Five Frugal Things From The Goodwill Bins
I stopped into the Goodwill Outlet bins yesterday and although I didn't walk out with a priceless piece of artwork, I still picked up some nice items.
1) Let's start with this 100% cotton tablecloth. It caught my eye as the fabric looked to be good quality and the polka dots were cute and cheerful. Our dining room table is round I only own one tablecloth that isn't square or rectangular.
It being a designer label is neither here nor there, although it's likely why the quality is better than what you'd find at Target.
It does have a yellow stain, but I soaked it in Costco knockoff Oxyclean which helped and currently have it on the clothesline. I smeared a hydrogen peroxide/baking soda paste over the stain and will see if this, plus UV light helps to remove it. I'll keep you posted on the success of this method.
2) Speaking of stain removal, I also grabbed this Land's End Wanderweight packable down jacket. No need to circle the stains in the above photo, as they're quite noticeable. This puffer jacket sells new for $185, although it's currently 40% off. It weighs almost nothing, so was worth the gamble.
My worry was this was an oil based stain, which would make it difficult to remove. It went into the wash with the tablecloth and came out looking absolutely perfect! I guess the previous owner didn't bother trying to to clean it up.
It does have a unraveling seam that's visible in the above photo, but I can hand sew it, although it'll go through the lining. It shouldn't be too noticeable from the outside.
I like to rescue high quality items from the bins that other people bypass due to the necessity of a small repair or mend. Very satisfying, plus it provides blog content. Sadly it's not my size, so I'll put it up on eBay.
3) I may have squealed when I found this cooling rack, as I'd just been thinking about how I'd like to start keeping an eye out for this precise item.
Why?
The Frugal Girl recently published a blog post on how she makes her Butter Chicken and utilizes a similar rack to broil the chicken. Thus began my quest to add one to my own kitchen supplies. (Turned out to be a short quest.) The one she linked to in her blog post costs $18 which makes my one extra thrifty.
This is Kristen's one. I guess it's a sign to whip up a batch of her butter chicken. Thanks, Kristen!
4) This "Full Focus Planner" is actually my favorite find of the day. You already know I geek out over a good planner, (click HERE to see my bespoke date book) and this one was 100% brand new without set dates.
The cashier charged me 49¢, which is their price on paperbacks and I've already listed it on eBay for $30. I'd be tempted to keep it, but it was physically too heavy for my taste.
Me? Picky about my belongings? Never!
5) This colorful leather wallet caught my eye and again weighed almost nothing, so I added it to my bag.
It sells for $39 new, so I listed it on eBay for $20.
The best part is that I discovered an unused Forever stamp inside the wallet, which brings whatever I paid down an additional 78¢! So . . . maybe free?!
I paid $13.46 for everything, which includes a few items I didn't include in this blog post.
- A travel hairbrush.
- A stuffed animal to resell.
- A Trader Joe's tote.
- A pair of Levi's jeans for my youngest.
Worry not, the brush has no nooks and crannies and I put it through my dishwasher.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
My husband bought a new bicycle (not cheap) but to help offset the cost he will be selling two of his other bikes and the bike shop owner took $200 off for some components from another old bike husband had taken to the shop to get an estimate on repairing. Frame was completely broken so there was no easy or cheap fix.
We went to Mellow Mushroom for some pizza and used a credit card that had a $5 back offer.
While my husband was at the bike shop, I went to a thrift store. I wanted some shorts that were a little longer than the ones I have, and I was lucky enough to find 2 pairs. There was a 3rd pair I liked but I wasn't sure I could get the stain out, and wasn't willing to waste $5.29 to find out. One pair I got from the men's section. I have probably 4 pairs of men's shorts that I wear and they are so comfortable. I also found 3 needed nightgowns for $2.99 each.
On a previous thrift store trip I found a like-new dish towel, summer shirt I love, a king sheet to use as a cover for the dog's chair, a burlap-like pillowcase which I cut up and put inside an old embroidery hoop and am using to display all my souvenir pins from vacation.
I bought a large hanging basket of flowers at Lowe's. The lady at checkout decided I should have it for 50% off since there were a few dead bits. It just needed a little clean up and it looks great hanging from my front porch.
Those are fantastic finds! I've been able to resuscitate stained items based on what I've learned from you and Kristen.
1. Donated blood and enjoyed the complimentary snacks.
2. Received a gentle, unexpected rain that we needed. Mother Nature watered our plants for free.
3. Friend drove me to Book Group, the first social event outside my home in six weeks. Using a toilet other than my home commode proved challenging as I had a hard time getting up from the very low biffy, even with a walker. Until my leg immobilizer comes off and I'm able to bend my knee, it's best that I stay home.
4. Created my own daily calendar pages using the blank sides of used 8.5" x 11" sheets of paper.
5. Made braided rope toys for our dog from cotton textile scraps.
Katy,
Based on what I see at school MANY people don't think to wash coats. If you're a parent reading this please wash your child's coat regularly! And gloves/mittens too!
I find your repairs/cleanups very satisfying. It’s not something I have time to do in this season so I enjoy it through your posts!
1) I don’t live somewhere that it ever snows but we do one trip a year in the winter to a place where it snows. I had some very old, cheap snow boots that finally broke apart on our last trip (the sole completely detached). While I don’t use them a lot, they are useful to have for those 3-4 days each year. I decided summer was probably an optimal time to get a deal on some used ones. My husband has a good quality brand so I did a search for the women’s version on eBay and found some for $12 plus $10 shipping.
2) I have had terrible luck on Etsy lately, with sellers never sending my item (in one instance the shop shut down after I placed my order?) Etsy fortunately is very quick to refund me. I had ordered a sweatshirt and it said shipping label created and then nothing happened for weeks and nothing from the seller. Once it got past when it was supposed to arrive I contacted Etsy and they refunded me. The sweatshirt then arrived today though! I feel bad for the seller although they also didn’t respond to my messages and explain it was delayed or anything so I guess not too bad.
3) My MIL took my kids out for the day (school year ended yesterday and camp doesn’t start yet so we also saved money by her providing us free childcare!) and I packed them each a lunch to bring so she wouldn’t need to worry about finding food while out and it saved money. Plus, she wanted to take them to a nature park that isn’t near any easy food options.
4) My husband doesn’t use gift cards, it’s baffling to me but I think he just forgets he has them. He has told people this but he continues to receive them as gifts. I do periodic sweeps of his desk to collect them and make sure we use them. My recent finds were a gift card for a local breakfast restaurant and a Taco Bell gift card.
5) I was reflecting today on how much I love my kids’ school. They have had the most wonderful teachers, have learned so much and we have a great community there. It’s a public school so it’s not costing us tuition (we do pay with our taxes so I won’t say it’s free but still a bargain in my mind!) I know public school quality varies greatly in this country (our district is actually the lowest funded in our county so as great as it is, imagine it could be even better if it was properly funded) and it doesn’t work for everyone, I am so glad it is working for us right now though and will do all I can to support it.
My grandsons don't use gift cards. My son finally confessed that he uses any gift cards they get and puts the value on their debit cards. I wish I had known! He says they're not much good at using cash either!
1. I went to CVS to pick up a couple of prescriptions. While there I picked up a BOGO50% off deal on the sunscreen my dermatologist told me to apply every time I go outside. I also had $5.35 in ExtraCare rewards to apply toward it, plus for purchasing two sunscreens I earned another $10 in rewards to use in the future. And the cashier who was new forgot to take the $2 physical coupon off one of the sunscreens. She called the manager who came over and asked me if I would accept $5 in ExtraCare rewards in lieu of the coupon. Yes please. I now have $15 off to use in the future.
2. DH's prescription was free, as usual. I'm on the same one which is always free too. The only thing I can think of is that staying on it keeps us out of the hospital so it's cheaper for our insurance to just give it to us. But I'm not complaining.
3. We keep the shades and curtains drawn on whatever side of the house the sun is beating on. We've had a bit of a heatwave so we try to use what we have to fight the heat. We have A/C when it gets to be too much.
4. Thunderstorms are supposedly heading our way for tomorrow so I'll have a break in watering the pots of outdoor plants. I do not water the lawn. Besides cutting it, it's on its own.
5. I did not fall asleep at important meetings or any meetings for that matter but if I did I would depend on the people around me to not be too afraid to tell me about it.
Such good finds at the bins!
I went to the branch library this morning and picked up a book on hold, as well as another that looked interesting, and also took a 20-minute walk around the adjacent indoor track. 20 minutes seems about right now with my level of hip dysfunction.
I then went to Valli Produce for lactose free milk. I found a couple of receipts to scan.
I brought up more clothes from the car. I am basically performing triage now -- ready to sell/into the hamper to wash/try on for myself. I'm wearing leggings today that I thought were keepers, but then I noticed there were side cutouts on the calf, and I don't like the slight bulges they create. So I will wash them and add to the sell pile.
I'm still managing without AC, but it is getting warmish. Still, the fans are helping. I will try to convince my son to install my units this weekend, because I think we will have temperatures in the 90's next week.
I got an $8 class action settlement payment from Yahoo, and a notice that another is on the way from Facebook.