I finished my office makeover- frugal style- for $0. If you missed the before pictures they can be seen here. We don’t need an official office since I just move my lap top around the house so we have taken a small corner of our closet and organized a few supplies. I painted the shelf the printer sits on with leftover paint we used throughout the house. Then I used leftover wallpaper that was purchased for $7 on clearance at Target months ago.. (The wallpaper project was a bust but I managed to use the pieces to line the cabinets in our bathroom and kitchen instead). Then I found a clear tub to house the gifts I have collected this year for various holidays/birthdays etc..
I am a list person and like to have important lists right in front of me- so I have the important ones taped on the wall.
- I have an ongoing list of the balance in our emergency fund (click here for my previous financial update post) which keeps me motivated daily to build the balance! Once we hit our goal I will replace this with the Debt Snowball on our last student loan.
- I have a list by month of important events such as weddings, birthdays etc.. that I will need to have gifts for. Then I shop all year long and cross off the name and the event as I find a suitable item. This is a great tip for people that have a hard time planning for Christmas expenses.
- Our financial goals for 2009: We keep a list of the items we are hoping to accomplish this year. Some examples include setting up a college account for baby #2, saving 6 months of expenses in our emergency fund, and a few household projects we hope to pay cash for.
- Monthly grocery expenses. I have a total by month of what we spent on all groceries and household items. My budget was $50/ week in January and I have challenged myself in March to lower that to $30. If you want to see how well you can live on a beans and rice budget check out this blog . Erin spends $800 a year to feed a family of four and let me tell you they live very well! More meals out in a month than our family has in a year!
I have all my rebate booklets, stamps, pens etc.. located in an organizer Target sent me when I signed up for a wedding registry.
So that’s it! A few hours and repurposing things we already had! Does anyone have tips for the ugly cords on the floor? I have a power strip but there are still cords for the laptop, printer etc.. that are in a jumble.
Try looping the excess length of cord through paper towel or TP rolls. You can then write on the roll to remind you which cord it is. Keeps everything tidy and untangled.
Hi Charlene!
I just linked over from Stretching A Buck. I love your closet office makeover. We are just getting ready to do the same exact thing in our house. Thanks for the inspiration! The lists you posted were great ideas for me since we are doing Dave Ramsey also. As far as the cords go…we have had great success using zip ties (you know thin piece of plastic with a loop on one end, you “zip” itself through the loop and then once its tight the only way to get it off is to cut it). I bought a whole package(they come in all different lengths) from Walmart for less than $2. I use them all over the house to contain cords. Hope that helps!
Thank you for the great suggestions ladies!