Cheap & Easy DIY Projects

TGIF! I hope you all have some fun and exciting things going on this weekend.  I plan on working on another DIY project for my apartment.  Below are some more easy and creative ways to spruce up your apartment on a budget – and to add a little touch of Cleveland to the place!

I have a neutral color couch so that it will be able to match any decor if I choose to move out in the future.  One easy way to brighten the dull color is to add decorative throw pillows like the ones shown below.  The fabric is from JoAnn Fabrics and it was on sale! Always check the weekend ads for JoAnns since they always have coupons available.  This fabric ended up being about $3/ yd.  My mom made the piping since there was no piping that matched the color of the pillows – thanks Mom!  You can buy a pillow form to give the pillow a more defined and less lumpy look, or just buy some pillow stuffing! This is a super easy project that takes next to no time.

Another fun project that I completed this week was a new set of coasters.  I saw some really cute Cleveland coasters on Etsy and at the CLE Clothing store, however they were very pricey!  I bought some ceramic tiles at Lowes, some scrapbook paper from Pat Catan’s, threw some Mod Podge over it, and I was good to go! To ensure that the coasters are waterproof, you can purchase waterproof sealant (I bought mine at Pat Catan’s).  The total amount for a set of 4 coasters was $4.25. That’s a bargain – and you can customize them any way that you want! Here is what mine look like:

Does anyone else have any cheap and easy DIY projects for the home?

Any inexpensive plans or date ideas for the weekend? 

Support Local Biz!

Hello friends and followers!  It has been a while as Steve and I were both busy with work, but the Indians win last night inspired us to pick back up where we left off!

Much has been going on, and many deals have been found! Steve and I ran a race the weekend of St. Patrick’s Day in order to support St. Malachi’s church in Ohio City.  The St. Malachi race (one of the Hermes Cleveland Roadracing events) was $20 with proceeds going to St. Malachi and all of their charity work, including providing food and clothing to the poor.  You can see all that they do for the community at www.stmalachi.org.We both did pretty well in the race and it was nice to support such a good cause. I know St. Patty’s Day was a few weeks back, but did anyone find any great food or drink deals?

As the West Side Market continues to pick back up after the disastrous fire that shut the place down, we are trying to go and support the vendors as much as possible.  I have been going there to buy my produce as you cannot beat the prices and it is great to help out local biz.  You can find apples for 99 cents a pound, avocados for 99 cents, containers of strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, you name it – all for 99 cents.  Now that is what I call a great deal, since fresh produce always makes my grocery bill skyrocket.  Get to know a specific vendor and give them your repeat business and I am sure they will offer you deals.  Also, go closer to the end of the day and many of the vendors will give you food for a fraction of the normal price. 

Want to support the West Side Market but don’t have the time to make it there?  Purchase one of the recent T-shirts designed by CLE Clothing Co. as 20% of the proceeds benefit the West Side Market. http://www.cleclothingco.com/product/support-the-westside-market-mens-womens-crew

 

In other news, Karen’s new place in Lakewood is shaping up thanks to the various DIY projects that have given the place a little glam for very few dollars.  Shown above is an old dining room chair with the seat recovered in the same fabric used to make my living room curtains (thanks Mom!).  The total cost of replacing this was about $10, as I chose a more expensive fabric (about $15/yd. at JoAnn Fabrics).  Find a cheaper fabric or use an old table cloth lying around the house with a great pattern, whip out the stapler (or staple gun if you have one) and voila – a cute and cheap new decorative chair!

Another great addition to both Steve’s and my respective apartments are pieces of artwork from a local artist named Barry Gott.  He creates charming artwork of various buildings, neighborhoods, and landmarks around Cleveland.  His work is sold at the CLE Clothing Shop, however you can also purchase his work directly from him on his Etsy sight for much less!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/smalltower  This is another great way to support local biz without breaking the bank – and those bare walls will be glad you made the purchase!

Cleveland News:  Make sure you check out this article about Cleveland that has been floating around – makes me proud to be a Clevelander!

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/travel/destinations/why-you-should-be-hot-for-cleveland/article10629211/

Stop by later this week for some more household DIY projects that we have been working on as well as some of our favorite local eateries with some deals you won’t want to miss.  Happy Hump Day, y’all!

Wings and Beer: Cheap Nights out in Cleveland

Mondays. Who likes Mondays? I’ll tell you who…we do!  Monday nights at the Winking Lizard is a great deal that should not be passed up!  Monday nights (and Tuesday nights) are wing nights – 50 cent regular wings and 45 cent boneless wings that you can order in packs of 5.  They have tons of award-winning sauce choices as well!  They also have a wide variety of beers that you won’t find at your local hole-in-the-wall bar.  

Cleveland Locations:
Bedford Heights: 25380 Miles Road, Bedford Heights
Gateway: 811 Huron Road, Cleveland
Lakewood: 14018 Detroite Ave, Lakewood
Coventry: 1852 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights
Independence: 6111 Quarry Lane, Independence

If good beer is something you seek to find, Great Lakes Brewing Company is the place to go and support local biz.  The brewery was opened in 1988 and is currently celebrating 25 years of brewing delicious beer that is distributed through most of the major cities in the Great Lakes Region.  The brewery is located in Ohio City near the corner of West 25th and Lorain Avenue (address: 2516 Market Avenue).  The company was founded by the Conway brothers and they brew an assortment of beers  from the award-winning taste of Dortmunder to the hoppy-deliciousness of Burning River.  They are most well-known for their seasonal Christmas Ale. If you don’t remember whether or not you’ve indulged in a Christmas Ale, have you ever woken up  next to an elf  and Christmas cookies in places they shouldn’t be? Well, my friend, you’ve had the delight of experiencing an encounter with the dreadful yet delicious Christmas Ale.  Check out this link below for a great article on the 25th Anniversary of GLBC.

http://www.cleveland.com/dining/index.ssf/2013/03/great_lakes_brewing_co_at_25_c.html

The reason we are talking so much about this company is because it will be the location of our frugal outing this week!  The GLBC offers a free brewery tour with samples that cost only 25 cents!  Not only will this be a great chance to see the intricacies of the Cleveland brewing staple, but also an opportunity to try most of the brewery’s popular blends.  They accept reservations online – it may be helpful to make reservations a week or two in advance as the weekend tours do fill up quickly.  Click on the link below to make your reservation today!

http://www.greatlakesbrewing.com/brewpub/customer-perks/tours-and-tastings.

Check back in with us on Friday for some thrift store outing ideas and Monday for our review of the GLBC brewery tour!  Does anyone else have any frugal plans for the upcoming weekend?

Frugal February: Wrapped up

Frugal February has officially ended and we have taken a few days to reflect on our performance!  There is always room for improvement, so we will continue to search for deals around the Cleveland area.  Overall it was a success, there is always room to be more frugal and save more money, but overall we are satisfied with the outcome.  Some of the tactics and tips that we picked up during the month of February will surely be continued throughout the rest of the year resulting in even more frugalness.  Not only were we able to get ahead during February, but we will be able to stay ahead throughout the rest of the year!

This weekend, we did some new DIY projects!  Steve made a brilliant new lamp out of an empty Pinot Grigio bottle (shown above) and Karen decided there was no need to buy a new nightstand, so she painted her old drab white one a fun blue/slate color (about $12 for Behr paint with primer included) to spruce up the bedroom.  We will be sure to post a picture when it is completed!  Below are directions for the DIY lamp – it is quick, easy and doesn’t break the bank!

You will need an old emptied out bottle.  I tried to use a whiskey jug originally but I broke it the first try!  So I settled for an empty wine bottle.  The most expensive part of this project is the diamond drill bit.  You will need a ½ inch to an inch drill bit to cut the hole in the back of the glass.  Start slow and make sure you get a good imprint on the glass so that the bit is not slipping around and marking up the glass.  Go slow and start at a 45 degree angle and you will get a nice smooth clean cut.  The next part is easy!  Grab a Westinghouse lamp kit (about 10 bucks, link is below) and run the wire through the hole you drilled and up through the neck.  You may need a little electrical tape to make the adapter bigger to make sure it stays in the neck of the bottle.  You can find cheap shades on Amazon or at the goodwill on a used lamp!

(http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100192701/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=westinghouse+make+a+lamp&storeId=10051#.UTTbjTCcc7o)

Karen also got a great deal on a TV at Target! There was a Smart TV on clearance, and she received an additional percentage off for taking the floor model.  This is always a good option to receive a deal as they will still allow you to return it if the product does not work.  You will not be given a box, but who needs to find somewhere to throw out that big old thing anyways!

Have you worked on any cheap and easy DIY projects lately?.  We are always looking for new ideas!

Stop back later this week for cheap weekend outings in Cleveland!

Frugal February: Home Stretch!

Frugal February is winding down and what better way to end it by discussing a nationwide program that encourages Americans to save money and live frugally like we have over the past month!  The program is called America Saves Week.  America Saves is a national campaign that consists of over 1,000 non-profit groups and corporations that encourage their members to focus on saving.  Some interesting facts from the America Saves are:

• Only 66% of Americans spend less than their income and save the difference
• Only 66% of Americans have sufficient emergency savings to pay for unexpected expenses like car repairs or a doctor’s visit
• Only 42% of Americans say they have a savings plan with specific goals
• Only 52% of non-retired Americans think they are saving enough for a retirement in which they will have a desirable standard of living

 

We can all understand the importance of credit but the top statistic is staggering.  Only one third of Americans are actually spending less than what they earn and save money for the future.  So the Cheapskates have a call for action from you this week.

• Set up a savings account and enroll in online banking to create a weekly transfer to start SAVING!!!
• Think of one long term goal about how you can start living more financially conservative.
• If you are fortunate to enough to have a 401K savings plan, go ahead and bump it up 1 more percent or more.

Follow this link for some more fun facts about saving and to check out America Saves Week.

http://www.americasavesweek.org/how-can-individuals-participate-2/test-your-savings-knowledge

Frugal February: Fish Friday!

Happy Fish Friday y’all.  Who doesn’t love a good fish fry during the Lenten season?  If you can’t eat meat on Friday then still find a way to eat something unhealthy by battering it and deep frying it.  Nonetheless, what a great tradition for businesses to ramp up their Friday production as well as the fish industry!  In honor of this tradition, we decided to give our take on some of the local restaurants/venues and the deals that they have to offer on Fish Fry’s.

• Tick Tock Tavern – Lakewood $6.95 all you can eat Fish Fry Fridays
• St. Lukes – $8.50 all you can eat fish fry at the corner of Bunts and Clifton
• Benedictine High School – $7.00 fish Fry
• St. Peter and Paul – $4.50 to $9.50 for a ticket in Garfield Height

Comment below if any of you know any great cheap fish fry’s around the area this evening!

Other things to look out for this week include once again the re-opening of the West Side Market.  The best time to visit the market is towards closing when the vendors are looking to get rid of their excess inventory and sell their products at a heavy discount!  

Also, keep an eye out for Cleveland Restaurant Week this week.  Some of the restaurants in the downtown area will be having deals and specials running all week for this event!

http://www.downtowncleveland.com/restaurantweek.aspx

On a closing note, thanks to all of our followers out there for your comments and enthusiasm about our blog!  The purpose of our blog is not to take frugalness to the extreme, but to find cheaper ways to do the things we do in our everyday life.  We are fortunate for the opportunities that we have and are always looking for ways to save, any ideas or advice that you may have for us is much appreciated!

Frugal February: Cheap and Easy DIY Projects

Happy hump day yet again, friends and followers! Another week has sped past us and it is time for another post about a couple DIY projects that we have been working on in order to get ready for Karen’s big move-out day!  Both of the projects below are cheap and easy and can spruce up any apartment as well as any savings account.

Cork “K”
What you will need:
1. Cardboard (I used an old Amazon box”) as large as you would like your letter to be
2. Wine corks (I bought mine on Amazon prime – used about 250 corks)
3. Hot glue gun

Instructions:
1. Draw your letter on the cardboard (you may want to use a stencil or print out a large-fonted letter from the computer and trace)
2. Glue the corks wine side down to fill out the cardboard
3. Voilah! Your cork letter is complete!

Side Table
What you will need:
1. 1 2x8x10 board
2. 1 2x4x10 common board
3. Drywall screws
4. Nails

Instructions:
1. Cut the larger board into 3 pieces that will make up the main sections of your table and use the drywall screws to connect them so it looks like a traditional table (we made the legs 2’4” and the top 2’8”)
2. Lay the table on its side and lay one of the thinner common boards so that it is laying diagonally across the table from the top corner to the opposite bottom corner.
3. Trace the bottom of the common board so that you have distinct lines on where the board should be cut so that the angles match up with the sides of the legs.
4. With a mitre saw, cut the common board along the lines that you traced and nail to the legs and corner of the table.
5. We haven’t done this part yet but paint your table the desired color and sand certain areas after the paint has dried to give it a retro vintage look.

FYI: The West Side Market is back in business! Go help out the vendors and buy some cheap and delicious food to cook up this weekend!

Check back in later this week to hear about some of the cheap fish fry’s in the greater Cleveland area!  The weekend is almost here!

Frugal February: Second Last Weekend!

Another weekend has come and gone, and our pockets are all a little lighter pause NOT! We found some great deals this weekend and the level of fun was not compromised. Friday night we used a little thing called a Groupon to go ice skating. Open skate, skate rentals and hot chocolate for the low price of $10. The value of the skating is the same feeling as skiing when an 8 year old blows by you and then turns around and hockey stops a waterfall of ice in your face. Now, how can you beat that? On top of all of the fun that we had ice skating, we indulged in a little vino (Yellow Tail was on sale for $5.99 at Giant Eagle) and a 1000-piece puzzle ($5 at Big Lots).

In case you are looking for other wine deals, you can never go wrong with Charles Shaw “Two Buck Chuck” carried at Trader Joe’s (thanks Lindsay!). It tastes great, nevermind the low cost!

On another note, an exciting moment in the life of Karen occurred recently: she got her first place! She will be moving to Lakewood in March. You know what that means? Searching for bargain furniture and household goods. The first stop was TJ Maxx in Woodmere (on Chagrin Blvd). They carry various home goods and furniture, including the chair shown above (Cynthia Rawley $99). Another great deal was found at Value City Furniture in Parma – a new sofa for $475. We finished up the day of deal-hunting at Big Lots where I found a Crock Pot for $15 (so I can make all of the Chicken Tacos from our previous post I can handle!)

Frugal February: Valentine’s Day

Valentine’s Day is a holiday celebrated by many and hated by most (guys). One of the reasons that so many people hate this blissful holiday? Let’s be real, Valentines Day was a holiday created to help the suffering card business.  A night in with your Valentine can be much more savory than the night out at the new 5 star restaurant that opened up downtown.  Face it, you can’t get out of your Valentine’s Day duties of spending some cash, but we have some ways to spend less on your lovely Valentine.  

1. Why go out to dinner when you can spend some quality time together in the comfort of your own home? We made a delicious Crock Pot dinner (see recipe below).  It is easy and affordable!

2. Hallmark cards may be funny or cute, but there is something to be said about your man (or woman) taking the extra time to make a homemade card.  You can insert your own inside jokes and make the card that much more personal.

3. If you want to get your guy or gal a little something else, check Pinterest for some great low-cost options or even homemade options.  You can also get a gift card (in a small denomination) for a store or business.

4. This year, Redbox sent out an email offering a free one day DVD rental if you enter the provided discount code.  Even without a discount code, a $1 movie is a great way to cuddle up and enjoy the evening.

Did anyone else find some great Valentine’s Day deals? Let us know!

Cheap Chicken Tacos:
1. Boneless Chicken Breasts (4)
2. One Jar of Salsa
3. One Can of Black Beans
4. One Can of Corn or One Bag of Frozen Corn

Toss it all in your Crock Pot before work and return home for a delicious delicacy! Top with avocados, guacamole, diced tomatoes, cheese, or sour cream and spoon it into a soft or hard taco and you are ready to roll (for a low-carb option, just eat the taco filling)!

Come back and visit us soon! We will be posting about bargain hunting for home interiors (Karen just got a new place!) and some great Fish Fry deals for all of those Lenten followers out there.

Frugal February: Exercising on a Budget

Fat Tuesday has come and gone, and we are all a few pounds heavier.  Now is the perfect time to pick up those free weights and start shredding some LBs.  You gotta get in shape before beach season, right? Although Cleveland is known for its frigid weather (and this year is no exception), take advantage of those pleasantly mild days and go for a jog with a friend, significant other, or solo and get some fresh air! There are great places around Cleveland to go for jogs. Here are some of our favorites:

1. Lakewood Park: Lakewood

2. Chagrin Metroparks: Chagrin Falls

3. Metroparks Polo Fields: Moreland Hills

4. Your local track

5. Bratenahl: Jog by the monstrous mansions that you will one day be able to afford after using all of our Cheapskate tips

6.Cleveland Metroparks Rocky River Reservation

If jogging isn’t your thing, we have stumbled upon extremely cheap workout equipment at various stores in the area.  For the true cheapskates, check out Five Below.  They have jump ropes, yoga mats, free weights, and even workout DVDs.  TJ Maxx and Marshall’s are also known to have more dependable equipment including yoga mats, DVDs, stability balls, resistance bands, and a wide variety of exercise clothing for both men and women. Don’t forget about Big Lots either.  They’ve got the same gadgets that Five Below does for similar prices.  Start losing some pounds and gaining some pennies!

If we have any yogis out there reading our blog, many yoga studios in the area have discount prices for first-time joiners or even one free class! Bring out that inner-cheapskate and hop around to the different studios in Cleveland to take advantage of these beginners’ rates and brush up on your Warrior I.