Five Frugal Things -- A Bespoke Vacuum Cleaner
1) I spent $69.75 at employee owned Winco Foods, which might not appear as a great bargain. However, four (actually five) of the my items were on the pricier side. Think of it as stocking up.
- The Fage yogurt -- $5.98
- The Kewpie mayo, which I bought for a specific recipe -- $5.26
- Chicken breasts -- $8.69
- Multi-pack of flour tortillas -- $7.08
- Cat litter -- $6.43
My grandcat is visiting for a few days, which necessitated the cat litter and food purchases.
Not to brag, (Oh . . . I'm absolutely bragging here) but I bought just the right amount of bulk oatmeal to fill my "oatmeal jar." This is akin to guessing the correct number of jelly beans in a jar -- but you know, the opposite.
What do I win?
Perhaps my prize was this 50¢ ice cold diet Shasta? Hit the spot on a hot summer day and I call that a win!
2) Speaking of refreshing cold drinks, I made another pitcher of sun tea using three random bags of hotel tea. My friends know to bring these to me from their travels.
Note that I make sun tea in a regular pitcher, to which I rubber band a plastic bag on top. No need for a task specific "sun tea jar."
3) My daughter didn't finish her salmon fillet, so I mixed it with cream cheese to make salmon spread. I still had one sleeve of crackers leftover from our recent beach trip. (We bought a cheap case of assorted Carr's crackers from the Grocery Outlet store at the coast.) Topped with homemade red onion, this was the perfect faux fancy afternoon snack!
4) I curb picked this vacuum cleaner at last weekend's Laurelhurst's neighborhood garage sale after party. It looked to be in good condition, so I grabbed it for my daughter. Unfortunately the cord was completely bunged up close to the plug.
Luckily I have a handy husband!
All it took was a $2 part and this $185-ish vacuum cleaner is now back in business! So what that the plug is now white, instead of black? It's now bespoke!
I was tempted to keep it, as it's significantly nicer than our 25-year-old vacuum.
5) I read through my Lucky Day library copy of Emma Straub's American Fantasy in under 24 hours. (Love, love, love Emma Straub!) We also completed the first season of our Star Trek: Strange New Worlds library Blu-ray. This is an accomplishment, as we only watch episodes after our weekly Family dinners, so this took awhile.
I was four-and-a-half hours into my latest Libby audiobook, when I realized that I had yet to bond with any of the characters. Nope! Life's too short to read mediocre books! That's what's great about library books -- there's no gotta get my money's worth mindset to impel you to slog through a book that's not a good fit.
It took maybe ten minutes or so scrolling the Libby app to find a better prospect. I recently read and enjoyed Reid's Atmosphere, so it's a good bet that Maybe in Another Life will be a keeper.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
1. I continue to stick to this year's theme of less. I gave up liquid fabric softener. I love the scent, but hate the plastic bottle, the cost, and question it's effect on our septic system. I have been using laundry sheets instead of the regular detergent. Love the less packaging of these, but miss the scent of Gain or Tide. I have also reduced the use of hair products, specifically gel and mousse. I am six months in and find it challenging. I thought it would be easy, but I think it's mainly the smells I miss. I am hearing impaired, and I have a heightened sense of smell, that I think compensates for my hearing loss.
2. A friend gave me 5 vegetable seed packets, and another friend gave me a pack of poppy seeds. I will us all of them.
3. My husband and I went to a botanical garden on Sunday, and he got in free. It was a Father's Day promo.
4. I sold two items on eBay. Tiny Streams, but I will take any amount.
5. Rode my bike to and from work one day this week (14 miles). Took free yoga class at the library.
Johanna,
So glad to hear that you are trying to limit your use of plastics. I am as well and will pay more for something if it's environmentally friendly versus a cheaper item that comes in plastic. I don't know if you have a sustainable store in your area. I'm fortunate enough to have one the next town over and I am in that area fairly often for appointments. They have hair gel that I have been using for several years. Once you purchase the metal pump container the only additional cost is the weight of the hair gel anytime you have it refilled. Also, if you use dryer sheets when you're not able to air dry I would encourage you to use the wool dryer balls instead of the dryer sheets.