Five Frugal Things -- The Perfect Parking Spot!
1) I've been driving around with books in the back of my car from last weekend's garage sale after parties, just waiting until there was a Friday, Saturday or Sunday that coincided with a rare parking spot in front of the Powell's Books on Hawthorne Blvd. (They only buy books on those days.) I figured it would take at least a couple weeks for the stars to align, but there was a parking spot directly in front of the store this afternoon.
I parallel parked my car into that spot so efficiently, you'd think it was an Olympic event!
The employee told me to browse the store while he worked his way through everything. Not exactly a terrible way to kill time.
I took a bunch of photos of books to reserve at the library, including this one. I love time loop books/movies/TV shows, (Star Trek: The Next Generation's Cause and Effect is one of my favorite episodes of TV!) I know nothing about this book, but still put it on hold.
I also photographed some of their recommendation bookmarks.
Powell's is very picky about what they buy, but in the end I got $32 in store credit, which'll be fun for a future shopping trip. The remainder of the books will hit my little free library.
Again, I cannot overemphasize the rarity of such a good parking spot.
2) I grabbed one of Powell's Summer Reading Challenge cards, which'll be fun.
It has a bingo card format and it'll be interesting to see whether or not I complete it, as the categories are super specific.
3) I somehow let my gas tank get frighteningly low, but filled it back up paying only (ha!) $4.23/gallon. I paid cash to get a 25¢/gallon discount, which I did by stopping at the Trader Joe's up the road and grabbing bananas to get cash back.
My discount added up to more than the price of the bananas. So . . . kind of like free bananas?
4) I picked up four of these organizer grid thingies from last weekend's garage sale after party and am thinking I'll use them in our bedroom closet. I do have something that I rigged up a few years ago from curb picked organizer cube pieces, but this'll better as you can choose the width.
Our 1914 house doesn't have a linen cupboard, so sheets live in our bedroom closet. This house does have a twin a few blocks away and we learned that it did originally have one, but it was remodeled away at some point in time.
Taking everything down will force me to make choices about which sheets need to be kept and I'll likely offer a few things up in my Buy Nothing group.
5) I started reading a library copy of The Overdue Life of Amy Byler. It seems like a fun read and not every books needs to be a weighty tome.
Staying on a daily reading routine is moving me towards the thirty days I need to complete my library's adult summer challenge. Gotta get that tote bag!
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Your van has gotten a workout lately. A good vehicle for your donating, purging, and cleaning out the storage building. When I get a new (used) vehicle I want a small SUV or car w/ a fold down back seat to haul stuff. I miss my Subaru Forester. A satisfying feeling to get the storage building cleaned out & books offloaded. Now you can relax in your shady backyard w/ a cold drink.
This actually our other car, but yes -- the minivan is pulling her weight lately!
1. I hit a few yard sales today and on the way to the first one a curb alert popped up in my FB group. It was posted five minutes before we got there but I was able to pick up two outdoor chair cushions. I washed them when I got home and they fit two of my free deck chairs from a few years ago.
2. Pickings were slim at the yard sales today but I did take a half full 27 ounce bottle of baby shampoo from a free box. I also bought two strands of battery operated Christmas lights for $2.
3. Frugal for my public library - not me - but on Friday I donated 16 higher quality jigsaw puzzles(mostly Dowdle and Buffalo). People do not want to pay for puzzles on Marketplace and for me, ebay is a lot of work. I do sometimes sell in my Ravensburger FB group.
4. Made two pans of focaccia today - one for us and one for DD30 and BF33. Makes humble pasta and red sauce seem fancier.
5. Decided to start alternating tea and coffee in the morning. I have a Nespresso Vertuo that I really love but the capsules are about $1-$1.50 each. I tried refilling the used capsules with a kit but it’s just not the same.
Not a frugal week, as I'm just back from an awesome (not even remotely) frugal vacation, and trying to put the pieces back together.
1) Made a menu plan, cleaned the fridge, and had DH run to Costco to pick up supplies.
2) Received a $250 deposit refund for DS19's dorm room. If you could have seen the state of this when I arrived for move out, you would be blown away by what we accomplished by the time we finished. This money was hard earned!
3) Helped DS19 navigate an appeal to a parking ticket when he was visiting a friend at UCLA. He did pay, but didn't move the car in time, which resulted in a $174 ticket. By showing his original payment, they dropped the fine to $20 as a "first time offender".
4) Packed up the things I bought in Greece (trip above) in lots of bubble wrap & managed to avoid breaking anything. I don't usually buy souvenirs on trips, but did buy some hand made pottery from a shop a family has been running for forty years. They gave us a tour& we got to see how things were made. It was really quite fascinating. The pottery will be used as serving dishes & will bring back some fun memories.
5) Paid 15 euros (shared 3 ways) with friends on a trip, which helped us avoid needing to haul around huge bags. This was a particular win, as we had connecting flights, ferry travel, etc.
That was meant to say that I paid 15 euros (split three ways) for an enormous bag of laundry. I left out what it was for.
1. A combination of store sale, manufacturing coupon, and Fetch, meant that I was able to get a 30-ounce jar of Hellman's mayo for $0.80, rather than $6.49 This is one of the few items that I buy store brand, but I always try to get it on deep discount, and as part of a mystery shop.
2. I was planning on buying a bag of frozen edamame, but they were out of the cheapest (store brand). I asked an employee who was restocking frozen veg, but he didn't have any more, so he grabbed a bag of the organic edamame and told the person at the register to just charge me the price that the store brand would have been. The organic bag was also 2 ounces more.
3. I went to a work event (12:30-2) to earn some capital with my boss today, but it also meant that I drank free coffee, got lunch for free, and brought home 2 snickerdoodle cookies.
4. I'll save the snickerdoodle cookies for tomorrow, when I'm hosting a friend at my work apartment for the night. I planned our meal around mystery shop ingredients, so I'm making pork banh mi burgers. The pork and brioche buns were free, and the carrots and radishes were from the free CSA box. Dessert will also be ice cream that was free for the mystery shop (I'll serve with the cookies). I think in all, I spent $10 (edamame, cilantro, cucumbers, basil), but I'll get an additional two dinners from all of the ingredients, or about $2.50 per serving for each meal, which seems reasonable.
5. A friend and I wanted to go out for dinner, and so I was able to find another mystery shop for a steakhouse. In addition to the free meal, I made $6.00, and brought home a salad to eat for tonight's dinner.
I've visited Powells, I know how rare those parking spots are! Hooray for getting it!
1. I'm nearing the end of 2 weeks with no car. It has been quite liberating. I have been creative with food, completed so many things around the house, used my bike even more, and strengthened some friendships through carpooling. I have been able to do all of my usual commitments.
2. I asked on Buy Nothing if anyone in my neighborhood with solar would be willing to let me charge my bike battery a couple times in July. Dh usually charges it at work, but he's a teacher and off for the summer. Someone one street over from me replied that they'd be happy to charge the battery for me. Another social connection strengthened, and some money saved.
3. I made coleslaw with the last bit of elderly cabbage, and filled it out with kale from my garden. It turned out well. I suspect many would have thrown away this last bit of cabbage, but I'm really committed to not throwing dollars in the trash (or the compost in this case). Once in the coleslaw, no one would know that the cabbage was elderly.
4. I've done some organizing in the garage, storing polyfill (for cushions) in bags that compress down. I keep a single tub of "practice fabric" (old sheets), quilt batting, and polyfill. I do not keep anything that won't fit in that one tub.
5. Sold the highchair I listed on fb marketplace on the same day that I listed it. Listed a few more things. Sales are much slower. Has anyone else experienced this?
1. I walked an hour between 5:30 and 6:30 a.m. this morning.
2. It is now 3 pm here and hotter than he$&. Okay, maybe not but you get the drift. I still have managed not to turn the air on today… yet. The day is still young though.
3. I used my new Starlink internet to work a couple of hours this morning. I estimated it already paid for this month’s cost of the Internet so I would say it was worth it. It feels weird to have reliable internet. I also just realized I am using my phone to post this out of sheer habit and hoping it works! Old habits are hard to break!
4. I ate my salmon, cream cheese and bagel again this morning, my cheap take on lox and bagel. Tomato sandwich for lunch with fresh watermelon. I may have eaten ice cream.
5. I have not left town but I did walk to the post office. So I have saved on using any gas today. Although I am so tempted to go swimming at the park several miles up the road. Maybe tomorrow. Did I mention it is really hot?
A parking space like that deserves to be commemorated with a photo.
I stayed home today and gave both my dogs a bath and conditioned their coats. They are fluffy girls so this helps keep them looking good. We are on the cheaper kilowatt rate all weekend, so I also laundered their towels, bed slipcovers and a pillowcase full of grubby stuffed toys.
I bought a few new clothing items, mostly on clearance and including things I cannot thrift like underwear. Everything arrived today and I handwashed three stacks of stuff, squeezed it out in old towels, and have it drying on the energy efficient cycle.
Also received a set of used books today and stuck them in the freezer for 48 hours, just in case.
It's a very hot day, so I went to the garden first thing and added a new stake and string to the big tomato plant and harvested a bowl full of basil.