Yard sale and other frugal doings

We are gearing up for a HUGE yard sale at my mom's house in a little over a week.  The best part, for me?  So far I have very little in the sale!  But I have been getting rid of things, which means most of it has gone to Goodwill or other charity organizations.  Which means I don't have to deal with as many feelings of "Oh maybe I should keep that..." or feeling sad that something is going away.  

I do have a few other items to take over, things that my husband thinks are worth selling and not just giving away, plus items too big to be donated:  electric lawnmower, patio furniture set, and some electronic items.  If these items don't sale at the yard sale, I will put them on Craigslist.  

I do have a couple things I am waffling over:  sets of dishes that belonged to my grandmothers.  My mom saved a set for each of her three girls.  My sisters don't want them though, and are settled enough to take them if they wanted, so they have been stored at my house for quite some time.  I'm ready to get them out of here, but it is tough because of who they belonged to.  

Funny thing though---I have no memories of my grandmothers using these dishes! These must be ones that were put up in china cabinets, bought and stored away, or used before I was born.  I have other items that belonged to my grandmothers and and actually have memories attached to them.  OK....I think I might have actually talked myself into getting rid of the dishes just now!

In other frugal items:

-I returned an air filter that Mr. GV picked up at Lowe's.  It was the wrong size, and since I had to go to WalMart anyway, I just got a credit on my card and bought it for half the price.

-I've been doing some surveys for General Mills for a while now, and just cashed in for a $75 Amazon gift certificate.  

-I also cashed in enough MyPoints for $50 from Amazon.

-I'm trying to remember to use Ibotta and the other grocery apps when I am going to buy something anyway.  Some times it just seems like too much effort to scan in the receipt.  lol

-I've been saving a decent amount at the grocery store with coupons and sales lately...27% and 30% recently with some free product coupons and clearance items.

-We are now taking out cash once every two weeks for grocery items and eating out.  It's been a good way for us to see how much we spend on those items.

-Today I am going to the bank to put in our income tax refund, a check from my mom for something I bought for her online, check from a friend for something I picked up out of town, reimbursement from my mil for her cell phone service, and from my bil for his portion of flowers for a funeral.  Everything except the IRS check (obviously) all came out of our checking originally, and we are just being paid back.  However, since we've already spent it and managed to get by without that money for the last few weeks, I'm going ahead and putting it in savings. All of this is going into our short-term savings, and I am thrilled that our car savings is steadily moving up.  I am determined to pay cash for the next one just as we did for the last one, and every bit we save up is less in stock we will have to cash out.  

Silk cashew milk

(BzzAgent provided me with a coupon for a free product, but no other compensation.  Everything I write is always going to be my own opinion, good or bad.)  

I am picky about vegan milk that I am going to be drinking or using in cereal.  In recipes, just about any kind will do, as long as it is unsweetened and unflavored.  Vanilla flavored milk is just not very good in cornbread, for example.  

For drinking purposes, I find rice milk too thin.  Almond milk is OK, and soy milk is fine too, but I don't love them.  Cashew milk though.....it's a winner to me.  Silk cashew milk is creamy and doesn't have the "watery" taste to me that rice milk does nor does it have the aftertaste of some vegan milks.   I have been enjoying it with peanut butter and banana sandwiches, and I already know it will be great with cereal.  I can imagine how great it will be with hot chocolate too!

I will be buying this product again, at my own expense, that's for sure.