Frugal Confessions Friday!
Posted on | February 5, 2010 | 9 Comments
Hello Frugal Confessions Readers!
For those of you new to this series, check out the introduction here.
Here is my confession of the week:
I love the Container Store because I love organization and cleanliness. Part of redoing our laundry room means that we took down the ancient shelving in the closet, spackled (a lot), and put up a new shelf system. This was so important and fun to me, and I knew just where we were going to get a closet system from: The Container Store. Their Elfa system was on sale at 30% off in January, and so the timing seemed perfect.
However, they did not have the right measurements that we were looking for (one large shelf up top, and two smaller shelves down the left side in order to keep a lot of space in the middle for things with handles like vacuum cleaners and brooms). Paul had mentioned that I should look in Lowe’s instead, and could probably get the same thing for half the price. Well…he was right!
Lowe’s sells a large piece of finished particle board (oak–the same kind at the Container Store), as well as white-powder coated tracks and everything. My total cost came to: $45.11! I priced the same materials at the Container Store, and it would have been (with the 30% discount): $132!!!! Amazing…though I have to admit I will still be shopping periodically at the Container Store when I want to spoil myself:).
What is your frugal confessions of the week? I’d love to hear them!
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Tags: Container Store > Frugal Confessions > save money on home closet system > Saving Money
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9 Responses to “Frugal Confessions Friday!”
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I have Joined the Yakezie Challenge!
February 5th, 2010 @ 11:58 am
My hubby likes the Container Store too even though I can usually find the same things he’s looking for cheaper elsewhere. Why do you prefer them over the other places you can get organizational stuff? My husband likes the convenience of having it all in one place.
Online shopping is my frugal confession. If I want a big ticket item (>$50), I look at Craigslist and Ebay. My third place to look is usually Amazon.com and the fourth is Walmart.com. I’ve saved hundreds of dollars in the last 5 years on things we needed like textbooks and household goods. I’ve saved a few thousand on discretionary spending like our TV and entertainment unit and some furniture around the house.
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February 5th, 2010 @ 12:29 pm
Hello Crystal, and Happy Friday!
Ahhhh the Container Store–so pristine, so organizationally-driven (is that a word?) It’s got such great ideas for organizing things, and I haven’t really found an alternative all in one place (like your husband says).
Online shopping in the last ten years has really put the ball back into the consumer court if you ask me. We can now compare shop very easily, and purchase things from across the U.S. for better deals. Great job on all of your savings!
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February 5th, 2010 @ 12:31 pm
My frugal confession this week is that we figured out that after combining the rewards points on our debit and credit cards (all from the same account at our credit union), we’ve been able to get two $50 gas cards! So for over a month, our gas is free.
I have real hopes that now that we’re consolidating our points to on rewards account, we’ll be able to do this several times a year.
Best,
Jenn
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February 5th, 2010 @ 12:34 pm
Momma J: Awesome! Free gas is such a great perk:). Thanks for the confession!
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February 5th, 2010 @ 2:14 pm
hmmmm, I had trouble thinking of anything frugal I did this past week because it feels like we’ve been spending a lot of money lately! but I did remember one thing – when we filed our taxes last sunday I decided to take the time to use PA’s online tax filing program to file our state taxes for free. We use TurboTax online to e-file our federal, and in previous years we decided to just pay the $23 or so to have them send in our state taxes too so it would just be done with and we wouldn’t have to fill out more forms elsewhere. But this year the rate on the state was almost $40 and I just couldn’t stand to pay that much when I knew I could take a few extra minutes re-entering our information on the state website for free!
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February 5th, 2010 @ 2:46 pm
Aurora–way to go! I hate the time periods when it seems like you just keep spending, spending, spending (even if it is for things that you need, or to save more money in the future).
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February 5th, 2010 @ 4:18 pm
I nearly had a heart attack yesterday after an evening of spending, spending, spending.
First I picked the Pug up from the vet and he had an ear and skin infection ($185 vet visit that included his annual shots and all the medicine), then I had to get a new special dog food (Blue Buffalo) for $53 instead of the $120 dog food they wanted me to get (prescription), then I needed $35 of stuff like cotton balls and Benadryl from CVS ($35 after $5 in CVS coupons), and finally had my car inspection for $35 (I had a $5 coupon).
I spent $308 in a matter of hours and got nothing fun at all…yuck.
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February 5th, 2010 @ 4:29 pm
Total yuck! All good, responsible things to take care of, but definitely not fun:).
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February 8th, 2010 @ 4:42 pm
Umm, I tried out Costco’s liquor store. Don’t. Just don’t.
I loooooove Elfa stuff! It is so awesome. One day after I win the lottery I’m going to do every closet in my (new) house with it
It is expensive though. My sister in law just did one of my niece’s closets in the exact configuration that I did my two in. Her bill was $217 and what I did was opted for a Rubbermaid set that I found at WalMart that is every bit as configurable as the Elfa and it was only $100. I can’t stand WalMart but will occasionally go for stuff like that.
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