Five Frugal Things -- Blistex & Sasha Dolls
1. I gathered my trusty Starbucks "splash stick" and empty Blistex containers to consolidate everything into a singular tube. (Yes, "splash stick" the official name!) This is a once a year-ish chore and quite satisfying. I know they sell makeup spatulas for five bucks or so, but this freebie works perfectly.
2. I had a childhood friend over to hang out and served reheated chana masala for lunch. We drank our hot caffeinated beverages and caught up on one another's lives for a couple enjoyable hours. Aside from a bit off my grocery bill, this friend date cost zero-point-zero dollars.
3. I had fifteen minutes to kill waiting for my daughter, so I stopped into a nearby Goodwill and scored a vintage Sasha doll for just $4! I had this exact doll as a child, which is why it's on my radar and didn't think twice about bringing it to the register.
Yes, her hair's a bit mussed, but she's wearing her original clothing which is almost unheard of. I've thrifted a few Sasha dolls through the years, most memorably in 2007 or so when I came across a nest of five dolls at a Goodwill, which I subsequently flipped on eBay for over $2000! Sadly, that was the heyday of eBay when all auctions ended high, plus they're not as collectible as they used to be. I should still get $150 or so for her, which is not too shabby for a $4 investment.
I spent a bit of time last night watching Breaking Bad while gently combing out her hair. I then wet down her bangs and stretched a sock over her face. This is what I remember the manufacturer recommended to tame unruly bangs. I'll get her photographed later on today and she'll become part of my Goodwill Gift Card Challenge for the Oregon Food Bank.
4. I found a quarter in the street that must've rolled under someone's car as it was in a spot where a car had just parked. Happy to give it a home in my Found Change Challenge jar!
5. I gave my daughter twenty pounds of unopened cat litter for her sweet one-eyed kitten, as we no longer have need for it since Zelda passed away. We'll continue keep a backup litter box in the basement as Mama's Little Meatball does visit from time to time, but don't need to hold onto quite so much for that rare occurrence.
Happy to share.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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I think I read something on the Frugal Girl's postings on smoothing out the doll's hair. It was a while ago, but she might still have the post.
I've read that soaking it in a bowl of water with conditioner is supposed to work wonders too!
1. My recent trip to the GW outlet I spend 63 dollars. I calculated the per lb amount of money that I spent on my little one’s clothes/shoes (which was about 11 dollars). The other 51 dollars were items to resell, gift or odds and ends to the house. The 11 dollars on items for toddler included 2 pairs of tennis shoes (which are ridiculously expensive new) , and a myriad of other outfits, pajamas, and other clothes in the next size. This was easily hundreds of dollars retail price, and would have been 4-5x this at a regular thrift or consignment store. I am more diligently tracking the amount I spend on clothes, however buying ahead nice quality clothes at the bins and putting them away saves us so much money. I never have to panic buy and rarely buy new. If I over buy, I pass on to my nephew who is the same size.
2. Trying to shop around for homeowners insurance.
3. My younger nephew and SIL are visiting this week. I borrowed a high chair and pack and play from a friend, and will pickup a double stroller from another friend later this week.
4. Eating leftover buffalo chicken dip for lunch today that I made for the football game Sunday.
5. Selling random things here and there on line and on Facebook marketplace. Hey, 5 dollars is 5 dollars !
Emily,
Glad you're having luck selling things on Marketplace. I did that for awhile, but got burned out on too many people ghosting me, or asking for a lower price when my asking price was already very reasonable. I now give things away via my Buy Nothing group.
Ahh the joys of deranging doll hair sounds like it'll be well worth the effort!
1. My husband and I ordered some clearance shirts about a week ago, we're slowly replacing and updating our wardrobes. His two fit well but only two out of three worked for me. I requested a refund and they said to go ahead and keep the shirt and would refund my $5.90! I've added it to my women's shelter donation pile. In the end it was a little under $60 for 4 nice new shirts plus free shipping and now a new shirt for someone in need and that feels pretty good to me!
2. I ordered some groceries from Fred Meyer (Kroger) for pick up tonight, my husband will grab it on his way home from work. They have some 'buy 5 or more, save $1 each' sales going right now and it also aligned with a sale on some dairy free coffee creamer!
3. I used a PayPal debit card and I'll get points for using the card on a grocery purchase, I should get about $3.25 worth of points. I save up my points throughout the month and then add it back to the card to stretch our grocery budget a little further.
4. Our shades are open to let in some nice winter light, keeping the lights off as much as possible since the sun has been hiding a lot and our solar panels haven't been getting as charged as we'd like. The kids also like the free entertainment of watching the neighborhood squirrels
5. Making a nice warm pot of black beans tonight in the instant pot that I'll blend down into 'refried' black beans. Served with a side of rice and a dairy free quesadilla, it makes a nice weekday dinner when we don't have much energy.
1. Our iron stopped working. My husband remembered that we still have an iron in the attic - it came with the house we are renting but when we moved in we put it up in the attic as we had our own (now broken) iron. That iron lasted for a good 15 years.
2. My son brought home a free bag of jumbo oats from his workplace. We have no use for jumbo oats but we do use oat flour all the time so I am slowly using the jumbo oats to grind them into flour.
3. I always open any egg cartons that I buy to check for broken eggs. Yesterday I avoided getting a carton with 2 cracked eggs by doing this.
4. We had vegetable soup for dinner and I made a bigger batch so I would have some for my lunch today. That's my limit though, soup 2x per week is enough, I'll get sick of it otherwise!
5. I requested a book through the library that was recommended in a free magazine.
I discovered a box of hot chocolate packets in the pantry. I’m enjoying having a sweet treat.
Leftover Italian foods tonight: a buffet of ravioli, spaghetti, lasagna. I’ll dig up some frozen veggies
I oiled all the wood furniture. Then I freshened up the marble countertops using lemon scented all purpose cleaner.
Changed linens.
Day 5 of arctic weather in Central Oklahoma. No work today again. Paycheck tomorrow and the next one will be thin
I had never heard of the Sasha dolls. My mom made almost all of my dolls. She offered to buy me a Cabbage Patch doll during the height of the CP craze, but as she phrased it like this "Do you really want one? I'll go try and get one and possibly get trampled, but I'll do it if you really want one." No, thank you, I'd rather not have the guilt of my mother getting squished on my already significant Baptist guilt. LOL
Plus, if you haven't already, I hope you share of a picture of your daughter's pirate kitty on your Instagram!
Winter storm update: The city just notified me, via email, that they think I have a water leak because they've noticed a constant flow of H2O on their water meter computer. Uh, no; in fact, it is deliberate: I have 7 faucets and 2 toilets inside my home, and I've streamed water from the former. That's what you're supposed to do during a hard freeze! Neighbors across the street have water flowing from their house to the driveway and a plumber and a restoration specialist out there (that's what the two work trucks say). Apparently they forgot to stream the water, or wrap their outside faucets, and now have broken pipes. OMG. My utility bills may be sky-high this month, but that's nothing compared to repairing burst pipes/water damage. Poor neighbors!
2. Did a load of laundry. I've been holding off using the washer and dryer due to not wanting to put any strain on the electric grid. When you're nearly out of socks and sweatshirts, it's time to wash. But I washed in cold so as to conserve natural gas (water heater).
3. My back feels a bit better, so I'm taking the Xmas tree box to the attic.
4. Putting the legs on an electric space heater I'd bought at Ollie's with my coupon. Thought it'd go great in the living room since it has faux fireplace logs, but it's so small, I'm not real sure. Will return it if it looks too wonky, or doesn't adequately heat the room.
5. Decided to start my Lenten project, which is also a good Earth Day thing: I am going to downsize: discard, donate, recycle or regift a minimum of 10 things per day for the 40 days of Lent. That will add up to at least 400 items. Hopefully, most will be kept out of the landfill and put to good use by others.
Alice,
Your story about the Cabbage Patch dolls reminds me of what someone told me at the time. Her friends would videotape worthwhile cartoons and children's programs and not let their small daughter watch network or cable TV except for maybe PBS. (This was in the era when people had VCRs and VHS tapes on their old-style TVs.) Therefore, their children did not see any toy commercials or violent shows or other programming that went against the family's values. Christmas day came, and the little girl went next door to see what Santa brought her best friend. Among the latter's "loot" was a Cabbage Patch doll. Their daughter came back home and told them, wrinkling up her nose in disgust, "you should see Susie's ugly-looking doll! It's terrible!" The parents said they felt vindicated, that their plan to limit exposure to commercial fare had been successful. (And, I might add, very frugal! The CP dolls cost a fortune, IIRC.)
My kiddos never watched Saturday morning cartoons. They were outside in nice weather and in the finished basement during the cold months. My mother used to get frustrated when their Xmas list had almost nothing on it!
Both of them knew that I was usually open to them buying an article clothing off the discount/clearance rack. Even if said article of clothing only fit for a few months, I could pass along to other family members.
The only person I knew that bought a Cabbage Patch doll was an adult. Only girl in her family and she had boys. I wonder what happened to it after she died.
That doll is so cute. I hope she finds a very good home.
Yesterday I finished sewing the slipcover for the daybed in our home office. This cost $68 in fabric from eBay and about 4 hours of my time. The thread and elastic were in my sewing stash.
Turning the daybed from soul-sucking dark gray to a print that livens up the room left my cat without the ragged quilt thrown over the original gray upholstery. So today I dug in the stash of fabric and came up with a table dust ruffle in a not terrible color to put around the end table and folded up an old fleece throw to make her a bed underneath. I had thought about buying a cat tent for her, but she's part Maine Coon and is a big cat, so most off the shelf stuff does not fit her. A free homemade version is okay!
Made a halfway homemade casserole for lunch by adding diced ham and steamed broccoli to box mac and cheese. Plused up the cheese sauce with onion, garlic, black pepper and a pinch of dry mustard. Yum!
Aside from fabric, the only optional thing I've bought this month was renewing my out-of-district library card.
Ruby, May your cat praise you as a great cat mom! Cozy for cat and frugal for you.
I have a Sasha doll! I was a tomboy, was the only girl in my family and was given many dolls as gifts (don't they know but at all???) My dolls went on horse rides, fishing at the pond and built many hay forts. I lost a few barbies leaving them on the bumper of dad's pick up. I collected die cast tractors, farm animals and loved my aquarium. My poor mother who sewed beautiful clothes only dressed me in frilly dresses until about age 5. I would rather wear my brother's worn out toughskins.
My doll is on display in my sewing room. Currently she is quilting a mini log cabin quilt.
My dolls went camping and searched for buried treasure. Always ahead of the curve, in 1974, my doll married my friend’s doll in a historic same-sex doll wedding. Ha!
Literally made me chuckle outloud!
My dolls were wrapped in tin foil (astronauts) and blasted into space. Their missions involved exploring this new planet and collecting insects to study back home
I get such a nostalgic rush when I see toys from my childhood.
1. I am sticking to my planned menu this week and I only shopped for the ingredients I needed to round out each meal. I will also cook up some taco meat for tomorrow as the that evening will be busy so future me will be grateful.
2. I dug to the back of my freezer to finish off 2 jimmy deans croissant rolls for breakfast before they get freezer burn.
3. Tonight I have an appointment to donate blood. I just received an email letting me know I will be getting a $25 gift card of my choice afterwards. I’ll be sure to have a free snack and drink there as well.
4. I am having the used car I bought throughly inspected today. It does cost $280 for this type of inspection but if anything bad is found I can return the car for a full refund and the dealership in Wisconsin. That’s what I drove out of state for it 🙂
5. I had a coupon for a free jacks pizza, 50% off a gallon of milk and $1.50 off a pound of ground beef. With those coupons and the sales items I bought, I am cooking 5 days of meals for 3 people for a total of $59.39.
In addition to being frugal, visiting with friends in your home is so much more personal than meeting up for coffee in a business establishment!
Yesterday I spent a couple of hours repairing my husband's favorite flannel pajama bottoms. It started with removing what I thought was just a cord but ended up being some sort of extra layer of fabric sewn into the waistband. Grr! So, I had to pull out the entire waistband, cut out the offending fabric, stitch it back up and then run new elastic all the way around. I'm not a happy seamstress but seeing his smile when he put them on reminded me how much fun frugality can sometimes be.
I notice a couple months ago that my husband was holding up his pajama bottoms with a binder clip. So very sexy. Instead of dithering with the sewn down elastic, I sewed a new casing on the outside of the waistband and used a couple of my collection of used shoelaces to string through the casing. He says it's his favorite birthday present.
Do you dig out the Blistex and melt it? I don’t think I’ve ever finished a tube off before I accidentally put it through the dryer.
My frugal event of the day was walking by a retail store that was going out of business, seeing a sign that said “Additional 70% off everything”, and venturing into the store. I had low expectations, but my timing was great since the markdown had just occurred, and the store had just opened. The place was a madhouse!!! I came out with a nice pair of funeral-appropriate shoes that were 92% off! (The ones I wore at the memorial last weekend were an embarrassment.)
The Blistex is gooey enough to scoop without needing to be melted.
Sorry about needing special shoes for funerals, that's a hard time of life.
My mother always wanted to buy my sister and me Sasha dolls but couldn't afford them. We were relieved because we thought they were so ugly.
Was complaining because the collar was coming apart on my black cardigan sweater. Was also complaining about how much black yarn I have (hard for me to see to crochet with). Then, it hit me...use the yarn to fix the sweater ("I could have had a V-8" moment). Not a great repair job, but good enough for me. I have a pair of "granny panties" to repair also, but that is for another day.
Washed a load of laundry and hung to dry in our spare room.
Digging out from under the snow and a possible Noreaster coming this weekend. Saturday would be my day to take my sister for groceries and errands. Since school closed today and I didn't have to work, DH suggested we take her today. He wanted to get out as he was cooped up in a hospital, then a rehab center, for a month. Took a shovel along as I had to do a bit of shoveling to get a path between the sidewalk and the curb for her to be able to get to the car...city had plowed her driveway shut. Got my cardio workout doing that. My sister took DH and I for lunch, so we didn't need much dinner. He ate a bowl of ham and stringbeans that I made him yesterday, and I heated a week-old forgotten egg roll in the back of the fridge. Wrapped the egg roll in foil like one of those "Christmas Crackers" (I think they're called) over in England. 20 minutes at 400°F, then blot off any excess grease. Yummy egg roll.
DH had to get a pair of "slip in" shoes since he isn't allowed to bend over for quite a while from his hip replacement. He got a pair of Sketchers on sale (anything less than $100 for him is a sale as he wears a 13EEE and we normally have to hollow out 2 cows to make shoes for him - just kidding of course). Not very many stores in our area carry anything bigger than a men's 12 shoe.
Keeping heat turned back at night, and when no one is home; letting faucets drip to avoid frozen pipes as low temps expected to be around -2°F the rest of the week. Eating out of the fridge/freezer/pantry. Making do with what we have.
1. I finally used up the terrible protein pasta (really should not be allowed) and the terrible gluten free pasta. I did this by slipping a bit of each in homemade mac and cheese, along with the usual elbow macaroni, every time that I made it. Yesterday finally saw the end of both pastas. Hooray!
2. Asked for, and received, a half yard of Valentine's fabric my daughter-in-law wanted. I put that in the mail to her today. Buy Nothing for the win.
3. I returned an item I just wasn't sure about. It was a good deal, and on sale, and I needed it, but I'm trying so hard to buy exactly what I want and not settle for random just because it's on sale.
4. Picked up day old bread and rolls at the local bakery on my way home from medical appointment. Also bought some home office/craft supplies from Staples with store credit.
5. Sold 2 items on FB marketplace. Kept up my daily listing streak on Ebay.
I'm guessing you and I are close to the same age (I'm 67) -- and I've never heard of a Sasha doll. Ever. (Hiding face in shame)
The big one for me in rural Michigan was Chatty Cathy. I wanted her soooo bad. And once I got her (for a birthday), I left her in the barn. Found her months later under a haybale...and she was no longer chatting. Go figure. (I also found a smashed-flat cat, but that doesn't count.)
I once took my brother's Talking GI Joe doll (excuse me, action figure) to play in the sandbox. Sadly, Joe got sand in his talkbox and after that, sounded like he got shot in Vietnam. I may have lied about taking him to the sandbox, too, can't quite remember.
@Cindy Brick - you remember Cheerful Tearful? Being a tomboy, I rarely got many dolls. But "her" I remember.
I never heard of Cheerful Tearful, either! (Or Poor Pitiful Pearl.) I was obviously sadly behind in the doll category. I spent more time up in my brother's treehouse, reading Jules Verne books and spying on what was going on down below. (The family would eventually forget I was up there.)
I also (shamed confession) collected Barbies -- but nibbled on their toes a lot. That rubber was very soothing, somehow. Our youngest daughter calmed her neuroses by pulling her Barbies' heads off. Btw, she is a very normal 37 years old today...
I'm 65. And yes, wanted chatty Kathy so bad, But, never really played with her. Mom put her away in the attic. Mice ate all her hair.
OK, now I have to tell my Chatty Cathy story: My next-door neighbor and best friend as a child (we were born 12 days apart) got a CC. She and I got bored with CC's limited vocabulary ("It's time to eat," "I love you," etc.) after a while, so we started experimenting (privately!) with shaking CC and then listening to the garbled phrases that resulted. The day we got CC to say, "It's time to eat you," we almost died laughing!
~ planted lupine native seeds that I checked out from the seed library
~ reading “Everything is Tuberculosis” a coworker gave me. She was given two signed copies for Christmas. We work in a Clinical Microbiology lab, so definitely a thoughtful gift from the givers.
~made smoothies from summer picked blueberries and over ripe frozen bananas and avocados I threw in a jar when I didn’t have time to use it up.
~ hanging most of my laundry to dry
~ gifting my son bday prezzies from super clearance items I found the day after Christmas that he will love!
~bonus! Put a hold on a gardening book that the library has on order from one of my fave Instagram gardeners.
What book!? I am having surgery in a few weeks and want to have some books on hold!
Fun fact, almost all copies of that book are signed. John Green signed 100,000+ copies!!
Good find! I remember the Sasha doll, but when she appeared on the scene I was past playing with dolls. The doll I really longed for in my childhood was Poor Pitiful Pearl. I wanted to take care of her! My mother thought she was ugly and gave me a standard doll instead.
I had to move my car again today for the snowplow, so I took the opportunity to go to the community center for an indoor walk. Afterwards I picked up some canned goods, salsa, and frozen pizza at the little free pantry, and then I found a couple of books at a little free library. No spending.
On the walk from my car to home, I went through an alley where someone had put out a set of long-legged bar chairs. I would have liked to try to sell them, but I just don't have the room for it. But there was also a bag of clothes that turned out to contain a bunch of Cubs shirts and jerseys. I will wash those and try to market them. There was also a bunch of low-rise socks which I will keep for myself after a good washing. So it was a day of freebies for me.
The constant cold is getting to me, but an occasional outing does brighten my outlook. Our building's furnace is struggling to keep up, so I sometimes run a space heater, which helps a lot. It seems like there is no end in sight. I'm just grateful that my basic needs are met, and I live for the day that the weather finally moderates.
I am ridiculously boring and repetitive, but I suppose that helps with my frugality.
1. I took my lunch and breakfast to work, as usual, but my coworker’s mom sent me homemade vegetable soup! I took it home and that was supper!!! So delicious!
2. I walked in place in the house bc it is cold outside. I also added ten minutes of climbing the three flights of stairs at work to my everyday routine just to boost my steps. I keep forgetting to list that.
3. I think I forgot to list I cut my own hair recently. Not my best job, but it will do. The wig came in and I have decided it will do for emergencies. Obviously my looks are not a top priority for me… lol.
4. It cost me $3.75 a week to
do a load of laundry usually but I will be washing the dog’s stuff separately so that will be an extra load at the laundromat. I just have never paid to have my house plumbed for a washer. I also have no idea where I would put it due to the house design. I suppose that not remodeling my house is frugal. I am stretching today to find something new to add.
5. The new windows and back door I had installed last April have kept my house significantly warmer this winter.