Four Frugal Things — It’s Makeover Time!
1) I started reading my Lucky Day copy of Janelle Brown’s That Kind of Paradise. This book tells the story of a fictional teenage girl who lives in an isolated area of Montana with her controlling father. It seems like a keeper. I’m only a couple chapters in, but am itching to get back into it, which is a good sign.
2) I continue to cat sit for “Tuna” and it’s the perfect way to manage my intrusive “Must get a pet” thoughts without actually filling my house with cats. She’s wary of the unknown, but is finally beginning to trust me.
Love this kitty!
3) I added the Pluto TV streaming service to our Roku, as I’d read that they offer Star Trek for free. You know “for free” and “Star Trek” are my two love languages, so this should take nobody by surprise.
I imagine it’s riddled with advertisements, but that’s just the nature of the game.
4) I treated my Free Pile wooden box to a luxurious makeover. First off was to polish the copper hinges with Barkeeper’s Friend, which I followed with a gentle rinse to remove dust and grime. I let it dry overnight over a heat register and then hit it with a coat of Feed-N-Wax to enhance the grain and protect the wood.
It’s now ready for my youngest’s partner, who’s excited to add it to their trinket box collection.
For reference.
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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oooh that is a lovely trinket box, made all the lovelier by your tender care.
I now own Barkeepers Friend and Feed and Wax because if you and I love them both soooooooo much!
1. Had to drive DD and myself to the chiropractor today which is 30 minutes away so bundled a trip to a local thrift store AND a marketplace pickup. Scored some Christmas goodies for my vintage shop and a MCM wood and metal lamp.
2. We ate lunch at a diner and both brought our leftovers home for dinner.
3. Chopping up clearance peppers to freeze for future meals.
4. Still gathering herbs and grasses for guinea pigs and also picked up 4 bags of free lettuce for them from my friend that works at a small grocery store.
5. Sitting on the porch enjoying the nice fall weather and reading a book from a LFL.
Nice trinket box makeover. I picked wild rose hips this morning, now I’m set for winter.
I’ve started the chore of pruning the roses and mulching with compost.
Cleaned out the garage fridge and freezer. Found my stash of mint chips vacuum packed in the freezer. They are $7.99/bag this year, so I won’t be making those treats for mass giving away.
Cleaned up a friend’s moms yard and driveway picking up walnuts, composting leaves as we went. Split 40 lbs of walnuts with her and her mom.
BGF, are the walnuts you collected black walnuts or English walnuts? I have two black walnuts on my property and collected/processed the nuts one year, but I concluded that I was expending more calories in the process than I was getting out of the nuts. However, I believe you can grow English walnuts where you are, so I’m curious.
On this cool fall morning, I rode the train downtown, intending to go to the library. However, I forgot that the library didn’t open until 10 on Mondays, so I went to Einstein Bagels to hang out and wait. I wasn’t hungry, but the worker there made me a hot chocolate from scratch which was pretty darn good. I ordered a small, but I got a medium for the same price, because the small cup was too small for all the ingredients. It was $4 but well worth it.
After returning a book and checking out a book on hold for me, I went to Target and used the last bit of my gift card from Fetch to buy milk. Then I left the store without the milk! I didn’t get too far before I went back, and the workers were happy to see that I remembered.
I found a LOT of receipts today, but all of them were worth 25 points. However, all of them were recent, so that was good.
Today our building is having the gutters replaced, which reminds me how happy I am not to have to worry about maintenance issues like that anymore.
1. Used a wrinkly apple that nobody else wanted in my oatmeal this morning.
2. Set out on a family bike ride to get groceries. I needed to stop at the library so I headed there and also picked up some things at the store near the library, while the others went to Aldi. Exercise + much needed groceries + no gas used = winning.
3. Saving any and all bread bags for kitty litter box cleanings.
4. My husband reported that our electricity bill this past month was the lowest it’s ever been in four years of living in our current house. After thinking about it, we chalked it up to a) getting some crucial repairs done on the AC unit, which made it much more efficient, and b) getting everyone in the habit of setting their computers to sleep if they’re stepping away or–more importantly–turning computers off when not at home. I also downgraded from a larger desktop to a small laptop/tablet hybrid and that has helped, I believe.