Five Frugal Things -- $1 Bread & Jefferies Tubes!
1) Yesterday was the first Saturday of the month, so I got my tuchus over to the Franz Bakery Outlet to take advantage of their once-a-month $1 bread deal. I came home seven dollars poorer. For reference, a single loaf of their Naked Organic Minimalist Wheat costs $4.99 at Fred Meyer. It would cost $34 to buy all these items at Fred Meyer.
Good thing I have a freezer!
2) I then motored over to the nearest Goodwill, where I bought this collectible Blazers glass, as I recently learn these hold value.
It took a quick minute to check eBay "completed listings" and learn I was right on that matter. There are currently zero listings for this player, so I listed mine on eBay for $60. I did pay up at $3.99, but rationalized it as being $1.99 less, as I brought in a $1.99 iPhone case to return on the same visit.
I also bought this address bracket, as it's the classic Portland design and I know that the reproductions are kind of expensive. (All Portland houses were switched to this design in 1931 to standardize the city.) This set was obviously never installed, which makes it even better.
Hippo Hardware sells these number tiles for $20 apiece, so $6.99 for the four numbers, (plus the $28 bracket!) was worth the gamble. I noticed that the store is actually out of all numbers except for zero, so I called them up to ask if they'd buy this back. (The store sells mostly used hardware supplies.) The answer was they'd give me "fifty to sixty bucks in store credit," which I think I'll accept.
Might be fun to see how I can turn this $6.99 purchase into something fun for my 1914 house.
3) I went for a long evening walk, ostensibly to scout garage sale leftover piles, but instead turned it into a flower appreciation event. So many people in my established neighborhood have old rhododendron bushes that are likely multiple decades old. Gorgeous!
I did come across this pile of restaurant drainage mats, which would've been next to impossible to carry home. Although it's always been my secret dream to turn my narrow upstairs hallway into my own Jefferies Tube, like on the Starship Enterprise.
My youngest and I visited a Star Trek exhibit at Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture in 2017, complete with a Jefferies Tube, open for people to crawl through. I noticed that it was lined with standard restaurant mats, which led me to notice how they actually use them for this purpose on the newer Star Trek shows.
Instead I came home with a single plastic water bottle to return for the 10¢ deposit.
4) I started listening to The Unmaking of June Farrow audiobook by Adrienne Young. It didn't come recommended by anyone, it was simply available for immediate download.
Needless to say, I used the library's free Libby app.
5) I sold the American Girl doll that I thrifted less than a week ago. I accepted an offer for just $42.50, as sometimes I'd rather move something along than wait for a higher offer. I paid $6.99 for it.
Click HERE to see the listing.
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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This blog post includes an eBay referral link.
1. I spent yesterday at a large neighborhood garage sale. I picked up a few items to sell on Ebay including a free Douglas brand stuffed animal. I parked my car and walked from sale to sale which gave me some free exercise and saved gas.
2. I checked out some bulk trash piles near my mom's house. Her city does once yearly bulk trash pick up. There's a map with dates for each neighborhood. I picked up a hand vac for my daughter who's been wanting one and a couple things to sell on Ebay.
3. My sister and I stopped into McDonald's to use the bathroom and get some lunch. I used the app for a free order of large fries to share and they gave my sister a free drink since she didn't order one.
4. I enjoyed one of the free donuts being given away at one of the garage sales.
5. I mowed my own lawn.
Cool finds and a great sale. Kudos Katy!
Feeling frugal. 😉
I just returned from an out of town theology conference. Drove both ways. Gas prices were rough but I watched the areas as I drove and did my best to fill in reasonable areas.
Stopped in three discount grocery stores on the way and also packed some essentials from home. I bought $0 dollars of food at the food trucks and ate WAY more healthfully. While it was frugal, my primary goal was to eat well and not spend a ton of time in line waiting to eat! I did buy 2 coffees at the local cafe as I needed extra caffeine to power through. Brought my own water otherwise and made coffee in my room. There was a mini fridge and a mini microwave in my room. Huge blessing.
Used points for the hotel so spent only the cost of the room tip.
I was unable to attend last year as expected and they were kind enough to roll my registration forward so no out of pocket this year.
Last night, I waited until I got home to have dinner and today, all meals/drinks are from home.
I’ll be planted a cutting later that was gifted by a friend. I have soil and a pot.
Sitting on my (roadside pile)porch set, enjoying the weather and the birdsong.
So grateful.
Planting! Not planted.
Nice quick turn on your eBay sale!
I was getting DS19 moved out of his dorm, so all related to that:
1) Free parking was waived at the Hyatt, using a free night awards. It's $25 per day, so it was a great deal.
2) Grabbed a free coffee before I worked remotely in the morning from the hotel room. I mostly did it to help out a coworker who needed coverage in the morning, but it also saves 1/2 of a vacation day.
3) Helped DS19 & his roommate moved out of their dorm. Cleaned their room up a bit while they loaded the car, saving $300 over the post move out cleaning/damage fee. (I also think it helped that they were friends with their RA, because I think the room state was... moderately okay, at best ;-)). The dorm is being torn down in a few months, so charging any of the kids damage/cleaning fees seemed like extortion anyway.
4) DS19 is storing his stuff in my best friend's garage over the summer, because she is awesome.
5) I got two free checked bags with my United status, which means I paid for zero baggage fees on the flight home. (Three backpacks, three roller bags to get everything home for the summer.)
I know the subject of college move out has come up on this blog before, so I tried to observe how everything worked. The dorms had donations for basically everything*, and the kids were working hard to hand off anything they didn't need. They accepted food, furniture, hangers, mirrors, toiletries, clothes, towels, etc.
*The only things that really looked like they were getting tossed but would have a useful life were bedding items. I'm assuming that's for sanitary reasons, but it did seem strange that they accepted everything else. I also saw wise incoming freshman meeting people at the dorm to purchase some of their set up, and thought of all of you & the frugal folks passing things on.
Always interesting to hear how dorm move out is handled in different areas. So nice that your friend lets him store his things, that's a great friend.
My kiddo comes home this week, but since his school is less than an hour drive away he brings home everything. The first year we vastly overestimated the items he would need, so this year he only took about 1/3 of what he did the year before, and since he ends up coming home most weekends he restocks as needed.
1. My word and goal for the year is less. I have been very strict about not buying things I don't truly need, and it's paying off, literally. I have saved close to $2500 so far this year by just saying no to wants, and using up what is around the property.
2. In addition to not buying much, I have been listing and selling on eBay and Posh. So far so good. I had 5 sales last week, and 3 more over the weekend.
3. My mom and sister's birthdays are just a day a part, so I took them out to a restaurant of their choice to celebrate. While out I bundled all my errands, so as not to waste gas, since it's up to $4.99 a gallon near me.
4. Resolved to only get basic groceries from GFS this week, and continue to eat from the pantry and the freezer. The garden is producing some lettuce now which also helps.
5. I have volunteer tomatoes up, and I decided instead of purchasing any tomato plants from the store I will transplant the volunteers. Of course the variety will be a mystery, but that's kind of fun.
You're on a roll Johanna! $2500 is a nice bundle!
Bailey dog's dad and mom brought over three more muck buckets' worth of 2-year-old horse manure this afternoon. I did a short political riff as we were hauling this to the backyard on how I'd like to send some of the raw product to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. As Col. Potter used to say on the M*A*S*H TV series, "Horsepucky!"
1. I made copycat Olive Garden Gnocchi soup. I used mushrooms instead of carrots bc I had a box that needed to be used.
2. I walked an hour in my neighborhood and the cemetery.
3. I diluted hand dishwashing detergent with water as well as Awesome Cleaner.
4. I have not driven anywhere today nor spent any money.
5. I did my usual of opening the windows to air out the house, family cloth, beating my rugs outside so as not to use electricity from our hateful and corrupt electrical company, trimmed up my hat w bit more, organized my bills a bit better, took bagels out of the freezer to make a breakfast sandwich in the morning to take to work, located my old bread bags to pack my sandwiches in for tomorrow, made sure my work clothes were ready, and just enjoyed the peace and quiet.
That should say I trimmed up my hair a bit more.
I thought you were being so fancy, trimming your hat AFTER Easter!!
I thought maybe a belated Kentucky Derby hat?
I wonder what Queen Camilla would have worn if they went there. I so appreciated the news stories I saw about the royals visiting places outside Washington, because I am always encouraged when I see powerful people acting like grown-ups.
In the last couple of days I found seven receipts lying on the ground, each worth 25 points on Fetch. But my own receipt, for deodorant, turned out to be worth 4,000 points, which was a nice surprise.
I went out for breakfast this morning with my son and his former stepmom (such a convoluted family, I know!) She and I split the bill. I ordered French toast with strawberries and bananas, which is one of the cafe's less expensive offerings, and it was very good.
For lunch I finished the chicken sandwich and hummus from last night's dinner.
After a busy week I needed to catch up on rest today, so I spent most of the day reading, finishing Lessons in Chemistry. Next up: American Fantasy, by Emma Straub.
I charged my wireless speaker and my portable charger in preparation for travel this weekend.
It is on my calendar to make an appointment for a haircut. I think my hair looks pretty good, so I'm moving the reminder to next week.
I used some BottleDrop money to buy groceries. I could probably last a few months on my BottleDrop money since I rarely spend it, so I’m going to make more of an effort to use it up!
I found 22 cans on my morning walk. Hooray for warm weather! Seriously, though, who are these cretins who toss their empty beverage cans all over the place?
I bought some tomato starts at Winco and now they are in the ground, looking happy! I can’t wait for some garden tomatoes. They’re the best.
Judging by my income from NY State container returns, Li, a lot of those cretins live within walking distance of me. 🙁 But, fortunately, I'm able and willing to pick up the slack. I just returned $6.10 worth at Wegmans this morning. 🙂
Li, good idea to use it for groceries, thanks. I tend to keep letting it go, until someone has a birthday, off to Fred Meyer I go.
I had some CC points to use at Old Navy. I went in to look around & was disturbed by what I saw. The racks & floors in the back of the store was overflowing w/ clearance merchandise. It was impossible to even look thru what they had as it was so jumbled. & messy. I thought this is headed for a landfill or where ever unsold cheap clothing goes. I left w/o buying anything. I may cancel my Old Navy CC after seeing this sickening mess.
I get you on this. I go into certain stores and know that within x years or months it will all be in landfills or piled up on a beach in a country that doesn't want/ask for it. It's just our horrid cycle of new fast fashion every five weeks in stores. I walk into target and think even counting the food, most of this will be in the landfill soon. Wasted food, barely used clothes or clothing not even sold, books with covers torn off, unused toys, etc. It is such a turn off I struggle with it. I can't stop saying it out loud as I run in for a handful of items that now I make sure I'm using!
One waste I just don't get is the store near me that don't water their plants for sale. They are burned up and then piled up and written off I guess?? Is it just in my area? Drives me bonkers.
(Maybe I'm just extra cranky and critical after two nights of about two hours sleep both nights haha)
Speaking of commercial sized rubber mats, I once visited someone whose DH was a janitor for a large downtown bank, a skyscraper building that also housed many professional businesses, offices and law firms This couple used solid rubber mats outside their home as patio surfaces. These were the enormous mats that are wide enough to go in front of multiple glass doors and take up a lot of porch space at the building's front entrance. If the mats started getting little tears in them, the janitor was instructed to throw them away and replace with brand new ones. Instead of going to the landfill, the damaged mats came home in his pickup truck. Made really dandy patios! You couldn't tell they were torn, the damage was very slight.
I have few frugal items to report today. But it is our one year anniversary: last May 3, I went to the dog pound and came home with Snuggles. He is the most expensive 12 dollars I ever spent, but worth every penny if it.
Happy anniversary, Snugs! I enjoy stories about you.
MB in MN,
Snuggles is wagging his tail as I read him your reply. I believe he wants to tell you thanks; he's also wanting me to give him a belly rub and a doggie bone. (He has me well trained!)
Precious Snuggles...I have never had a pet who wasn't worth every cent spent on them.
Linda B., You are absolutely right. Love, Snuggles.
Linda B.,
You are absolutely right!
Love,
Snuggles
Tractor Supply has large mats, maybe 5x10, that are designed for underfoot (underhoof) in animal stalls, for 50ish dollars. Maybe two inches thick? I studied them carefully to decide if they would work under my son's computer chair and decided not to get one. But using mats outside for a patio seems quite reasonable.
Happy late "Gotcha Day" to you and Snuggles, Lisa. I always celebrate Betty's Gotcha Day (Jan. 25) too, since she adopted DH and me at the local Humane Association and we never knew her exact DOB.
My roommate continues to bring supplies of bread home - not sure how long she will have this job, and anyway she is moving out in about a month, so I'll take all the bread we can find room for in the freezer!
1. DD bought herself one of those cute little Suzuki right hand drive trucks from Japan. Well, someone else imported it, and eventually it got sold to a mechanic for 'parts' because it wasn't running, but he got it working. She and I drove for 2 ½ hours to pick it up, then drove the two vehicles back (She drove an additional hour on either end of the day, oof).– she's left it with her Dad (my Ex) as he was the one who found it for her. There are a few things that need attention, which her Dad can help her with.
She paid $3500 for a vehicle that would sell for $6,000+ in the city where she lives, so if she decides to not keep it, after a hot girl summer of driving a cute truck, she will be ahead of the game. She has kept the insurance on her car for now, and that is what she drove home.
She paid to fill my gas tank - which I likely wouldn't have let her do but I was feeling woozy with what appears to be a flu (bleh) - so she was able to slip her Credit Card into the machine. Frugal for me!
2. Wonder James did some intensive rototilling with a rented tiller – hard work! And then he did HOSES. My most disliked job, setting up all the hoses. However, on a warmish but not too hot day it went well, (particularly once we got a sprinkler going which we occasionally got doused by) and I invested in those quick hose connecter thingies which are a freaking godsend, making it so much easier to switch hoses and sprayers around without stressing my wrists.
My irrigation sytem has a few blown bits, but all the parts are now purchased (of course I had to exchange some, because of course I guessed and of course got the wrong sizes) and I am poking along getting them installed. HLDIAT – how long does it acutally take? Not very long at all, in fact. Very satisfying and once you get one set up you can spray yourself as you work to keep cool.
3. Volunteer arugula for the ongoing salad wins. Doesn't matter how big a salad I make, we eat it all. I'm prepping to clear those volunteer-arugul- filled beds to plant with tomatoes; until the holes are dug, the arugula is allowed to grow. I took a white kitchen garbage bag STUFFED FULL to my chiropractor, when she heard I had some to spare; good thing there are lots of people at her office who love it too!.
4. Cooking garbanzos (chickpeas) in the instant pot and keeping them visible in glass containers in the fridge means that I am putting a handful into everything – heating up a casserole? Add half a cup of chickpeas. Making a salad? More chickpeas. YUM. So much more frugal than even opening a can, and a great way to get healthy fiber.
5. I sent my wise and frugal daughter to collect some well loved and sun kissed big outdoor toys (dump trucks and such) that were offered on FB Marketplace right up the road from her. Looking forward to enjoying them with my Grandson! He is now just big enough to enjoy the equally well loved and sun kissed little tykes wagon, which is pretty adorable to watch.
When he is with me we slather him in sunscreen and are outside for all the time except applesauce time – and he really is content to play with whatever random stuff is lying around the yard.
I dumpster dove a children's push toy for a neighbor who is expecting her first grandchild.
Repaired the tag that lists the specs on my cattle trailer. It was flopping around.
Drug home a discarded pressure treated 4×4 post. Trimmed off the split part. It's 11 feet long. Plans are to build a mineral feeder and uses the post as skids.
Sharpened the big chainsaw.
Bought DS 4 t-shirts and a pair of tennis shoes at the second hand store.
Passed along a large amount of vintage clothes that my mom was purging. Glad to get them out of the car! My friend will rock them!
Hung out laundry, composted, ate at home.
1) I foraged more nettles and hung some of them to dry for tea. The rest became pesto ice cubes in the freezer, which means they are nicely portioned for later use.
2) Our came up our driveway looking for a package that had just been delivered. We didn't have it, but we helped him find it (in the wood pile next to his back deck, why Fedex??) We mentioned we were heading out to pick up a 2-by-2 for a project we were wrapping up, and he gleefully took us to his workshop and gave us one from his stash, saving us the trip and the purchase. Good neighbors are the best!
3) We had another barbecue with younger son and his girlfriend. They supplied chips, fruit salad, and deviled eggs; we supplied burgers, toppings, and the firepit. Much better than a restaurant, and a better view!
4) I drove said son and his telescope to a sidewalk astronomy event he and his astro-buddies do every clear Sunday (this is where telescope enthusiasts share views of the night sky with the public at a park or similar space). Lots of fun, free community entertainment for all ages. Plus, one of my friends showed up so I got to visit for a bit!
5) I found some old zucchini and bean seeds a few days ago, and they passed the germination test and sprouted, so I don't need to purchase new ones this year.
I love your stories of what you buy and sell..it’s amazing to me, with my frugal heart, that someone pays 50 plus dollars for a drinking glass! But YAY! They do! And you can bank that profit!
Do you stock up a pantry for possible higher prices coming down the road (many sites I follow say 3-6 months form now)?? I’ve been spending more $$ lately to do so.
I only buy what we eat, and rotate the pantry.Hard to know what is up ahead..???
1. I packed coffee, breakfast and lunch for the office.
2. I planted marigold, pumpkin and gourd seeds that I collected last fall. I had enough for all but 1 of my pots. I ended up going to dollar tree and getting 2 small bags with ranunculus bulbs (8 total) to plant in my big pot as I’ve been dying to see if I can grown them.
3. Took my cat to petco for vaccines and used a 20% off coupon for first time Vetco customers.
4. Bought Mother’s Day cards at dollar tree for 50 cents each.
5. I have a new short haircut and need a small round brush for blow drying it. I looked in my house and couldn’t find one so I was tempted to go buy one. Instead I am going to research my house like an FBI detective because I just know I have one somewhere!
As Ruby recently reminded us, "going shopping in the house" is a great frugal move!
I love your frugal finagling. Cheering you on! May the Fourth be with you.
I participated in the May 1 boycott - it was my work at home day, so that made it easier!
I gassed up with a .50/gal off offer from 7-11 app.
Used my birthday BOGO entree coupon from First Watch, the friend I went with insisted on paying. Brought home leftovers for another meal.
Got bread at the Dollar Tree that has "day old" name brand (Pepperidge Farm, Arnold, Thomas, Sara Lee, Entenmanns, etc) on certain days of week for $1.50 each. Hint: it's easy to check the dates and find items that are NOT day old -
Made 3 banana breads with brown bananas I rescued from the trash at work - and ingredients I had on hand.
Continuing to eat from pantry/freezer, use Ibotta/Upside/Fetch and coupons for any needed purchases.
I've read the Unmaking of June Farrow and enjoyed it, and I think you will also.