Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Working On My $250

It is time for my first $250 Challenge Check-in.  If you missed the explanation of the challenge you can get up to speed here!

As I mentioned, this is my first time using Dave Ramsey's envelop system and I am loving it!  I have never been a person who carries around much cash.  I actually think this is pretty true to our generation.  We are all debit card junkies (if not credit card junkies)!  But there is something empowering about using cash, especially when there is a set amount.  It turns it into a game!  I know I only have $250, now how far can I stretch that and still get the quality I want?

I have a specific list of what I am working on this month including the dinning room table & wall color, filling the shelves in the Grand Piano room and finishing the menu art - and I am off to a good start!

My first stop was Marshalls.  Marshalls is my consolation prize for not having a HomeGoods close by.  Marshalls (same company as HomeGoods) has a small home section reminiscent of the fabulousness that is HomeGoods.  I stop in every couple of weeks and often find great stuff and always find great deals.  And yesterday I found this great vase for...$16.99!


It is big...more officially called oversized.  The color is bright and vibrant and works great with the aqua and deep red we have working in the room.  Side note - aqua and deep red sound like a strange combination and honestly it kinda happened by accident, but they look wonderful together!  You should try it out!

Then I ran next store to Michael's and found the flowers on sale for 50% off which brought them down to $1.99 a piece.  Looking good so far!  I do need to go back and get more flowers to make the vase look more full.  So once I do that, I will have spent $21.89 on the flowers for a centerpiece total of $38.88. That definitely calls for a YIPPEE!

I have also been working on filling the three shelves I put up in the Grand Piano Room a few weeks back and yesterday I found this great metal sign at World Market.


In front of it is a tin from our favorite tea brand ~ Harney & Sons ~ so yummy!  So the tea tin was free and the sign was $12.99.  And now I have two shelves complete...


And one to go...

Doesn't it look so sad and lonely!  I will fill you soon little shelf, I promise.

So the running total so far:

vase $16.99
flowers $21.89
metal sign $12.99

TOTAL $51.87

Now my husband and I just have to agree on a wall color for the dinning room and we will be back to painting.