- I had a $6.99 Goodwill store credit expiring today, so I swung by one of my favorite locations after dropping my son at work. I wasn’t looking for anything in particular, although I always keep an eye out for things I can resell. I’m also needing to pick up a few particular items for my son who’s off to college next month, so I snatched up a 50¢ plastic tote perfect for his dorm room toiletries. But my real score was a $210 bicycle priced at $7.99. I’ve already posted the bike on Craigslist and will use the proceeds towards our looming college tuition payment.
- I passed by my favorite antique mall after dropping my son at work. However, since I’m spending zero unnecessary dollars this year, I shopped from the dumpsters behind the building. My efforts were not wasted as one of the vendors had placed a vintage American Tourister train case next to the trash. I brought it home and have it listed it on Craigslist. Very cute.
- My next-door-neighbor is taking me out to lunch tomorrow as a thank you for taking care of her garden and cats while she was out of town.
- The Paypal payment for my $25 Swagbucks gift card came through, as did an eBates $25 reward. I almost never shop online, but I do use eBates when booking hotel rooms and plane tickets. Again . . . college fund. (Will it ever end? What, no? Crap.)
- I walked to the grocery store and fought the impulse to only bought what was on my list, (fish, tea, milk) I was given six cups of grapefruit segments left behind by a guest cottage tenant, I brought my own lunch to work, I listened to free podcasts on my iPhone4 and my sons and I watched the documentary The True Cost on Netflix, all about the environmental and societal effects of the inflated fashion industry. A must see for any non-consumer who wants to be deliberate about their purchases.
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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{ 34 comments… read them below or add one }
I must live in the wrong area. We never, never, ever find the deals you do at Goodwill, dumpsters, trash, etc. Either your area’s economy isn’t as bad as ours or the population in your area is more prone to throw away than ours. In any case what you’re doing to generate more income is fabulous.
I think that finds at thrift stores obviously depend on the affluence of the areas where they’re located. We live in a semi-rural area and while my thrift stores are located in the largest city of our county, the median income isn’t that high and most of what we find at thrift stores isn’t high end goods by any stretch of the imagination. Also, our Goodwill prices their goods much higher than I’ve seen other bloggers (usually from the Pacific NW) discuss and I know that mine only offer weekly discounts on clothing, not anything else.
I used to shop at a Goodwill and other thrift stores located near Windermere, a VERY affluent area near Orlando, when my kids and stepkids were young teens and I could always get trendy brand clothing at Goodwill prices. Now that they’re all out of the house of the house and that my 2 remaining teens care nothing about brands (lucky me), I don’t drive the 25-30 minutes to those stores anymore. I admire people who have the drive to buy items and resell them online for more money. I keep telling myself that I should do that too but 1) I don’t have the knowledge required to identify really good finds and 2) I don’t have the patience to deal with listing items, shipping them and especially with dealing with flaky people who waste my time. It’s probably a big missed opportunity but I’m OK with it right now 🙂
Nathalie,
I was born and raised in that area (Ocoee) so I know very well the area you are talking about 🙂 We moved to N.W. FL 6 years ago to get out of the “rat race” so we are very rural now but I love it! 🙂
One of my kids was born in Ocoee, Candy! Hi neighbor! My middle son is moving to Winter Garden next month, in the very same complex where his dad and I first lived when we got married, so I guess I might be going that way more now. I’m in South Lake county, near Clermont. It used to be rural but it’s one subdivision after another now. Frankly, I kind of miss when SR50 was just a 2-lane road and the friends who would come to visit us from Orlando would just give up and turn around after passing Winter Garden, thinking they had missed a turn or something ! Although I do love that Clermont has an Aldi and a Save A Lot. And that I don’t have to drive to the West Oaks Mall to go shopping anymore… or go to Target near Hiawassee 🙂 I like what I saw of NW Florida, much hillier than even our area.
We live on the west coast of Florida – Port Charlotte/Punta Gorda area. We have the 2nd highest, I think but maybe it’s the highest, percentage of those over 65 in the state. And yes it includes us. A large portion of our older population are snowbirds so thrift stores, Goodwill, etc get more stuff around Feb – April but also charge a lot more then too. We’re also finding yard sales to be charging only about 25-30% off retail, not what I consider a good deal. Lucky for us we don’t buy much. And we’re also starting our seeds for our main growing season – saving anywhere we can.
My frugal things:
1) I started seeds indoors for our winter garden: tomato and collard greens seeds had been bought on clearance, so was the potting soil, I used lettuce seeds that I collected from my garden in the Spring, I’m reusing plastic nursery pots and a large bin for my “seed nursery” and I’m using rainwater since it’s rained as if we lived in Portland and not in Central Florida for the past 2 weeks.
2) My teen son has 1 pair of sneakers and 1 pair of hiking boots. As he grew another 2 inches this summer (I kid you not. I just bought him new jeans in May and I think he’s outgrown them again, arrgh), I asked whether it was time to buy him new sneakers too (we bought them last Fall) and he assures me that his current ones still fit him. I checked the soles and they’re fine. I love it that he’s not into the trends and fashion and doesn’t insist on getting new shoes all the time. I’m going to have to make sure, though, that his toes aren’t too cramped in there cuz we don’t want ingrown toe nails either.
3) With school starting in about 3 weeks, I’m staying out of the stores even for the Back to School sales. That’s because I have tons of school supplies left over from when I had 6 kids at home, homeschooled one of them, and took whatever office supplies they would let me take when my company closed our office and laid us off 10 years ago. Still working on using up all the erasers, pencils, etc. that I ended up with! Also we reuse binders, notebooks that still have paper in them, resist the teachers’ requests for specific brands of supplies, etc.
4) I take surveys on my receipts if I can get a freebie with them: Racetrac receipts from when we gas up the car (I topped off my car yesterday by pumping $6 worth of gas so I could get a receipt and earn a free roller grill item), receipt from Dunkin’Donuts (free donut next time I buy a medium drink, which works if I redeem a freebie for a free drink), etc. Yes, I know the freebies aren’t healthy, but they hit the spot when I’m out and about and need a snack and forgot to bring one.
5) My youngest son discovered a passion for Dungeons & Dragons. He rarely gets interested in anything else than video games lately so I was excited that he might have found a way to socialize in person with other people through this game. We dusted off the old basic game that my older kids had years ago and then realized that current players use a much more current edition. (and the local “leagues” all use the most current edition, apparently). So I splurged by buying him the basic game for the newest edition ($20 at our local gaming store but I could have gotten it for about $12 on Amazon, arrgh) and I’m working on getting enough SB so I can get the manuals for free. Each manual retails for $50 (and there are 3 of them) but they’re cheaper on Amazon and I should be able to buy 2 of them this month with gift cards earned on Swagbucks. He’s working on his Dungeon Master skills and we will try to organize a local game either at the library or our house if it comes down to that. This could quickly become a frugal fail, though, as I tend to get over excited when he discovers a new interest (which is rare, hence my excitement!). In the meantime, I also downloaded free printables from the official D&D site as well as other sites that offer similar games.
6) Oh, oh, I just thought of a 6th: I turned into Katy yesterday and picked up a pristine hair elastic band from the Aldi parking lot! I will wash it with the laundry in case there are some cooties lurking but otherwise it’s in perfect condition. I didn’t find any money on the ground, though. (and when I do, it’s usually pennies, never bills. I guess people are poorer or more careful with their money, down here).
And for my non-frugal item of the week: I was inputting the receipts from my husband’s camping trip into our spreadsheet and realized that he spent $200 in dinner one night. TWO HUNDRED FREAKING DOLLARS. There were 4 of them, including my 13 year-old son. I was livid, to be honest. But then I think of how much we spent for sending me and the teens to France for a month and then I calm down. LOL. Still. $200 is how much I aim on spending on food for a whole month for the 4 of us, to give you some perspective. He was frugal-ish the rest of the trip though.
* Picked-up 7 pounds of apple that were on the ground (from a tree, of course) and made apple sauce with them
* Using my pre-paid punch card to take a Zumba class tonight (instead of letting it go to waste)
* Went to the movies yesterday with a free pass.
* gave my mom 20$ for gas. I am borrowing her car this week, instead of renting one for like 200$.
* Paying my credit card on time to avoid fees, and collecting points for free groceries. I did have a 20$ interest fee that I got by (my) mistake. I gently asked if they could wave it, and they did.
Non-frugal :
– I had bought a bottle of soap for 6$, because I had a refund offer… but I lost the receipt. So now I’m stuck with an expensive 6$ soap that I would have never bought otherwise. That said, I still have 2 coupons for this offer, so I will buy 2 more bottles, get them refunded by the company, and then each bottle will have cost me only 2$. Better than nothing.
1. I helped a friend move some stuff yesterday and she treated me to lunch.
2. Both a family member and a friend are dealing with some serious issues right now. I am keeping in touch with them via texting. Quick and cheap but they know I care.
3. We did take-out pizza the other night. By ordering on-line I was able to get two pizzas for the price of one.
4. Grocery expenditures the past week have only been for fruits and vegetables.
5. I hung laundry outside yesterday, I have packed lunches all week (the usual), I am driving my 12-1/2 year old car when I need to drive. As Amy Dacyczyn (of Tightwad Gazette fame) wrote, frugality is as much about what you don’t do (e.g. drive past the fast food restaurant, skip the soda aisle, etc.) as what you do.
I’m glad you mention the looming college bill as it helps keep me motivated to keep at doing these frugal things even with the big bills in the budget.
1) Turned off the A/C and opened the windows each morning the last couple of days.
2)Brought my own snacks to work and only drank water.
3) Fixed an omelet filled with fresh garden-picked veggies that my kind neighbor shared with us.
4) Refilled bathroom foaming soap dispenser with warm water and 10 squirts of regular hand soap.
5) Finally, I am sitting at my computer listening to online classical radio while earning Swagbucks and Inboxdollars and sipping on my delicious homemade vanilla coconut latte. I made the vanilla-flavored simple syrup on the stove. Yum!
1. Chose to have minor surgery done in my surgeon’s office under a local rather than in the hospital with a pain drip. Faster, cheaper, but ow ow ow!
2. Used 2 zanax (left from my root canal multiple-visits debacle a few months ago) to prepare for the surgery and am taking pain meds (left over from the same debacle) to avoid needing more RXs.
3. Entering more codes at NatureMade and Move Free, to enter a sweepstake and earn points toward big discount coupons.
4. I have to go get my packing and bandages changed and the incision checked today, so husband is taking off to drive me (no driving on pain pills, no no no) and we’ll swing by CVS to pick up some maintenance drugs that are ready. I’m going to get a discount on one and will try to get a second one by having them run my Golden Buckeye card.
5. Accepted three packages of frozen meat from a friend who had them given to her, but is a meat snob and only uses meat from the local butcher.
6. and a bonus round: I tell all my friends and acquaintances I will accept any jewelry they no longer want, regardless of condition. Vintage pieces I list for resale or barter to a friend who uses them for her repurposed jewelry designs. Junk goes to GW or various little girls. A few I keep to wear. Other usable bits (and whatever can be dismantled) go into my stash for future jewelry-making. A former boss’s sister-in-law called me this week and offered me her entire stash of beads and findings, since she’s lost interest in making jewelry. Score!!
Wow- you are hardcore!
1) Enjoyed delicious fresh pesto last night that hubby and daughter made from our garden stock. 3 extra jars in the freezer!
2) Using left over sausage and mushrooms to make a pizza tonight for dinner. We’ll cook it on the grill to avoid making the kitchen hot with the oven.
3) Took stock of daughter’s left over school supplies from last year. We have most of what we need already–just has to be spiffed up with some windex. The dollar store will provide the two other composition books we need.
4) I finally have to break down and buy a smartphone as I am beginning a major new job hunt, and my old flip phone is just too difficult to text on. I have resisted for years! But email and text is the way most potential employers communicate nowadays, and I have to receive and send info in a timely fashion. Hubby talked our carrier into a less expensive plan for us (and I actually receieve a $10 credit for keeping the flip phone until I purchase a new smart phone)! Can you believe that? Go Verizon! Whatever phone I choose will be the best quality at the cheapest price I can find.
5) Planning a fun ladies night out at the movies next week. This NEVER happens, so it will be a treat, but I plan to get all the tickets super cheap at Costco in advance, and save everyone a few dollars on the ticket price.
Your frugality puts me to shame, ladies — but one does what one can, yes?
For me:
1. Since I’d figured out how to spray-paint the glass-topped outside table, I used the quart can of unopened dark green paint to repaint the vintage wood lawn chairs and tables. The paint is what’s holding them together — but I got brave and glued-and-screwed some of them.
2. Instead of buying outrageously spendy new cushions for the above, I scrubbed the devil out of the old ones, using a bowl of hot water with one of those Oxy-Clean pods dissolved in it. (I’m now sporting bandaids on the knuckles of my right hand . . . . ) They came out old-looking but cleanish. (The chairs, not the knuckles.)
3. Guests in one of the cottages busted the very nice futon frame. If memory serves, we paid something like $200 for frame-with-mattress. I scoured Craiglist for a cheapie place-holder, but everything was like 10 miles away. Put up a request on our neighborhood list serve, and someone pointed me to the nearby Goodwill outlet/As-Is, where she’d seen one. Snatched it up for 20 bucks, daughter hauled it over with her van. After touching it up with a stain pen, I paste-waxed it, and it’s fine. Sometimes good enough is good enough. For the record, it’s hard to give away a busted-but-possibly-repairable futon frame.
4. Had FIVE non-working vacuums, screwed them open to see if I could figure them out. One just needed a new belt. another’s FOUL dirty-dog stench was from the never-replaced filter. A word to the wise: clip off those threads and hair that wrap around the roller brush. Vacuum store guy told me they can break the belt, and even ruin the motor! From here on in — clippity, clip, clip!
5. Been wanting to replace the square coffee table in the living room. It’s beautiful, Chinese-style, and too big. Checking out Craigslist for a round one, and like the look of old pedestal dining tables cut down. (Butchery, right? But I didn’t do it, OK?) Then saw one needing the top refinished in GW outlet for $10. Hauled it home, put it on the deck to mess with. I already have all the materials. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll pass it along.
1) My spouse was give five movie theater gift certificates as a thank you for working a ton overtime. 2) Said spouse worked enough OT in one weekend to pay for the majority of building materials he’ll need to build a 12’x30′ deck on our home. 3) Same rock star spouse placed the materials order in time to take advantage of a major sale at our lumber store (and they agreed to store it for him till he’s ready to build!). 4) I’m testing a delivery make-your-own meal service (Blue Apron) and received fresh foods and recipes to make 4 meals for 4 adults! 5) A board member at work gave me four professional baseball tickets valued at $192. 00 (and I already have a monthly parking pass to park downtown near the stadium).
1. Shopped with my sister at garage sales bought nothing!
2.However at the thrift store bought a new with tags diaper bag for less than $10 -it’s on amazon for $30 – for about to be born first grandchild.
3. Found $60 that was hidden under a stack of ones – had no idea they were there – woo hoo – I rarely, OK never, lose track of $$ so that was fun.
4. Read library books – as always.
5. Sold the blanket that had been on my husband’s bed through his childhood on etsy today – nice chunk of change – and one more thing out of the house.
My newly permitted driver totalled our car! She’s OK, but oucch! We are glad that the car was paid off and we are test driving two options tomorrow, both of which are under the amount we’ll get from the insurance payout. It’s a good thing not to have a car loan.
I made ham and beans with a leftover hambone. It was a delicious dinner.
Paying cash tomorrow for my kids’ school registration fees. We budgeted for it this month. Not putting anything on credit cards this month.
Shopping the 50℅ off goodwill sale this weekend for some back to school clothes.
Katy – curious as to how you knew that bike was valuable? did you just guess because it was a Schwinn, and then google it?
Today I saw a truck loading up a bunch of baby products right in front of my building. When I left in the evening I noticed that they left a whole lot, probably because it did not fit. A couple of bags were moved towards the trash for trash pick up that same night. It was brand new Enfamil baby formula. (expiry end of 2016) in brand new boxes.
Total of 6 pounds.
Crazy, I tell you.
Just for the record, this happened in Manhattan where I am witnessing so much waste every single day.
I grabbed the boxes and will donate to the local shelter.
Thank you so much for making sure that formula will go to someone in need.
1. Ran all my errands in one day to save on time & gas.
2. Used a Visa gift card earned from doing surveys to buy school supplies at the lowest prices I could find. Attempts of finding these things at rummage sales & thrifts during the year to stay stocked were fruitless.
3. Used store credit at a consignment store to buy a few items off the clearance rack to sell on eBay. eBay is part of my full-time hustle. 🙂
4. Returned some clothes at a department store that were purchased on clearance online & turned out to be too big. Store accepts returns at their physical store location so I didn’t have to pay return shipping. Refund had already been credited to my bank account.
5. Saved $26 by having our dog’s prescription filled at our warehouse club’s pharmacy instead of at the vet. It meant a couple of phone calls, waiting in line and a small trip back to the warehouse club to pick it up.
Not so frugal was the $8.99 pizza I picked up for dinner after picking up the prescription
Love your blog, I started reading when The Frugal Girl posted other blogs she like to read.
1) My husband picked up 2 beautiful very detailed end tables my neighbor threw out, they just need the top refinished.
2) My hair dryer brush broke, fixed it with a zip tie but ultimately will not hold so I picked up 2 professional ones at GW for $3 each. These are about $25 retail.
Also scored some new work shirts (Eddie Bauer) for $1 each at GW along with a beautiful Coldwater Creek jacket for $1, several still had sale tags on them. Even the cashier said..uh..good deal. I really needed some new work clothes.
3) I have not grocery shopped in 3 weeks other than produce. Planning on cleaning our freezer & currently living off garden produce & freezing extras. Yay!
4) Hubby waited till gas a cheap then cashed in his 1.00 off a gallon of gas and took all gas cans & empty car that has biggest gas tank and got gas for $1.19 a gallon.
5) Traded some plants with my mom-in-law. Free is good.
Regarding replacing cell phones-when my son’s died he found his replacement on Amazon Warehouse deals site. Saved him $200.
1) I’m working this weekend during a benefit Gala in the city. Not a frugal event for me, but the cost of attendance and the items I donate are tax deductible.
2) Instead of driving back home after the Gala (50 miles one way) I’m using my Marriott reward points to stay in their downtown Courtyard in a nice king size suite.
3) I nixed shopping for a dress. The suit I was going to wear is way too tight – that will spur me to lose weight – so I’m going to wear a nice top and skirt with the turquoise earrings and beautiful bracelet friends gave me as birthday gifts a few years back.
4) I’m going to give myself a pedicure & polish tonight, so my feet will look nice in the sandals I intend to wear.
5) I didn’t buy a Lear jet, but daydreaming I own a yacht is fun & free!
Sounds like fun!
I trash picked for the first time yesterday…my neighbor put out three packages of laminate flooring…one was still factory sealed…the other two almost full. There’s probably only about 40 sq feet but I’ll find something to do with it! I was ridiculously excited about my find!
My usual stuff is so mundane I never want to list it, as I always hang the wash and save shower water. But I did have a $10 coupon for Kohl’s and I went there with an eye to Christmas gifts for the grandkids. They are all adorable children but have plenty of things they need and want.
I decided they will each get one article of clothing and one book, or a kind of educational toy if they are too young. So today at Kohl’s I got two shirts for the young ones and it came to $7.00. I couldn’t waste the last three dollars, could I, so I threw in a top for me for my upcoming trip in November. Total $2.00 OOP.
Out of the $10 certificates that have floated my way over the past six months I have almost completely covered the birthdays and Christmases of three little girls.
Unfortunately the remaining grand is a 15 year old boy. Now THAT’S a horse of a different color.
1. Created a centerpiece/display for our dining table out of a fancy old teapot and cream pitcher we found in the house when we moved in. I put them on an old silver tray (belonged to my husband long before we married) with a big lemon candle. It definitely brightened up our rather gloomy dining corner.
2. Used a tiny bottle of sample paint to whiten some permanently stained grout in the tile trim around our bathroom floor.
3. Made air-popped popcorn for our snacks today.
4. Bought a package of inexpensive white cotton bar cloths to use as washcloths. Six of them cost about the same as a single conventional wash cloth. Arthritis in my hands makes it hard for me to wring out a thick washcloth, so these are just right.
5. Got on the internet this morning and researched how to fix our coffee maker when the brew button wouldn’t do its thing. My very clever son helped me and it seems to be working fine now.
1. I was an eco-warrior…I split my errands between 3 cities on the bus.
2. I bought a secondhand Pur water pitcher for $7 off Craigslist…we are transitioning from bottled spring water to filter pitcher. I’m ashamed to admit how long it took, but the health of spring water was eventually surpassed by the eco-friendliness of a pitcher.
3. I got a bunch of books about global warming at the library–free entertainment.
4. I brought a granola bar from home to have as a snack between tutoring gigs instead of going to sushi happy hour.
5. I made some sight word cards out of unused notebook paper and a (clean) frozen pizza box instead of buying flash cards. Elementary teacher culture is frustratingly cutesy with materials, so most would buy new flashcards. But seeing through this community that there are others like me has emboldened my choices.
Sushi happy hour? That sounds very hard to resist!
Very hard. Each piece is $1 each, and they have good selection. Fortunately, I’m going back to eating only shellfish, so it wasn’t so hard. If only they would give me free miso…
1. I shopped the local church rummage sale and got bed pillows at 25 cents each. They wash everything… Then I rewash, just because.
2. Tonight’s dinner was leftover broccoli, the last of a failing onion, the last of the milk about to expire and a bit of cheese to equal broccoli cheese soup!
3. Instead of buying a mocha to kickstart my morning, I mixed coffee and cocoa free at work to make my own.
4. Lunch all week, as usual, came from home… But a treat! My last company left 3/4 of a pizza… Yum!
5. I was given 2 pairs of “hand-me-up” jeans that fit great!
1. Today I am a processing over a bushel of tomatoes that I got from a fellow Freecycler and neighbor. Some will become sauce, some salsa and quite a bit will be turned into tomato jam which will be saved as Christmas gifts.
2. As I get ready for taking DS#2 to Tennessee for his freshman year, I realized that he rally could benefit from a duffel bag for packing his clothes. Less than 24 hours later one was offered on Freecycle which I was fortunate to get. It is 4′ long , made of heavy canvas and is in great shape. It has now been washed to remove the cat or dog hair and is ready to be packed.
3. Sold 2 things on FB yard sale group page and a few things on Amazon.
4. Finished reading my book I got at the used book store with credit. I have another bag of books ready to take to get more credit.
5. The frugal thing that makes me the happiest is my son will get in state tuition, at the out of state university he will be attending, through the Academic Common Market. He gets to go to a university, that is in the Top 5 in the country for his major, which would never have been feasible with the cost of out of state tuition. Plus, he also got a $10,000 a year scholarship and $4,000 grant so the idea that he could graduate without a huge amount of school loans makes me oh so happy!
That is great!! How does the Academic Common Market work?
1) Woke up early and watched the opening weekend of PL soccer, streaming via my account I share with another friend (we swapped for Netflix). Didn’t go to the pub and spend money on AM beers 🙂 When you spend $0, bad results are less painful.
2) Printing out a shipping label at home to save money than at the post office, to ship some comic books of my husbands I sold on eBay (don’t worry, I asked and price compared first!)
3) We needed some gravel for our garden, instead of buying, we drove a bit across town to scoops into the back of our car from someone’s free pile! Got enough to finish the job AND didn’t cave into cravings and stop in for coffee while out and about. That’s a big temptation for me.
4) Batching errands (post office, yoga, grocery store, gas) this afternoon.
5) Using my miles from my business CC (which I never carry a balance on) to buy our flights to and from France next year for Euros! This will be a amazing trip and not very cheap, we have managed to use miles there and back (+about $$100 in taxes), using airBNB to lodge instead of hotels (around $60/night), put money aside every month and purchase early before demand and prices skyrocket.
This is my first post. Thanks for your efforts in running the blog. Enjoy the encouragement that I get from you and your site. Specifically, today I ran into Goodwill with my 20%off coupon looking for a game my son requested. Instead, I seized the GW (our nickname for Goodwill) moment and scooped up a really nice lidded bin stuffed with Barbie cars and Fisher Price doll furniture. Fairly confident that I will be able to resell the contents for more than the $5 buck investment and I have an excellent bin as a bonus! Yay to the side hustle.
*On a side note, we strive to use little or no plastic but bins are the only way to store linens safely in our home as we have pretty high moisture content around our place. 🙂
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