Dreaming of Bar Stools and other Furniture

Our furniture is sad. Over the years, we have scrimped and pinched pennies just to keep our bills paid - and to allow me to stay at home and teach our five children. Because of this penny pinching tightwad stuff, we have old furniture that we purchased used, found used along the side of the road, and other ways and places. In other words, we have not purchased anything substantial for the house in many, many years.

Last week, I got a part-time job. I am able to walk from my house and across the village park to work - no need to pay for gasoline. I'm the local librarian for our public library branch. The two kids I'm still homeschooling are able to go with me and do school there. When they're finished, they're old enough to stay home for a few hours without me. That means, I'm now earning a bit of an extra income!

The majority of my paychecks will go straight into a savings account. The rest I will use to spruce up the house a bit, including buying furniture when I can. While we just need a complete overhaul, I think we'll start with some basics. Here's what I'm thinking:

Bar stools have been on my list forever. I've never had any, though we have a nice long kitchen bar in the dining room. We have a large family that barely fits at the dining room table. To have some of the kids seated on counter stools while the guests dined comfortably at the table would be wonderful!

The stool I would choose looks like this one from morebarstools.com:

If I'm being frugal, though, I should probably purchase something more like these stools (below), which are counter height adjustable and include two stools for about the price of one of the stools above. I would need four stools at least, but I can easily fit six of them at my counter.

There are plenty more stools, chairs, and other great furniture available from morebarstools.com. Until October 24, most items ship free. I won't have enough money saved by then to get counter stools, but I'll keep saving and building up a wish list until the time comes when I can begin furnishing my home with some nice things.

If you're a Twitter person, you can follow morebarstools.com's main site, @cymaxstores_, to learn about the great deals they run from time to time. They are currently running a giveaway for $50 gift codes, but the giveaway is through Twitter.