Category: Amy Clark

Spring Cleaning With Goodwill

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Cleaning lady vacuuming a soft carpet in living room.

It is that time of year again when we all have the urge to get rid of the useless items , reclaim our garages, and restore order in our home. I used to try to do spring cleaning in one week, but with endless activities on our calendar, it makes it difficult to devote a week’s worth of my time to just cleaning. Who really has time for that?

Instead of doing one deep cleaning try “spring cleaning” all year long rather than trying to set aside a specific time to do this. By simply incorporating smaller scale spring cleaning projects into your daily routine, you can accomplish the same tasks on your limited schedule.

vacuuming dirt off a green carpet

Make a Checklist- Begin by making a checklist of everything that you would normally do during your spring cleaning. Tasks like washing all the linens and drapes, wiping down baseboards, washing windows inside and out, cleaning out your pantry, washing your shower curtains, organizing your linen cabinets, wiping down walls, and cleaning doorknobs and light fixtures are items that are typically on a spring cleaning checklist.

Take Inventory of Your Supplies- Take inventory of your cleaners and the tools that you will need in order to accomplish all of the necessary cleaning. Nothing is worse then getting ready to do your task and then finding out that you are missing that one component needed to complete your task. Put the items that you will need on your shopping list and get these items on the day that you perform all of your errands.

Add Just One Hour- Continue doing your normal daily routine, but add an extra hour each week towards accomplishing just one of these tasks on your list. Check off the items that you accomplish and press on to the next one. By just devoting one hour a week towards your spring cleaning goals you will have a more manageable deep cleaning routine.

Donation Day

Reclaim Your Home- Clear out as much clutter as you can. Make a box for trash and a box for your Goodwill donations and fill these with all of the unnecessary clutter in your home. By donating these items to Goodwill your items continue to help Goodwill’s mission to provide jobs, training and placement services for people with barriers to employment. Not only will someone who needs these items more benefit from your donation, but you can receive a tax break and reclaim space in your own home. If you don’t like to dust it, don’t love the item, and want an organized home- donate it!!

Make Cleaning Convenient- Keep a caddy of cleaning supplies on each floor. I find it much easier to clean my house when I know that the tools that I need to accomplish my task are just a few steps away. Keep your checklist either in one of your caddies or somewhere that is accessible so that you can always stay on track with your deep cleaning.

As an aside, I also encourage you to do your cleaning when it is convenient for you. Some people work better during morning hours while others of us would rather be snoozing and do better in the evening. Take advantage of the times that you work best. If you would rather break the hour into smaller increments that is totally up to you. The idea behind all of this is to make it as easy as possible so fit it in wherever and whenever you can.

bench monday: what a mess

Get the Kids Involved- Enlist your helpers to help you on these tasks. Your children and your husband can be active participants in getting your home organized just like they help to contribute to the clutter. Schedule dad for clearing out the garage, taking inventory of the tools you will need to do your gardening, cleaning out the basement, weeding through the family electronics, or other tasks inside and outside of the home. Children can aid in cleaning their own rooms by helping to remove some of the clutter in the house. Involving your family can be beneficial in showing them all that you do to keep your house running smoothly.


Make it Fun- Whatever you do, try to make the experience a fun one. Turn on some great music, watch television while polishing tables, do whatever you can to make getting your home clean easier and more enjoyable.

What are your best tips for Spring Cleaning? We would love to hear how you accomplish the Spring Cleaning in your home!

Please click on the above pictures for photo credit and to access the photographer information for each image.

How To Make T-Shirt Flowers

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Today I wanted to share with you an easy and fun project you can create from some common items that you can find at your local Goodwill Store. Today’s inspiration came from a bag of clip on earrings that I found when browsing through the jewelry section of the store and the sea of endless t-shirts in every variety of color that you can find on their racks.

For this project you will need a t-shirt (any size), spray paint in a contrasting color, clip on earrings, hot glue, glue sticks, scissors, a piece of card stock to make your template, and one piece of felt.

  1. To begin, you will need to cut out eleven circles out of your old t-shirt. I used a large circle punch and created my template out of scrap card stock. You could also just trace a lid to a canning jar, if you don’t have a circle punch handy.

  2. Grab your piece of felt and cut a heart out for the base of your flower or you can cut a simple felt circle.

  3. Let’s make some flower petals. Fold your circle in half as shown.

  4. Fold up one side of the circle that has been folded in half.

  5. Fold up the other half of the halved circle and have it meet with the other side to form a petal.

  6. Now hot glue the seam just a tiny bit together where the petal is gathered and then hot glue the end of the petal to the felt heart.

  7. Repeat this with all four ends of the heart.

  8. In the spaces left, fill in with three or four more petals.

  9. Spray paint your clip on earrings in your favorite color. Allow this to dry.

  10. Remove the back of the earring with a pair of pliers. Hot glue the earring to the center

  11. On the back of your fabric flower, you can attach a simple jewelry pin that you can find in the jewelry section of your favorite craft store.

  12. Wear your thrift store pin proudly!


Have you ever done anything fun with thrift store t-shirts? Feel free to share your ideas for ways you craft with Goodwill supplies here. We would love to hear them!

Creating a No Spend Challenge for Your Family

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money

Does taking a No Spend Challenge sound like a daunting project? It is actually easier than you might think. Our family tries to go on this little adventure every February and have made a commitment to have a month of no spending.

The technique of giving yourself a break from spending, whether it is a weekend or a year, is a popular technique among personal finance writers and financial advisers to aid in getting your budget back on track.

Money-free weekends are nothing new to our family. We often make commitments verbally that we will forgo spending for a weekend, but no spending for an entire month? This will be a new one for us.

To make a commitment to our no-spend month, we have budgeted exactly what we need for gas and groceries. We will, of course, pay all of our monthly bills, but will go without any incidental spending that usually occurs during the week. That means no trips to Hobby Lobby for me, no dinners out when I am too tired to cook, no drinks out with the girls. As you can see, it will be quite the commitment to not spend carelessly.

Empty Wallet

What can be gained though from a no-spend month can prove to be of great value for families. When you are not able to spend, you suddenly see how plentiful your life already is. The richness of what is around you and how little you truly do need to be happy quickly comes into focus.

As a consumer, we become conditioned to spend so those initial first weeks can prove challenging, but the rewards are great for families who can overcome that hump and break the cycle of spending. A no-spend month does come with challenges, but it also comes with the gratification of knowing that you have let your bank account grow and have become aware of where your money is going.

Would you like to take a no-spend adventure with me? Just think of all of the free time you will have if you are not out shopping and spending for a month.

Here are a few ideas for how you could spend all of that free time!

– Get your finances back on track by trying out a free program like Mint.com and get in better touch with your past spending.

– Dust off those old board games and spend an evening playing them together.

– Watch free movies on Hulu.com or take out the DVD collection and watch your favorite movies again. If you are really craving a new release, sign up on Redbox.com to get free movie codes sent to your cell phone to use towards a fun new release.

super nintendo

– Break out that really old game system and relive those games again with your kids.

– Dig through your old cookbooks and try out recipes using some of the ingredients in your pantry.

– Play a game of Iron Chef with your spouse and let your children be the judge of the best dish by having your very own cooking contest. You might be surprised that even dad’s toasted Pop-Tart might be the judge’s favorite in this contest.

– Actually use the craft supplies that you have bought and start tackling some of your crafty ideas for the holidays.

– Find the floor in your laundry room.

– Look for free community activities that you could do as a family.

– Volunteer or find things in your home that you could donate to Goodwill to reclaim that space in your home.

Donation Day

– Visit the library and actually read the books.

– Clip coupons and plan your grocery shopping in advance for next month.

– Take a wonderful and delicious nap.

– Learn a new skill set or check out books on self-improvement to help make your life better or easier. I love to visit You Tube to get great video tutorials on everything from doing my hair to discovering a new craft.

– Get free museum passes from the library or check the local museum’s websites for information on their free admittance days. Don’t forget to pack a lunch!

– Have a potluck-style swap night with your friends and exchange three of your things for three of theirs.

– Read that pile of magazines or newspapers that never gets read.

– Exercise.

– Listen to free music on Spotify, Pandora, or Groove Shark and make a fun mix of songs you listened to when you were dating your spouse.

bubble bath
– Take a bubble bath.

– Play on the floor with your children.

– Organize your closet and take inventory of your wardrobe. Be sure to start a great stack of items to pass on to Goodwill!

– Recharge those batteries and put them in the children’s toys to make them “new” again.

– Tackle a home improvement project that you bought supplies for, but still haven’t finished.

However you decide to spend your no-spend day, weekend, week, month, or year, I hope that it brings into focus how great it can truly be to not spend and that it gives you the opportunity to build meaningful relationships with those around you.

Have you ever tried to go without a period of not spending money? What did you learn from that experience? Please feel free to share!


Please click on the above pictures for photo credit and to access the photographer information for each image.

Thrifty Ways to Package Holiday Gifts

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I love to wrap gifts creatively for the holidays and am always on the hunt for cute ideas for embellishing gifts without spending a lot of money.

You may not have thought of Goodwill as a great place to find items for adorning those holiday gifts, but it is the perfect place to check for creative gift wrapping solutions.

Here are a few of my favorite creative ways to wrap gifts for the holidays!

Wrap it In Wallpaper- I love to hunt for wallpaper when I do my Goodwill shopping because it is such a beautiful (and durable) way to wrap your gifts. Hunt for patterns that can double for your holiday wrapping and for all of those other special occasions. I can usually find huge rolls of wallpaper for a dollar or less and it lasts me forever. You can make each gift unique by switching the colors and styles of your bows and use this paper for years to come.

Use a Wallpaper Border– Wallpaper borders are also a wonderful way to wrap your gifts, particularly for the small jewelry boxes or for recovering small gift tins. The best part about using wallpaper borders for small packages is how easy it is to work with when wrapping small boxes and it costs just quarters at Goodwill!

    Upcycle a Vintage Tin– Old vintage tins can make the perfect packaging for your favorite holiday treats. Recover the tops with scrapbook paper or vintage wall paper. I also love to use cans of spray paint in bold colors for making tins monochromatic.

    Wrap it in Maps– Maps can be a really unique way to wrap those gifts. When visiting in different cities and areas, be sure to pick up some maps from the visitor’s bureau and save them for wrapping your presents. To make gifts more personal, save maps from your special trips or places that you would like to remember.
    Likewise, you can save maps from the recipient’s local area and wrap them in that. Maps can also be printed for free from places like Google Maps or MapQuest.

    Wrap them in Fabric-Look at Goodwill for great fabrics to use to wrap your gifts in over by the table linens and bed linens at the store. You can easily make a no-sew bag using hot glue and the fabric. Leave the top of the bag open and tie it up with a little bit of ribbon. This would be a great way to wrap items that tend to be more difficult to wrap because of their odd shapes.

    Make the Wrapping a Gift in Itself- Don’t forget that your gift itself can also be used to wrap your present. For example, a pretty scarf can be used to wrap a new pair of gloves or an apron can be used to wrap a new dishtowel set. Look at your gifts as wrapping elements and see how you can use them.

    Add a Small Embellishment– Add a special element to finish off your gift that you have found when doing your Goodwill shopping. For Christmas, I love to find mini-ornaments to use to decorate my gifts. For other occasions, you can tie something little that goes along with the theme of the party. Be creative and it can add another dimension to your gift.

    Gifts wrapped in newspaper

    Wrap it in Newspaper- Newspaper is a great way to wrap gifts and can also be tailored to the recipient. For example, I love to wrap children’s gifts in the comics section of the paper. This is a fun and frugal way to wrap their gifts and, let’s face it; kids do not care about the expensive gift wrap anyway. Likewise, you can use different sections of the paper to go along with that person’s particular interests. For my favorite finance guy, I love to wrap the gifts in the Business section and add a Monopoly Money gift tag. Similarly, a foodie might enjoy a gift wrapped in the Food section and a whisk tied to her gift. Go nuts with the themes- it makes your gifts completely unique and more interesting to open.If you have children, have them get in on the decorating fun. Let them decorate computer paper or large sheets of construction paper to wrap your gifts in.

      vintage greeting card gift tags

    Repurpose Old Greeting Cards- Save the greeting cards that you receive and make new gift tags out of them. I save cards that I receive that have interesting pictures on them for these kinds of occasions. You can hole punch them and loop them through with ribbon or mount them to card stock and add an extra layer with stamps around it.

    What are some of your favorite ways to creatively wrap gifts? Have you found anything at Goodwill that you wrap your gifts with? I would love to hear your suggestions!

    Photo credits- Please click on the photos to access the photographer’s Flickr pages.

    Finding Thankfulness in a Simple Holiday

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    I don’t know about you, but Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. What other holiday do we just eat and sit around being thankful for what we already have? While Christmas really should be about that, I find that Thanksgiving is the holiday where our family seems to focus best on all of the blessings in our life. There are no presents to distract us from our thankful hearts and the focus is all about being together as a family.

    We don’t have very many Thanksgiving traditions in our family other than a morning spent watching the Thanksgiving parade in our jammies and just being together. The beauty in Thanksgiving, for me, is finding simple ways to give thanks for all that we have in our lives.

    As Jacqueline Winspear has said though, “Grace isn’t a little prayer you chant before receiving a meal. It’s a way to live.” I want to live thankfully, to be aware of every blessing (great AND small), and the more aware I become the more thankful I am. The more thankful I am, the more blessed I feel. It is a richness that money can’t buy.
    Here are a few ways to embrace a life of thankfulness in the little things this holiday season:







    Say Thank You With Simple Gifts– Contrary to popular belief, even though I blog abut saving money, you won’t find this girl at the Black Friday sales trying to score the best deals. My favorite thing to do is to spend the day after Thanksgiving lounging around in my pajamas, sipping coffee, and starting my holiday crafting for those I love.

    Instead of making a plan of attack at the store this year, embrace a DIY mentality towards your gift-giving and start jotting down the crafts you want to try this year. I don’t know about you, but nothing means more to me than someone taking time out of their day to create something beautiful and unique just for me.
    Make a list of supplies you need for making those crafts happen and hit Goodwill first to see if you can find the craft supplies for less or find a vision for what to do with these thrift store items. If you need a little inspiration to get you started, be sure to read my entry on, “Breathing New Life In Thrift Store Items.”
    With those beautiful handmade gifts, jot down a note to say thanks and tell that person why they are so important in your life. In a day and age where we barely write anymore, just imagine what a little note included with a handmade gift could mean to someone you love?
    Start a Simple Christmas Stocking Tradition- Tired of trying to find a home for all of those useless items in your stocking? Why not start a new tradition that will remind you what the holiday season is all about?
    On the first day of December, I set out a basket with small slips of paper. Each person in the family is supposed to write something about someone else in the family that they appreciate about them and stick it in each other’s stockings. On Christmas morning, we have something fun to look forward to opening, which centers on family rather than gifts. If you have smaller children, have them draw pictures for each family member and jot down the sweet things they say about their family members. It is truly a highlight of my Christmas morning and brings us all closer together as we share our family breakfast.

    Give Simply to Others- Even though I have the best intentions to keep gift-giving simple, we always receive so many wonderful gifts from our family that we have to find a home for. Use this time leading up to the holidays to bless others with the abundance in your life.

    Talk with your children about the importance of giving back and have them help you weed through their books, toys, and electronics to make room for the gifts that they will be receiving and to reclaim some much needed space in your home.

    Want to visualize how much your Goodwill donation will mean for others with your children? Visit The Donate Movement page and you can use their calculator to discover what your impact will have on your community and the amount of hours your simple donation will provide to educate and train employees at Goodwill. Head on over to their page today and see what a difference a simple day of decluttering could do for someone in your community.






    Instead of Gifts Create Simple Family Moments– Last year we started a new tradition with the money we received from our grandparents. In year’s past, I would spend an entire day shopping and trying to find gifts that the kids might want even though they really didn’t need anything.
    Instead of buying gifts, we put the money toward an experience that we could do together. Last year we all dressed up very fancy and took our children to see, “The Nutcracker.” We finished the show by having hot cocoa at The South Bend Chocolate Cafe. It was a memory I hope they will never forget.
    Consider asking for gifts like money to put toward a pass to a local museum, zoo, or a special show that you would love to see at the theater. Not only will you have had a fun experience together bonding as a family, but you will also have a memory that will last far longer than another gift under the tree.
    What are some of your favorite simple holiday traditions? Feel free to share them here!

    Creating Fun Family Nights In

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    Life

    If there is one thing that our family loves it is a good old-fashioned board game night, in fact, some of my most favorite childhood moments were spent around board games. I still remember the Sweet Valley Twins board game that I would play with my best friend and the endless rounds of Skip-Bo that I played with my sister when we were kids. Later, when we were first married, we had little to our name other than a futon for our bed, a card table for our kitchen table, and a stack of board games to keep us company. Those are still some of my fondest memories of those newlywed days.

    Now board games are the ultimate frugal family fun night in our house. I try to get our board games at Goodwill because it is a great way for me to try them out without making a huge investment. Sometimes I buy games and we discover that it isn’t something we would want to play over and over again, but I know I don’t have to worry about it. When the games cost us only $1.50, it makes it much easier to donate it back and try something else out.
    Here are a few of my favorite board games to look for when doing your Goodwill shopping.

    skin in the game

    Apples to Apples– If you have not played Apples to Apples before, you are really missing out on a treat. It is my new favorite game to tote around to all of our family functions and any opportunity where I can get a few friends together. Simply deal the cards out to each player and one person gets to be the judge. The judge will share a card and you select from your cards the best match to that card. Once everyone has given their card to the judge, the judge decides which card best fits the card they shared.
    The fun is in the variety of unexpected comparisons people make, sometimes apt, funny, creative, or simply absurd. For example: people might match “Awkward” with “Oil Spills,” “My First Kiss,” “Dandruff,” and “Gold Chains. ” Or: “Painful” with “High School Reunions” and “Regis Philben. ” Strategy comes into play since, because each player takes turns being the judge, you begin to pick up on the preferences of each player and tailor your choices accordingly.
    Honestly, if you find yourself hosting a dinner party where you are worried about conversation or a family gathering that you don’t have very much in common with, this is the game to break out to get through those awkward silences. Kid versions of this game are also available. (Age Recommendations- 12 and up)
    Skip-Bo– As I mentioned before, this was my favorite game growing up and my sister & I would play this for hours and hours. Created by the makers of UNO, this card game is a delight for anyone of all ages. The game is a sequencing game of skill and strategy intended for two players or more and ages seven and up. Players create sequential stacks with cards on the board, the first player to use all the cards in their stack wins. The deluxe edition has a board with placeholders for all of the stacks of cards and score sheets to keep tabs of the winners. I love this game because it is easy to still have conversations while playing, making it a great game to socialize with other couples.
    Trouble– Trouble is a great game for younger kids because it is a very simple concept and the playing time is perfect for shorter attention spans. Adults may remember this great game from their childhood. With this game, you just move your four pegs around the board and put them into the finish spots. If you land on an opponents peg while going around the board though, you can boot them back to the beginning and make their piece start all over again. Instead of rolling dice, you push the “Pop-o-matic,” in the center which throws the dice for you. My kids really love this game and you will too! (Age Recommendations- Ages 4-9)

    Giant Connect 4

    Connect Four– Connect Four is one of our favorite games and both the kids really enjoy it. The game is a vertical version of tic-tac-toe. Each player has a color and you drop the pieces in and try to get four in a row. The other player can block your moves with their pieces and this is a great game for strategy building to see if you can outsmart your opponent. This is another game that is short and sweet so it is perfect for children with short attention spans or for a quick game before bedtime.
    Rummikub– This is a game that my husband loved to play when he was growing up, and now he has me addicted to it too! The game is intended for ages eight and up and can be played with two or more players. With rules similar to gin rummy, Rummikub is a classic tile game that’s guaranteed to get at least a million kid-hours of use in any family. Players take 14 numbered tiles and try to get rid of them as fast as possible by creating runs (for example, 7-8-9) and sets (7-7-7). The link provided is for their deluxe edition (which we do not have). This deluxe edition is cleverly designed so that the four plastic tile racks fit together to form a carrying case for the game. Junior editions of this game are also available.

    Scrabble– What is not to love about this game? Intended for two players or more and recommended for ages eight to ninety-nine, you can play this game for years with your children. The game has been improved with a swivel board (less stretching required!), raised holders to rest the tiles into, and a bag to store all of the tiles. This is one of my personal favorites and we play this a lot in our house. Don’t forget to purchase a copy of the Scrabble Dictionary and store it with your game board. Take some time to study some words and really beat your opponents! Want to see what Scrabble obsession looks like? Rent the movie, “Word Wars.” It is all about the Scrabble championships that are held and people who attempt to make a living from this sport. Junior editions of this game are also available.
    Upwords– Along the same vein, this is another fabulous word puzzle game, but with a twist. You build words just like Scrabble, but you can build up and up (five letters high) to change words into new words. The more you stack, the more points you earn. I think it is more challenging than Scrabble, but the scoring is much easier to do. This game is for two players or more and recommended for ages eight and up. This game can be a powerful tool when your children are beginning to read because it can help teach them how to change words using different letters. Consider it a cheap version of “Hooked on Phonics” and a game that they can enjoy for years after they have learned to read!

    Yahtzee– A classic game of dice that has been around since 1956 and is still played in millions of homes today. You can play alone (which I don’t think would be as much fun) or with more players. The ultimate in this game is to actually get Yahtzee or five of a kind. This game is so much fun and also a great teaching tool for children. Children can learn basic addition and subtraction, as well as sequential ordering.

    Monopoly– I had never played this game until high school, and I can honestly say that my husband is always the winner, which is why we don’t play it as much! This game is a great teaching tool in money-management and in buying real estate. We have a couple of different versions of this game, but my favorite is the Dot Com Monopoly, which we purchased when Dot Coms were ruling the world. Few of the companies on the board exist anymore, which makes for interesting conversation and fond memories before the dot com bomb hit for computer nerds and geeks alike!
    We have many more games in our collection and the last time I hit Goodwill, I picked up another stack of new ones. Our collection keeps growing and we hope to have a game collection that our kids will enjoy someday with their friends. In a day of technological bliss, game nights now seem “retro.” Why play on a board when you can just grab your game system or play a computer game online? I hope that board games will last the test of time because they can be an essential part of family bonding and creating a family night to remember!
    What are your family’s favorite board games? Have you ever found any great ones at Goodwill that have become part of your family night? Please share here!

    Reclaiming Your Garage

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    Garage Shelving

    You may not realize that Goodwill experiences a dip in donations around this time of year, but it does! When summer winds down people often do not donate as much and this creates a shortage of product for Goodwill. That is why I think it is the perfect time of year to discuss cleaning out your garage and making room for your cars before the winter season approaches, while creating donations that will help Goodwill thrive during this time of year.

    Pull Everything Out– The first step towards getting that garage truly cleared of clutter is to pull everything out and assess what you have. You may find that you have multiples of items like yard tools, mechanical tools, or parts and equipment for household projects. Remove any multiples you have and add them to your donation bin to help reduce that extra clutter.
    While you have everything out, I like
    to assess the items that get stored higher up in the garage or rafters. Are these item really something we need to be storing and just how often do we get these items down to be used? If they haven’t been used in years, you likely don’t need to store them!

    Charlotte Clean & Green

    Clear Out That Electronic Clutter- I talk a lot about getting rid of the electronic clutter on here, but electronic clutter seems to gather in every corner of our home, including our garage. You may not be aware of what electronics Goodwill accepts, but you can learn more about their program with Goodwill by reading this post on the Dell Reconnect program that Goodwill offers.
    For example, Goodwill will happily process those cords and cables (power cord & USB cables) that no longer have a use in your garage. They also accept your ink & toner cartridges (either full or empty), computer speakers, telev
    isions and software. They even take your old cell phones! If your garage has become a warehouse for your old televisions, cords, and outdated computer equipment, load them up in your car and take them on over to Goodwill.

    Items where the glass could be broken, like computer monitors and scanners, just need to be placed into a trash bag or box and clearly labeled that they are broken and the date of your donation. Isn’t it nice to know that even those broken items in our home can be processed for donation?

    Organized Garage Oct-2010 03

    Sort Like Items Into Clear Bins- Once you have gotten rid of all the clutter and duplicate items, you can begin sorting the items that you want to keep into clear bins. I try to keep in mind that if I can reduce the amount of items that we need to keep, we can reduce the amount of bins we will need to buy! Label the items clearly and then place them back into your garage.
    Try to be strategic about where you place the items when you put them back in. For example, seasonal items can be stored higher up, and then keep items that you need more often lower and into easier reach.
    Use the vertical space and wall space for mounting shelving and sorting items upward and along garage walls to get items cleared from your garage floor.

    old car

    Get Rid of that Clunker– Now that all of your like items are sorted into bins, why not assess the bigger items that might be gathering dust in your garage. Is there a car in your garage that you were hoping to repair one day, but know that you never will? Why not free up the space in your garage for the car you really do love to drive!

    You may have a car of humble means that you could offer as a donation to Goodwill that could give a new lease on life to someone e
    lse. Even if your car is not drivable, it could make economic sense for Goodwill to take the donation to their auction site . There is no need to detail your car before donating it, just clear it of the clutter and contact Goodwill to let them know that you have a car that you would like to donate.
    The vast majority of these vehicles are sold at dealer auctions and those donations help Goodwill’s mission to provide jobs, training and placement services for people with barriers to employment.






    Clean Out the Garage & Join a Movement- You may see cleaning out your garage as just cleaning out your garage, but you are actually joining a very important movement of people! Goodwill has started a movement called The Donate Movement and they are encouraging everyone to participate in it. By visiting the page, you can use their calculator to discover what your impact will have on your community and the amount of hours your simple donation will provide to educate and train employees at Goodwill.

    Photo credits- Please click on the photos to access the photographer’s Flickr pages.

    Shopping Goodwill for Back-to-School

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    It is hard to believe that summer is coming to a close, but our children will be heading back to school in no time flat. The month before school is always such a busy season of preparations as we stock up on our school supplies, pick our cool character backpacks, get our new school shoes, and select our school uniforms for the year.

    Goodwill might not be the first place you think of when you are doing your school shopping, but if you are a family on a budget, it can be a fantastic resource for families during this expensive season in our lives.

    Today I wanted to share with you just a few ideas for items to look for at your local store that you may not have thought of before.

    Stock Up on a Back-to-School Wardrobe: Goodwill carries loads of name brand items that can get your kid’s year started out in style and with your budget in mind. Name brand jeans, t-shirts, hooded sweatshirts, coats, dresses, pants, and leggings can all be found at Goodwill for a lot less than you would pay at the mall.

    For stylish girls that need a little persuading to shop at Goodwill first, I recommend having them pull together a style file or poster board with their favorite looks from their favorite magazines for this year’s season. Encourage them to come up with a list of their top pieces that they would like to start the school year out with and challenge them to replicate the looks that they created in their style file with pieces from Goodwill. Issue a fun reward for them if they come under budget like a gift card to their favorite store or even an actual piece from the style file that can add that extra sparkle to their Goodwill wardrobe.

    For children that are required to wear uniforms, like my own, Goodwill often has uniform pieces for a fraction of the price than you would pay retail. I keep my kid’s clothing sizes on my phone so when I see a particularly great deal on an item at the store, that I know exactly what sizes to buy when I see them.

    Embrace Refashioned Style– Refashioned pieces and handmade accessories are the latest rage this year. You may not think of Goodwill as a fabric store, but I do! No matter what the size of the item, look at the pieces as material to create chic back-to-school accessories out of items that you purchase from the store.

    Consider using pieces from Goodwill to make items like a fabric flower pin that could accessorize your daughter’s hair or clothing, try using fabric to create rolled rosette rings for a cute accessory, whip up cute ruffled t-shirts from the clothing at your store, or add a leather label to your son’s backpack or hat with his initials burned in.

    Half of the fun for me is thinking outside the box with items that might be overlooked and creating new pieces that will make your children the envy of their classmates. The possibilities are endless at the store and every day is a brand new day with daily donations coming in.

    Get Those Back-to-School Papers Organized– The one thing I dread the most about school starting is the unbelievable amount of papers that come home and the homework paper trail that comes with it. Start thinking now about what types of systems you would like to use to control the paper chaos in your home and jot down the items you would like to find at your Goodwill store.

    Items like magazine organizers, binders, hooks, storage ottomans, and baskets can be found at the store and I love to really hunt on the sale days for these items. When doing the rest of your back-to-school shopping this year, be sure to visit the Housewares section of the store to see what you can find to house the paper chaos in your home.

    Stock Up for Teacher Gifts– I love to spoil our teachers, but I also love to do it on a budget. Goodwill is my favorite store to look for cute elements to add to our teacher gifts throughout the year. The store offers a plethora of gift baskets, mugs that can be painted and filled with treats for our favorite teachers, jars to package our favorite drink mixes, and adorable plastic containers that can be filled with bath salts for a fun gift to give.

    You may also be surprised to find that there are many fabulous items that are new and still in their package that could be stored away in your gift closet for the holidays or Teacher Appreciation Day.

    I hope this entry gives you just a few fun ideas to begin saving for the back-to-school season with Goodwill. Be sure to take advantage of their wonderful sales and find new ways to save at your store today!

    What items do you buy for the back-to-school season at your local Goodwill? We would love to hear what you love to hunt for this time of year! Please share!

    Fun Ways to Save at Goodwill

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    Little Shopper

    In last month’s blog entry, I shared three surprising things you might not know about your Goodwill donations. I really wanted to shed some light on what possibilities your donations hold for Goodwill and how much of an impact even one bag of donations means for the company.

    Of course, I am also a frugal girl at my very core and while donating is very important to me, saving money when I shop is just as important. You would be correct in thinking that Goodwill is a fabulously frugal place to shop, but what you might not realize is that there are big ways to save, that can maximize your shopping dollars further. Even in places like Goodwill, I would rarely shop without a coupon because I want to get the absolute best bang for my buck.

    Here are a few easy ways to save on your next Goodwill trip. After all, who wouldn’t want to get a little more in their shopping cart for a little less?

    Fit & Function: Go Go Shopper

    Take Advantage of Store Sale Days– Goodwill offers lots of great savings to their customers with discount shopping days for senior citizens and the general public. Discount days can be anything from a set price for a bag of items to a designated fifty percent off day in the store. Before you plan your next shopping trip, visit the Sales Calendar on the Goodwill website to discover which days to hit your local store and save big.

    Sales days are the busiest days at Goodwill so I have learned over the years that it is good to still have a shopping strategy in place. I begin by jotting down a list of things that I am specifically looking for when I shop. Next, I arrive as soon as the store opens so that the selection is at its premium and to avoid the crowds that may develop later. Third, I take a reuseable shopping bag with me when I go. With sales days being the busiest days at the store, shopping carts can be at a premium. Bringing my own shopping bag not only saves me from taking home one more plastic bag, but it also helps me carry what I need up to the register without having to maneuver around the people with my cart, or holding all of the items in my hands. Keep one of these tucked in your car and you will be very glad you did for these occasions!

    Additional event promotions are featured on Goodwill’s Homepage and feature Goodwill’s own fashion blogger, Kathy Friend, who assists the Goodwill store with fashion events for the entire family. When you make donations on the days that Kathy arrives, you can receive her services and consultation at a discounted price, just for cleaning out your closet!

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    Join Michiana Goodwill Boosters– Michiana Goodwill Boosters is truly a Michiana hidden treasure that you will be happy to discover if you are a regular Goodwill shopper. For a mere $5, you are entitled to coupons for $5 off of a $10 purchase for every single month of the year. Basically, after you pay your $5, you will recoup your investment with just one coupon of the twelve you receive for your shopping throughout the year at Goodwill. Not only do you save $5 each month, but Michiana Goodwill Boosters also enjoy special discount shopping days. Instead of battling the crowds on 50% off days, you would be entitled to exclusive sale days just for members.

    To join Michiana Goodwill Boosters, simply inquire at the checkout counter to register your membership. It is a $5 investment worth making to save your family money all year long.

    Goodwill Doug

    Make a Donation- One of the easiest ways to score savings at the store is to stop by and make a donation. An employee will happily hand you a tax receipt when you drop your items off at the Goodwill Drive-Thru Donation Center. The bonus, that makes the trip and decluttering your life entirely worth it, is that our Michiana Goodwill Stores attach a coupon to your tax deduction form that will save you a percentage on your next shopping trip.

    Many times when I make a donation, I park the car and head right on in with my coupon to take advantage of my savings. Anything that gets me organized and helps me save on my shopping is a very good thing, in my book!

    Check the White Board- Each day shopping at Goodwill is like a brand new adventure. Not only is the merchandise fresh daily, but the savings are fresh daily too. I always check the white board at the front of the store that will tell me the specials that day. Specials can be anything from pink tagged items, to toys, to books, to housewares. When you see the sales happening that day at the store, try to focus your shopping efforts on the deals highlighted, and you will come away with a lot of great stuff for very little money.

    There is no excuse to not save money at Goodwill! For more great shopping tips visit the website for additional ideas on how to save and navigate the store.

    Photo credits- Please click on the photos to access the photographer’s Flickr pages.

    What are your favorite ways to save at Goodwill? Any tips for new shoppers from our regulars?

    3 Suprising Things You Might Not Know About Your Donations

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    goodwill cart bw

    The summer months for our family means oodles of birthdays, Father’s Day, Mother’s Day, and so many extracurricular activities that we have to pay for during these warmer months. It can often feel like we are completely tapped out by the end of the summer. Regardless of our situation though, I am always looking for ways that we can continue to support charities and organizations that need our help, even when we don’t have the financial means to always support everything we can.

    I started referring to this giving in my house as my, “scraps of life giving.” There are so many things that I have within my possession and that I can do with the limited talents and budget that I possess that the possibilities for good old-fashioned giving are endless.

    Goodwill is a great example of a “scraps of life giving” project that you could be doing with your family and I just love sharing easy ways that you can make donations with items you already have in your home. Today I wanted to showcase 3 surprising things you may not know about those donations you are giving and how they can impact others.

    Jeans at Goodwill Store

    What a Clothing Donation Means- Of course, it comes as no surprise that you can donate clothes to Goodwill, but what might surprise you is how much of an impact that clothing donation could be to others.

    It is shocking to know that a single pair of donated jeans can provide someone in your community with about 10 minutes of resume preparation services. If just one pair of jeans can provide that, think what a good old-fashioned closet cleaning would do for others.

    Goodwill has started a movement called The Donate Movement and they are encouraging everyone to participate in it. Visit The Donate Movement page and you can use their calculator to discover what your impact will have on your community and the amount of hours your simple donation will provide to educate and train employees at Goodwill. Head on over to their page today and see what a difference a simple day of decluttering could do for someone in your community.

    Zenith

    What an Electronic Donation Means– With two gadget-geeks living in our house, we have accumulated a lot of electronic clutter in our home. I am ashamed at the electronic clutter we have gathered, but it is nice to know that my electronic clutter could have a purpose as a Goodwill donation.

    Just a couple of months ago, I shared with you how to spring clean the electronic clutter from your life. This post showcases what happens to your electronics and what you could be donating.

    Goodwill has a partnership with Dell to process electronic waste in a technology recycling program that can greatly benefit our community and reduce the waste in landfills. The program is called Reconnect and it offers you an easy, convenient and responsible way to recycle your used computer equipment. You can drop off any brand of used equipment – working or not – at Goodwill’s Drive-Thru Donation Centers at their retail stores.

    Look around your home and see what electronic waste you can clear from your life today. Not only will you help the environment by not dumping your item in a landfill, but you also will be supporting Goodwill’s mission to provide jobs for others.

    What a Car Donation Means- When I was young, I thought anyone who could donate a car had to be a millionaire to be able to do that. Just this summer though, our family had a car that we had paid off and we were able to give to my brother who needed a set of wheels to get him back and forth to work. Our humble Ford Focus was a Mercedes compared to what he had been driving, and he told me he felt like he got an upgrade and new lease on his life.

    You may have a car of humble means that you could offer as a donation to Goodwill that could give a new lease on life to someone else. Even if your car is not drivable, it could make economic sense for Goodwill to take the donation to their auction site . There is no need to detail your car before donating it, just clear it of the clutter and contact Goodwill to let them know that you have a car that you would like to donate.

    The vast majority of these vehicles are sold at dealer auctions and those donations help Goodwill’s mission to provide jobs, training and placement services for people with barriers to employment.

    The honest truth is, you don’t need to be a millionaire to be a giver.

    If there is anything I have learned, it is that those scraps of life giving can often have the most impact to others.

    (Photo credits- Please click on the photos to access the photographer’s Flickr pages. The last photo is my own)


    Amy Allen Clark is the Founder of MomAdvice.com, a web community where she shares advice on parenting, money-saving ideas, recipes, and solutions for work-at-home moms. Visit her site for more ideas on ways to live on a frugal budget!