on Purina Cat Chow cat food, which is what we feed our cats exclusively since it is not made in China. I buy the sixteen pound bag of cat food because I find that is the best value and lasts a long time. During the sale I bought five bags of cat food and have almost finished up using the last bag. 

Previously I've written about saving money on cat food in this blog post. Specifically, I spoke about the Purina My Perks rewards program. This is a very good program because you can earn points towards coupons for free cat food. 

The UPC code from a sixteen pound bag of cat food is worth 3,000 points. In order to get a coupon good for a free bag of cat food you need 30,000 points, so for every ten bags of cat food you can get a coupon for up to $15.99 off, which is a free bag of cat food.  

The program is easy to use and you can earn additional points by logging in everyday, visiting the Purina Cat Chow website, connecting your Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts, and other activities. I make a point of logging in every day. 

As a result, I have earned enough points for a free bag of cat food, which came in the mail this week. 

This is a high value coupon and only requires a couple of minutes of my time each day to earn. Even now, I already have enough points in my account to request a coupon towards another free bag and am well on my way to earning enough for a third bag. 

On Saturday while we were out shopping yard sales, we stopped in at Walmart and picked up a twenty-two pound bag of cat food, which cost $17.48 plus tax. I did this because I wanted to use up the full value of the coupon ($15.99). If I had bought my usual size, I would have only benefited from the $12.78 the 16 pound bag cost if that makes any sense. 

On a side note, I also love the bags from this cat food. One way we save money here is by finding alternative sources for things we already use. The cat food bag is perfect to use as a garbage bag, and if you're really thrifty, you can even reuse these more than once since they are so durable. 

I know I've written about it before, but I love rewards programs. We joined a new one last week for the Speedway chain of gas stations and are now on our way to earning money off a future gas purchase. And just today I turned in 250 of my Coke rewards points for a free 12 pack of Coke. I'll be getting a 12 pack of Sprite for sick tummies when the need arises. 

Have you benefited from a rewards program lately? If so, I would love to hear about it in the comment section. 

Belinda
CFO ~ Chief Frugal Officer
© Belinda & Frugal Workshop, 2011-2014.
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do, do without”
"Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle ~ It will help you save money"