Happy Wednesday! Today I thought I would share some ideas about saving money and being environmentally friendly. Most people don’t realize the long term effects our massive compulsive spending habits will have on the earth. When we buy things we don’t normally think about what will happen to it after we’re done using it. Most of the time it ends up in the land fills. Eventually, our landfills are going to become our backyards. So, instead of buying things that are cheap quality and mass produced try to make things out of something old. REUSE! Reusing things tends to be less costly, is more creative, involves love, has a personality, and just looks totally cool!
First I will share my dining room table with you. Its a little project Michael and I worked on about a month ago. After months of searching and searching for the perfect dining table that was environmentally friendly, had the right “look”, and was a nice price, we finally came to the decision that we would make our own. It worked out perfectly when we happened to be in Little Italy at one of our favorite stores, Architectural Salvage, and we happened upon a great looking old door…
And this door became our table! We bought legs at IKEA and then had a custom glass cut to fit the top.
The door cost about $120, the glasss about $175, the legs about $60. Total cost $355. Not too shabby! We saved about $445 if I compare to some of the other tables we were contemplating purchasing.
I am always trying to locate neat looking objects to use for other purposes. Michael is the Craigslist king! and he found this awesome little red file organizer for me. I put it in the office and have filled it with my specialty papers and art supplies. What a steal for $5! (BTW: If you haven’t discovered the amazingness of craigslist yet, you’re missing out!)
I also highly reccommend shopping at thrift stores for clothing too. The “worn in” or vintage look is really trendy right now as well as 80’s inspired clothing. Stores like Urban Outfitters, Anthropolgie, and many others sell “used” looking clothes at high prices. Hello! Why are you spending 50 bucks on a shirt that I saw at goodwill for 5 bucks???? And 80’s clothes? I’m all about the 80’s coming back, but seriously… don’t buy bright yellow leggings at Urban outfitters. Look through your parents attic. I think your older sister had a pair in highschool that are stashed away and just dying to be stretched over somebody’s thighs again.
Heres my example. I bought this butter soft leather purse for THREEEEEEEEE dollars 
The strap was a little long and grandma-ish so I just pulled it through the clasp loop to double it up. Voila! Now I have a trendy little purse.
Here is another find from the “CL King.” We scored this sweet BDI television console for $400 from a couple that was re-vamping their house decor. We saw it listed for over a thousand dollars if we were to buy it new.
Well, thats it for today. Hope you enjoyed my finds. Good luck finding your own bargains! They are definitely out there.
