Motorhome Cabinets - Restor-A-Finish Is Awesome!

You have already seen snippets here and there of the cabinetry in the motorhome as I've shared other projects I've completed.  Today I thought I would show you the cabinets now that they have all been refinished.

Here is a shot of the cabinet underneath the sink
Left is before and right is after - Wow!

The original finish was starting to flake off and the wood was really dry.  They needed a little love.  After some research and viewing several Youtube videos I decided to go with Howard Restor-A-Finish to refinish the oak cabinets and boy am I glad I did.  For one thing, this stuff really works!

Kitchen is all done

Microwave cabinet up over the stove

The dish cupboard over the sink

It does a phenomenal job, is low in fumes and odor and you don't have to dismantle anything.  There isn't any real prep work to do either other than to wash the surface off to remove any grease and grime that may have accumulated.  I was fortunate here as well.  The previous owners had kept Laverne really clean. 

Kind of dark, but here is the view of the "living room"

 And I know you probably want to see the insides so I'm including some of those shots too.

Inside the cupboards over the couch
Lots of bins to keep things organized - they are all empty right now

I love that I have easy access to the storage under the couch

I used 0000 grit steel wool and got busy doing it exactly like I had seen on the videos and had also read on the back of the can.  Working my way around the motorhome I did every wooden surface there was.  After letting it dry a couple days I followed up with the recommended beeswax polish.  I couldn't be happier and the whole project cost me less than $25!  Can you believe that?!

Over the dinette

And inside with more of the bins
The one on the left sits on its side to corral the bath towels

 I got these bins at Dollar Tree

My closet

Plenty of storage with more bins and a shelf I added in the bottom
So far I just have hangers, a coat and a backpack in there

This cupboard under the refrigerator is still a work in progress

Another shot of the back with the pantry

So what do you think?  Pretty amazing, huh?  I am really pleased with it.

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Sunday morning found me awake long before the sun came up.  I was not able to go back to sleep so I got up and fixed myself a cup of coffee before settling in to pay a bill and write out a few cards to send to some of my friends that are currently in need of encouragement.

Then I got busy in the kitchen and made three different batches of whole wheat low sugar muffins so I could use up some leftover pumpkin, a very ripe banana, some sour milk and a small bag of wild blueberries I had in the freezer.  I packaged up half of them in my recycled Ziploc bags for the freezer and put the rest in a covered dish for us to enjoy for breakfast in the week ahead.

Once the muffins were finished I put a vegetable quiche in to bake for our brunch.

While the quiche baked the oldest and I headed outside to change the oil on the truck and top off the fluids before it got too hot.  We poured the old oil into the empty wiper fluid jug to set out for recycling.  By the time we finished the quiche was ready to pull out of the oven.

I did all of my baking in our portable convection oven that I had set up in the garage so I didn't heat up the kitchen with the big oven.

I added water to my youngest daughter's bottle of shampoo + conditioner so she can use up every last bit.  I also "laminated" the sliver of soap in the shower to a new bar so we can use up every last bit of that as well.

On the way to visit a friend I dropped off our water bill in the drop box along the way.  Saved myself a stamp!  And they got paid sooner too.

Now that we are hitting the 100s the girls and I installed the A/C window units upstairs.  We made it to the 4th of July weekend, which is always the goal.  We try to only need them between the 4th and Labor Day.

Fred Meyer had sirloin steak on sale for $2.97 a pound.  I hadn't bought steak for quite a while and I wanted to take advantage of that.  I picked up a few produce items as well.  At checkout I received a coupon for $5 OFF any housewares or apparel item.

I redeemed a coupon I had received in the mail for a FREE bag of cat treats.

I went back to Fred Meyer to use my $5 OFF coupon and picked up a new mini Crockpot for Laverne.  I noticed while we were on vacation our other one had a frayed cord at the base and the crock had several cracks.  Time to upgrade.  The slow cooker was on sale for $10.99 so my final price was a whopping $5.99! 

The girls used their bus passes to ride downtown to the library.  While they were there they each got to pick out a FREE book to keep!  They sure liked that!  They also checked out some movies and a game for their Wii to enjoy once it gets too hot to be outside.

I baked two loaves of whole wheat bread for a friend of mine just because he asked me to.  I used the convection oven in the garage so I didn't have to heat up the kitchen.

Saturday I had my girlfriends over to play pinochle.  I used items I already had on hand to make Chinese Chicken Salad.  It is always a hit, especially on a hot summer day.

Saturday's grocery haul.  More marked down produce & bread.

I washed out several Ziploc bags to reuse.  I ended up using them to repackage the steaks I bought at Fred Meyer.  The youngest labeled them and out to the deep freeze they went.

I found 11¢ lying in the Fred Meyer parking lot and a penny on the sidewalk near our house.  I added it to my change jar.

We composted coffee grounds, tea bags, banana peels as well as pepper seeds and stems.  Our new compost bin is working like a charm with things already breaking down.

The new pen area is working out quite nicely.

We gave our kitchen scraps to the chickens as well as plenty of cool water with the heat we've been having.

It was up in the 100s all week.  Thankfully it cooled down nicely at night so we haven't needed to run the A/C units 24/7.  Early each morning I've been able to open windows and set the box fan at the back door to blow in fresh air.  Sure makes a difference.

How was your thrifty week?

Goals For July

Well, I didn't get as much done as I had planned on, but I was no slouch either.  We were busy!  Two of the major things I wanted to get done (chicken coop expansion and compost bin) are done.  And we managed to fit in quite a bit of thrifty fun too!

Went swimming

This is what I have planned for this month:

1.          Make or purchase a gift for someone

2.         Send a card or letter to someone

3.         Family Nite Out or Outing

4.         Be creative - sew or craft something

5.         Do some investment cooking

6.         Go on a hike

7.         Learn to do something new

8.         Take my children out for a thrifty date

9.         Complete a small home improvement project

10.       Try a new recipe

11.        Sell some things on eBay or Craigslist

12.        Enjoy a Family Movie Nite or a Family Game Nite!

13.        Complete a retirement/motorhome project

14.       Donate something (or some things) to the thrift store

15.        Invite guests over for dessert, appetizers or a meal

This is how I did last month:

1.          Make or purchase a gift for someone

2.         Send a card or letter to someone

3.         Family Nite Out or Outing

4.         Be creative - sew or craft something

5.         Do some investment cooking

6.         Go on a hike

7.         Learn to do something new build a compost bin

8.         Take my children out for a thrifty date

9.         Complete a small home improvement project coop expansion & repair; new compost bin!!

10.       Try a new recipe

11.        Sell something on eBay

12.        Enjoy a Family Movie Nite or a Family Game Nite!

13.        Complete a retirement project

14.       Donate something (or some things) to the thrift store work in progress

15.        Invite guests over for dessert, appetizers or a meal

Even got some flowers planted

I am very much looking forward to getting some more things done in July.  Time is flying by so fast.  How are things going with you?  Any major, or minor, projects tackled and accomplished?  Any vacations or road trips? 

I hope you are having a great summer.

My Uber Thrifty Month In Review - June

June started out with our big, to us anyway, summer family vacation.  I had booked this trip back in December using my AARP membership which lowered our hotel expense quite a bit.  I paid for our stay at the time of booking using my Mastercard and then paid that off when it came due the following month.  All we had to cover this month was a few tanks of gas, some food and a few meals out which allowed us room in our budget to visit the aquarium and Ripley's.  We also did quite a few things that cost us nothing at all.  It was a wonderful and reasonably low cost vacation.  Not to mention, a whole bunch of fun!

I paid all of our monthly bills ahead of their due dates including the mortgage two weeks ahead of schedule.  I made my regular deposits into my retirement accounts and put a good size payment toward my debt elimination goal.

We did a lot of projects around the home last month.  We expanding the pen area of our chicken coop using materials we already had on hand.  I did purchase some lumber to build a new compost bin in our backyard.  I have wanted to complete this project for a very long time and I am super happy to have it done.  I was able to put it together with screws I already had which saved me about $7.

I also worked on my motorhome, doing a little bit of maintenance that cost me nothing at all.  I purchased a new longer sewer hose to replace the worn and much shorter one that came with it.  Laverne had more visitors last month too so it has really been a lot of fun having her.

I came in under budget on groceries and ended the month with a full fridge, freezers and pantry.  I was able to stock up on toilet paper on sale at Albertsons for $2.99 for 12 double rolls.  To save money I ordered some cleaning supplies from Amazon using their Prime Pantry.  I was able to stock up on dishwasher detergent and dish soap that should last me about a year.  I also purchased shampoo and conditioner that was on sale and had a coupon attached.  I also put in an order for my supplements.  All arrived via free shipping.  I always appreciate that.

We managed to easily make it through the month without using the A/C by taking advantage of the cooler nights and using our box fans to bring in that cooler air.  Works pretty good unless the skunks are out.  I received our lowest electric bill in a year.  Whooo hooooo!!  That was nice.

In addition to our vacation we had a lot of company come to visit including one of my daughter's friends that came for a four day stay.  It was a busy, busy month for us, but also quite enjoyable and very budget friendly.

Seeing Stars

Over the weekend leading up to The 4th the girls and I did a project together that I have wanted to do for quite some time.  We made stars.

We used wood from my stash in the garage (trim I had gleaned from the "Free Wood" bin near my work), some finish nails, adhesive and spray paint.  Everything I already had so no trips to any stores and no money out of pocket.

Ready for paint

The first star we made was one I wanted to make to put on the chicken coop.  Plus it was a great way to show the girls how to put these together.  I cut five pieces of flat trim, each 24" in length.  I laid them out and gave them a nice coating of paint.  While the paint dried we worked on the girl's stars.

They both learned how to safely use a compound miter saw!

They were super easy to put together.  Since mine was going to be outdoors I opted to use a little bit of construction adhesive in addition to the nails, but the girls just used nails.  We positioned the wood pieces, predrilled the holes to eliminate splitting and put them together tacking then at each corner.

Once that was done we made sure everything was even and then added a couple additional nails in the center pieces to keep anything from moving.  How easy is that?!

To make my star use 5 pieces of wood cut the same length (24") and 8 finish nails.

She used some fancy moulding

To make my youngest's smaller star use 5 pieces of wood cut the same length (10") and 8 finish nails.

Two toned in teal and brown

To make my oldest's use 10 pieces of wood cut the same length (10") and 20 finish nails (2 at each corner).

I hung mine on the new addition of the coop.  Both of the girls picked a spot on the wall in their rooms to hang theirs.  They both gave this project a thumbs up and declared it a lot of fun.

Independence Day

Last Week's Thrifty Moves

Can you believe we are officially halfway through the year already?!  Boggles the mind.

We had company come and stay the weekend and first part of the week and I was able to keep the entertainment costs at a minimum by taking advantage of a lot of the free things to do around town including a visit our beautiful State Capitol and the Boise Depot with the Platt Gardens, koi ponds and water features.

Boise Depot - Platt Gardens

Monday we made use of our State Parks Pass and drove up to Lucky Peak for a swim.  After a drive around to show off the reservoir we headed back to town and enjoyed dinner out at Pizza Pie Cafe.  I used a digital offer sent to me that morning via text so we all ate for $6.98 each, drinks included.  I love receiving those offers, especially when you want to treat your guests to dinner out and don't want to blow your budget.  Plus, the restaurant here is really quite nice.

Lucky Peak State Park - Sandy Point

Our refrigerator and pantry were so well stocked I was able to make plenty of good meals and snacks to keep all of us well fed.  We had so many leftovers, as I do tend to overdo it a bit when company comes, that we pretty much managed meals the rest of the week by reheating leftovers and fixing some fresh salads.

Summer has arrived and so far we have managed quite nicely without using the A/C yet.  I'm holding out as long as I can.  Once the sun goes down it cools off quite nicely and we open up the doors and windows.  In the mornings I've been setting our box fan by the back door and blowing cool air in.  We set box fans in the upstairs windows too.  With the house nice and cool we close everything up and it stays quite nice, especially downstairs.  Then we do it all over again.

Want to hear something funny?  Ever since we expanded the coop the hens have been extra generous to us.  Three times this week all four girls laid.  We normally average three eggs a day so it is rare for all four to lay.  I think they are quite pleased.  Thank you ladies!  Your appreciation has been dually noted.

Saturday we worked on tidying up the garage and loading all of the glass we have collected during the past six months into the truck.  We dropped it off at the big green recycling bin located in the Albertson's parking lot. 

I used items I already had on hand to build a handrail for our front porch.  While the girls and I can hop, skip and jump off of our porch some of my friends struggle due to various health issues.  Making our home more accessible became top priority to us this weekend.

We went to dollar tree to pick up some cleaning supplies, toiletries and greeting cards.  While there I found jars of marinated roasted artichoke hearts which I was very happy to find.  I picked up quite a few other items as well.  I re-supplied my pedicurist (my youngest) with nail polish too.

Dollar Tree haul

I did not do my usual grocery shopping last week as we are still quite well supplied from our trip the week before.

I had my breakfast out in the motorhome Saturday morning

I composted coffee grounds, tea bags, onion skins and banana peels.  We gave or kitchen scraps to the chickens.  I washed out a gallon sized Ziploc bag to reuse.  I put several cardboard boxes into our recycle bin.

How was your thrifty week?