Five Frugal Things -- An Excess of Asparagus
1) My sister picked up an $8 antique "Porcelier" ceiling light fixture from a garage sale that's an exact match to one from our childhood house. Unfortunately it was missing the sockets and electrical parts. Luckily we'd recently been to Hippo Hardware and suspected they'd be able to help.
I think the total after my $25 store credit was $11, which is a terrific price in the end.
She bought a house in the Bronx a few years ago and while the house is technically not a fixer upper, she and the previous owners didn't share the same taste in light fixtures. As a NYC high school teacher, she doesn't possess an excess of riches, so bargains like this are extra special. It'll go into her bedroom.
Next to be replaced is her dining room chandelier.
I had time at Hippo to wander around the store and came across a shelf of painted glass light shades, similar to what I have over my kitchen sink.
Of course, mine is from my Buy Nothing group.
2) I completed my Powell's Summer Reading Challenge bingo card with hours to spare and drove down to the Powell's on Hawthorne location to turn in my paperwork.
Luckily the store is open until 9 P.M.!
Yes, I'm complete and utter book dork. I may have received my Bachelor's of Science in Nursing, but I snuck in an English minor as an excuse to read something beyond dry nursing textbooks.
3) Smoky skies have returned to Portland, but my husband and I still have our handmade Corsi-Rosenthal box to filter the indoor air. Is it an eyesore? Maybe, but clean air is worth it.
Unrelated to nonconsumerism, but I refer to it as the "Rachel Rosenthal" box, which was my great grandmother's name. My dad would appreciate this moniker.
Cough, cough . . . .
4) My youngest is off on vacation with their friend's family, (lucky kid!) which means I have the pleasure to host both Myr and Mama's Little Meatball. They're best friends at this point and not too much trouble.
I will admit that I don't love having "litter box" sneak back onto my daily to-do list. This aspect of cat ownership is the biggest downside. Blegh!
5) I finally used up the entire bag of asparagus that my husband impulse purchased at Costco. This asparagus forward pasta dish was definitely tasty, but I'm happy to see the end of the asparagus.
Now I can put my focus towards figuring out what to make with the random vegetables my sister bought at the farm store on Sauvie Island. She's back in NYC, yet I'm the one with a fridge full of beets, lettuce and corn.
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."
Click HERE to follow The Non-Consumer Advocate on Instagram.
Click HERE to join The Non-Consumer Advocate Facebook group.
Try a Beet Rosti (think pancake) for the beets. I tried it from the How to Cook Everything Book and now I am hooked on beets. Calls for rosemary as well.
Congratulations on completing your Powell's bingo card! Well done!
We are under a heat advisory today, which may be mitigated by a storm, if it develops. Since I am without AC now, I am watching the weather carefully. I already have my big pedestal fan going, and I'm going to keep the shades down. Will be hydrating all day. I will not cook. Granola for breakfast, tuna salad for lunch, and cheese slices, apple slices and pea salad for dinner.
Luckily, I have plenty of books to read, and some work to do on my financial spreadsheets, which will keep me busy.
Yesterday I ran a few errands. I returned some library books, bought a few groceries at Aldi -- granola, blueberries, creamer, and hamburger buns -- and filled up the gas tank at Sam's. I had intended to take a damaged window screen to the hardware store, but I forgot to grab it, so that will have to happen another day.
I also stopped at McDonald's for a breakfast sandwich. I left home without having breakfast, and I am not good at being hungry! So that was a bit of a fail. I did just get water as a beverage. I sat inside and enjoyed the coolness.
I also took a 20-minute walk around the indoor ice rink at the community center.
We're also dealing with the previous tenant's "taste" in our new-to-us apartment.
1. I've decided Tuesday will be Toilet Tuesday and damnit I'm going to get into a habit of cleaning the bathrooms with actual regularity! The bathrooms at our old home in Oregon were really big and at opposite ends of the house so I found lots of excuses to put off cleaning. I whipped up some vinegar and blue Dawn and sprayed the shower, tub, toilets, and sinks. I combined taking a shower with cleaning my shower so I'm not entirely sure how long it took but I did time my kids' bathroom. Twelve minutes to do the whole thing. Will I learn from this? I hope so. This includes trying to scrub off the paint speckles that either the previous tenant's left or maintenance, not sure who touched up the paint but it's touching ever part of the apartment!
2. To try and keep myself on a schedule (and semi-accountable) I got back into the Tody app, free version of course. I now have a weekly Tuesday reminder to clean the tubs, toilets, and sinks. The app is meant to help keep track of cleaning tasks and give you a little dopamine boost for finishing your list.
3. I baked two loaves of bread yesterday and got them sliced and into the freezer. My grandmother and I were chatting about how her mother used to be able to buy 10 loaves of bread for $1 and I told her I probably couldn't make 10 for that cheap now but I can probably make 10 loaves of bread for the cost of a store bought loaf! The kids are on a sandwich kick so we've been going through it about as fast as I can bake it!
4. I listened to "The Wives" by Tarryn Fisher on Libby. It was interesting and I was enjoying it and then right in the middle of the book a massive twist is dropped! I sat up in bed for an extra hour listening until I forced myself to go to bed. Having a bit of a dark and twisty reading kick.
5. Our oldest daughter is rapidly growing out of her current clothes, we'd like to dedicate the next two inches of height to the 150 PBJs she's eaten every week. We combined our store card points and clearance sales with Old Navy and got 20 items for $161.25, including tax. Each item ends up being about $8.06, which isn't bad for new clothes! I had been having a difficult time finding USED clothes in our last neighborhood for decent prices so I'll take it!
1. My partner wants ribs for Labor Day weekend, and the more expensive store had them on sale. I also noticed that they had a $10 off $40 coupon, so I was able cobble together enough other staples and on-sale items to bring it down to $30.02 (after the $10 off, maximizing the most % off), getting what was originally $60.02 for $30.02. This meant the 2 racks of ribs were $13.22 rather than $33.22
2. Went to Costco yesterday, and indulged in their $1.50 hotdog/soda combo for lunch, but didn't indulge in any of their samples. The membership was a gift from my partner's boss, making it extra frugal (it isn't worth it for us, as we are only 2, and often, our local Market Basket has cheaper prices for many items/Costco sizes are too large for only 2 of us).
3. Today, I'm making a double batch of ricotta pancakes with strawberry syrup to use up the leftover ricotta from lasagna making and the strawberries were a mandatory purchase from mystery shop yesterday. I'll freeze half of the strawberries for future self.
4. Based on symptoms (internal tremors [feels like my body is vibrating]) I think my magnesium and potassium levels are very low, so I've been eating a LOT of buckwheat groats, broccoli, pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed oil, all of which I had in my cabinet. Saved a medical co-pay. After 2 days, issue is fixed, and it has meant I have a delicious healthy breakfast. I'll also introduce my parents to buckwheat groats as a great alternative since they both have diabetes.
5. Today, I'm back at work, but all virtual meetings, so I'm saving on gas, although this is more luck as I can't control when admin decides when we can do this. But I'm wearing old clothes, with holes in them, that nobody can see....