Five Frugal Things -- Free Flowerpots!
1. I accepted a $55 offer on the Tiffany & Co. glasses frames that I thrifted for the $100 Goodwill Gift Card Challenge, which is extra special as I sourced them from the pay-by-the-pound bins! I'd estimate that I spent 25¢ on them.
Remember when I thrifted three Tiffany items in a single bins trip?
After eBay fees, that's an extra $45.59 to be donated to the Oregon Food Bank!
Click HERE to see the listing.
2. Someone in my Buy Nothing Group offered up a smattering of ceramic flowerpots and I raised my digital hand for a large glazed one. (How "large?" Banana for scale.) The generous guy then added on three bonus ones! What's best is that the white pot is unglazed towards to bottom and has a drainage hole, so I'll be able to place it outside.
I'm not sure what I'll plant in it, but I'm excited to start putting my garden together.
3. My husband signed up for free trial of AMC+ so we can watch the fifth season of Dark Winds. (We'll make sure to cancel in time to not be charged!) I also downloaded a Tony Hillerman audiobook through the free Libby app for an upcoming car trip.
Tony Hillerman will always remind me of the very end of my first pregnancy, when I was large with child and I'd start one of his books, thinking I'd finish it in the hospital. I went two weeks past my due date and probably read four of his books with this mindset.
4. My husband and I were out and about running errands and were thisclose to driving across town to repeat our amazing taco lunch from the other day. Instead we headed home and I concocted a tasty meal of cheesy grits topped with sautéed peppers and spinach. It hit the spot and kept us from wasting a fair amount of gasoline.
5. I have a tendency to hold onto "good boxes," as they're great to have on hand when packaging up my eBay sales. However, this inevitably leads to an excess of boxes that exceed my actual need. Yesterday was the day to take a cold hard look at my box stash, which led to a satisfying box flattening session.
No one ever saved money by hoarding.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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I bought a marked-down, clearance pound of ground beef at the grocery store Tuesday that I needed to either cook or freeze. I planned to make sloppy joes for lunch but while scrolling online I saw a recipe for meatloaf using a box of stuffing mix as the bread crumb component. I have made many a meatloaf in my time but not using stuffing mix. I had a marked-down clearance box of stuffing mix in my pantry! LOL. It turned out quite yummy for little money.
Funny, your mention of books you read while having babies...
It was Stephen King's MISERY for baby #1 -- I had her in Boulder, CO's Community Hospital, but didn't realize that his "number one fan" was accused of killing babies in that exact hospital! (It still is a remarkable book, especially for writers.)
Baby #2 (also birthed in Boulder) was accompanied by Tom Clancy's PATRIOT GAMES. I will always like this one, as well as RED OCTOBER and CLEAR AND PRESENT DANGER.
I like "The Cardinal of the Kremlin". I just slogged through a 1400 page paperback of "Executive Order" from a library free shelf. I had forgotten how unquestioningly patriotic Clancy's writing was, in the best senses of the word. A lot of interesting parallels to modern current events.
(And though I read the occasional new book from the "Ryan-Verse", creator Tom Clancy was undoubtedly the best).
When I was pregnant with my first, I had heard that it was important to talk/read to your baby no matter what book it was as it was just the sound of your voice. I was on a big Patricia Cornwell kick, and I would read those aloud to her. My coworkers were aghast. But she turned out to be a huge reader, so that's a win in my mind.
Not having had babies myself, I can't comment from personal experience. But one of my dearest friends in JASNA--who died last October at age 94--always said that she read Jane Austen while she was in labor with all four of hers. (No surprise there.)
1) This cost some money but will save more overall. I was supposed to attend a conference out of state at the end of next month. My work was not requiring me to go (if they were, they would have paid for everything) but I could voluntarily go and use money from our training fund, so they would reimburse me for the conference registration, flight and hotel but they would not pay for food and there was a cap on how much they’d reimburse for flight and hotel and the cost was over that cap so I’d pay the difference. I decided not to go, I was already regretting my decision, I feel increasingly uneasy about the environmental impact of flying plus some airports are a mess right now. The final deciding factor though was that open house for my kids school was scheduled for the same date and I don’t want to miss that. So I canceled everything, the flight gave me a credit (so I guess I’ll have to fly eventually, or transfer it to someone who will!) and the hotel said it was nonrefundable but when I called them, they did refund me everything except a smaller deposit. Fortunately I hadn’t yet paid the conference registration fee so no issue there. So I did spend some money unnecessarily but again I think it will be less than I would have spent on the trip and saves me the hassle of going.
2) Yesterday was my husbands birthday. I got him a hat he wanted from a local store and nothing else. This was big for me, as my mom always gave tons of gifts to us for every birthday and I have to fight against that mindset that I need a pile of presents for immediate family. My husband truly didn’t want anything else so that made it easier, and we went out to dinner and I got him a pie as his birthday cake since he doesn’t like cake. A good low key celebration.
3) I started another library book, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Grim and a bit prescient, very opposite to the cozy Thursday murder club books I was reading but I’m really enjoying it. I’m also picking up our next book club read, The Names by Florence Knapp, from the library today.
I went to Goodwill and had just two items in my cart. I thought, Do I really need or want these? I didn't - so i put them back and left! Without buying anything. A first for me at Goodwill!
Oh, Katy, do I ever hear you on your #5. (And I know you can relate to the following.) As I've described in earlier comments, her other close friend (CF) and I are taking the first steps in cleaning out my 87-year-old next-door neighbor's (NDN1's) house, now that we've moved NDN1 into assisted living. The house qualifies for an episode of Hoarders in many other ways, but the staircase to the attic--which is steep and narrow--is almost completely blocked with boxes. CF and I, who are both 70 and not in the best orthopedic shape, are not going up there without a younger third party.
I feel for you. I have two neighbors who are hoarders and if they participate in a clean out it can be a painstaking and tedious endeavor for them and anyone who helps them. Sounds like you might want to have a younger person come and move a few boxes at a time. Good luck!
1. A neighbor replaced a falling apart raised bed garden with a larger one. I offered our four bags of yard waste (pine cones and branches) I've picked up in the past few months as fill for the bottom of the garden. He accepted. I dumped the yard waste into the bed and will be able to reuse the bags. Our county picks up yard waste April - early December and it must be in large paper bags.
2. A neighbor cleaned out her pantry of items they were not going to eat. We kept the protein bars and I offered the rest on Freecycle.
3. One of the produce drawers in our refrigerator lost a piece of plastic along the side so the drawer did not slide/glide well. I used duct tape to put it back together. It's duct tape purchased on 2001 after the 09/11 attacks when we were told to buy large plastic sheets and duct tape. The fix is working very well.
4. I walked the Trolley Trail with a friend.
5. I have short hair but waited more than 3 months between haircuts. I use a hair cutter that is an independent contractor and walked to/from my appointment. I do not pay for styling.
Tony Hillerman was such a talent. I think I read most, if not all, of his books set in the 4 corners. There was also a series on television...may have been PBS...which was based on those books.
1. DH found a nickel while out hiking.
2. I saved 53% of my purchase at CVS using ExtraBucks Rewards and a 15% off coupon. I spent $8.29 and saved $8.99.
3. There is a summary on the receipt that tells you how much you've saved year-to-date. I'm happy to see I've saved $69.76 just since January.
4. I've planned a meatless meal for tomorrow using up the vegetables I didn't need for our corned beef and cabbage meal on St. Patrick's Day...carrots, parsnips, frozen turnip plus the veggies I add: celery, a can of diced tomatoes, white beans for some protein and some macaroni. Grilled cheese sandwiches on the side.
5. No heat on in the house today as it's in the 60s. Spring is slowly creeping into New England...finally.
Nice pots. It is a most beautiful day here. I sowed more flower seeds. Listening to Freida McFadden's House maid series.
Giving the bald eagles and golden eagles a hard time (i scream at them like a banshee and clap my hands) as they are harassing my baby lambs and calves.
Hand washed/scrubbed the Adirondack chairs, will place their cushions when they are good and dry.
Steam cleaned the wool carpet runner that my ancient 22 yr old cat used as his litter box (once), I spit cleaned it and put it in storage, sprayed it with enzymes and lavender, it can dry in the wind on a couple of saw horses.