Five Frugal Things -- Darned Socks & Stain Removal

1) I spent a couple cozy hours darning socks and watching back-to-back episodes of Star Trek: Voyager.

The mend on this hand knit sock is my favorite. You can tell that this sock leans towards "never ending craft project" rather than "functional sock" at this point, but I refuse to give up!

Once I wash the socks, the wool will tighten and felt up to transform into a solid fiber rather than a weave.

I have a lot of thrifted wool that I use for darning and prefer the "visible mending" aesthetic, which is good as it gives me chance to make full use of the various colors.

2) I finally listed my late mother-in-law's expensive painting canvases on Facebook Marketplace. My husband has been avoiding this last step, as it's upsetting for him. These sell new for hundreds of dollars apiece.

It would nice to recover the money we spent paying for their storage unit.

3) Listing the canvases put me in the mood to sell other things, so I gathered a couple items and got to work. I picked up this black and orange Trader Joe's tote at the Goodwill bins a few months ago, only to discover that it's not one of the valuable ones.

I listed it on Facebook for $10. No interest yet.

I thrifted this faux butcher block vintage clock while my sister was in town and listed it for $20. This garnered a couple interested buyers and I supposedly have someone coming by for it this afternoon.

It's exciting and fun to list high profit items, but the lower price sales eventually add up.

4) I watched an Instagram reel where someone demonstrated how to remove grease stains using baking soda, parchment paper and an iron. I somehow spattered oil on this T-shirt, so thought I'd give it a try.

Kind of enjoyable in a weird way.

I had to lighten the photo to make it show up, but there's still a light oil stain. It's certainly lessened, so I plan to repeat the process and see if I can get it fully erased.

I give this stain removal hack a B-.

5) My husband switched jobs around a year ago, and is now working for the city instead of a privately owned company. He's paid less, but his benefit package almost makes up for the difference.

This "Hop" card came in the mail the other day, which was a surprise to both of us. This is Portland's public transportation pass and would cost $1,100 were he to purchase it on his own! My husband mostly rides his bike to work, so it's unlikely he'll use it to commute. However . . . . it appears transferable. I like to take the bus when I go downtown and might have to give it a spin.

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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