Thrifty Friday

I was excited to garage sale today ... if you remember 2 weeks ago our basement flooded .. and for 2 weeks now my house has been a total disaster!  So to get out and shop today was awesome .. AND .. our new sump pump is being installed today!  And if you dont know .. that means about 3 hours of a jack hammer in your concrete, nice and echo-y, basement.  See ya house!

I only went to 2 "sales" today.  One was a street sale close to my house and one was a fund raiser at a local Church.

I scored a NEW, never used bread maker for my friend!  Its an Oyster, older but never used.  I would guess it was close to $40 bucks new ... I paid just $10 bucks!  (Hey Jen.. how do you like it?!?!)

My son picked up that guitar .. for 2 bucks from his "spend" jar.

Oh, my 3 year old models for Fisher Price (she goes in, plays with a toy, they take pictures, she ends up on the box!)  Recently she modeled some snap on roller blades.  She was a natural at skating!  And wanted to keep them .. but they are not on the market yet!  I found this pink pair for 2 bucks! 

My son loves to buy his own things now.  Today he picked up a box of legos and offered the lady .25 cents, she happily said yes!  He did the same for an iron man puzzle that was still sealed in plastic.

One of my favorite scores today were 2 Melissa and Doug magnet puzzles.  I love these!  We have several of them. One is a Bride and Groom and one is a King and Queen!  These are $30 each on Amazon!  I paid just 2 buck each!

The sale also had clothing and shoes, fill a bag for 2 bucks!  HOLY HOT DEAL!

I packed 2 bags!  One of was full of clothing for my younger girls and a pair of shoes .. the other bag was for  my older girls, I will show you that soon (watch for details on back to school shopping on a budget!) 

Not pictured are a new bike for my son and a super cute HUGE art easel!  Both are getting a make over!

I spent $42 bucks.  $10 I will get back when I deliver the bread maker :) 

The yard sale at the Church was to raise money for a group called "Let Them LOL" and they are raising money to dig wells in Africa to provide fresh water.  What could be better then fresh water??  My total at their sale was just 10 bucks .. but I paid $20.  Think of all the sources of fresh water you have in your house, we have 5 (kitchen sink, bathroom sink, shower, toilet (cleaner then people in Africa!) our hose) There are thousands around the world who walk MILES and carry 40+ pounds of water miles back .. daily!  

Did you score any deals today?? 

Thrifty Friday

I went to 1 yard sale today ... 1 quick one!  June is a very  busy month for me .. this might be the only one I stop at all month!

She had BINS of amazing clothing.  Gap, Carters, Old Navy and Gymboree, great condition ..

just a buck a piece! 

8 pairs of zip-up feetie jammies (all Carters)

3 pairs of pants

2 pairs of shorts

5 shirts

2 skirts

6 dresses

1 pair of cute white snow boots

It was about 1:45 and her sale was sent to end at 2.  I offered her 20 bucks for the bag and she said yes!

I ended up paying just $.74 cents an item!  WOW!  

The apple peeler in the back I picked up last week for 5 bucks and forgot about it!  As with the navy blue and white stripped shower curtain for just 2 bucks.  Shower curtains are great for fabric because they are large.  This fabric will be an accent color in my master bedroom make over! 

Row Row Row your boat .. gently through our basement.

I wish I was joking.  Our basement flooded.  Our finished family room / play room / husbands office flooded.  

Judging by the water mark on the wall I am guessing around 3 inches of water entered our basement at some point Saturday night while we slept .. while a storm raged on outside.  Sunday morning when I stepped off the last step into the basement and the water squished between my toes I knew it was all over.. 

We spent the better part of 8 hours moving everything up stairs.  EVERYTHING.  800 sqft of living space worth of stuff .. crammed into my tiny living room! 

The best news is that I was a good mama the night of the flood .. and I had picked up the basement!  So the loss was minimal!!

The carpet and walls are a total loss, way to much water damage.  If this ever happens to you ... relax, dont panic.  Pick up anything off the floor that is being damaged!  Remember plastic, tubs and things safely on shelves ARE NOT BEING DAMAGED, look for wooden, paper, stray items on the floor, electronics .. that sort of thing!

Once the first wave of panic is over ... call your insurance company!  We use Nationwide and they have always been super helpful! (No they did not ask me to say anything nice about them .. my opinions are mine)  We were told we could remove everything from the house and huck it in the yard and they would take pictures the following day.  

After the adjuster came to measure, snap pictures and talk to us we were given the green light for demo.

Our basement was nothing special .. Berber carpet and paneling on the walls. See the water line?  Lucky you this is not a smelling blog .. because trust me, it was bad.  

(this is rain water back up that flooded, NOT dukie water. Yes I said dukie.) 

When you file an insurance claim you are given x amount for the damage to your house and x amount for damaged stuff.   We already know we will receive $5000 for the house damage, that's the carpet and walls.  Our insurance guy will cap the house repairs at 5k because over that and our mortgage holder would need to do their own inspection to check the structural integrity of our house .. which is totally not needed.  Oh-. and this only works if you have homeowners insurance!  And if you carry "storm sewer back up" insurance!  And if you actually carry enough insurance!!  So check your policy!  We were smart .. we are, maybe even slightly over insured. 

Lets talk demo.  I had never removed carpet before .. and its not that hard!  I picked up a carpet knife (basically a box cutter with a special angel to the handle and a blade that is sharp on all sides) a roll of duct tape and some PINK work gloves!  Or glubs as my daughter calls them. 

Check with your local trash removal company for how they want you to throw away carpet.  Ours wants us in no less then 4 feet wide sections, tightly rolled and taped or tied shut.  Stacked on the curb for trash day. Easy peasy!  The carpet knife made short work of the carpet!  I just sliced down the carpet at around the 4 foot mark from wall to wall.  I went IN the direction of the grain of the carpet.  Once it was cut I peeled back the edge and started to roll.  

Once I had a roll I taped it together and my sweet husband threw them outside!  They were water logged and heavy .. HEAVY .. and drippy.. and they smelled .. UGH.  I removed the carpet pad in the same way.  We were soooooooooo lucky .. the guys who installed this carpet before we bought the house .. they were kind enough to use about 20 staples to hold down the carpet pad.  That's it, just 20.  In the whole 20x15 foot basement .. 20 staples!  It took me about 3 hours to move all the carpet and stack it on the curb!  

We were also lucky to find this fabulous tile under our carpet!  Gorgeous I know!  Really though .. its ugly asbestos tile, glued to the concrete sub-floor .. but handles water VERY well .. so this tile was able to dry and we don't have to mess with the sub-floor or any other sort of vapor barrier!  Which means we can re-carpet right over the top! See what piece of wood next to the wall?  That's a carpet tac strip, it held the carpet in place!  I used a crow bar to pry it up and in about 10 minutes the whole room was smooth and clean and ready for new flooring! 

Next step - removing the wet paneling!

These are the parties I link to each week!  Check them out. 

Monday: Alderberry Hill, Etcetorize, The Gunny Sack, The Dedicated House, Adventures of a DIY Mom, Home Stories A to Z, Tip Junkie, Making the World Cuter, The Girl Creative, Mad in Crafts, Skip to My Lou, C.R.A.F.T., Keeping it Simple, Me and my Boys, Made By You Mondays, Its So Very Cheri, Craft-O-Maniac, Lines Across, Polish The Stars,

Tuesday: Back 4 Seconds, A Diamond in the Stuff, Real Housewives of Riverton, Elizabeth & Co, Romance on a Dime, The NY Melrose Family, Simply Done Wright, The DIY Dreamer, Coastal Charm, Creating a House of Grace, Today's Creative Blog, Not JUST a Housewife, Just a Girl, Chef in Training, Sugarbee Crafts, Bowl Full of Lemons

Wednesday: Polkadots on Parade, Southern Lovely, We Like To Learn As We Go, The Shabby Creek Cottage

Thursday: Adorned From Above, At The Picket Fence, Live Laugh Rowe, A Glimpse Inside, Seven Alive, 52 Mantles, Fireflies and Jellybeans, Bloom Designs, House of Hepworths, Stone Gable

Friday: Shaken Togerher, Simply Designing, 504 Main, Redoux Interiors, Raising Oranges, Craftionary, Simply Sweet Home, The Grant Life, Just Us Four, Thrifty Handmade Days, Tatertots & Jello, My Romantic Home

Saturday: Too Much Time On My Hands, Tutus and Tea Parties, Classy Clutter, Its Overflowing

Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Things, Flamingo Toes, Twigg Studios, C.R.A.F.T., My 1929 Charmer, Jam's Corner, Brassy Apple, Sew Chatty