Savings Sunday - Use What You've Got

I know this is a day late (plus a week late!  I had this idea on Saturday but I never got to it).  Ah well, you'll forgive me, right?

Yeah yeah... I've been blogging a lot today.  I'm task oriented, so I had blogging on my to do list, ok?  ;) 

Yeah... I am not kidding!

Anyway, the big 'aha' I had on Saturday for a Savings Sunday post is this... use what you've got!

I've recently started working on the yard.  Trying to beautify it before my daughter's birthday party in September.  I don't want to spend a bunch of money on it, but it needs a LOT of work.  So... I found out that there are a bunch of rocks that need to be removed from my inlaws yard, and my MIL was only happy for me and the kids to pull a bunch out for her.  We brought them over to our yard and are using them as edging around my house.  I've also been pulling down dead branches, and clearing out many weeds.  You can make mulch from dead tree branches if you wish.  I actually want to take some of them and chop them into discs, then use those discs to make little 'fairy homes'... doors and stairs and such on the trees on our yard.  I'll post pics when done.

We also have some pallets that we cannot return to the feed company.  I will be using those to make outdoor furniture for around the fire pit and what not.  Free!!!  Yay!

You can probably find someone who has perennial plants that they need to have thinned out anyway, or saplings growing by lilac bushes or other shrubs.  I've been saving seeds from the apples we've been buying to see if I can't start my own apple trees.  They may not grow apples, but they would still grow into trees, and I love the flower blossoms on fruit trees!  You can also find all sorts of uses for old items, not just in your gardens, but for organizing in the house, or even up-cycling into something fabulous!  This is where pinterest can really come in handy!  ;)

Seriously... before you go out to buy something, try to see if you can't take something you may already have and just adjust it a bit to make it work for what you need!  Like, cereal boxes to organize scrapbook paper.  Or shoe boxes decorated with paper to organize cards!  Perhaps those old ice cube trays you don't use for ice cubes anymore could be upcycled into sorting earrings.  Or that tin can!  Just punch a bunch of holes in it in fun patterns and hang your earrings on that!  We recently took an old pail, a sour cream container, cardboard, and tape and hot glue, and we made a little dollhouse (my daughter says it's Twilight Sparkle's treehouse... Twilight Sparkle is a pony who lives in a tree which is a library in case you were wondering).  It is a lot of fun, and you don't have to worry about messing it up, cause it cost nothing!  :)

Have fun saving money and creating your own fun items!