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I sold a number of things, including:
• A handmade Pendleton wool vest that I bought for $9.99 and sold for $70.
• A Magnalite stock pot that I bought for $6.99 and sold for $120.
• An IKEA swiveling “Lomsk” egg chair that I bought for $7.99 and sold locally for $100.
• An American Girl doll sweater. I bought a doll with clothing for $4.99 and then sold just her “Kirsten” sweater for $25. I’ll sell the doll separately.
• A Canadiens hockey hoodie that I bought for $7.99 and sold to someone in Australia for $40.
• A bag of miscellaneous Brio train track pieces that I picked up at the Goodwill bins and sold locally for $25.
• A pair of Polish pottery mugs that I sold locally for $40. I’ve no record of how much I paid for them. Polish pottery used to sell like hotcakes, but the demand for it seems to have died down.
• A Wii Fit board and game that I paid $9.99 for and sold locally for $30. I bought this waaaaay back at the beginning of the pandemic when everyone was clamoring to exercise at home. I was deliriously happy to get it out of my house!
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I accepted an invitation to a Willamette Valley winery with a college friend who recently moved to the Portland area. The invite was a last minute affair and my gut reaction was an immediate “nope!” as wine makes me feel both groggy and headache-y. But then I reminded myself that it’s actually enjoyable to spend time with a friend and accepted her kind invitation.
I ended up having an extremely enjoyable day at the winery, even though it turned out that they didn’t serve food, which brought my share of the bill down to $0.00. However it was still a very scenic and enjoyable afternoon. A long drive for sure, but perfect for catching up with an old friend.
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Our cheapo hand held shower head has been spurting water in random directions lately, so I did a bit of research and chose a highly recommended replacement. We purchased this last one at least fifteen years ago to accommodate a house guest who’d just had knee surgery, and it was much more a “grab whatever from the hardware store” than a thoughtfully purchased item.
Normally, my husband and I would at least attempt to repair a broken household item, but this low quality shower head was definitely not manufactured to stand the test of time.
I do still buy second hand whenever possible, and thankfully found a used version, which was described as simply having “damaged packaging.”
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I snagged a pair of metal organizing cubes from a free pile, (I’ll use them to create a modicum of order in my coat closet) I listened to the audiobook of Seven Days in June through the library’s free Libby app, I got my free Covid-19 booster shot, our two maple trees lost multiple branches from a freak snow storm and my husband and I cut up the branches by ourselves, I scored six big red peppers for $2 and chopped them for the freezer, I gave away a number of items (an assortment of tea bags, a teapot and some macaroni noodles) through my local Buy Nothing Group, my friend Lise and I brought our plastics to be recycled through a free event on Earth Day, I thrifted a 99¢ lazy Susan which prompted a full reorganization of our medicine cabinet, I brought my own cup of tea to my neighbor’s house for a friend date and I clipped blooming lilacs from my mother’s house for a large bouquet of flowers.
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I didn’t spend 44 billion dollars to buy Twitter.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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I deactivated my Twitter, as I don’t wish to be part of Elon Musk’s empire.
Disclosure: This blog post includes eBay affiliate links, which earns a small commission for me. This costs nothing extra to you.
{ 56 comments… read them below or add one }
1. Received $73 class action check which more that paid for my hair y
2. Used $50 for much needed pedicure
3. Interviewed for part time job. Looks like I’ll get an offer letter
4. Discovered Free 45 minute exercise class on t/th at community center
5. Pull 3 small gifts from my gift box to give to3 teens
1. A friend who is moving tomorrow to the East Coast where they apparently don’t have Safeway grocery stores, offered me the gas reward points she had on her app so that they would not go to waste. She had enough points to save me $1 a gallon and refused any compensation because this last week since her vehicle was shipped out of state, the husband or I have been giving her rides as she needed them.
2. Sold a book that is out of print for $40. I have had it listed for almost a year, so it was nice to get rid of it.
3. Years and years ago while in Spain I bought a gorgeous woolen cloak, hand made. In my mind’s eye I thought it made me look ethereal. I wore it once, realized I looked like a potato sack in it, and put it in the back of my closet for two decades. Turns out the person who made it has gone on to be a successful designer so when I happened on an article about her I thought maybe it had some value so I listed it. I sold it for $180!
4. The husband and I used to collect rare fountain pens. We don’t need them (not that we ever did) and are downsizing, so we each selected a favorite and are selling the rest. One of them, a solid gold very limited edition, now lists for over $10,000. Yup, not an exaggeration, 10 grand. We are working with a pen auction house to sell it. What can I say, I was in my 20s in my first professional job after grad school and I had money to burn.
5. This was a first: I did a mystery shop for a cannabis dispensary. I take a lot of medications to control a genetic disorder so I stay away from all drugs and alcohol from fear of interactions. I had to buy $100 of specific items and got paid $50 for doing the shop. I traded a friend the items for a lot of Diet Coke, which is my drug of choice.
Lindsey, I feel your pain on the cloak in #3. (Most things that make other folks look ethereal make me look like a potato sack, too.) Glad you got a good price for the cloak. And I hope you get an even better price for the fountain pen in #4.
Also, I like Katy’s new #5. A pox on egomaniac multibillionaires!
Just got back from my Safeway in Maryland.
Safeway in VA too. I don’t remember seeing them in Delaware, NJ or PA however
No Safeways in MA, CT, or ME.
There are 3 Safeway locations in Delaware.
@Lindsey, my husband and I collected a lot of vintage and antique pens about 30 years ago. I would love to sell them, but not sure how. Other than the wonderful $10000 one, how will you go about it?
If you can find an issue of Pen World, most of the time they have lists of dealers in the back. You can start by contacting someone who deals in, for example, Mont Blancs, and hope they reply. I have been pretty lucky in terms of people responding to emails giving me information on who is auctioning off pens these days or even offering to buy a particular pen from us. I was told to try eBay but I am not willing to entrust something that expensive to that circus. Also, if you live in a large city, you may be able to find a pen dealer in your own area.
I am so impressed by your ebay sales, Katy and those $2 peppers.
I continue to persuse ReeBee for sales on food and personal items and have scored amazing deals, like $1 cans of organic beans. I know that cooking dried beans is much cheaper, but I am intolerant to FODMAPS and eating small quantities of canned chickpeas and lentils eliminates gas and bloating for me. I am making my own hummus with those two types of beans and it is delicous.
I am also optimizing coupons that are associated with one of two credit cards I use to pay all of our expenses and have bought personal care items on sale matched with $20 and $30 cash back promotions (on a $50 and then $60 purchase). We bought only necessary items so those two promotions were great deals.
My husband is sitll on strike and I continue to be anxious about our financial situation. I am seriously considering cancelling our vacation plans to Ogunquit. The first since the begining of the pandemic. The rise in COVID cases is also being weighed in this decision.
My husband is currently infected with COVID. Thankfully, he has a mild case and had symptoms for about five days. He is on day 8 and has lingering fatigue, but I am grateful that he is on the mend.
I sold a BBQ we are not allowed to use in our current home and scored a great price for the item.
Hope thing improve for you financially and wishing your husband a quick recovery from the fatigue.
Besides work, I’ve not spent much time away from the house. When I have, however, I keep finding coins. Thank you to those who drop their money and either don’t realize it or don’t bother to pick it up.
The bakery is closed for the week so the owners can go on vacation and on the last day they cleaned out the refrigerators of all perishable items so I basically grocery shopped at work for free.
Springtime!! which means we can open windows and turn off the HVAC.
Cleaned out the pantry and this is not frugal but it helps folks in my community- I took all the unopened in-date foods we keep bypassing to one of the Little Free Pantries in the neighborhood.
Again, not frugal, but we paid the accountant’s fee for this years taxes. A bit steep, but our taxes were complicated beyond our comfort level. We anticipate far easier taxes next year and will resume doing them ourselves.
No one picks up coins. I clean houses, and pick them up off their floor, and put in a jar on the counter.
1. I volunteered at the library for a three hour shift during a book sale. When it was slow, I picked out a few items, two books and a White Mountain brand jigsaw puzzle, with every intention of paying for them. When I went to pay I was told to take them for free as a thanks for working. The puzzles sell for about $18 new and the books for $17 each.
2. I received three plants and a painting of the area in back of my house from friends for my birthday. DH gave me a foot massage and took me out to dinner using a GC we had received for Christmas. It was a great birthday! I sometimes say “Getting old is for the birds” but in truth I’m just so happy I’m still here.
3. SIL sent me home with marinated steak tips which I broiled for dinner and had with rice and green beans. This was a rare treat for DH as beef is so expensive now. Personally, I’m not crazy about beef but ate a little bit for the protein.
4. We’re in the process of painting the interior of our house. Stepson was laid off and needed $$$ for grandchildren’s college so we hired him to do it, thereby helping him out. Since then, he’s back to work so we’re finishing what’s left to be done, saving us $$$.
5. Cooking at home mostly…tomorrow will be Hurst HamBeens 15 Bean Soup…so good and purchased for $2.49 a bag…will feed the two of us for at least three meals. Reading library books…Jamie Raskin’s ‘Unthinkable’ is unputdownable, ‘Wonder’ by R.J. Palacio, a YA novel about a boy born with a facial deformity (was told it was uplifting, not depressing) and listening to free NPR podcasts. Going for my 4th free Covid shot this week. Walking with DH for exercise. Another free concert coming up at the library this week, The Beatles with music and fun facts in between the songs. Wearing all the same clothes and hanging laundry outside. Hooray for Spring!
Happy Birthday!!!!! I hope this is the year all your dreams come true.
Thank you, Bee!
Katy, those peppers are gorgeous! And your sales are always amazing.
1. Came in under budget again on groceries this weekend. Eating a lot of oatmeal, beans and veggies lately.
2. Mended as best I could the multiple holes my son accidentally bleach-burned in a favorite shirt. It’s no longer hole-y, but only suitable for around the house wear.
3. Sewed three flannel blankets for my dogs from some fabric that’s at least ten years old.
4. Used some of the yard sale fabric I made bedroom valances from to make a cover for the ends of the box springs on our bed. It shows if the bedspread is tucked in at the foot of the bed.
5. Cooked a vet-prescribed bland diet for one of our dogs with marked down organic chicken thighs from our freezer and rice from the pantry. A week of meals for her cost about $3.
1. Listening to free audiobooks through the Libby app.
2. Working, working, working.
3. In the little spare time I have, I walk for exercise (free) and gardening (free-ish).
4. Painted our loungeroom, which is yuuge, for the low cost of $220 plus our free labour. We did this over Easter. It looks great.
5. Still picking Summer veggies – chillies, eggplant, basil. Almost end of the season though, and have recently planted garlic and Spring bulbs.
Lazy Susans are a game changer on the organizational front. My mother had them everywhere as do I. They are extra handy under the bathroom sink and in the refrigerator.
1. My book club’s selection, The Salt Path, was not available at my public library. :-(. So I purchased a used copy at 1/2 the cover price from an independent seller on eBay. I’m looking forward to reading this memoir about a women in her 50s who loses everything and hikes through the wilds of England.
2. We have an eventful year ahead. My son is getting married; my nephew is also marrying; we are traveling again; and I’m going to become a grandmother. This is all exciting and there is a lot of socializing. However, after two years of living a rather quiet life, I need clothes. The ones I have are worn out or don’t fit well (covid weight). After scouring the thrift stores for weeks for clothing, I broke down and purchased 3 new dresses. Two days later the dresses went on sale. Grrrr…. I sent an email to the company asking for a price adjustment.
3. I purchased garden supplies and plants at an estate sale including some clay orchid pots, a white amaryllis and a lovely jade plant. This combined with a piece of studio pottery and a handmade basket came to $21. I do love an estate sale!
4. My gardenias are in bloom. I go out in the morning and cut several from my bushes. I float them in a crystal bowl that belonged to my grandmother. I love gave flowers in the house and they smell divine. This helps me to walk by tge flower display at Trader Joe’s.
5. All the usual things – brewing my own coffee, drinking primarily water, cooking from scratch, and panicking over grocery prices. Wishing everyone piece and good health.
Our library has The Salt Path, so I requested it, and also the sequel, The Wild Silence.
I didn’t know there was a sequel. I will add that to my reading list. Thank you!
Bee, I’ve read both and I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
Not only does Raynor Winn have a lovely sequel, she just today posted a photo of the cover of her new book, Landlines, which is due out in September. The Salt Path and The Wild Silence are two of the best books I’ve read in years. Definitely slated for re-reads.
I wish you all peace and good health. Not a piece. (Sigh)
Free food/items edition:
My dad stopped at my work and brought me 3 different kinds of breads that my mom bakes around the holidays and also a soda (that I took home for one of my kids to enjoy).
Our local food pantry operates out of my work building and they had a bunch of fruit and veggies leftover that they shared with me. I got 4 huge containers of blueberries, a huge bunch of bananas, 3 big sweet potatoes and a small bag of a vegetable medley.
A neighbor in our township made my family a nut roll for Easter….it was delicious!
A friend gifted me a few bags of snacks to try. We are in a weight loss group together. I’ve made things and brought in for our group to try a few different times in exchange.
Hubby and I went to a hockey game for date night and were standing in line to buy tickets and a guy and his wife gifted us 2 tickets.
In order to avoid food waste, I froze a bag of ham leftover from Easter for a later meal and froze 2 bags of blueberries (see above) for future baking.
Our smoke detectors were on their last legs, so we got a few free ones from local fire department to replace them.
Husband’s co-worker gifted us 2 dozen eggs; i baked some blueberry muffins and gifted as a thank you.
1. Lots of home improvements around here lately & things have been very spendy. But all the projects have been with the goal of making our house and yard easier to maintain and more enjoyable as we age. We have had 2 beds for shade plants added to ugly areas of the yard and a friend gave me plants for them. I moved some plants I already had to the new location. Spent $0 on plants. Next project is a new roof before we have more leaks to deal with.
2. Bought a lift recliner from a friend for half the price of new. My husband has a new place to sleep in his nightly wanderings. Good sleep at night makes him more pleasant in daytime.
3. Planted more vegetables.
4. Wanted an all cotton nightgown and was horrified at prices of the style I was looking for. Found one for $4 while thrifting. New of this type would be $55-$75.
Can’t think of anything else at the moment.
In an amazing coincidence, I too, did not buy Twitter this week. 😉
Crazy, right?
I actually completely deleted my Twitter account this morning.
I’m basically a social media-a-phobe but kudos to those who quit-the-twit. Another rich person on paper only IMHO.
Mazel Tov on deleting your account! I was glad I’d never created one because I would have deleted as well.
1. I have been focusing on food prices. I signed up for the MyLidl app which gives me access to sale prices, gave me $5 off a $30 purchase, and appears to have some kind of rewards program.
2. We took a day trip to check out a lake house we rented for vacation this summer. We can still cancel and get our rental fee back. We are on the fence about the trip and it was definitely helpful to see the area ahead of time.
3. I ordered checks from the credit union. The standard checks are free. Even though we don’t use a lot of them I went ahead and ordered a batch.
4. My husband has done amazing job of dealing with our bulk mulch mountain. I have spread a lot of mulch and he has hauled a lot.
5. We must attend a black-tie optional event in a few weeks, with an emphasis on black and gold clothing. I’m trying to figure out if I can borrow a “little black dress” and a gold shawl from friends. I have no interest in shopping or buying anything to wear for a few hours.
I am so impressed both by scoring and sales ability of Katy and others. Need to learn some of those skills.
It seems that this is the year of the “breakdowns” Latest is our Ford Hybrid – electrical system/transmission? Needed a tow yesterday to dealership where they ran into supply-chain problems. They estimate next week for work accomplished. Meantime we are making use of DH’s 20 year old car. . Plan to clean it out soon – still running pretty well though! Gifted our second car to son a while ago for his long commute to work. Never imagined that vehicle parts would be at a premium.
The Good News:
-Found a sale-priced steak which will make DH happy for dinner tonight. At the same store also saw Sara Lee Pound cake for $5.49. Bought same cake at discount store on clearance for $1!
– Developing further strategies for scoring decent food prices but feel it is a losing battle. Uncertain whether to buy CSA package. Liked it last year, but lots of duplicates of our garden produce. Careful to group shopping trips around stores in same areas. Saves on gas and time.
-Appointment for 4th covid-19 free booster shot lined up. Husband just recovered from this grunge – fully vaxxed so not too bad a case. Plan to order more free tests.
-Thrifting scores – 3 books for around $1 at a 70% off table. (travel book about Key West, a mystery. and “The Later Plays of Eugene O’Neill”. All in excellent condition.
Gotta love extreme discounts on food!
1. Thrilled to announce I did not buy twitter either.
2. My sister gave me a bunch of pairs of readers she no longer was using.
3. Grocery shopped sales hard this week on chicken and vegetables. I saved about $20.00.
4. I found a $1 bill on campus. Picked it up and then put it back. I figured a college student could use it more than me. When I walked back to my car, it was gone so fingers crossed it made someone’s day a bit brighter.
5. The usual- batch cooking, making coffee ect
My sister needed her large backyard cleared of brush along the fence line. The tree trimmers wanted 800 to 2000$ to do the job. My husband loaded up his truck & the 2 of plus a male friend headed to her place. The friend cut the brush & sis & I hauled brush to curb for trash pick up. My husband was busy fixing my sister’s garage door opener. We got 75% of it cleared & will go again next week. My sister paid the helper friend 40$ & my husband provided the transportation & took helper out to feed him dinner. (I ate leftovers at home.) Ridiculous for company to charge so much for this job. I didn’t save $ but my sister surely did. I got a lot of free exercise.
Classic post … epic punchline!
Great sales. Also didn’t buy twitter. I don’t have an account and it looks like I never will.
1. I joined a book club and was able to get the library book on my kindle. I had a great time and it was inexpensive entertainment. I’ve also read a couple other library books….Between Two Kingdoms, A Million Junes and This Is How It Always Is.
2. My kitchen faucet took it’s last breath. My daughter’s fiance tried to fix it and it just got worse, leaking everywhere. Since this is the third time in the last year I’ve had problems I purchased a new faucet. I was waiting for the plumber to get back to me but my future son-in-law installed it for me saving me $$$.
3. We had Thanksgiving for Easter since I had a turkey in my freezer that was taking up too much space. We brined it and it turned out perfectly. Most of the sides were also things I had on hand. I purchased only some asparagus. We fed seven people inexpensively with plenty of leftovers which turned into two more meals – pot pie and a turkey casserole.
4. I continue to be free help for two of my daughters who have purchased old houses that need work. I’ve picked up cheap paint supplies, electrical supplies etc. at estate sales and thrift stores. Frugal for them and a great way to spend time with my kids, mom and sister as it’s turned into a family activity.
5. I continue to drive my old hybrid car. It has almost 200,o00 miles on it. Fingers crossed that it lasts longer than the chip shortage.
1. Been working more so I paid off my car 5 months early.
This is big to me. Going to save the same amount monthly, and put in savings.
Soon husband’s truck will need repairs so win win!
That’s what we’ve been doing since late 2018 – keep making vehicle “payments” to ourselves (the one vehicle we financed). Once we paid off the house, kept making “payments”. Maintenance is key but no matter what, parts wear out over time. Or as I say, diamonds are forever but calipers are not.
Good one, Selena!
Sold 3 pairs of pants on EBay that I picked up for my daughter at the thrift store. She didn’t like them so I turned a profit on them instead.
Negotiating a bill with insurance involved. Hopefully it’ll save us $100.
Picked up 30 lbs of hamburger at 50% off with Flashfoods. Freezer is FULL!
Made my own chicken broth with a carcass.
Weeded and fertilized my yard myself instead of hiring a professional. Got some exercise while I was at it.
And saved yourself the fee to the Y or gym. It has always boggled my mind that instead of cleaning ones house or doing yard work, able bodied people hire that done but go to the gym/Y to work out.
It feels like I am in no way saving money or the Earth’s resources but I will try to come up with a few to make myself feel better.
1 – planted peas in my garden
2 – made a new recipe that used ingredients I had on hand
3 – I bought milk when I didn’t need it, so I had 2 containers that expired on the 26th. – I finished off 1 and started on the new one today. I am trying to make recipes that use a lot of milk.
4 – breakfast for dinner one night, repurposed leftovers into a new meal, packing lunches for work
Good for you for recognizing that even seemingly small things matter!
Milk, as you know, is often fine past its best-buy date. It can be frozen; just leave space for the container to expand when it freezes and shake it up well after it thaws.
We use very little milk, so when we buy it, we just get whichever version has the farthest out best-buy date. I (unscientifically but it is my observation) think whole milk lasts longer than low-fat or skim, so if the dates were equal, I would buy whole and let the small amounts of extra calories or fats fall where they may.
This week I
1. Made vegetable soup with chicken broth from the freezer, a clearance can of diced tomatoes, two potatoes, 1/2 of a cabbage and some leftover mixed veggies. Very yummy, super cheap and made almost a gallon of soup! I’ll eat this for lunch for a week and I froze some for later lunches.
2. Went to the pay by the pound Goodwill outlet (The Bins). Spent $7 but found a change purse in the bins with $1.78 in change so it made my shopping trip even cheaper! And yes I bought the change purse with the coins.
3. Bin purchases . Was able to find some summer clothes for me, a nice summer sun hat, a few summer reading books, pj bottoms for son, and a few spring decorations.
4. Canceled a few streaming platforms as we don’t watch as much tv during warm weather.
5. Cooked, sliced and froze most of our free Easter ham. We ate some but most is in the freezer for future meals.
FFT, If Life Gives You Sprouting Potatoes… Edition:
(1) Frugal fail: Discovered that a 5# bag of potatoes I’d bought on sale at Price Chopper a couple of weeks ago, shoved into the pantry, and forgotten about had a large number of spuds sprouting madly. But…
(2) I cut off the bits with the best-looking sprouts, cured them outside on a sunny afternoon, and then planted them this morning in a container that is as far away from where our local Wild Kingdom might find it as I can manage.
(3) I used the rest of those potatoes in a potato salad, since I had all other necessary ingredients on hand. I hadn’t made a potato salad in quite a while, and I enjoyed it immensely. (It made two meals for me, since I regard spud salad as a main dish, not a side dish.)
(4) I found a bunch of Egyptian walking onions (paging Steve Martin here) that a young friend had given me last fall, sprouting nicely in my basement. I took a dozen of the sprouting bulblets and planted them in my old back garden, which is now too close to the woodchuck condo for me to grow anything but herbs and onion family crops.
(5) And I had some free entertainment yesterday, when the old mama woodchuck who’s been developing the condo for at least 5 years now fought a battle royal with an intruder. I watched her chase the intruder at least 3 backyards north before she declared victory and came home. Who needs TV wrestling when this is available?
King Tut! Now I’ll have that song in my head for the rest of the day. I can still see Steve Martin with the “sideways” walk dancing along to it. What a riot!
We too have a resident woodchuck in our banking who provides us with free entertainment. Haven’t seen the little critter yet this year though…houses are going up not too far from here…hope the trucks and heavy equipment haven’t scared it away.
It won’t scare it away – Mr. Chuck will move into your property. BUT beware – skunks are notorious for moving into woodchuck holes. Ask me how I know – BTDT. Cheap condos were put in not far down the road from our prior house and new woodchucks showed up. We were out in the country and when farmer planted soybeans, buffet for Mr. Chuck. They also like dropped apples. One had the audacity to sun himself on our deck. It was amazing to see how big s/he got. Only had one at this house – dog took care of it.
I’m currently being entertained by the family of fox living behind my house under my neighbors shed. Mama and 2 babies that live to wrestle and play. Mama hunts by the creek between the houses. Nature is awesome!
* Got a 4 liters of milk at half price. Don`t know why, still good for another 10 days. Not crazy about skim milk, we usually have 2%, but for half-price we will drink skim this week
* Still borrowing books at the public library as my main source of entertainment
* Used rewards points for 20$ of free groceries
* Not buying much clothes. I feel like I have ”nothing to wear”, yet I manage to get out of the house daily fully clothed, so…..!
* Meeting up with friends for a birthday diner. We will meet at a park and each bring our lunch (which will be packed from home, for myself).
I don’t use Twitter so Elon Musk can enjoy it. Just another time waster imho…
Good grocery sales this week. Hubby got a huge package of chicken thighs that were on sale for $1.20/lb and the package was $6.05. Ground beef was also on sale so he got a big package to freeze in smaller packages for hamburgers.
Did some shopping at Walgreens and got 2 packs of Pampers for $20 and 2 packs of Huggies for $21 minus a $2.50 coupon. I buy them for my friend’s granddaughter. I hardly spend my allowance but this gives me a thrill and I’m helping someone out.
We went out to dinner for our wedding anniversary and it just wasn’t that good. First time eating out in probably 3 years.
Went to the library today and got 2 books and a magazine out. May sign up for the “senior” tech class. Sigh…I need to learn how to download books on my very seldom used iPad.
Watching Jeopardy with hubby for cheapish entertainment. Must cancel Netflix and call cable company about increase in bill and get our landline taken off.
1. Packed bkfsts and lunches all week- and ate up some chicken that I wanted to toss- tough. With black beans, cheese, and salsa- it was great.
2. Avoiding the grocery store- way off target on my grocery budget and trying to use my pantry.
3. Made an “easy” granola yesterday that didn’t “set up” well- but will be fine as a cereal. Just not crumbly…
4. Need a weekend off, but I did sign up for an extra shift next weekend
5. Noticed way too many ROTEL cans in pantry- will make a huge batch of chili and rice tonight.
I finally caught up on all the posts for the last year and am anxiously awaiting a new one from you, Katy! Just yanking your chain…I figure life must be be busy and something has to give. Mu jaw dropped when I read that you blogged daily for 10 years. I can’t even journal consistently for a few weeks! I am looking forward to seeing what you’ve been selling and hearing about your latest frugal adventures.
Sometimes it seems like it’s so much same old, same old frugal living that I struggle to come up with 5FTs. I’ll see what I can come up with:
1. I swapped plants with one of my neighbors today. I had identified a peony for her and she offered me some iris she’ll be dividing, as well as scions from her apple trees when I get ready to try grafting. I’m digging and moving rhubarb plants out of my former orchard, which I’ve turned into a new chicken pen. There are more rhubarb plants than I need, even after transplanting them to the garden and the flower beds alongside the house, so I texted her to ask if she would like more (I gave her a smaller start a few years ago). The answer was an enthusiastic yes! She had no idea how big the plant was that I had for her. It filled one of those huge round tubs and took 2 people to move. I threw in some smaller chucks of roots/divisions that I knew I wouldn’t need. I still have 3 huge clumps to transplant, but that should get the rest of it moved. We had a nice visit while we toured my gardens, but after she left, I realized I’d forgotten the Chinese Lantern starts and bottle of wine for her. The Chinese Lantern plants have a gorgeous orange “lantern” in the Fall, and they are Halloween nuts, so I knew she’d like them. They were originally a gift from another friend, so I’m paying it forward. The wine was left at our house by a former boyfriend of my daughter…neither of us like wine, so I’m looking to rehome it. I’ll take both along when I visit her for a tour of HER gardens.
2. Same friend’s hubby put my new door handle on my pickup a couple days ago. He was also going to replace the tailgate handle, but I bought the wrong part, so that job will have to wait for another day. They are very good neighbors and friends! I wonder how long it will take me to stop rolling down my truck window to open the door from the outside, lol.
3. The neighbor from h**l finally was forced out of the house when it was sold. The new neighbors that moved in the next day are WONDERFUL! 3 generation family with a sweet little boy about 7-8 years old. I gave them a carton of eggs as a welcome to the neighborhood, and now they want to be regular customers! That wasn’t why I gave them eggs (my hens are giving me a glut of eggs right now), but it was a nice bonus. They didn’t even blink at the $5/carton price.
4. I played Bunco for the first time in ages (dipping my toe back into a few more pre-Covid activities). Gosh, it was great to see folks I hadn’t seen in literally years! It costs $11 to play, but the money goes to support Fisher House, a home for veteran’s families, so I’m happy to contribute. Added bonus? I had “most wins”, and the prize was a beautiful hydrangea bush! I’ve wanted one for ages, but had balked at the price, so I was truly thrilled to win one.
5. Still trying to stay home as much as possible due to $5/gallon gas and driving a 1996 Ford F-150 that gets less than 15 mpg. I live in the boonies, so going anywhere is expensive. I’m currently disputing a decision by my health insurance provider that would require me to drive to 6 weeks of PT appointments before they will authorize gel injections in my right knee. The denial letter said I had to show that I had EITHER tried and failed PT -OR- that I had taken an NSAID or Cymbalta for at least 3 months or had my doctor tell them why I couldn’t take either one. Well, I’ve been on Cymbalta for years, and it does help my chronic pain overall, but isn’t doing a thing for the knee. I have a clotting disorder and am on an anticoagulant, so NSAIDS are contraindicated. I’m a retired RN, have had PT on my knee in the past and still do the exercises at home…they don’t help. I’ve failed steroid injections in that knee, and gel injections are the only therapy left to try before knee replacement, which I’m trying hard to avoid. The ortho office has resubmitted all the info AGAIN, highlighted this time. I’m scheduled to start PT Tuesday, but I think I will call tomorrow and ask for a delay while we wait to hear back from the insurance company. It seems silly that they are willing to incur the additional costs of PT, only to end up paying the cost of the injections in the end anyway. For me, not needing to drive to the appointments will save me at least $150 in gas costs.
Bonus 6. Strangely, I didn’t buy Twitter either! I’ve never had a Twitter account, so I won’t need to delete it.
Regarding my #1: I should clarify that my NEIGHBORS are Halloween nuts. The Chinese Lantern plants are part of the nightshade family and are definitely NOT edible…quite toxic. The fruit after flowering has an orange husk around a tiny red fruit that resembles a cherry tomato, but the size of a pea. Again, don’t eat it!
I’m glad you added the last point, because I had to look them up. My Mom had ground cherries, which I loved, which are also a lantern shaped husk and edible berry-fruit inside. However, they are not the same as poisonous Chinese Lanterns.
Best wishes on sorting your insurance mess! We had four different problems with four different facilities and different insurances, and I still celebrate the day last week when I phoned them all and cleared them up. SUCH a pain; none were our error. And of course, no company admits blame or gives a sincere apology, just corrects the problem they caused.
Nice that you have a fun activity you enjoy which also supports a worthy cause. I like to attend dinners with accompanying raffles put on by a local no-kill cat shelter. Fun for me and good for the kitties.