Five Frugal Things -- Vintage Lighting Globes & Salmon Burgers
1. I stopped by Goodwill and thrifted this vintage lighting globe for just $4.99. You likely know that I consistently pick these up, as they're an straightforward sale to a store in my neighborhood. It's an easy side hustle, as there's no photographing, researching, packaging, mailing, etc. I simply hand them over and they write me a check.
$4.99 to $40 in under thirty minutes!
2. I took my daughter's boots back to the cobbler, as the zipper repair was done incorrectly the first time around. (The bottom piece wasn't put into place, which means the pull tab kept disconnecting.) He fixed the zipper and no money was spent as I'd already paid for the repair a few months back. I noticed that he didn't bother to shine them up this time, which annoyed me.
It was a pain to run this errand twice. Actually four times, as it was drop off-pick up-drop off-pick up!
3. I'll be hitting the Franz Bakery Outlet store bright and early tomorrow morning, as my day is busy. I have speciality items like buns and gluten-free bread in the freezer, but am out of regular bread.
4. I was inspired by a reader mentioning her salmon burgers in the comments section, as I had a leftover fillet in the fridge. I briefly glanced at an online recipe, but went rogue and made my own recipe using a cup or so of Dollar Tree panko bread crumbs, eggs, oyster sauce, dried parsley, salt, pepper and steak seasoning.
I then grilled a patty in my cast iron skillet and topped it with sriracha mayonnaise and lettuce on a hamburger bun. Dear readers, this was maybe the most delectable thing I've ever eaten! Plus it took what would've fed a single person and stretched it into enough for three servings!
Thank you, Karen A.!
5. I ordered an amazing birthday gift for my sister on eBay, which supports an individual seller and continues my buy-nothing-new decision that I began in 2007. I can't share what it is, but I'll divulge all in a few weeks.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
That salmon burger looks delicious. What a great use for leftovers.
1. I picked up a couple things at an estate sale. I found a Cutco knife, Cutco kitchen scissors and a Henckels paring knife. I will sell the two Cutco items but will keep the Henckels knife for myself. I have a goal to find a new to me set of knives at estate sales and thrift stores. This particular knife is on sale right now for $75
2. Meijer had a sale on berries. My mom was out and called to see if I wanted any. Yes please. It's nice to get my grocery order fulfilled without having to walk into a busy store.
3. Dinner last night was leftover tuna casserole that my mom gifted me. She knows I love it, but I never make it. She doesn't care for leftovers which is a shame, but works out well for me sometimes.
4. My handy man came and replaced a worn out light switch and a broken GFI outlet as well as a couple other things. He charges a fraction of what I would have to pay an electrician and always does a great job.
5. My invisible fence which is over 20 years old quit working. It has a lifetime warranty. I had to pay a service charge but it is now up and running again. My too smart pup figured this out and decided to help me out with the raking near the road. I live on ten acres. She gets the run of a couple acres. The cost of a real fence would be so much more than the invisible fence.
I had gotten my granddaughter a Little People ferris wheel from a local reseller. She absolutely loves it as it plays music and goes round and round, two big wins in the 6 month old set. However, none of the actual Little People I had picked up worked with it. It seemed like they were all top heavy and ended upside down and stuck at the bottom of the rotation. Seeing as this was sure to give her a complex, I checked this toy out on ebay and learned that it was originally sold with the original LP - smaller with much smaller heads. LOL I grabbed a few random ones off ebay - I have a feeling this is going to be a favorite when she is old enough to actually play with it.
Her stocking is almost done. Just doing all the backstitching and then need to sew it together. Seeing our stockings hanging up makes my Christmas perfect.
I have also picked up random LP from the same reseller which I will just drop in her stocking. She is starting on food now, so I will put some puffs and pouches in her stocking, too. Filling stockings is my favorite part of Christmas, maybe.
Working 5 hours this Saturday morning. We have been short-handed, and I always welcome the OT.
Going to a college graduation party today. I'm going to pick up a gift card to a local coffee shop for the grad.
The salmon patties look delicious!
1. Sold a Christmas jumper on Vinted (for a lot less than 200 and even 30 Dollars!) but it all adds up. I will keep an eye out for H. Moser & CIE jumpers in charity shops in future!
2. Used some wool from my wool stash to make fingerless gloves as a Christmas present for a friend. Will make another pair with the same wool, it’s a nice colourful wool, lots of colour needed in winter I always think!
3. No Aldi box this week as our freezer is too full, I wouldn’t be able to freeze anything. We’re working on using up frozen food now.
4. We had torrential rains recently and as a result there were some pot holes in the tarmac in the driveway. We were able to repair them with bags of pothole repair tarmac which the owner of the house we are renting paid for. One of the very few perks of renting.
5. Recent favourite library (re)read: Mara and Dann (Doris Lessing)
Love that you were inspired by the comments to try a new "use it up" recipe, and bonus, that it turned out great! Well done, collective team! I also really like those vintage globes & while they don't suit the style of my house, I can appreciate them all the same.
1) Chased a return that went sideways. I suppose this was partially my fault, as I'd ordered several things from the same retailer. I attempted to place all returns in the same package, to save on postage (for the company) & reduce the waste of having two separate packages. Turns out that one package needed to go to the retailer directly, but the other items went to a different manufacturer that sells in the store. I had no idea, and my attempt to be even slightly responsible caused a big headache for everyone. The second manufacturer mailed my item back to me, but I couldn't start a return, because of course, the store showed that I'd already started a return on the item & it was listed as "in transit". Anyway, this was my fault, and it took at least an hour and multiple stops at the mailing shop to get it resolved, as well as a chat with customer support. But, all is well now & I will not make that mistake again.
2) Traded in an item purchased as a gift for the sale version, saving $34.
3) Did not quit when boss's boss made an absolutely unreasonable demand, and practiced my serene poker face instead. (spoiler: I have a terrible poker face, which is why I described this as "practiced").
4) We will decorate the house with all decorations that we've had for 10+ years, including our tree. When the lights attached on the tree stopped working 5 or so years ago, we painstakingly went through & removed them all from the tree using wire cutters. We now just add our own strings of lights.
5) Looked into some gear rental (vs buying used & then reselling on eBay) for a few items we need for our NZ hiking trip.
I dug the last of the carrots from the greenhouse. I almost waited too late, as the soil in the boxes was starting to freeze. It was a great year for carrots and I'm going to miss them when this last harvest is gone.
After 20 inches of much-needed snow my husband plowed for two neighbors. They don't live here in winter, but if the snow is left it melts then refreezes and come spring it would take heavy equipment to unearth the drive. They pay him at the end of the season. A nice little side hustle.
I finished the last of the boxy zipper pouches I'm sewing from fabric scraps. I'll put some goodies in each and give them as gifts. They look very nice.
Attended the annual children's concert in our little town. Best holiday entertainment ever -- and free. I don't have children but the whole show is delightful.
Dinner when I got home from the concert was clean-out-the-fridge leftovers.