Help! $125 left til the end of the month

[daddys3chicks]

Well, we only have $125 left until the end of the month. I need some ideas.

Amanda's birthday falls during this time. I already have plates and napkins from the dollar store for her preschool and I can bake cookies from what I have in the pantry.

Her party is next Saturday. The place is paid for, and I can get more plates, napkins, goody bags at the dollar store for under $20. I already have her gifts and can make a cake.

I think we can live out of the pantry, we have a lot fo mac and cheese, a frozen roast, come frozen pork chops, canned veggies, smoked sausage, hot dogs. We will need to buy milk. I also need 1 medication refilled that will cost me $25.

So, $125 - $45 - $80. Katie has a book fair next week and I already promised her she could get some books. I have $25 in my account, so we will buy from that.

Fall Festival at Katie's school is next Thursday night. We have already paid for our dinner there, so that will be free entertainment. I have a Secret Sister reveal dinner at church the same night, but I already made my gift.

I need to mail 2 crochet swap items out, one will probably be $5 the other a little more. Plus I have to add return postage. We will have to have gas for both vehicles in that time too.

I am going to go through my clothes, I have a lot of nice plus size things I don't wear. I am thinking of selling them on ebay, but I don't want the fees to negate any profit. Any other ideas? For example, I have a really nice red and white print Talbots tank dress I bought off of ebay but never wore. I ought to be able to get something for that right?

Any ideas you have are great!

[Jerseygirl]

Anyone you can babysit for? Try really hard to use minimal gas. I got nothin' else, sorry.

[HOMEDEPOTDIVA]

I also get concerned about fees for e-bay- the red dress might sell well at a consignment shop (since it's close to christmas) however there is still a small fee for them selling it for you.
Do you have any friends that would be interested in buying the dress from you?
What size is the dress? what style? how much $ are you asking?
I just might be interested in purchasing it from you LOL
You can email me at HOMEDEPOTDIVA1@aol.com
Hope to hear from you soon=0)
Lori

[mommy2many]

Well it sounds like you are on the right track to me.

My best advice is to stay home. The less you go out the less likely you are to want to spend money. I can't even leave the house when we are running short on money.

You could also try to throw a garage sale tomorrow. It's short on notice but you never know you could make an extra couple bucks.

You can do it!

[Kimberlina]

Any books or cookbooks you can try to sell? I'm a sucker for craft books, even when I can't really afford them.

And I personally (pls remember this is what *I* would do) would give the things I was trying to sell maybe 1-2 days here first to avoid listing fees.

Have you bought anything very recently that you have not used yet and can return? I'm not talking about doing anything devious here- I just mean something that is still completely saleable that you may have changed your mind about. Once or twice a year I buy something then get home and realize it was a mistake. I always keep my receipts so I can return these UNUSED items to get my money back.

If I can think of anything else, I'll come back and post....

[lilk]

First, I would take out the $25.00 for the medication so it doesn't get spent. Next, I would make a complete menu plan as to how many meals you will need to feed your family. Start by looking in your pantry and freezer and write all the items you have on hand. Start your meal plans from the list try to think of as many meals as you can without having to purchase any items. Then think of some cheap meals that can get you through. Ex. big pot of chili, could make a couple meals. Spaghetti goes a long way. you get the idea. Just make sure you have enough food to get you through.
Since you promised Katie she could get some books from the book fair, let her get some. I would tell her money is tight and we have to set a $ amount. Maybe you could say, I will give you $10.00 to spend at the book fair and you can buy as many books as you can with that, and thats all. Something like that.
Also, combine all your trips to save as much on gas as you can.
Are there any resale shops near you? Some will give you cash the same day.
You can do it.

[slowtypinwoman]

I agree with staying home as much as possible. The less you go out, the less you can spend.

[staceyy]

You might want to take a look at bestselling author, Barbara Sher's website. Go into her board titled Jobs & Income. There is a forum The $100 Hour where there are loads of ways to make a quick $100. www.barbarasher.com

[Lori Biever-Launder]

How about cleaning someone's house?

It sounds like you can do this--think of it as a great test to see if you're as frugal as you think you are!

When DS #1 was just a few months old, we had no extra money. I remember spending $17.25 for a month's worth of extras--we ate everything else out of the freezer/pantry. It was HARD, but we have great memories of that time!

[AmyMCGS]

The ladies have given you great advice-- I'm just adding my .

[PrairieRose]

Dust off that TWG and re-read it. I always get loads of ideas when I get mine out yet once again.

You can do this, for the rest of the month. If it were me, I'd consider cancelling the "place" for the b.d. party, get my money back and have the party at the house or at a park for free. I'd do no favors (unless I made cupcakes or something) and just have a good ol' time. We'd be staying at home, eating at home, buying nothing for the rest of the month, save bread and milk (and my meds).

~ETA~
I would make a game out of this and include the whole family. Call it the "How low can we go game" (meaning how little money can we spend) Who knows? You might come out of it with strategies that you can use for a lifetime