Are you one of the many people that are suposed to be on a budget but some how always manage to find yourself over budget?
Do you have the constant urge to buy everything "nice" that you see?

Maybe your one of us thats always looking for that one thing to spice up a room? Hoping that one day the room will finally look the way that you feel it should?

Lets face it, living on a budget isn't fun and it isn't easy. But there is hope and help for those of us that know we need it.

It's spring and for just about every one that means its out with the old and in with the new. Rooms theme's are changing, winter clothes are put away for another year and its garden time.

Maybe you have been one of the few people who are actually starting this early, or at least earlier then last year and are starting to take a look around and deciding what needs to go.

Before you start thowing things in garbage bags to take to the curb or boxes to go to the attic, look at what your about to put or throw away.

Stop and ask yourself a couple questions:

For things you are throwing away, ask yourself Can someone else use this? If you think the items can be reused by someone else you find yourself with a couple options.

You can donate them to thrift stores, you could sell it on ebay (giving you the cash and the excuse to buy more) or if there is enough at the end of all the sorting and cleaning you can decide to hold your own yardsale. Giving yourself another excuse and the cash to shop for more spring time bargins.

Find yourself standing in a room and looking around thinking that it is time for a new look? Instead of going out and paying full price for things why not go to yardsales, rummage sales, flea markets, thrift stores or look in the used items section of the local newspaper or if your lucky enough the local bargin hunter.

When your looking through all the goods at the flea markets, rummage sales or thrift stores don't just look at something and think about whether or not you like it. Look at it objectively and think is there another way that this can be used or something I can do to make it better?

Need an example?

There's a picture frame and you fall head over heels with its design but you think instead of gold it could look better another colour, spray paint it the colour of your choice.

You find a nice looking end table but it's got a scratched surface or has been painted a colour your not to happy about.
Use that as a weekend project, sand it and finish or paint it, maybe even stencil a design to had that bit of spice to the room.

Walking through thrift stores, or around yard sales is a good way to figure out what the unidentifiable thing the room "needs" is exactally. We all know how daunting that is.

Is organization a problem in your house? Maybe its the bedroom, no matter what you try to do to keep it clean it always looks cluttered.

If your handy with the tools or know someone who is then you have an advantage. Find a wooden table or wooden surface in a thrift store or yardsale and have the top cut off and into smaller slabs to be used as shelves. If there are peices left over that are not quite the same size you can always use them as smaller corner shelves to display decorative items or place your plants on.

Let your creative juices flow and go with it what have you got to lose? You never know what you can come up with.

Do you have something that you are just noticing is pretty plain and boring? Maybe a lampshade or you find yourself thinking the shelving in the room is a sore point?

Try adding to the lampshade, put silk flowers on it or wrap silk ivy wines around it using a hotglue gun to attach it to the lampshade, or use acrylic paint and stencil it on. All supplies can be found at local dollar stores and work just as well as those more expensive products at craft and department stores.

Rooms can be transformed even on a budget. The fun is searching for the things you want and making the room just the way you want it.

In the end your left with the feeling of achievement, and well admit it you want to gloat, just a litle bit your room is perfect and guess what you even did it on budget.

So have fun, get out there and let your creative juices flow. You never know whats out there waiting for you to find it.

Happy Hunting