Five Frugal Things -- $225 Pillowcases!
I sadly failed to thrift enough Seattle stuff to resell to cover the $225 cost of hotel valet parking, however it was still a frugal trip.
1) Remember how I mentioned that I picked up a $1.99 white pillowcase while at the Central Goodwill with my friend Lisa? It caught my eye as the fabric seemed to be good quality and had pretty green embroidered detailing.
I later looked up the brand and holy crap -- they sell new for $215 per pair! For pillowcases. Pillowcases! The Montouk brand wasn't one I'd heard of, not that surprising as they describe themselves as "The Leading Destination for Luxury Bed & Bath Linens." Not exactly my financial priority.
My husband and I drove through the rain to the same Goodwill on our way out of town as I thought there was a decent chance I'd missed the matching one. Sadly, such was not the case. Montouk don't seem to sell this exact style anymore, but I'll definitely be adding this brand to my BOLO (be on the lookout) thrifting radar!
2. My friend Lisa is just as obsessed with finding the ideal brand of everything as I am, so she was excited to tell me about how she stocked up on seasonal tubes of Trader Joe's guava scented hand lotion. She then gave me an unopened tube of my own, which I know to be a sacrificial gifts as there's a possibility they won't repeat the product.
Thanks, Lisa!
3. I was able to score a pair of library museum tickets to the Portland Museum for later this month. This is a $55 value and only happened because I went on the My Discovery Pass area of the library at precisely midnight on April 1st.
4. I donated $156.15 to the Oregon Food Bank, which is how much profit I earned in March from selling thrifted items for the $100 Goodwill Gift Card Challenge. This brings the total up to $423.15, which is starting to resemble a substantial amount. I still have a couple dozen items up for sale on eBay, as well as $11.30 left on the card.
5. I may be #cheapaf, but I still tip. $10 for the hotel housekeeper, (we only had her clean upon checking out) plus a five dollar bill every time the valet took our car or returned it, which added up to $30.
Forty bucks, which I guess is just the cost of hotel travel.
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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As a former hotel manager, I applaud you for tipping your hotel housekeeper. The Netflix series, MAID, is a very accurate portrayal of how hard housekeepers work, in my experience.
$215 for a pillowcase. Wow.
1.I've been on the look out for a better set of knives. My 32 year old set is looking haggard. I found a set of knives and a knife block at an estate sale for $10. It only had 5 of the 8 knives and missing the scissors but I have scissors and a few other knives I've picked up so I have enough knives now. This set sells for $700 so hopefully they will last me for another 30 years at which point I hope I'm no longer cooking for myself.
2. I also found a beautiful print that I planned to put on my bathroom wall, but when I put it in my car, I found a certificate of authenticity that stated it's value 30 years ago at $1800. It's a limited edition giclee print signed by the artist. I'm not putting it in my bathroom.
3. I sold two more items on Ebay. Sales have been very slow. Last month I made enough to pay my electric bill and my phone bill so I won't complain. Every little bit. I've been listing a little more everyday.
4. I spent part of the day with my mom and sister. We took a trip to Costco so my sister could get her glasses repaired. I put gas in my car and we all had their $1.50 hot dog and soda for lunch. I bought a bag of plums that we'll split between us. We all ate their free samples. We picked up a few things across the street at Trader Joe's.
5. I've been eating at home all week. I cut up a head of romaine that my mom gave me and added quinoa, tofu, roasted sweet potatoes, goat cheese, pita chip crumbs from the bottom of the bag, pepitas, the rest of a bag of dried cranberries, the rest of some tomatoes and so on. I've been eating some version all week for dinner adding whatever needs using up.
5.
Great find on the knives( even with a few absent).
Great find on the print!
I usually put up china or ceramic plates, the kind that have pretty scenes/designs painted on them, in my bathrooms. That way, the steam from the shower won't ruin them. Glad you found out the artwork was valuable before you subjected it to a humid environment.
So smart.
Thank you Val Y, Beth W and Fru-gal Lisa. Also I also forgot to add congratulations on the food bank donation. I'm enjoying reading about your challenge.
I really enjoyed reading about your recent travel adventure. You have enjoyed several lately and I am so happy you are enjoying these escapades with your loved one. Life is so short and health so fragile.
That's a great donation to the food bank! With the rising prices of gasoline and groceries, I think the need is greater than ever.
1. Strained my lower back yesterday which led to today being a day of laying on the heating pad and popping Tylenol. Not a fun day but it was a no spend day so there's a little positivity there.
2. We've been eating leftovers all week. American Chop Suey and Vegetable Bean homemade soup.
3. I found Smithfield spiral hams on sale at Price Chopper for .99 lb. I'm having 2 to 4 people over for Easter dinner so I picked up an 11 pounder. I see pea soup in our future.
4. While at Price Chopper, I picked up a roasting chicken, also .99 lb. Froze it for the future.
5. I'm making a chocolate cake with almond frosting for dessert for Easter dinner, so I told DH to skip buying me any sweets for Easter. The cake will be more than enough.
Thanks for the tip on the Price Chopper chickens, Christine. I just got myself down there (I have one at the foot of my hill, conveniently located across from the Salvation Army superstore) and picked up a small one.
You're welcome! My daughter in law gave me a crockpot recipe for whole chickens that is supposed to make them just like the rotisserie chickens. Looking forward to that!
1. Keeping up with my schedule of planting seeds for leafy greens every two weeks. Planted some arugula in the ground and kale into large pots. Planted lavender started from seed and transplanted mint (into another pot of course).
2. Called our insurance company to ask for clarification about charges. They were unable to explain themselves, which doesn't inspire confidence. But it has always been worth keeping an eagle eye on all charges. I switched out of autopay so they had to actually send me a bill with explanation. They say they'll call me back with an explanation, and if they do not, I will call them.
3. Found a free pattern for a kids duffle bag. My DIL asked me to make a dance bag for my grandson and I'll use this pattern. She wants repurposed denim which is great as it's free!
4. Dh got another ride to work today and I batched 2 driving errands. I'm curious how far I can make my tank of gas go this month. I know most people aren't that interested in carpooling, though I cannot fathom why since gas is saved PLUS time because carpool lane is so much faster.
5. Curb picked a firepit. About to list it on FB marketplace.
If you have a kiddo or grandkiddo who needs a bag for a sleepover or other purpose (my daughter needed one in preschool for her sleeping bag and her stuffy), use a thrifted pillowcase. (Not a $215 one though.) I used a plain one, wrote her name on it in fabric paint, and let her use fabric paint - with supervision - to decorate the rest. Then, I ran a cord through the hemmed end (cut 2 small holes in one layer of fabric, run cord all the way around) for a drawstring. Was the perfect size and easy for her to manage.
I also really enjoy hearing about your travels. I am also a huge Twin Peaks nerd and this destination is on my bucket list!
1. I had a no spend day (actually, I've had a lot of them lately). I did stop by a thrift store on my way home yesterday from work and scored a set of miniature, new-in-box Funko Rudolph the RN Reindeer (called Bitty Pop Funko). They sell well, but these are for me. I passed on a set of Pop funko Power Puff Girls (full size) and later looked them up on eBay and let's just say I should have grabbed them. Oh well...
2. Still taking lunches and coffee to work. I can't even remember the last time I didn't do this simple frugal act.
3. Turned auto-renewal off on a few things. I am really being selective on subscriptions and streaming services these days.
4. I am visiting family in Pittsburgh later this month. My brother bought me a ticket for Clan of Xymox (old school goth band). My husband used some of his many, many hotel points (work travel) to reserve a hotel room or me and the dog who will be traveling with me. I also always tip. 🙂
5. Patting myself on the back for understanding the crumbs of the patriarchy are not worth my reputation, career, hurting others, and being a clueless pawn. IYKYK.
The pillowcase looks like a set of vintage Wamsutta pillowcases. They had a green scallop border just like that.
Congrats on the museum passes! I love that Portland Public Library is interested in equity. Those passes help people, who couldn’t otherwise afford it, access the arts.
I’m out in the Oregon wine country helping a sick family member. The nearest grocery stores are Safeway, Winco, and something schmancy. Prices seem high. I don’t know if it’s a rural thing or a Safeway thing or if prices have jumped.
I must be living in another universe. I had no idea pillowcases could cost that much.
1. While doing some urban foraging, I found 2 or 3 pounds of beets behind a grocery store. I have never cooked beets. I scrubbed them & cooked for an hour. The husband juiced a few of the raw ones. The roasted beets are actually pretty good. I eat them cold w/ a sprinkle of salt.
2. When out for my daily hike I spied a box of canned goods on a curb. Some of the cans were dog food which I'll donate to the animal shelter. There were around 6 cans of collard greens. Not sure what I will do w/ these. Everything was in date.
3. My colleague gave me a garden hose, a rake, pruning shears, and some hand tools for the garden. Her parents moved into assisted living.
4. I am planning to make a chx & rice casserole using some veggies (that need using up) as well as canned cream of celery soup.
5. My inside cats somehow got a few fleas. The husband bombed the house (with cats sheltered in the bathroom). I bought more flea drops. Hopefully the fleas will be gone soon. Some things you just have to buy like flea med for the pets. I think the med was cheaper at Walmart as compared to what a vet would charge.
One of my kiddos indoor only cats got fleas too. Who knows? Our late indoor only cat had a tick - likely came in on me or better half. I'm not tick treating our current indoor only cats. They get enough pets for me or better half to notice.
If you like Indian food, canned collards can be pureed to make saag, where the soft texture is an asset.
Use the canned collards to make swamp soup--sausage, beans (black beans, red beans, blackeyed peas, navy beans, whatever of that type you like), collards, plus normal soup ingredients like sauteed onions/celery, plus some spices (some people put in rotel tomatoes, a packet of Knorr soup mix, etc). You can find recipes on the internet if you don't want to wing it.
Are you in McMinnville?
No, but that’s the big city!
I wish you had found the mate for your pillowcase! That would have been amazing!
This morning I packaged my eBay sale and took it to the post office. On the same trip I went back to CVS and found that my prescription was still AWOL. Finally they figured out that it had been filled under my nickname instead of my real name. My nickname, as you might have guessed, is Beth, and my real name is Elizabeth. All my legal and official stuff is under Elizabeth, but I am Beth to the core. Anyway, they fixed it. I run into this confusion often.
It was a $3 prescription and is a painkiller that doesn't aggravate kidney disease, and I was very glad to get it!
On the same trip I picked up some lactose free milk at Target. Also three receipts in addition to my own, and two of them were worth 50 points.
I paid for parking so I didn't have to walk. It was rainy, I was hurting -- I wasn't about to walk, though usually I am a great walker. It was cheap, less than $2.
And I found a penny.
When I got home I found I had sold three items on eBay! $145 before fees. I'm stoked. So tomorrow morning I'll be making another post office trip.
Regarding your prescription, DH saw the orthopedic surgeon who did his knee replacement 10 years ago. He was having serious discomfort. He has bursitis and the dr prescribed voltaren (the kind that needs an Rx, not OTC). Pharmacy told him they had to order it and that it would be $19/tube as it isn't covered by his insurance. Dr Rx'd 3 tubes. Went to pick it up today with fear and trepedation. We were quite pleasantly surprised that it cost $20 for ALL 3 TUBES! In essence, a $40 savings! Woo hoo! Apparently the pharmacy assistant read the price wrong the first time.
We don't normally use CVS, but our regular pharmacy couldn't get the med we.needed once upon a time. We live in Danville, Pennsylvania. The dr sent the order in...to Danville, VIRGINIA. If that wasn't fun trying to figure out what happened and get it straightened out! Oy vey!
I use the OTC versions of Voltaren (both regular and extra strength) and swear by it.
I call it Voldemort, which makes me laugh and NOBODY misunderstands what I am talking about.
Voltaren can take my achy knees from an 8 to a 4 or 5 in only a few minutes. Also good for wrists, feet, hips.... you name it.
I prefer the extra strength but Costco has good pricing for the regular and you usually get a travel tube, too, which is useful.
(I rarely wax lyrical about a medication, this one is a standout)
I agree, Voltaren is pretty good stuff. Or Voldemort. Now I won't be able to get it out of my head!
Hi, from Bloomsburg!
Congratulations, Beth, on your surprise sale of three items with that $$$ total! Would you mind sharing what types of things you are buying ...and obviously selling? I'm very intrigued and only have a few things listed on Ebay that, unfortunately, are not selling well. I look forward to your (and everyone's) Ebay wisdom!
The things I have bought are not selling. I don't have a good sense of bankable items like Katy does.
The things I sold are: a vintage duck decoy, a vintage Peruvian pendant, and a pair of Kate Spade loafers. They are things I already had and decided to let them go.
I'm hoping this little round of success will help me make better choices at Goodwill, etc.
Oh, and a couple of days ago I sold a Cubs jersey and a Bears jersey. These I found in the alley with some other clothes. I'm imagining a disgruntled ex-wife or ex-girlfriend getting rid of ex's stuff.
Refigured the income tax and was able to get credit for last year's new roof. That knocked the amount I have to pay down by about a grand. Still unhappy about paying anything as I don't want to be funding a ballroom or a war.
Got some more free books to read....and pass along to others when done.
Coworker went out of town so I worked her hours. Will make up for the hours I won't get to work Easter Sunday when store is closed.
Got 50% discount at Goodwill on seniors day.
Oh wise Frugal Lisa, please tell me.. How do you claim a new roof on your taxes? I must have missed that. We had one installed last year as well.
Love the pillowcase!
1. I brought home my court jackets I keep at the office to wash gently in the bathtub and to hang them outside to dry. I also hand washed one of my work skirts and hung it outside to dry.
2. I walked an hour after work in the local graveyard bc I needed peace and quiet after this week.
3. I packed at home my breakfast and lunch and took them to work.
4. I still have the air off at home despite the 85ish degree heat.
5. I made a simple crustless quiche, I guess that is what you would call it, of fake crab meat, spinach, cheese, and eggs for dinner. I am really tired so I am going to go to bed early. Sleep and naps tend to be my fav thing to do when I can!
FRUGAL FAIL: neighbor’s grown kid ran over and gouged out my new water lines with vehicle when he was high. Long story. So cost me almost $400 to fix. Hopefully I will get reimbursed by him or his mom but not holding my breath. I like this kid but he has issues. Sigh.
There is a historic cemetery behind the school where I work. Many of the founding fathers of the county are buried there. Sometimes I walk there after work. Peaceful and I don't have to worry about getting run over.
Katy, I found a couple Montouk pillow cases at GW too. Each was 1.99 and one was a king pillowcase, the other a sham for a small throw pillow. Just checked and I sold the case for $95.00 and the throw pillow cover for 45.00. They stood out from the rest of the polyester blend linens on the rack.
You are not #cheapaf! You're a generous tipper and that counts for a lot!!
The Tax Man has firmly kicked our butts this year, so it's time to tighten our belts for a month or two until we can get our reserves up again.
1. I have started rationing my 14 year old son's snacks. I found out he has been having 3-4 "lunch" prepackaged snacks some days, which is insane! When I buy them on special, I hide them in the basement and only let a few out at a time. We have plenty other things for him to eat!
2. My husband rebuilt a closet in our basement that was "weird". Apparently a heating duct had a huge piece missing, which means we were paying to heat inside the wall. UGH. The closet itself was falling apart, so off he went to ReStore where he salvaged some doors and a bunch of other stuff for only $100!
3. We are in the "use it up" phase, where conditioner, soaps, etc are being watered down and poured into smaller containers to be used up. We had an expensive toothpaste that would not come out of the container so I cut it in half and scooped it into a plastic container to use up.
4. I put out the APB to find a rototiller and a friend in the neighborhood has one! We got a quote from a landscaping company of $700 to deal with a small garden bed that I can only describe as "tight". I couldn't dig into it at all because of all the roots and junk in there. I'm going to buy some mulch and borrow my friend's rototiller and do it for under $20.
5. I need to manage my stress better and my goal is to find some ways to do that. Luckily there are parks to walk in, books to read and music to listen to. I need a break!
If you are planning to rototill that bed, I recommend you ensure that it has been WELL WATERED for several days in a row. as you water, do a few test 'digs' with a regular big shovel - because you will change the experience from painfully horrible to reasonable, if you get the soil to a place of decent moisture
(don't ask me why I know....)
Looking forward to some free entertainment this summer. There is a free concert a little park in town on Wednesday evenings (community band, local talent, etc).
Also, I enjoy baseball, particularly Little League as I grew up in Williamsport, Pennsylvania - Birthplace of Little League Baseball. The Little League World Series is held there every August. The nice thing is that ALL Little League games are FREE (including the LLWS.) For those of you in the PNW, you may remember the name Cody Webster from the Kirkland, WA team. In 1982, the Kirkland team broke a VERY LONG winning streak held by Taiwan; Cody was the pitcher for the Kirkland team. Anyway, even if I don't know the.kids who are playing, I plan to get my fill of baseball by attending LL games. While we do have a couple of minor league teams in the area, those cost money I'm not wiĺling to spend.
The house I grew up in was across the street from a city park. I spent hours watching baseball games from our front window. The funniest ones were the T-ball games with the littles trying their hardest to smack the ball and the coaches pointing in the direction to run! Maybe that was my intro to free entertainment. Like you, for me it's all about free concerts and library events.
1) Thanks for the reminder! I just clicked over to our Discovery Pass page and snagged a second pass to the Museum Center for July. A lot's changed since our last visit, and the Children's Museum has been redone. Can't wait to take my grandson. Also, passes to the conservatory and the Harriet Beecher Stowe house. Feels a little greedy, but you have to grab them when they come up. There are often same-day passes for the sculpture park, so some beautiful day we'll take a picnic.
2) I did a bad thing. I do still use Amazon for the odd hard to find item to save spoons, but someone posted a rib roast loss leader in my coupon group, and I jumped. They sold out of the size I ordered, sent one three pounds larger, then credited the price difference. $5.31/lb and it's incredible. It should make about a dozen steak dinners for the two of us, plus bones for stock. Schmezos doesn't deserve my money but I think there's a good chance he paid me for this.
3) Fail: DH finally got a job after multiple almosts, so we dropped his car off for a needed repair expected to cost about $2K. Guess how much work it actually needs? Guess. No, more (about $17K). We bought it used and added seven years, so it's worth about half that, and two of the repairs are independent motor failures, which means that even if we stage the work and do some of it ourselves, it may still be toast. Even better, it was paid off just two years ago. It's a BMW. I would never, but DH is tall, with very broad shoulders, and this model was, supposedly, modified to appeal to young, wealthy Chinese folks with a bodyguard/driver. It fit him well, which is unusual for him, he truly enjoyed his Batmobile, and it was within our means at the time. If I spread the cost over the mileage, it's not that bad. But the next car has got to be durable, get great mileage, and be relatively inexpensive. We're hoping for a solid used hybrid, and soon.
4) A fabulous local vintage shop is closing, and I bought a few small things at 50% off. I'd consigned quite a few things and didn't come close to breaking even, but my remaining credits were almost enough to cover the total.
5) I didn't feed some mother's son overcooked steak and lobster before shipping him out for a grotesquely ill-considered war.
I had a BMW long ago. Yes, the repairs & and parts are very expensive. I now drive an econobox which is cheap to repair & gets good mileage.
225$ pillowcases, that's mad!
Well done on the Food Bank donation, such a worthy cause.
1. I sold a few items on Vinted, all for cheap but I had a good clear out as part of my spring clean and it all adds up. I also bought some presents on Vinted, mostly jewellery. My best find was a large rose quartz 925 silver pendant (4 Euro plus 3 Euro shipping) that was really tarnished but cleaned up very well.
2. I was invited to a friend's 50th birthday meal in a lovely hotel. It was a 40 minute drive but it was worth it, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I gifted her a beautiful earring and necklace set that I had bought on Vinted and a designer reusable water bottle (found new with tags in a local charity shop). I had made the card myself, using sea glass that I collect on the beaches in summer. Everyone got to take home a piece of the (huge!) birthday cake. I'm still cutting down on sugar so I gave it to my daughter.
3. I had my eye on really nice pottery style pasta bowls that a local supermarket is selling. They are very expensive though (10 Euro a piece!) and it was a want, not a need so I was trying to be good. Two days ago I was standing there admiring them once again when a girl that I know who works at the checkout came up to me to chat and she ended up offering me her 20% staff discount for the bowls! I was still a bit hesitant but in the end decided to treat myself to 5 of them. I am using them for everything now, not just for pasta, love them!
4. Recent favorite library book: The French House (Jacquie Bloese)
5. Recent goodies from my son's job (expired but still good): 6 boxes of organic black tea, 3 bottles of pomegranate kombucha, 1 tub of goats cheese yogurt
Several years ago, our regional grocery store had a deal to collect stamps and trade then in for dishes. I didn't need them, (or like them), but collected the stamps just in case. A local community college put out a call for the stamps to give to students who used their food bank, and I promptly sent mine in.
That’s a great concept!
re your #3 - I think that sometimes we are overly frugal, which means we miss out on some of the good things. I have a couple of (different) groups of large bowls that I really like the look of, and that I use for EVERYTHING - so I am imagining you using your new ones for EVERYTHING too, and enjoying them each time you pull them out.
Frugal so we can have nice things, that's a motto I can subscribe to.
Amen to that! 🙂
Well done on your food donation challenge!
1) Ate leftovers all week for dinner. Especially great as I was out of town & didn't meal prep over the weekend.
2) Got motivated & listed an item on eBay. It sold almost immediately (guess it was priced too low), but also had the bonus of selling another item the next day. I often find that posting something new helps sell older inventory as well. I need to be more consistent about posting. Will of course mail everything out with recycled packaging.
3) Did the math to figure out the most optimal way to charge our electric car (for now, it's sending it with DH two days a week to charge at his work, as long as I don't have to drive to the office.) It's a tradeoff between cost of charging at home vs at work & who has to drive the farthest on any given day.
4) Checked my parents into their flight to visit DS19 today. They appreciate checking a bag each (they are in their 70s and while they are in good shape, don't love schlepping a bag in the airport and/or retrieving a heavy bag from the overhead). Since I was sorting out the check in, I paid for their bags. My mom of course offered to pay, but I told her it was a Mother's Day gift, which she loved, because none of us are really into material gifts. I suggested the same for my sister, who loved the idea & will pay on the way home when I check them in again. What can I say, we are a practical crew.
5) Optimized the heck out of some travel spending. Also started planning for miles to book our Christmas flights to Portland. We are really limited on days we can travel due to work & kid schedules, but I think I will have enough American Airlines miles to get four free tickets on Alaska Airlines. All earned through work travel. I'm trying to remind myself of the perks, because international work travel is a huge slog.
I love your #4. What a practical but also very thoughtful gift.
I love it, too. What a great idea.
HP, such a great practical gift! I thought the same when two of my nieces bought their parents TSA precheck memberships.
I sadly totaled my car back in January when I slid on ice into an embankment.
We decided for now we will be a one vehicle household with our old 2012 Traverse and will fix the air conditioning on that. If we can get it to last a few more years it will be well worth it. It will save on having a car payment, and the insurance is minimal since it is old.
To further help it last, we bundle our trips and I sometimes join my neighbor for grocery runs. As a thank you we often bring her fresh baked bread or eggs form our hens.
We also discovered that brewer's liquid malt is the same thing as malt syrup and 1/3 the price so making bagels at home just got a lot cheaper.