The Green Frugal

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Last week I spoke with a customer who was raising money for her daughter’s high school grad night.  She came up with a brilliant idea to collect books from students, parents, and teachers.  She would sell the books collected to Cash4Books and deposit the proceeds into a PayPal account she had created for the school.

This got our brains at Cash4Books thinking: what an amazingly green and creative way to get rid of unwanted books and raise money for a great cause! She inspired us to share with you how Cash4Books can help fundraising groups raise money.

However, before you start emailing, texting, tweeting, and changing your facebook status – here are a few things to consider before collecting boxes of books!

Cash4Books may not buy all books.  What we buy can change day-to-day depending on resale values, our current inventory, and market demand.

What kind of books is Cash4Books more likely to buy?

To get started with your fundraising, there are five easy steps.

1. Set up your group’s PayPal* account.  The coordinator of the group shares the PayPal account (email) name with group members.  When each group member registers an account on Cash4Books, they choose PayPal as their payment preference and then they enter the group’s PayPal email at the bottom of the Cash4Books registration form. Each group member must register with their own Cash4Books account, but the PayPal email is what is common across all group members.
2. Second, each group member types in ISBNs, of their books to donate, into the box on the Cash4Books.net homepage.  They do this from their own home computer, at their own convenience. They will get a price quote for each book we are buying.
3. Third, each group member chooses their own FREE shipping method.  Cash4Books will provide everyone with prepaid shipping labels, so there is no cost to the group or group members! If any of your group members to not have a printer at home, we have a solution for that too–they simply contact us and request free shipping labels be mailed to them.
4. Fourth, group members pack and ship their books to us. The group coordinator may optionally help facilitate this process by providing boxes. Read our FAQ for suggestions on where to find boxes.
5. Five, Cash4Books receives and inspects the books, and then deposits payment into your group’s PayPal account within three business days.

For questions, special requests or considerations please contact us.

This method of having group members enter their ISBNs from their own home computer is generally preferable to the alternative method (not described here) of having a book drive and a single point drop-off location. This is because book drives tend to get older books that are in low demand, which decreases the chance that Cash4Books will buy them. For more information, read our blog article “Why didn’t Cash4Books want to buy my book?“.

* As an alternative to PayPal, Cash4Books can also issue a check to your group by sharing the name and address field across group members in the registration process.

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Recently my wife and I celebrated our 11th wedding anniversary. It was my year to plan (she plans the even years, and I plan the odd years).  With three kids, two of which are still in diapers, getting a sitter is both challenging and expensive.  So, this year instead of going out, I decided to try and create a little magic in our living room after the kids went to bed.  Here is a picture I took of our anniversary dinner, right before I escorted her into the room. Think also of some soft piano music playing in the background:

Now I know the ladies are thinking, “this is great and easy to do”.  And, the guys out there are probably thinking, “impossible”. Well, you’re in luck, because I’m going to give you the step by step guide to creating some romantic magic at home (and you don’t even have to tell your significant other that you read how to do this online).  To take it a step further, why not surprise your significant other with this?

Let’s start with your shopping list. Keep in mind that you may already have some of this stuff around the house, or you could borrow from a friend, or you may find most of it at your local thrift store.  I think it is definitely feasible to keep it a cheap date night but at the same time very special and romantic:

1. A round table with two chairs. Yes, you could do this with a square table, but round is a nicer touch I think.
2. A round table cloth and some cloth napkins.
3. Two wine glasses or champagne flutes (the flute style is shown in the photo).
4. Piano songs (12-15 songs should do). This could be done via an iPod if you have a way to put your iPod on speakers. Or, a portable CD boombox will work just fine. Whichever way you go, make sure to put the music on REPEAT.
5. If this is for something special, such as an anniversary, be sure to pick up a card and gift while you are out as well. Flowers perhaps too?
6. Wine or champagne. Recommendation for Oregonians: If you are ever in Seaside, Oregon, pickup a couple bottles of Centive Moscato D’asti from The Wine Haus. It is a really great lightly carbonated sweet white wine.
7. Corkscrew to open the wine, if you don’t already own one.
8. Candle holder and candle(s).
9. Card stock or some other heavy paper.
10. Optional: special plates and special flatware to make the evening even more special. I went with two dinner plates, plus two smaller salad plates.  Also, matching bowls for dessert can work great too.

Putting it all together:

• The food–OK, first I’m going to admit that I cheated a bit and ordered the ravioli and bread sticks from Olive Garden. I drove and picked it up a couple hours before our dinner date started. But, the salad and dessert I made myself. Don’t forget about dessert! Anything with chocolate is usually a good choice for dessert.
• If you purchased flatware, glasses, and/or plates, be sure to wash them. This can be done a day or two ahead of time.
• Sign the card and wrap the gift (if applicable). Again, do this a few days ahead of time and cross it off your list!
• Make a menu. Remember that card stock paper from #9 above? Type out the night’s menu (and activities?)  and print it out. Put two copies out on the table.
• Choose a napkin fold for your cloth napkins and learn how to do it.
• The finish line: Put out the table cloth, folded napkins, flatware, glasses, and menu. Light the candle(s), pull the cork, fill the glasses, put dinner on the table, and get the music playing softly. Escort him or her into the room for a surprise and a special evening together.

Have other ideas for how to create a romantic dinner date at home? Be sure to leave a comment! Thank you.

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I recently received a Google Alert on “ways to save money”. A series of articles on helium.com titled Easy ways to save money by going green caught my attention right away. That’s what the Green Frugal is all about!

You can certainly read the full articles, but for your convenience I’ve condensed it down to three things that I thought were of particular interest.  Here they are:

“Instead of buying all sorts of fancy dusting sprays, use Murphy’s Oil soap and dilute it with some water and put it in a spray bottle. That will last you a long time, remove dust easily, be safe on any surface and not fill your air with a ton of chemicals in the process. ”

“A great way to conserve water in your bathrooms is to put a 2 quart soda bottle filled with water inside of the toilet tank.  This will save on the amount of water that is used each time the toilet is flushed.” (I just did this today, in my house. Tip: put a few rocks in the soda bottle, or else you may have a floatation device. A 2 quart soda bottle is equivalent to 64 ounces.  If this seems a bit large to you, then you can always start with a 20 ounce… or maybe two 20′s.)

“Look at the way things are packaged – You may not have noticed, but things that are packaged in fancy packaging and/or boxes tend to cost more than things you can buy in plain bags. Some manufacturers even make a point of using plastic food bags that are made from recycled materials. “

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Hello Everyone,

Our Sidewalk Sale is fast approaching. It will be next week June 23, 24 & 25 from 10am – 6pm at our warehouse located in beautiful Beaverton, Oregon.

We will have 4,000+ books for sale in all types of categories with inventory refreshed daily so we don’t have slim pickins’ come Friday afternoon. Also, this has been posted as an event on our McKenzie Books facebook page, so feel free to RSVP to it so your network can see it on your page.  We really want to spread the word and raise as much money as we can for DonorsChoose.org!  Also, we will be accepting credit cards.

Below is a copy of the flyer we are handing out. If everyone could forward this flyer on to everyone they know locally so they can forward it on to everyone they know locally and so on and so forth that would be awesome!  Also, it would be great if everyone posted an actual paper flier at at least ONE location around Beaverton in your nearest Starbuck’s, grocery store, gym, cafes, library, local/family/friend’s businesses, schools, local charities etc. Flyers are also available at the McKenzie Books customer service counter.

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Welcome to The Green Frugal!

Our goal at The Green Frugal is simple. We want to be a consumer advocate by connecting and engaging with our customers in two primary ways: 1) ways to save money 2) ways to live green and respect our environment.

In March 2004, McKenzie Books (our parent company) launched Cash4Books.net, an online service that helps people save money by selling used books.  Over the years we’ve learned more and more about our Cash4Books customers, many of which we’ve now coined the “frugals & savers”, and how they love to find new and inventive ways to save money.  We’ve also learned that many of those same customers share in our company value of being green. Thus, in May 2010, we started The Green Frugal Blog as a way to connect with our customers about money saving tips and green living.

Our small company size (about 40 employees) enables us to get many employees involved in contributing to this blog, and I am very excited about that.  Our employees care about green living and saving money, and I look forward to seeing how they give a personal touch to this blog.

I am proud of our customer community and their deep commitment to living green and frugally. I hope that you, too, will want to be a part of our community, and I look forward to how we can connect on The Green Frugal.

If you are ever in the Beaverton, Oregon area, I hope you will stop by and visit our McKenzie Books Millikan Way office. Please mention that you read this on The Green Frugal—we would love that! Oh, and don’t forget to find us on Facebook.

Lastly, I wanted to share a photo of my family. The following picture was taken March 20, 2010, during a hike around Mt Tabor Park.  In the photo: my wife Breanne, son Mekiah (7), daughter Abrielle (2), and myself.

Jim McKenzie Smith
President
Cash4Books.net