Five Frugal Things -- Brass Candlesticks & Spelling Frustrations
1) I watched an Architectural Digest YouTube video on How a Photographer Designed His Dream Long Island Home and although 99.372% of his home was laughably out of my financial reach, I noted his collection of mismatched brass candlesticks.
I recently picked up two different brass candlesticks on two separate occasions from the Goodwill bins. My plan had been to lot them up for an eBay listing, but I now might just enjoy them for a bit. I don't actually own any taper candles, (Fire = bad!) so I might ask for some in my Buy Nothing group.
I watch these videos not only for their entertainment value, but also because they inform me on style trends and brands that might not be on my radar. They help me to be smarter with what to I pick up to resell.
2) I completely forgot that I started a pan of oatmeal until the burnt scent wafted through the entire house. Cooking oatmeal for one happens in my ancient Descoware enamel saucepan and I wasn't going to let stubbornly baked on oatmeal be the end of this sixty-year-old pan.
I did a couple rounds of boiled baking soda, followed by an old fashioned scrubbing session with a brillo pad. Which of course I cut into four pieces as there's no reason to waste an entire pad for a small task.
What am I, a Rockefeller?!
The pan is now back to normal, which I celebrated by cooking up a batch of oatmeal, while puttering around the kitchen to keep a sharp eye on its progress. Lesson learned!
3) I sewed the appliquéd skull back onto a cushion my sister made for my daughter back when she was a teenager. The wool stitches had somehow disintegrated, (the answer is moths, but I don't want to think about that -- blegh!) and it was a matter of five minutes tops to fix her back up again.
These kinds of tasks will never top a reasonable person's to-do list, but I like to add random little chores that pad my overall sense of accomplishment. Yes, I need to take the car through emissions testing to get it reregistered, (big picture important) but I also need to take down the kitchen lighting shade to wash off that revolting greasy layer of dust.
Not that you asked, but you can see the schmutz from the underside of the kitchen light. Plus, eww . . . hair! How?!
Also I just noticed that a bulb is out. At least it's is a groovy vintage light and worth the effort!
4) My youngest got a package delivered to the house, which came in an ingenious adjustable shipping box. I narrowly stopped them from flattening it, in order to set it aside for an imaginary future eBay sale.
Not that it matters, but why is "genius" spelled with an "I-U-S" at the end, but "ingenious" is spelled with "I-O-U-S" at the end? It means that I rarely get the spelling correct on the first try, which doesn't exactly make me feel like a genius.
Another example of this is how "refrigerator" doesn't include the letter "D," but "fridge" does. I will forever and always attempt to include the letter "D" in "refrigerator!"
5) I set my alarm for 11:55 PM on May 31st to check if the library releases any new cultural passes on June 1st. These can be free museum entry, theater tickets or even concerts. Unfortunately it's highly competitive, which is why I check at the stroke of midnight most months.
However, I'm not gatekeeping this technique, which makes me feel slightly less guilty with how I successfully score so many free passes.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
I cut the tape on the bottom and flatten boxes for re-use all the time.
And I love that pillow.
1. I cooked baked chicken legs from my freezer, made a turkey meatloaf, again from my freezer, tea I made from a bag of 100 tea bags for a dollar on top of the stove in a regular saucepan bc I don’t have a tea kettle and I am not buying one, snipped green onion from my outside little garden, made a salad from my lettuce outside and tossed in some wild dandelion greens from my yard for nutrition, made a homemade salad dressing which always tastes better than store bought, and various other things I can’t think of from the top of my head.
2. I walked for an hour early this morning in my neighborhood so did not have to drive and pay for a gym.
3. I trimmed my own eyebrows outside so that I didn’t waste electricity bc I hate our power company.
4. I am reading a library book for entertainment this weekend.
5. I plan to stay home until Monday although gas prices were down this week in college town to $3.51 gallon, and $3.99 south of there.
Oh, and my regular disclaimer that I cannot spell nor type well so I give everyone grace regarding spelling. Also, my semi regular comment that I cannot stand Amazon’s Bozo and his bimbo fake looking bride. Corporate corruption at its finest!
Ingenious and genius come from two different Latin roots, is why.
If you shorten refrigerator without a D, you get "frig," which is another word and would be pronounced with a hard G.
Sometimes figuring out the English language and its correct spellings and pronunciations is so confusing, I say "frig" it.
Love the idea of mismatched brass candlesticks -- may have to steal that.
Today our little group of three went to the Grove Park Inn in Asheville for lunch. It was delicious, and pricey, and the Inn is a miracle to behold. Afterwards we went to visit Thomas Wolfe's Angel in a Hendersonville graveyard, and that was free.
I will probably skip dinner tonight, as I did last night.
I made coffee this morning from a pod scavenged from our hotel stay. Breakfast was a couple of pieces of bacon my sister brought from her dining room and some raisin bread I packed for the trip.
Tomorrow, when we head for home, I will be taking two large bags of clothes my sister no longer wants. I will try to sell them online and will send her the proceeds.
The tablecloth on your table is lovely. I also like the pink Art Deco-like one that appeared in an earlier post.
1. I found 55 cents in the return change slot at Publix. I also found cents in the drive thru at McDonalds.
2. I treated myself to a 99 cent plus tax SF iced coffee at McDonalds. I order it w/o ice. I have ice at home. No need to get less of my iced coffee using their ice.
3. I got an 18 oz bag of shredded cabbage at Publ9x for $1.49. I wanted coleslaw dressing for it. The 16 oz bottle was $4.99 at Publix. I thought I can make that at home which I did for considerable less than $4.99. Maybe I'll put some cubes of my free mangos in a slaw salad.
4. I went to a neighborhood that has many mango trees. I frequently find mangos that have fallen off the trees & that are laying next to the curb. I got around a dozen. I don't go into the residents yards. I figure that the ones that fall next to the street are ok to nab. (I did ask a homeowner in the past if I could go in his side yard to retrieve some of the mangos.) I offered my condo neighbor some of the mangos which she took me up on. (She has been a bit prickly to me in the past. Trying to sooth her ruffled feathers.)
5. My husband does not like to travel much. He is not in FL w/ me. (What idiot does not like south FL I ask?) Instead of washing the sheets, I shook them out & repositioned the sheets w/ the unslept side of the sheet on the side I sleep on. I will eventually wash the set but figured the clean side next to me will suffice for the next week. Husband taking care of my remaining cat which saves $. It costs $150 each way to take a pet in the cabin on AA. Cat's ticket would cost more than mine which is insane.
That would be this idiot not wanting to ever set foot in FL lol. Team husband for me.
This idiot does not like any part of Florida.
Fire = bad in my book, too, so I don't own any candles or a working fireplace.
1. Niece treated us to a takeout lunch of veggie hoagies. Then we played Scrabble for some free fun.
2. Friend came for a visit and gave me around 20 magazines to enjoy - Reader's Digest and Experience Life (from Lifetime Fitness).
3. Made frugal quick breads. One used up a geriatric lemon and the other some shredded carrots.
4. Added some ancient leftover red wine to a marinara sauce.
5. Sister drives me to various appointments and refuses payment for gas. Next week it's a mammogram, blood donation and PT.
Love the brass candlesticks!
1. I walked to the library to return a book and spent $1 buying 2 used books from the Friends of the Library sale table to have on hand for our 3 year old granddaughter.
2. We are having baked potato with broccoli and cheddar cheese for dinner. Filling and inexpensive plus we enjoy it.
3. Our county lets seniors license a dog for 3 years for $0 and sends us the tag plus entering dog info into a database to help return them in case they get lost. I spent 1 minute actually putting it on his collar. I still need to print the license certificate and save it on my phone to have if needed.
4. We went to older granddaughter's elementary school talent show making her very happy that she had family there. It turned out to be charming and often intentionally laugh out loud funny. Free entertainment.
5. Pulled out all clothes that could use mending of small tears/holes/loose stitches and put where I will actually see it and do it.
4.
1. My partner and I will be going to Quebec for 8 days in August. I was able to book all of our lodging for less than the amount of the Chase bank incentive for opening a new checking account with them. Also decided to stay at BIL's house in VT on our way for 2 nights. He, sadly, will be away on his own vacation, but free lodging for us.
2. Went to a graduation party for good friends' daughter. (She got cash) I offered to bring a side dish, and I made a charred cabbage with Thai dressing. The cabbage and cilantro came from the free farm-share and the veg oil and brown sugar were free from mystery shops, limes were from dented veg rack. I think I probably spent less than $1.50 total, and several people asked for the recipe (Serious Eats).
3. I picked up an extra mystery shop at a restaurant, even though I didn't want to, as the payout was $20 in addition to reimbursement for the meal.
4. My sister is considering a small cottage-industry business and I was able to get 48 votive candle holders from my local Buy Nothing that she can use (leftover from a DIY wedding).
5. A customer didn't pick up their "greens" farm-share box, so my partner brought it home from his work. I'll give to my coworkers, which builds goodwill, and one colleague to whom I often give food brought me back olive oil from Greece, which is a part of our barter of which I think I got the better deal.
1.Made my own coffee/breakfast/lunch
2. Cleaned my own front gutter using a borrowed ladder.
3.Returned some items to Habitat Restore that aren’t the right fit for my kitchen.
4. Mowed my own lawn
5. Used my ancient furniture dolly and muscle to transfer first cabinet from garage to my kitchen. I’m working on a kitchen rehab using Restore items and my own design/construction services. I may tap a local contractor to help at the end but I’m getting as frugally far as I can. 😉
6. Using a bonus for free pizza. I’m hungry and don’t want to use my very torn apart kitchen.
That pillow is cute.
1. I gave my 93 year old friend a ride to the eye doctor. I go to the same one so I booked the appointments back to back to save money on gas. Her eyes at 93 are in better shape than mine! Oh boy. What can you do. She took me out to Wendy's for lunch as a thank you.
2. Free entertainment watching the pair of Purple Finches caring for their growing family in my hanging pot of petunias. Yesterday one of the five tiny eggs hatched revealing an acorn sized ball of white fluff with a wide open beak!
3. I went to my friend's indy book store today for a cuppa and to visit with friends. If you're ever looking for fun and stimulating conversation, go to a book store, especially one with a café where you can linger over tea and pastry.
4. I made nachos for supper. I leave out adding hamburg or chicken...just nacho chips, a small jar of salsa and Mexican cheese. Sour cream on the side for dipping. A friend had given me a can of chopped olives she didn't want so some of those were tossed on the top. A cheap meal.
5. It snowed today in Massachusetts though thankfully not in my area. It was cold though! I refused to turn my heat on and broke out my winter slippers one last time for the season (hopefully) and am sitting here in my house wearing long pants and a sweater. Brrr...
OMG, Christine, it was in the 90's here in Texas! I can't imagine snow in June, unless you're in Australia or something.
It's pretty unusual but it happens from time to time. Back in the late 70s we had a blizzard on May 9th that left considerable snow on the ground. The reason I remember it so well was my grandmother being upset about her flowers which had already bloomed. But 90s for you! Wow! I don't like either of the weather extremes. 60s and 70s are perfect for me.
I also like it in the 70's. But that's not going to happen much in a Texas summer.
It was windy and in the high 40s today so I did more of my hard core yard working. Thinning an ornamental grass in our pool landscaping. Already gave away the divided pieces on our Buy Nothing Group. Also pruned 2 pretty wispy trees at the pool area. As I mentioned we have a huge pool patio reno coming up soon. Met with the mason and a rep from the pool company today. Estimate coming in early next week but it's a go pretty much no matter what. I guess some would get all new patio furniture, but not me. Fixed the rusted legs of 2 of the lounges and touched up the paint. The others are fine. My husband laughed at this one, but it makes me happy. There are a couple holes in the mesh of the manual skimmer on the long pole. We don't use it often but tomorrow I'll be sewing them up with heavy duty nylon thread. The thread has survived chlorine in the past. We have to do the big reno, but I do not have to throw out everything else.
Been cleaning house like a caffeinated squirrel. Working nights plays merry heck with getting anything done but the mess was getting on my last nerve.
Took a package of cardstock to the free table in the clubhouse.
Shopped my house for a unused tube to connect my oxygen concentrator to my CPAP machine. The whole CPAP machine drama has been a royal pain in my behind. The old machine died, my clinic was unhelpful, finally got to see the person at the sleep center! She ordered a new machine from Norco but between lack of communication and both of my phones (landline and cell phone) decided to die it took almost 2 months to get a new machine which still had the wrong tubing!! Finally got the new tubing and connected everything.
Frugal: had to unexpectedly work both last Saturday and this Saturday. I work nights and haven't had the energy to spend $$$ on anything.
Needed a "get out of Dodge" (or in our case, "Danville") for a therapeutic, no agenda weekend. Memorial Day weekend was it. I had booked a room in an AirBnb in Rowlesburg, WV. My goal was to find a place that wasn't a "tourist trap." Boy, did I succeed. Town (pop 433 as of 2024 census) reminded us of Mayberry. Friendly folk (only downside was that they're in support of the Orange Ogre, but we knew enough to keep our ears open and our mouths shut re: politics). The only other "downside," but was just what I was seeking, was we virtually had NO CELLSERVICE most of the time. The AirBnb had wifi. When we went out to investigate the area, service was spotty at best. We have StraightTalk. We were told the best service there is AT&T. There are state parks, hiking trails, and white water rafting everywhere. Had to drive about 20 minutes to the nearest gas station and grocery store. Lodging cost us $216 for 2 nights. I really wasn't expecting DH to like it as much as he did...he wants to go back next year...for a week! I couldn't get out that far (June 2027) on AirBnb, so I messaged the host; told him we'd like to come back for a week next summer, asked him about availability and a ballpark price for 6 nights so we can budget. Rather than go through AirBnb (we figured it would probably be $800-$1000), he is booking us directly through him and giving us a price of just over $500 for 6 nights! Woo hoo!
We took most of our own food, but we did eat 2 meals out and the prices were cheap for the volume of food we ordered. Gas was higher than here at home; overall, it was a budget-friendly weekend. Just what I needed to recharge.
School is done on June 5 and my paycheck is already plummeting. I will be filing for unemployment on Saturday, and will get my "waiting week" in asap. I just need to make my paycheck stretch until the 3rd week of June. We're well stocked on groceries, so it shouldn't be too hard.
Today is my sister's 82nd birthday. We bought her a hanging basket for her porch a couple weeks ago as her birthday gift. We went to visit her for a bit this morning. We took her a single serving of cake and a serving of chicken stir fry left from last night. She took US to breakfast and bought US coffee at Dunkin' on the way home from Wallyworld. She doesn't drive and is always grateful just to get out for a bit.
In addition to the food we took her, various friends of hers dropped off 2 containers of Hungarian goulash, a half a meatball sub, a few other entrees I can't remember, a box of cranberry orange scones, and an African violet plant. She took home 1/2 of her omelette from breakfast. She said she was given enough food that she doesn't have to cook for 2 weeks!
Friends of ours are bringing us dinner tomorrow night. They are from Pakistan, so we will have the opportunity to try Pakistani food. Exciting!
Our daughter just graduated from Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA with a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. She did mostly online courses due to her health issues. Now, she needs to find an online job and start paying back student loans.
We've had basically 2 seasons (winter/summer) for the past 30+ years. While we've had maybe 4 days of temps in the 80-90 range, most of our temps have been in the 60's and low 70's. People are complaining about the cold. I keep reminding them that we're having the first SPRING we've had in decades and stop complaining.
That's all from my neck of the woods...
Love the ceiling fixture! I used citric acid to clean burnt on chickpeas from one of my pots. I wet the residue well, sprinkled with citric acid crystals, and let it sit a few minutes. Most of the crud came off easily with a small silicone spatula, no scrubbing at all. I gave it another round, and it was done. I probably used about a quarter teaspoon, total. I also use citric acid to descale the kettle, with laundry, and to remove hard water marks in the kitchen, bathroom, and plant pots. 1 tsp in the toilet for 10 minutes got rid of a mineral deposit ring I had not been able to fully remove in four years of renting as well as some shadowy staining, that the brush couldn't reach. I have found it in spice size pouches (about $2/cup) in the international foods aisles, and with the canning supplies. It's also available bulk. It's extremely effective without scrubbing, food grade, has no odor, and a little goes a very long way, so it's cheap AF.
oooooo I think I have a toilet to douse. thanks for the suggestion!
Katy, they make battery-operated taper candles now. The old ones just used a Christmas tree light for the "flame," but there are newer ones that have sorta rubbery "flames" that flicker when you turn them on. They look surprisingly realistic and they use They use AA batteries (I think-- might be AAAs. I use mine in the wall-mounted candle sconces that I inherited from my grandmother because like you, I have a thing about making sure my house doesn't burn down. Since buying the first two, I got more and have put them in other candleholders around the house. I have 3 of them in a triple candleholder in my bedroom and it makes a nice soft nightlight. You can even get them with remote controls, and I use my remote control with the bedroom ones, although it also operates the others. I love the realistic look of these faux candles! I don't know if anyone would have them on a BN group or if you'd be able to find them in the Goodwill bins because it's a fairly new product. I got my first 2 battery operated candles at Kirkland's, and then ordered a set online. I love them! I hope you can get some because IMO they'd look great in your candleholders.
The brass candleholders are very pretty. We don't use decorative candles because our cats are recklessly curious, but keep a few of the Mexican "saint" candles in glass jars for when the electricity goes out in storms.
I bought ingredients for several days of salads for lunch but made muffins for breakfast from what we had on hand. The salads were inspired by reading the menu when we took our son out to lunch for his birthday and seeing that a healthy salad was $21, while it could be made at home for $4.
Yesterday was our 16th day of rain, so no garden watering needed. Found a food prep item needed for the kitchen marked down by 50% and bought several.
Katy, you no longer talk about your job as a nurse. Wondering if that is a deliberate decision on your part or if things have changed in your world.
That pillow is great, well worth saving! Mending takes so little time and effort, it shocks me that few do it anymore.
1)We finished getting the 1/4 mile long driveway/lane that leads to our and our neighbor’s house in order. Moss is completely removed and the blackberries that hedge it are appropriately trimmed back and “hedged.” We reclaimed nearly 8 inches of paving on either side! This costs nothing but time, prolongs the life of the paving, and entertained us in the fresh air and sunshine!
2)While we were at it, we borrowed the neighbor’s pole pruner and trimmed the oak branches that were scraping his garage roof**, cut out a maple sapling that had seeded right next to a sequoia in our shared yard portion, and trimmed out the dead branches from another maple and the pin oaks in our yard area. Much like above, this cost nothing but time.
3) Dinner was leftover pot pie, which had been made a couple of days ago from leftover veggie soup. Quick, easy, and cheap.
4) Went grocery shopping, beginning at Fred Meyer’s where I only shopped the clearance sections if there are no “digital deals” that match my list. Grabbed four loaves of the fancy bread the partner loves from the bread rack for $1.25 each (normally $4.99), along with clearance Irish cheddar ($2.50 for 7 oz) and a clearance Brie wedge ($2.27 for 8 oz). I got the rest of our groceries at much cheaper Winco, where I stuck to the list.
5) My cucumber seeds never germinated, so I picked up a single start for $2.50, but I picked a pot that actually had three seedlings in it so effectively got three plants for the price of one.
** Don’t worry, we have permission to cut the neighbor’s trees, etc! We share 12 acres with our neighbor, who is a close family friend. He’s an older gentleman, so we help with upkeep and maintenance in exchange for paying rent at about half market value. It’s a good setup that allows him to stay on his land without paying an army of service providers, and it allows us to rent a house that would otherwise be out of our budget. This may be our ultimate frugal hack 🙂
Jenny, what a great arrangement between you and your neighbor!
I found some wax battery operated candles couple years ago at Aldis and I love them! They give a nice flickery glow with no actual flame.
Ooh, thanks for the reminder that these exist!