When you’re a Mommy, you learn to save money. And when you’re a Homeschool Mommy, you really, really learn to save money.
I have saving pennies down to an art form (though that makes me sound like I have oodles of it in my bank account, and I don’t want to mislead you: there’s nothing in there but spider webs, crickets, tumbleweeds, and $11).
One handy dandy cheapskate tip that I like to use is a little known secret called craigslist. Oh, you’ve heard of it? Well, I bet you haven’t risked your life and limb for it like I have …
The Craigslist Dresser
One of my best finds on craigslist was a beautiful, all wood, scalloped dresser. I nearly died in several heart stopping moments as I traveled to pick it up. Alone. Not recommended, but sometimes a good deal erases my brain cells.
The dresser was lovely and worth it. But some dingbat had painted it a not-so-lovely shade of diarrhea brown. No problem, says I, we’ll buy the cheapest white paint on the market and that’ll be that.
Well, I thought I bought the “paint and primer in one” deal, but I did not, and the diarrhea turned the weirdest shade of pepto bismol pink. Hmm.
A second coat did not solve this predicament. I was in a pickle.
Also, I was out of paint.
Anyway, at this point I was really getting annoyed with myself and had to go buy primer. Then I had to go buy more paint. Then I was really high on fumes and started painting unicorns and sunbeams everywhere.
How THIS Cheapskate Homeschool Mommy DIY’s A $15 Craigslist Dresser
So when you’re a cheapskate homeschool mommy like me, this is how you buy a used dresser to save bunches of dough:
1. Risk your life and almost become a skin sweater for craigslist sellers in remote locations. Spend $15.
2. Paint with cheapest paint possible. I bought a small can because I actually had two dressers to paint: $10. The other one had to be painted because it was owned by smokers. Smokers who evidently crawled inside their dresser to do their smoking.
3. Go back to Lowes.
4. Buy primer. $5.
5. Whine a little.
6. Start to enjoy the fumes. Hum a little Doors.
7. Go back to Lowes. $10 more.
8. Finish with spray paint.
Bask in the glory that is your $15 $50 dresser. Easy as pie! Except I may or may not have killed a couple brain cells.
Pretty sure I wasn’t using them anyway, so no loss.
PIN IT
