i'm back!

This has officially been one of the busiest summers of my life. First off, starting a new job means that you're just busy busy busy playing catch up / pretending you know what you're doing. And that is for me, just exhausting.

On top of that though, Chris and I bought a new house! I know, I know, it certainly goes against the theme of the blog. But, after being given our notice by our current landlord (he needs the space - we were well behaved!) we decided to look into it.

check out the happy new home owners!

For us it came down to location - where to buy that wouldn't be too much house (and mortgage) for us, but would have a good resale potential should anything go wrong.

We found that in a small-ish 900sq foot townhouse in liberty village here in Toronto. The best part is we got it for a price we were very comfortable with and we can take our time making it our own over the next couple of years before we move on. Prepare yourselves for even more DIY and thrifty alternatives as we are even more dedicated to saving money - funny how a mortgage does that to you!

garden show groupon

i unsubscribed from groupons to prevent the urge to spend money, but i re-subscribe to one or two. i know i shouldn't have, but i really missed the emails in the morning! 

i am though being really strong, and haven't bought any up until one came through for the National Home Show. It was a two for one coupon, and was heavily promoted by Bryan Baeumler. and i am a HUGE fan of HGTV and specifically Bryan.

so, i bought it. and i planned on going with my parents and boyfriend on the friday that Bryan was going to be there. planning fail 1 - turns out i misread the calendar, and not until i was on the way to the show did i notice that in fact, it wasn't until the next week he'd be there.

i shook off the disappointment though, and headed in. planning fail 2 - my boyfriend was working a little late, and the ticket was for 2 person admittance, at the same time. luckily on this one, the security guard was really understanding and let us in separately.

we first of all tackled "Canada Blooms" which was a large room of individual floral and garden displays. i don't have a garden, but i did once work for a greenhouse, so i have great appreciation for flowers and gardens - it was great, some really beautiful things. my only true complaint was that it wasn't big enough and there weren't a ton of deals on flowers - which i was hoping for. take a look at some of the displays.

There were tulips everywhere, and in really great colour combinations. i love this tulip bed - it screams spring!

In addition to tulip, pussy willows were also everywhere. 

a really eye catching garden display - certainly beats a gnome!

not quite flowers, but these succulents still managed to be the most beautiful thing i saw at the show.

once we were done with Canada Blooms, we moved on to the actual home show. and i have to say i was really disappointed! i went with the wrong expectations, i definitely thought there would be more decorative and furniture stands - given we're not doing a big reno, i didn't find a ton that was helpful to me. 

the one thing though that i did find, and that i'm really excited about was Casalife. it's a furniture store in Liberty Village here in Toronto, and they have amazing stuff - what caught my eye at the show was a sputnik chandelier. but, for my budget friendly ears, i was the most excited when she told me of their upcoming warehouse sale. it takes place April 4 - 7 out on Brown's Line - and keep your eyes peeled here as we get closer to the date.

overall, i would have been disappointed if i had paid full price. but, it was a really great (relatively) cheap Friday night out and I had a good time.

bye bye bar cart

ok, so i wasn't lying before when i said i had ignited a love affair with kijiji. and, after this morning, it has only got stronger. why you ask? and what could this possibly have to do with becoming debt free?

well, i love to vintage shop - spending a weekend antiquing is my idea of a good time, but i don't have the money or space to keep it all right now. so, i've opened an etsy store to resell my finds. check out Orange Cats Vintage.

as you'll see, i love brass pieces, i think they just add so much character and charm to a room. and my biggest sale to date was a recently purchased brass bar cart, that i cleaned up a little and resold for double what i paid for it! it's really interesting how when staged and with a little dusting how much better a product looks and how much more someone is willing to pay for it. it helps people to imagine what the piece could look like in their home.

the money i make from reselling these pieces will go to the debt, and make me that much closer to paying it off in its entirety.

here is the piece, once i had cleaned it up a little - the problem was saying goodbye in the end!

saving a BUNCH of money

alright, so bad pun should probably be ignored. but, the lesson is still a good one. i love flowers, especially tulips, and while they may be seen as an unnecessary expense, they make me happy and fighting your way out of debt can't be all sacrifices!

so, enter my solution - split up a bouquet to make several bouquets for a couple rooms in your house. i buy my flowers at Costco, and for $10 was able to fill four vases and brighten up two rooms.

you could probably add them to more rooms - but as you'll notice all flowers have to be up high where the little kitties won't eat them at my house!

in the kitchen, i filled three different size vases and they sit in the windowsill where they get great light and generally last at a minimum one week. what i especially love about this look is using old milk bottles gives the arrangements some character and a nice vintage feel.

for the bathroom, i used a vase i got for christmas which i wasn't convinced on when i opened it, but honestly couldn't love it any better at this point. the four individual flowers in their own vases really makes the bouquet fell larger than it is, and adds a nice bright touch to the washroom.

it's important to remember to keep some treats in your life - flowers once every two weeks, will not stop me from being out of debt by the end of the year, and they make me smile every time i see them!

furniture saviour

as an extreme fan of pinterest, it goes without saying that i have a dream house in mine, with every room perfectly decorated in my mind.

tiny flaw? i both don't have a house, nor do i have the money to buy half the things i want. but, in my journey to being fiscally responsible, and as a result thinking outside of my comfort zone, i've found a solution: kijiji.

beyond looking for apartments, until 2 weeks ago it never would have crossed my mind to even look into kijiji. with my changed mentality though, when i kept seeing beautiful bar carts on pinterest, i took a chance and looked at kijiji. i can't tell you how pleasantly surprised i was, not only did I find a beautiful one, i bargained and brought the cost down an additional $20.

what do you think of my new bar cart? i think it has started a beautiful love affair with kijiji.