Five Frugal Things -- Knobs & Yarn
1) I picked up the Buy Nothing bedside table for my daughter's old bedroom and it was just as good in person as the photo. I switched out the big spherical knob for a clear glass one I thrifted from the Goodwill bins a couple months ago.
Much cuter!
2) Then I listed the table I was replacing on Buy Nothing and immediately got responses, even though it had some disclosed condition issues. It was picked up in under thirty minutes, which was great as I don't like to hold onto unnecessary stuff. Begone!
The screenshot is from my Instagram account.
3) Today was my neighborhood's annual cleanup event, with accompanying U-price-it rummage sale. Unfortunately I didn't have more than a couple minutes to browse the wares as it was my husband's birthday. We did drive a carload of random stuff to drop off/recycle, thanks to my husband beginning the process of cleaning out his basement shop space.
We donated $10 to the neighborhood association and I spent $2 on things from the rummage sale.
This bag of yarn is for my sister who teaches high school crochet classes, plus a dedicated dustpan for the basement, which was sorely needed.
4) I finished my last Libby audiobook, which I actually didn't love, although it may have been a narrator issue. I'm following up with Hello Stranger which looks to be both fun and distracting.
5) I didn't buy any physical gifts for my husband's birthday, although we did take our youngest to the Heist food carts for lunch and then had our daughter to the house for takeout Chinese food. (They have very different schedules.) Time spent together is better than anything bought or sold.
We're also planning a couple nights at the beach to complete his experiences not stuff themed birthday.
The new end table looks great, and I like the new knob! Also, you scored a nice batch of yarn.
My plans for the day include taking the kickball to the park, returning a library book, and making a brief stop at Aldi, mainly to get creamer.
I read that coffee prices have risen 18% this year. Will I stop drinking it? Nah. But I do reuse the grounds (just once) with an added scoop of fresh grounds. And I refrigerate the leftover coffee for frapaccinos, which is why I need creamer. It's cheaper than coffee, so I am liberal with it.
The Monster High doll's hair has dried nice and smooth. I'm excited to look for clothing for her. If I can't find anything I'll sew something, but I gave away my remnants, so I would have to be creative.
I just discovered that there is a Goodwill bin near me. When I'm done working, you've inspired me to check it out!
1) Made picadillo, which used up a red pepper that was going to go back, as well as some pantry items. I subbed out the Adobe for a jalapeno, which I had in the garden.
2) Received a $12 check from Rakuten, so I've recently come into quite a bit of money, as you might say.
3) DS20 worked a later shift last night, so I set aside easy leftovers for him when he got home. It's hit or miss, as sometimes he goes out with his co-workers after dinner, but I know he really appreciates it when there are easily accessible leftovers in the fridge.
4) Remembered to use the very last of a grocery store gift card ($.52) to offset some of the cost of cilantro for our dinner. Cilantro *should* grow at our house, but we have terrible luck with it.
5) Added a garden green onion to salad, played rummy with DH for free entertainment, hiked with DH & met a friend for a walk - more free entertainment.
I received over $250 in a BC/BS settlement. I had forgotten I even signed up for this. It might even have been a couple years ago. Usually these things end up being under $20, so I was pretty happy about this. I loaded it into Gpay and used it when I ran my regular errands. Still a lot left.
Friendly neighbor edition: Frugal because doing things for each other saves everyone money and fosters stronger relationships: We are watching a neighbor's kitty while the neighbor is out of town. Free daily kitty pets.
Another neighbor's Butcher Box order was delivered while we know they are out of town. I snagged the box out of their delivery bin yesterday afternoon and put the contents in my freezer. The dry ice was mostly melted by this time but the meat was all still frozen. Then I texted what I'd done. They return this evening and will reclaim their expensive meat which would otherwise have spoiled (not to mention the danger of attracting bears.) This just made my frugal heart happy.
Another neighbor walked over with a package for us that had been delivered to his box by mistake. A chance to catch up with him.
Yet another neighbor is returning from a trip this evening. She texted to ask if we'd claim the dog food she had delivered and keep it in our garage until her return (again -- don't want the bears feasting on it.) Also, she needs help getting two heavy suitcases up the stairs so my husband will help with that.
And finally, I made a big batch of strawberry-rhubarb jam from rhubarb from my garden and sale strawberries and have a jar waiting for another set of neighbors who are also returning from a trip today. This couple has given us soooo many things over the years I can't keep track. For instance, the deer sausage we had for dinner last night was from them. I'm happy to pass on something I know they will enjoy.
Cindi, I love to read all the neighbor-to-neighbor stories. And yay for the $250 settlement - now that's real money!
I'm with MB in MN - those kind of neighbors are priceless!
Katy, the end table looks like it was made for the space, and the new knob is lovely.
1. My sister shared a quart of strawberries with us.
2. My sister continues to do all of my library pick-ups and drop-offs.
3. I've been reading a lot of books from the library and my bookworm friend. I've got six more books in the stack by my bed and more in the hold queue at the library.
4. Signed up for a few zoom presentations on health and wellness topics offered by my Medicare Advantage Plan.
5. Found at least a dozen delicious-sounding recipes on Budget Bytes, a website that I was introduced to here by Hawaii Planner, I believe.
That's great news, MB in MN! Glad I could share something of use. I really do like the vast majority of her recipes. We've found a lot of favorites.
When Budget Bytes was just Beth, the recipes were fabulous and very budget friendly. She still posts a few, I think? but the site now has other contributors so the recipes are a bit less reliably inexpensive or tasty.
I do recommend her Taco Cauliflower bowl, though - we riff off that allll the time - the sauce is so simple (particularly when we reduce ingredients to mayo, yogurt and lime, if we don't have everything else) and it is now labeled 'yer favourite sauce' in the fridge because we all love it.
Happy birthday, Mr. NCA! The new end table looks great with the glass knob, Katy.
After my big frugal win with the 14 pairs of slacks, 77 cents each in the bag sale yesterday (total: $10.82), everything else seems really mundane. I wore one pair of new slacks to work and everyone was amazed about it...except for our two high school cashiers, who say they shop those bag sales all the time. Smart girls! They always look amazing.
-- Needed a timer for my lamp. (Frugal fail: This past week, I'd bought one from Goodwill but it was missing a small piece, the little bitty black pin that you set when you want the lamp to turn off, so it isn't working. Will have to take it back. Luckily, GW is the one thrift store that will accept returns; the others have an "All Sales Final" policy. I have looked all over the place for secondhand timers and had only found that one.) So I went to Harbor Freight and their new ones were only a buck more than the used one I'd bought at GW. I thought maybe I should get two. (I've been wanting to put one in the front room for after dark, esp. in the winter time.) I also found a pkg. of 3 remote control lamp plugs that would be helpful. When I went to check out, the cashier said I was only a few cents away from getting a free 5 gal. bucket, so she tossed in a 79 cent doo dad and I had my bucket. You can never have too many of those tall buckets! I can't remember the last time I got a new one, as opposed to a trash-picked one.
--Gave an unused curtain rod (that I'd recently replaced with a double rod) to the weekend manager, who has just moved in to a mobile home. She commutes into town from way out in the country, where housing and shopping is scarce, so they bought a mobile home. She just started with us a few weeks ago, and this weekend job is helping pay for their brand new "trailer house", as we used to call them. With 2 jobs (and at our store, she works double shifts and is working the whole day Sat and Sun), she doesn't have time to go thrifting here in town, so we're looking out for her.
--Donated a bedsheet I'd recently bought at Ollie's Outlet to the thrift store where I'd gotten the slacks.(Frugal fail: I'm not going to go to Ollie's for linens anymore. This one faded the first time I washed it, and some of the towels I bought have already frayed, not one year after I'd bought them) But I thought maybe others might be in need of a king sized fitted sheet so I went ahead and put it in the collection bin.
-- Snagged some more free books from my usual sources. Will eventually be passing them along to those who need them.
--Finished my library book, the 31st one in the Stephanie Plum mystery series. So good! Yes, she has a major change in her life not revealed until the last page or so. She finally gets to meet Harry the Hammer, her boss's boss. And it looks like she has yet another suitor. There are vampires and Robin Hood types and an incompetent, obnoxious, senile old CEO (that perhaps was inspired by Trump, ya think?) I was happy that I'd correctly guessed the identity of the mysterious guy they were chasing...I figured it out about halfway...his true identity is not revealed until the last chapter or so. But I am not going to say anything more lest I spoil it. Warning: do not read ahead on this book or you will ruin the ending! (Except the last three words are "Not the end." Hmmm....)It's going to be a very long wait until the 32nd book comes out in November.
Fru-gal Lisa,
You have enough slacks for the rest of your life!
I always wear out the bottom sheet of a set before the flat sheet, so I would be thrilled to find just the fitted sheet at the thrift. That reminds me that I have a ripped fitted sheet on the sewing machine that needs another patch...
I took your lead with a piece of R. Kliban art! I found an unused R. Kliban “catmobile” in its original box for $2 at my local thrift shop. It sold within 24 hours for a profit of $46!
Thanks for sharing your great thrifting info
Fru-gal Lisa,
You have enough slacks for the rest of your life!
Re: your #5, Katy: Happy birthday to Mr. NCA, and enjoy your time with him at the beach. The desktop photo on my laptop is one of DH, taken at Cannon Beach during one of our side trips on our excursion to Portland for the 2010 JASNA Annual General Meeting. He looks windblown, rumpled, and utterly happy, with a twinkle in his eye. What I wouldn't give to have him back again, in that condition...
I love the new knob on the drawer! I have similar ones on my kitchen pantry and when the light hits it just right, my kitchen is filled with lovely little rainbows.
1. I went to a rummage sale at a church up the road and bought my son clothes for 50 cents apiece.
2. While in the Aldi parking lot I found a quarter on the ground. I immediately thought of you and smiled... "so I recently came into some money."
3. My washing machine wasn't performing the spin cycle well so I was wringing my clothes out by hand. My friends offered to get us a new one, which I would normally have a hard time accepting, but I could use the help. They found one on Marketplace and when they picked it up the gentleman gave it to them for free when he heard our family was going through a hard time. The unexpected kindness of strangers is such a blessing.
4. I made a homemade garlic cream sauce which was better and lots cheaper than a restaurant version I recently tried.
5. I got to read a book while listening to the rain today, which is my ultimate form of entertainment.
In the future if you have the same issue with your washing machine, try taking the back off and cleaning the screen in the hose that empties the water. A plumber told me this trick years ago. I've had to do it once and it worked. The screen was full of lint, threads, bits of paper.
1. We have so much kale in our garden, we're eating it with every meal. Tonight was homemade pizza with chicken and kale toppings.
2. Began sewing a new pair of trousers (pants). Fabric cost $2 at the thrift store, a lovely mid weight cotton twill. So far they are coming together very nicely.
3. Sold 2 sets of wine barrel ring hearts for a total of $50 today. I get the wine barrel rings for free, each heart takes less than 5 minutes to make and I sell 3 per set.
4. Repaired our outdoor swing for zero cost.
Kara, I love your wine barrel rings. What a great way to reuse something that would otherwise be considered trash.
Not sure if all of these are actually frugal but they have brought me great joy:
1. Our friend ran the Brooklyn Half marathon on Saturday and we got to gallivant around with her husband, cheering her on. The train ride back was a long one but we still felt it was worth it. Cost: $10 sandwich, $6 train fare.
2. Spent Sunday morning practicing cello parts with my orchestra section. Our section leader made pie and it was delicious. I brought coffee from home. Cost: finding a parking spot for 20 minutes.
3. After, I went to our LOCAL garden store (not home depot!) and fell in love with it. I got all the herbs, flowers, and vegetables I planned to plant this year. Cost: More than I care to disclose here, so let's just say $$$.
4. I then came home and planted all of my beautiful new plants with my upstairs neighbor. This came with HOURS of laughs, her husband bringing us treats and lemonade to cool off in the heat, and some really great camaraderie. Cost: A little dehydration from talking too much without stopping for water.
5. Finally, after a long shower to get all the potting soil off me, I hit a wall on all the clutter in my bedroom. I grabbed a shoe box and the trash can and unapologetically started putting items I know i don't use in the free box and throwing out all the trash in between. Seriously, why am I keeping a single tampon on top of my dresser when I haven't used one in 7 years? Who am I fooling that I'm going to resell a bottle of perfume from high school I've been toting around all this time? The free box went out and was decimated within minutes and I woke up feeling calmer. Cost: 15 minutes.
Have a great week, everyone!
Happy Birthday Mr. NCA! It is birthday month in my family.
I went to a couple of estate sales and came home with very little. Stopped at WinCo to grab herbs and spices for my bbq rubs...it is happily bbq season.
I burned the burn pile in between rain showers. It was huge!
There was an awesome meteor shower last night. Neighbor and I played with the telescopes.