Five Frugal Things -- Another Sale for The Oregon Food Bank!
1) I forgot that I also picked up a stainless steel measuring cup during my recent bin foray. Specifically an exact replacement for my one whose handle broke off at least five years ago.
This supports my theory that anything that's ever been manufactured will eventually show up at Goodwill for me. This isn't kismet, it's an example of the overmanufacture of consumer goods.
But how satisfying is it to finally have a proper full set again?
2) My next door neighbor listed a jar of organic dill pickles on Buy Nothing and I quickly raised my virtual hand for dibs. I checked and they sell for $7.99/jar, which makes this a fancier pickle situation than I'd normally experience.
They even came with free delivery!
3) I defrosted a pound of ground beef that I got for free with a New Seasons coupon. It was from a "spend-$10 get a pound of ground beef" coupon. I normally don't shop there, (What am I, a Rockefeller?!) but it was my husband's birthday and he goes ape shit* for their signature banana cake.
New Seasons regularly mails out "spend $10, get whatever" coupons, which I usually just hand over to my next door neighbors who do all their shopping there.
I also pulled some hamburger buns from the freezer, ($1 Franz Bakery outlet) and will top some hamburgers with leftover Boursin Grocery Outlet cheese from our recent beach vacation. I think we paid $1.99 for it.
Which I now realize was an excellent deal!
4) I picked up my library holds, which included this new release from "S.D. Coverly," which is a pseudonym for writing partners Dana Schwatrz and Dan Frey. Dana is married to a friend's son and I'm excited to dive into what is described as a "thrilling and sexy dark romance!"
5) I sold the Rothy's that I thrifted from the Goodwill bins in February. I thought they'd sell for more, but $35 is still a decent turnaround for a lightweight bin item. This sale put me over $200 in profit for the Goodwill Gift Card Challenge for the month of May!
I still have a bit under $5 on my challenge gift card, but am saving it for high value low cost purchases to hopefully bump my profit over the thousand dollar mark.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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*The opportunity for primate humor was too good to pass up!
Congratulations Katy, on the $200+ for the food bank in the month of May. I applaud your efforts and admire your dedication to making life less hard for those who are struggling. Especially since the orange resident in the WH has openly proclaimed he doesn't care about Americans and the hard times they're facing.
Thank you! And yes . . . 110%!
1. Gifted my mother a selection of plants and a plant stand, all free to me. A rather inexpensive 80th birthday present. We also took her kayaking at the county park and to the county beach. These cost us gas only. She kept saying it was her best birthday.
2. Sold a FB marketplace item that I'd had listed for quite a while. So glad to have the space and money, and not have the item.
3. Gave my garden supplemental water from the water barrel.
4. Cooked a meal and made salads with leftovers in mind, I have 2 houseguests. Salads were coleslaw (carrots and cabbage are cheap), green salad and kale salad both from my garden. It was an inexpensive, lovely, and much appreciated meal
5. Received 14 hard boiled eggs (sealed in their packets from Costco) from buy nothing. This will be a weeks worth of sandwich filling for my husband's packet lunches. I'm always astonished there isn't more of a rush to receive food items, I was the only person who responded that I would like them. They are sealed after all. Plus it's a person I know. A weeks worth of free sandwich filling is nothing to be picky about these days!
Our washing machine crapped out, booooo! Thankfully, DH can fix it, but $300 later is an ouch moment. I will have to visit the laundry mat to get by until the parts arrive.
Declined a dinner invite with friends because we are mighty tired and spent our fun money on the silly washer.
Cooked up a mess of neckbones and cabbage. Frugal to the core. My folks stopped by and we fed them supper. They brought us a heap of collards.
Shipped out an Ebay sale with reused materials. Made a little on the shipping as well.
Gocery run to All Dis. The cheapo store was closed, my heart broke just a little, lol. I'll stop in another time.
Making the rounds for Decoration Day, as my Granny called it. We kept back random jars and washed them to use as vases for fresh flowers. Ended up buying fresh flowers for the graves. We need to plant a few things that will be ready for next year. We visited 3 local cemeteries today and will finish up the rest tomorrow. We will pack a picnic lunch to economize.
Nice to have free pickle delivery! And a full set of measuring cups!
I set out driving this morning in a light rain. I was going to get gas but then it occurred to me that if I waited till Tuesday morning the price might go down. I am deliberately not setting out on my road trip until after Memorial Day is over.
I went to PetSmart and bought a feeding block for my fish. I paid with the gift card I got from the BCBS settlement, so I'm considering it free. I found two receipts in the parking lot.
I also returned a library book via the outdoor bin. Now I have nothing checked out to worry about on my trip.
I set aside outfits to pack today. I'm taking four. I tried a new selection method -- alternating tops and bottoms that each coordinate with the one previous. Should give me lots of changes. I will be using packing cubes again to individually pack whole outfits, including underwear and socks. Thank goodness I don't have to pack anything dressy.
A friend gave me a sealed in-date package of Hebrew National all-beef hot dogs, which I know to be very good! I'm excited! Probably won't have any until I get back, because I'm still working on the corn pone pie. Some of that will end up going into the freezer -- somehow -- which is really packed.