Errands are Definitely More Fun With a Friend!
I roped my friend Lise into being my date for a Goodwill/IKEA run and had much more fun than if I'd run these errands by my lonesome. I'm especially pleased this worked out, as I only gave her an hour or so of notice.
Before heading out, a fresh supply of gasoline was in order. Luckily I'd anticipated this need and had enough cash on hand to earn the 35¢/gallon discount from my favorite nearby gas station.
Our first stop was the Goodwill location on 122nd and Halsey, which was somewhat on the way to IKEA. All Christmas merchandise was already priced at 50% off, so I grabbed two rolls of 99¢ wrapping paper and a $6.99 three-pack of hand knit Christmas stockings!
My best deal was this hand blown art vase, priced at just $4.99. I did a quick Google image search and easily identified the artist, (Scott Beyers) whose work sells for hundreds of dollars. Picking it up to resell was a no brainer!
Here's everything I bought, which set me back a budget friendly $10.98. The wooden plate stand was the half-off color tag and will come in hand when photographing flat items for eBay. I don't get to this Goodwill all that often, but that might need to change as this location seems less picked over than other locations.
Our next stop was IKEA, where I grabbed a couple of their Trixig-15 tool kits to give as gifts. I tried to source them used, even setting an "alert" on Facebook Marketplace in case someone listed one, but the sellers were always too far away. It try my best always buy used, but it's not easy when there's a December 25th deadline.
Lise and I took the elevator upstairs to the cafeteria to grab free coffee, which is our routine. I always make the dad joke of "Can I treat you to cup of coffee?" which consistently gets a pity chuckle. They had cookie samples out, which was the perfect accompaniment to our beverages.
Free coffee + free cookies = my love language!
Lastly we went to the downstairs food court, where I treated myself to a $1.40 veggie dog, because I'm fancy that way!
I immediately got to work once home, spending maybe fifteen minutes photographing and listing the vase. No opportunity to make money, if I procrastinate the task!
Click HERE to see the eBay listing! And that backdrop? It's just marble print Contact paper stuck onto a piece of poster board. It's great for when I'm photographing 3-D items, as I can bend the paper. The lighting is courtesy of the sun on my front porch.
I love having a companion who's willing to anchor our friendship with seemingly dull trips to grocery or thrift stores. Neither of us needs to anchor our socializing with restaurant meals or drinking. It's frugal and feeds both our souls.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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This blog post includes an eBay referral link.
Wow! That vase is beautiful. It would be hard for me to give it up if I'd found it.
My frugal win last week was an enormous side of salmon that my coworker's MIL gave her. She *hates* salmon, which MIL knows, and I offered to buy it from her when I heard her complaining in the break room. "Girl, you can HAVE it!" And she brought it in the next day. I've had it for dinner twice, made a batch of salmon corn chowder for lunches this week while WFH today, and cut/wrapped the rest for the freezer. I also cut a large section of the skin into strips & roasted them. The pieces make good treats for my kitty & another friend's chihuahuas.
Donated books to a couple of little free libraries and took some of my late mom's winter clothes to the women's shelter. They told me they'll take any season clothes because some residents arrive with nothing, so I'm going to bag up some more & drop them off after work tomorrow.
Merry Christmas to all who celebrate it! The big day is getting close!
--1. I got not one but TWO invitations to celebrations (+ church service) on Dec. 25. My church will do communion at 10; two friends will have a come-and-go thing from 11-2 and my neighbors invited me over for supper at 5. So this Christmas Day will not be spent alone! (Or, should I say, just me and the dog....sorry, Snuggles. But I'll leave you with a nice big chew toy.)
--2. Neighbor wanted me to bring the rolls. So I went to our store on my day off and grabbed up some.
--3. I have to work on Christmas Eve, but as usual, boss will bring BBQ for us. How Texan is that? 🙂
--4. Salvation Army piano player was on the store's front porch, and liked the church bulletin (with Advent/traditional sheet music printed in it) that I gave her. I got her 4 copies, in case she wanted to do a quartet.
--5. Found a secondhand garden flag holder for under $7. Was able to put it up with my Christmas flag in the front yard. Bought the latter on clearance last summer when a store was going out of business. When the holidays are over, I can use it for political flags.
1. Yesterday my husband installed new brakes in our paid off car. He picked up tools for the job from O'Reilly's as part of their rental service and returned them today on his lunch break, we'll get the money refunded ($75!). We paid around $65 for the brakes which is a far cry from the ~$300 we were quoted from the mechanic.
2. I made a solid dent in my meal prepping between last night and today! A little over 10 cups of oat milk, a batch of vegan 'buttermilk' biscuits- half of which was dinner and half was turned into 'dumplings' for our chicken and dumplings, three loaves of bread, nine hoagie style rolls, nine dinner rolls for Christmas Eve dinner, pumpkin muffins, and banana muffins.
3. My oldest daughter has been obsessed with building forts with cardboard boxes in our living room over the last few days. Free entertainment! She and her little sister are also using our hodgepodge of crayons to color and decorate their creations.
4. Caught up with a friend a bit today between errands and let her know that our house is for sale as she was looking the last time we were together. She let me know that it's not in the area they're currently looking but will pass it on to people she knows. Hopefully the power of word of mouth works in our favor! Can't beat the cost of free advertising 😉
5. Confirmed plans for Christmas Eve dinner and plans this weekend with various family members. All of our gifts are wrapped and ready to go under the tree. My oldest daughter told me she wanted me to ask Santa for a new hairbrush for Christmas since hers has seen better days. Lucky for her we had the same thought when we purchased our stocking stuffers!
Gorgeous vase! I am always amazed at your GW finds.
Making fish tacos out of Sunday family dinner halibut fish sticks dinner. Using fresh baby cilantro from the greenhouse and cabbage still growing in the garden.
Used my year end farmer co-op share/rebate to buy road diesel at the current awesome prices.
picked up 2 grocery totes of cans on my walk with a neighbor this morning. They are all the same energy drink brand, maybe the same person littering everyday?
Today i planted garlic, shallots and more tulips. The tulips were a Yule tide gift.
A house flipping friend offered me wet wood from a backyard shed that had a holey roof. I am decorating my hearth with 5 pieces of wood, turning them until they feel dry, then burning them the next day. About one month's worth!