Zannee’s Blog at BargainsLA.com

Like most people, I like saving money without having to work too hard. But unlike most people I will work at it when required. I will wait to pounce at a sample sale, drive out of the way to get a great deal on an appliance, gadget or piece of furniture. Do what ever it takes in most cases. Where I am at my weakest is grocery shopping. Though I will look at the price and compare, I tend to buy what I like to eat. Prices be damned!

I do know enough not to shop when I am hungry and to buy in volume and pounce on store discounts, but use coupons…. No way. My husband is the king of coupon shopping, consistently saving near 50% every time he shops. That’s why he does the bulk of the grocery shopping.

However the king is out of town with a tour for a couple of weeks leaving me to blow the family budget! I promptly went out and bought items I knew I’d like: Pesto sauce, mushrooms, zucchini, wine, breads, yogurts, cottage cheese, elaborate salad ingredients and such. Yummy, healthy stuff. A grocery bill that would normally run my hubby $50 is $80 when I grocery shop.

But the “piece de resistance” was when I blindly went in to buy large round Globe  grapes for a Halloween Haunt at my daughter’s school… $2.99 a pound at Ralph’s ended up being $35 for 4 bags of grapes. I was too dumb founded to object at the register and walked out of the store mumbling to myself.

I have failed grocery shopping 101. I hadn’t planned ahead, I hadn’t compared grocery ads…. I hadn’t done anything to insure I wasn’t overpaying. I just went and mindlessly bought.

The Bargain Queen’s crown is all a-twitter.  I’d better come up with some spectacular bargains to return to my normal self. I’ll keep you posted.

As previously noted in this blog, both my husband and myself went completely ballistic and bought an antique secretary a couple of months ago.

He had grandiose ideas about purchasing a flat screen, wall mounted HDTV TV above it. Cool…that’ll work. Then we priced them. YIKES! Not this year… may be after Christmas.

In the mean time we put our old TV directly on top of antique secretary and to protect the secretary we put an old beach towel under the TV. I can’t tell you how much a beach towel totally ruins the effect of owning an elegant mahogany antique secretary. I should have trailer trash stamped on my forehead.

I had enough of the tacky towel in the living room and decided to sew a table runner in a nice, thick cotton velvet. I grabbed my mother in law (the family fabric expert) and went to F & S Fabrics in West LA.. They have a cool selection, but at $18-$35 a yard, I’d have none of it.

I trip downtown to the fabric district was necessary. I know from past experience to go early and on a weekday. So last Friday, without anyone in tow I headed down, parked in a pay lot ($5) and spent a couple of hours journeying through dozens of fabric stores. I could have easily been distracted by the gorgeous selections in brocades, chenilles, silks and knits all at 35%-75% less than regular fabric stores. There were a lot of cotton velvets at $8-$9 a yard at the smaller independents stores. But I knew the color I wanted and ended up at Michael Levine’s. There must have been 30 different cotton velvets at $10 a yard so I could get just the right hue of maroon. I got 2 yards and a couple of tassels to finish it off.

An afternoon of sewing, and voila! Living room tackiness gone, antique secretary protected for just $33….$24 in fabric, and $5 to park and $4 in gas.

If you are planning on a home décor project (re-upholstery, curtains, bedding) and need fabric, do go down to Maple between Olympic and 8th. You’ll have thousands of fabrics, trims and notions to choose from and you’ll save a bunch of money.

Michael Levine’s, 919 & 920 S. Maple Ave., Los Angeles 213.622.6259.

BTW… Morrie’s is located right next to Michael Levine’s. Great spot for women’s designer clothes for less… 50%-80% off!

Spring cleaning done right can make the rest of the years cleaning chores easier. Only problem is it is time consuming. I have hired teams to clean for me before but they can’t do what I will… make decisions.

I tend to tackle one room every weekend. I am methodical and extremely focused often leaving my husband wondering how I can be so consumed. The truth is I don’t want to do it again in 6 months. I want to get it done and done right.

I always start at the top of a room first….brushing away cobwebs, crown modeling, working on shutters, blinds and windows. Vacuuming, cleaning floorboards and washing floors are the very last thing I do. In the middle are drawer, cabinet, shelf and closet cleaning & sorting, oiling and waxing the antiques, brushing off or washing upholstery. The nails are ruined, hands become rough and I end up real dirty.

It’s easy to get off focus during a detailed spring cleaning, especially when you’re at the middle section, into drawers and closets. One of my favorite organizers Chris McKerney has some words of wisdom in his latest newsletter….

This project will be much easier with a little planning.
First- Schedule time for a closet. Once that area is finished you will have a good idea how long other project might take.
Second- Have broom, vacuum, rags, and cleaning supplies at arms reach.
Third- Mark a box for “Donations”, for your clutter that still has life. Have box labeled “Elsewhere”, for items that belong in other parts of the home. This way you can stay focused in the area you are cleaning. Sometimes trash is trash. Have a trash bag ready for filling.

Now that the supplies are ready, completely empty your closet, cabinet or drawer. Make your sort then thoroughly clean the area. If the surface is worn, consider lining with plastic liner.

After cleaning, replace contents by organizing where items are used. Utilizing containers that are labeled will make retrieval of contents quicker when needed”.

Chris runs “Get it TogetherLA”, an organizing company. You can reach him at 323.525.0678 if the task is more daunting than you can handle.

To see how I choose what to keep and let go from what’s in my closet and drawers, you can check a previous Blog entry of mine, Get Organized. BTW… Have music playing, and fun, healthy snacks ready. I also have a nice glass of wine at the end of every day’s cleaning. You should reward yourself.

Once done and done right, your home will be transformed. The closets will have more room and you’ll know what you need to purchase in the future. Dive in and get it done now. Within a few weeks, we’ll have great weather, shopping and great sample sales to enjoy!