Four Frugal Things -- Secure Elections & Puppy Lamps
1) I stopped by the library to pick up my holds. Not sure which book I'll start with, but it's good to have choices.
I know I criticized the new Belmont branch library in a previous blog post, but I did notice something on this trip that impressed me. A permanent "Official Ballot Drop Box," which is an improvement over simply dropping our ballots in the book return.
The entire state of Oregon holds 100% mail-in elections, so anything the county can do to ensure this process is as secure as possible is A-okay in my book!
2) I stopped by Fred Meyer (Kroger) on my way home to grab milk. I took a minute to load the digital coupon, which saved $1.20. It wasn't that long ago that their digital milk coupon was consistently 99¢. A 60% price increase is worth noting.
I made sure to pass by the produce clearance shelves and chose a four-pack of apples for $1.50. Mind you, this seems like a completely normal price, not some kind of amazing deal. But I guess I'm behind the times.
3) I sent out a $400 offer on my Robert Abbey "Puppy" lamp and received a message in return that they'd accept the offer if I included free shipping. This is a hefty bronze lamp and weighs a ton, but I accepted their request as I thrifted it for just $14.99 in April.
Happy to eat the cost of shipping, which'll likely run about $35. Still plenty of profit.
I did take the lamp to the PDX Repair Cafe a couple months ago to fix the socket, but it's otherwise in excellent condition. I've since enjoyed the lamp in our living room, but like many items in our house . . . it was temporary possession.
I grew fond of her, but know she'll be going to a happy home.
4) I made a plum torte, (using this recipe, as the original NY Times recipe is behind a paywall.) which hilarious looked like a deep dish pepperoni pizza due to the color of the golden plums. Unsurprisingly, the torte featured my foraged plums.
I promise that it didn't taste like pizza!
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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Congrats on selling that lamp!!
I thought you had baked pepperoni cake
The plums DO really resemble pepperoni.
That plum torte looks simply delicious.
1. I walked a mile for some exercise today.
2. DH and I did some errands today which included going to Walmart to pick up our coffee. Cheapest place around for it besides Amazon which I've sworn off.
3. I returned three slim books of poetry to the library and picked up Fahrenheit 451 which my book club is reading this month. It somehow passed me by in high school (or maybe I passed IT by with some clif notes or I might just have forgotten it). Apparently it's about a certain time in the future which closely resembles what our country is like now.
4. My tomato plant is done for but the raspberries are producing like gangbusters.
5. We made our yearly trek to the apple orchard where we probably paid too much for apples and peaches but they're local so we try to support them once in awhile. They also make heavenly apple cider donuts which they sell hot so we indulged in a half dozen.