Five Frugal Things -- It's Garage Sale Season!
1) I stopped into Dollar Tree to buy soap, crackers and ginger snaps and bought . . . soap, crackers and ginger snaps. This might seem like an odd "frugal thing" to keep to my list, but that store is rife with impulse purchases. I didn't hit any irrelevant aisles and pretended the rest of the store didn't exist.
I'd normally buy their Monet brand "entertainer" crackers, but they seem to have switched to the creepily named "Global Brands" variety. My expectations are low, although I'm up for being wrong.
2) I then pulled the car over for my very first garage sale of the season, even though it appeared to be just a couple dozen items on a apartment building's front lawn. It turned out to be the apartment as well, being run by the landlord who was selling off the random items abandoned by the last tenant.
They had a Medusa'd Goldie Fawn and a flowerpot that interested me, so I asked the price and was told "They're free if you buy something else."
Here's the flowerpot, next to a similar one I garbage picked from this same street:
This sent me into the apartment, where I came across this reproduction vintage toaster:
So cool, right? I paid five dollars and walked away with three items. Moira Rose's favorite season might be "award season," but mine is "garage sale season!"
I'll test it out and sell it on eBay, as I already have a perfectly functional curb picked toaster.
3) I later attended my youngest's soccer game, where I walked the track during warmup and brought home two 10¢ returnable bottles. My kid got two goals and three assists!
4) We were starving after the game, so I quickly assembled a tostada buffet using canned refried beans with sautéed onions and peppers, along with pepper jack cheese, lettuce and assorted salsa options. We were tempted to get takeout, but this took less time than waiting for restaurant food. Plus it was yummy, cheap and used what we already had on hand!
5) I visited with my mother and stepfather yesterday and convinced them to put a couple items out on their parking strip with a "FREE" sign. One of these things was a small framed mirror, which was snapped up in under fifteen minutes!
It's like magic!
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
I love garage sale season. Starts " in earnest" in May here in MN. I always enjoy spotting my first garage sale sign of Spring!
Aww!! Goldie Fawn has a friend. That pot and the other one are both beautiful.
1. My three daughters, one of my son-in-laws and I met up at the halfway-ish point which is my youngest daughter's apartment. My middle daughter, her husband and I carpooled. We left our dogs with my mom. We went to a Salvation Army bin outlet in Detroit. I found it disappointing but according to my oldest daughter who follows someone who shops there regularly, it is normally a treasure trove. I guess Saturday afternoon is not the best time to go.
2. We also stopped at a used bookstore where one daughter found 37 Animorphs books. She and her husband will sell the whole set once they've found the rest. The last full set they sold for $600.
3. My two oldest daughters really wanted to stop into the Costco Business Center. They sell to restaurants and other businesses and carry industrial appliances as well as some of their regular items. I bought a box of bubble wrap and my girls bought cleaning supplies and few other things. My car was very full. It was very entertaining. Anyone need a whole lamb?
These are the things my family finds entertaining.
4. Not a frugal weekend for me. I bought them breakfast and we stopped and picked up pizza for dinner which we ate in my youngest's teeny tiny apartment. It was a fun day spent together. This is why I try to save where I can, so I can treat my kids without worry about it.
5. I cleaned my bathrooms using a homemade shower cleaner, homemade glass cleaner, baking soda purchased in bulk and all purpose cleaner purchased at an estate sale. My favorite cleaning rags are from an estate sale also.
I agree with saving where you can so treating our kids isn’t a problem.
1. My husband saw ants in the basement bathroom. I put out the Borax, sugar, and water solution I made a few years ago. It works every time.
2. We ate at home even though we were hankering to go out. It's healthier and so much cheaper. So many restaurants have eliminated their lunch menus.
3. I pulled out a needle and thread and sewed several lose buttons, on the cuffs of one of my blouses, on a pair of capri pants, and while I was at it the buttons on DH's sport coat. It's much easier to take care of it before buttons are lost.
4. We helped a neighbor put stuff in her vehicle for a dump run. If it had been anything that could be reused I would have given it away.
5. I listed a few items on Freecycle and they were quickly claimed. I'd rather have stuff we are using be put to use by the community.
Appreciate the Borax tip. I just noticed ants too and fortuitously had purchased Borax for laundry. It saved me from buying traps! Frugal win.
All meals/coffee at home. Lunch was leftover noodles and some frozen lentil soup. Thanks for the recipe, Katy. And as you say, I thanked my past self for portioning soup and freezing it for a day when my future self needed it. For dinner, I used a half portion of Aldi fresh pizza dough to make my own pizza. So quick and easy. Topped it with cheese and olive salad muffuletta mix from Aldi. Yum.
Stopped by Dollar Tree for one thing and left with nothing because they didn’t have what I needed.
Stayed home this evening and enjoyed watching a bit of TV and talking with my son about life/school. Thankful he wants to talk with me. He’s almost 14.
Going to bed early. 🙂
Nice haul at the sale! The neighborhood garage sales are starting up here, hoping to hit a few this weekend.
Please give a review of the new crackers. You got me onto the Monet ones, and I'm disappointed they're gone. Probably my fault, lol.
1. Put together a delicious lunch out of random leftovers to clean out the fridge. Grilled sausage, sauteed onions and peppers, white rice, pineapple chunks. Warmed it all with some teriyaki sauce and it was tasty!
2. Picked up a receipt in a parking lot that gave me over 1000 Fetch points and almost $10 on Ibotta.
3. Upside app has cash back at Kroger now, so I've been sure to claim that deal whenever I shop there. Have been able to do it 3 times so far. Hopefully it keeps resetting.
4. Husband and I are almost eligible to donate blood again. Checked the blood bank website to see what perks are coming up and made an appointment on a day that gets us an additional gift card.
5. The usual - making coffee at home, carrying a refillable water bottle, combining errands to save gas, meal planning from the pantry and freezer, line drying laundry, etc.
That is a nice bunch of stuff from the landlord's sale. Our Dollar Tree has stopped stocking the Monet crackers and the shelf stable unsweetened almond milk, which is disappointing. It stocked sweet potato chips for a while that were awesome but also seem to be gone.
I found a trouser button in my stash of reclaimed buttons to mend a pair of thrifted slacks. Also altered a shirt I bought new three summers ago that always fit a little strangely by removing two useless vertical darts. I will wear it more now without having to tug at it.
DH and I went to Ollie's Outlet today for nuts, Breton crackers (very much like Monet but $1.99 a box), applesauce, dog treats and a pack of white cotton washcloths.
Saturday I attended a ladies' tea party wearing a flowered dress and straw hat, both from Goodwill, and had a great time except that something I ate gave me quite an upset stomach all day Sunday. In retrospect, every sandwich and treat had dairy in it, which I can eat only in tiny amounts. I should have known better.
Ruby, I also went to a tea party and came away with a splitting headache. I think it was all the sugar I consumed. I should have known better, too!
I think next year I will ask my friend who organizes it if they could have a tray of fruit and veggies for those who need a more healthy option. If they don't, I'll have to stick to just plain tea.
Hoping you’ll see this…..I would love to help fund another round of purchases to help out the Portland food bank. The thrifting/free pikes where I live do not even come close to the opportunities you have. Let me know how best to send you money.
Great finds at the apartment sale, Katy. I grew up with a Sunbeam toaster that lasted forever.
1. Renewed subscription to the local paper. Saved $12 by renewing for two years rather than one.
2. Picked up a greeting card from the library's free table. It has cherry blosssoms on the front and is blank on the inside so I'll likely use it for a sympathy card.
3. Went to a funeral with a nice luncheon afterward. This was for a good friend's mom so I wasn't a funeral luncheon crasher!
4. Picked up a free loaf of bread left on a table of "past expiration date" items set up at the church where the funeral was held. It's not great quality bread (even when fresh) so I'll use it to make croutons.
5. Saved $4 on a Chewy order by signing up for autoship. I'm all for autoship now that I know they give a heads up before shipping something in case we don't need it at that particular time.
MB,
How nice to hear your library has a free table. Besides greeting cards, what other kinds of items have you seen?
My library puts out premade bags from the Every Meal nonprofit, with items so kids and families will have food over the weekend. However, I don't think I've seen a general free table.
Val,
At the library where I work we have a 3 tier in the lobby, where we put free stuff. We put a little bit of everything there: Advanced Readers, magazines, calendars, sewing supplies, bike helmets. Patrons are allowed to put things there to. We just manage it weekly to keep it orderly.
Wow, that is wonderful!
Val, this table is in the area used by the Friends of the Library for their ongoing book sale, so there are always some free magazines and books that probably never sold at the book sale. Occasionally there will be random items like greeting cards, 3-ring binders, and spiral notebooks that I'm guessing someone included in their donations to the book sale. Like your library, there is also a section where families can pick up food. https://twincitiesfrugalmom.com/2024/08/free-food-bags-in-the-twin-cities/
Aren't libraries wonderful?!
They are wonderful? I don't think my library puts out items that didn't sell at the book sales. It seems like a win-win for everyone that yours does.
I don't think that's a reproduction toaster but hard to see. The non-stainless pieces should be Bakelite.
Starting seeds inside which are doing well though it did snow here today in central Maine and it's in the 40's. No spring yet which is depressing.
Marketplace sales are decent but my ebay is dead.
Tiny frugals today --
I didn't drive anywhere and only went out to take out the garbage.
I made pizza for lunch -- one slice was French bread pizza that had been given to me, and it had been in the freezer a while. It was light on sauce and cheese and heavy on pepperoni, so I thawed two large slices of garlic bread, added sauce and cheese to all three, and redistributed the pepperoni, ending up with three good slices. I only ate one, so two more lunches coming up.
I remembered to take my dairy pill, so I wouldn't be sorry I had pizza.
Finished a book -- I have two to return, but since they are not due yet I'll wait until I have another reason to start up my car.
The weather has turned chilly, so I'm making good use today of my warm and fuzzy throws.
I finished up the last pear today. Now I know that patience wins the day with pears. They all softened up just fine by sitting in a bowl in my dining room.
Yay for garage sale season, or as my sweet mama calls it "visiting". We picked up a hard sided case to hold my battery charger for $1, 4 tea towels for .25 each and they had the sweetest embroidered sayings. A silver plated cake server that will be used to device the freezers. I also picked up a very fancy hand made broom like the one my fancy sil bought for over $100, for $1. It will earn its keep sweeping away spider webs from the ceilings. Then I will hang it prominent my in the mud room! Ha!
OMG, I finally figured out you are going to be all fancy and use the silver plated cake server to DE ICE your freezers. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what device the freezers meant.
Yay for your $1 homemade broom!! You just saved $99!! Also what a great idea to use the cake server to de-ive the freezer!! I may need to see if I can thrift one now!
I'm trying to picture what a $100 broom would look like lol!
FFT, "Jane Austen and Thrift" Edition:
(1) I gave my "Jane Austen and Thrift" presentation to my local JASNA region on Saturday, and it seemed to be well received by a small but favorably biased crowd. (As I was unloading my materials, I had a moment of panic when I couldn't find my notes. One attendee scoffed, "You don't need no stinkin' notes.") My JASNA Panera friend video-recorded the presentation on her iPhone and has promised to put the video up on her YouTube channel in due course. I'll provide a link to this if I find I can bear looking at it.
(2) I slept badly the night before the presentation, and came as close to falling asleep at the wheel on the NY State Thruway on the way there as I've ever done. I pulled off at the next service area and splashed my face with cold water, and then had extra caffeine at lunch with JASNA Panera. Not getting into an accident on the Thruway = highly frugal.
(3) The presentation energized me enough not only to get through the drive home, but to stop at the service area with cheaper gas than any in my city at the moment ($4.08/gal.) to top off my tank.
(4) Here at home, I hired "King James" (my indispensable yard and snow guy) to haul a load of truly useless yard and garage junk to the county dump for me. A good spring cleaning. And because it was way too wet to mow any grass yet (my backyard is the Great Dismal Swamp at the moment) and he was at loose ends that day, he gave me a very good price.
(5) And since the forecast for this week is for dry weather until Saturday, I'm gonna be out there in the gardens as long as my aging chassis will permit. I'll do my best to avoid any further faceplants. 😛
I'm glad your presentation went well. I certainly would have attended a talk like that if it were in my area!
I am looking forward to seeing the video of your talk. Glad it went well.
Congrats to your soccer player! That's a great game. 🙂
Nothing exciting happened at my house, but a few wins:
1) Defrosted homemade chicken broth for a recipe tonight. Similarly, found some leftover rotisserie chicken in the freezer. I will combine the two above with a few other ingredients & make this very easy recipe, because it's a week for one pan recipes - https://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/one-pan-chicken-fajita-rice/#recipe
2) Received our Costco rebate, which I've set aside to buy DH a fancy scotch that he likes for his birthday. Oh, and also I'll buy groceries, because I'm pretty exciting like that.
3) Received a $140 voucher from British Airways for my non-functioning entertainment unit, which I had to write in about. I researched & it looks like I can buy a code share flight, as I'm definitely not planning any flights that I could buy on BA for $140.
4) Stayed up "late" last night (really wasn't that late, I'm just jetlagged) to pick DH up at the airport. I did treat myself to $2 parking, so I could crash out once I got there & wait for him to pick up his bag. He then drove home. Saved at least $40 over a ride share.
5) Had DH drive our electric car to work, where he can charge for a lower cost than we pay at home.
1) A weekend of less expensive birthday celebrations here. My son is quite introverted and always is uncomfortable at big parties. I’ve tried to tell him he doesn’t need to have birthday parties at all but he still usually wants to do something small which is fine. This year he asked to go to the movies with 3 friends. My husband took them and paid for their tickets and some popcorn. So while it still cost money, it was a lot cheaper than paying for a party at a play place or inviting the whole class or something. Obviously no party would be cheapest but I don’t mind doing these smaller ones and they all had a good time.
2) The next birthday celebration was my friends. She originally wanted a group of us to attend a large festival and eat at a restaurant after. Transportation there plus the restaurant meal would have cost quite a bit. Fortunately the day before she said she had changed her mind and didn’t have the energy to be around big crowds like that. So we put together a simpler celebration. I picked up banh mi sandwiches and we went to the beach and had a picnic there. Beach was free, not even parking costs and the sandwiches were far less than eating at a restaurant would have been, and they were delicious! It was a nice sunny day too, we all really enjoyed it.
3) I made another batch of 3 bean chili in the instapot and cooked some dried beans on the stove. Although I keep some cans of beans on hand just in case, I try to keep already cooked beans in jars in the freezer for easy use.
4) Started another audiobook from the library, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglas by Frederick Douglas, really inspiring and an engaging read.
5) Daily walking or running near my house and doing YouTube workout videos, all free exercise!
You hit pay dirt at the yard sale!! Love those pots.
Cool flower pot!
1. We had a work meeting and it included free lunch!
2. I walked an hour this evening in my neighborhood and the local cemetery.
3. I did pack my breakfast and take it to work.
4. This was an official meeting and I wore my best suit which I got on sale over a year ago. I wore pearls I probably purchased on sale 20 years ago.
5. I inquired about a free place to work out. Apparently there is a grant involved to make it free, and it is 20 miles from here but my friend and I are planning on car pooling once a week. I also did my usual things, hand washing my good suit after wearing it and hanging it out to dry, enjoying the sunset from my property bc I pay for this joint!
I love a good garage sale! We're in the process of selling our house (just had an inspection and currently waiting on the report so fingers crossed!) and have talked about possibly having a moving sale for some of the stuff we can't take with us.
1. We have been going through our things and making some hard choices about what we'll actually need vs what we've schlepped along for the last 10 years. My husband is taking a car load to a kid's consignment shop tomorrow to clear out some of the kids' clutter.
2. I'm waiting for a package to arrive, new jeans for my husband and myself since ours were quite literally falling apart, and it's several hours late. I'm taking the opportunity to run a cleaning cycle in our washer so I know it'll be fresh whenever the delivery driver gets here.
3. My mom made plans to come visit us later in the week. She'll get to play with the kids and I will be able to drink a cup of coffee while it's still hot! We're pretty cheap dates like that.
4. I scanned an Ibotta receipt and got $0.05, try not to be too jealous that I've come into such big money.
5. We've spent the last couple of days putting together puzzles from the library. There was a multi pack Disney collection with five puzzles from 300-750 pieces. We have an extra large whiteboard that served as our puzzle board. Gotta love multi purpose tools!
Shyla, using a whiteboard for puzzles is brilliant! Good luck on the house sale.
Thank you!
The whiteboard is our amazing catch all for the kids. They also use it as a safe surface for playing with play doh so it's semi confined. Cleans up like a breeze!
A whiteboard can become...a race track or a wall with "artwork" for a playhouse corner or...it's a great idea, with the right marker.
Love the fawn and flower pots! Managed to bring heating bill from $351 to $85 this month. BFF planted a nice large elephant ear bulb for me yesterday ($3.00). Came from Tractor Supply. The ones online were $13 to $16 each. DH found my disposable undies at thrift store for $4 a pack ($22 at Walmart). So...pretty frugal so far this week.
1. I pulled a gallon sized bag full of homemade vegetable bean soup out of the freezer two days ago. It's still a frozen block but it's keeping the refrigerator from running much so that's okay. We'll eat it when it defrosts.
2. I hung a load of laundry out on the umbrella clothesline today. I try to hang out every load from spring until late fall but if we have a string of rainy days I'm forced to use the dryer. I'm grateful I have it for those
times.
3. DH took me out for lunch today at Olive Garden for my birthday. I ordered a lunch special and DH ordered a buy one get one. He asked me if I wanted him to go to the store to buy me an ice cream cake to take home but I said no, if it's in the house, I'll be eating it all week and I'm trying hard to lose weight. So I opted for one piece of chocolate cake at the restaurant. Yum.
4. A baked potato blew up in the oven last night. Amazingly it held together for the most part so we were able to eat it though a lot of the skin was gone. But the oven...egad, what a mess.
5. Cleaned the bathroom using a mix of vinegar and water in a spray bottle and Ajax powder for the sink, tub and toilet. The cans of Ajax or Comet go a long way. Besides that, I use vinegar, bleach and rags for cleaning. Floors get a going over with the knock off Swiffer with a washable pad.
Christine, happy birthday! I speak from experience when I say good call on the ice cream cake.
Thank you MB!
1. My friend's FIL is in the hospital. I picked up her daughter yesterday from the train station and drove her to the hospital. I then dropped her suitcase and 8 egg bites off to their house. My friend got me a raincheck for a free soy milk. She told me to take it off her fridge. I will use it next time I am at that store.
2. I made a double batch of egg bites. 1/2 for me and 1/2 for my friend. I got B1G1 1/2 off a dozen eggs at Target. They came to $1.26 a dozen. I used a gift card to pay for them. The ham was free to me from leftover Easter ham.
3. I gave a different friend a birthday card that I got 12 for $1 at my favorite thrift store.
4. Hubby cooked a large pork loin that I got on sale a few weeks ago in the crockpot. Yesterday was pulled pork sandwiches. Tonight was pork tacos. We have enough for dinner tomorrow. I froze 2 more dinners worth. I love cooking once and eating lots.
5. Reading library books and magazines, hanging clothes on racks inside since it's raining and running the dishwasher and washing machine when the rates are lower.
The new (to you) pot coordinates nicely w/ the flower pot you already owned. I also like the deer statue. I want to get some sort of statue to go under my arched trellis. Not sure what kind yet. A "free" kind would be best!
1. When inspecting the dumpster I found a large quantity of Dol Gen plastic shopping sacks. These I took to the food bank for them to sack up groceries. They were happy to get them.
2. I had a previously made breakfast sandwich today for an early meal.
3. I have been buying a lunch at my facility. I stay off the toll road and fight horrible traffic to drive there. The lunch portion is very generous. I eat 1/2 & take the rest home for husband to eat for dinner. I reward myself w/ the cafe lunch. (I'm not sure how great of a reward a hospital meal is but usually I enjoy it.)
4. I make myself a free latte before leaving for the day. The next morning that is my iced coffee drink.
5. When I dropped off items at the thrift store I looked around but did not buy anything.
Since I am a Beth and there is already a Beth W, I will be Beth K.
1. Last week QFC, a Kroger store, had a three day sale of Bonne Maman jam for $3.99. I’ve been seeing it in other stores for $9.99 so I got three. They also had two pound boxes of organic strawberries for $5.99.
2. For our local ‘little free art gallery’ I made a set of double sided table napkins and crocheted a potholder. A few days later I went back to peek if anyone had taken them. The table napkins were gone but the slightly wonky potholder was still there. Someone had left a couple really lovely diamond art coasters they had made so I took one.
3. Our local thrift store, Value Village has to be one of the worst thrift stores around. None of the money you spend there goes to charity. One day I saw an ugly gray rock for sale - yes, a rock like the type you’d dig up in your garden for $5.99! I mentioned it to a salesperson and they just shrugged. Almost everything in the store is vastly overpriced.
That being said - once in a while I do find a good deal. Today I went in looking for a pair of summer shorts. I found a brand new pair of Vera Wang white shorts in just my size. Tags still on them which showed the original price as $44. Okay - here is a thrift store problem that maybe somebody knows the solution to. Both my sister and I have noticed that many of the clothes we find in thrift stores have a very bad perfume/fabric softener type smell that is very difficult to wash out. It is so common now that I almost wonder if somebody in the back room/sorting room is spraying the stuff around?? If anyone here has any good ideas on getting this smell out that even multiple washings doesn’t seem to eliminate….
4. Nonfrugal - took the family out for an Indian dinner. Pricey but it was family style so lots of food for our son and grandson to take home.
Hi, Beth K-- I know exactly what you mean about that thrift store smell, and do not have a good remedy, other than just not buying otherwise good items. Washing isn't enough.
Products like Febreeze are evil.
I like the idea of a little free art gallery!
If you live somewhere sunny, laying the shorts in the sun for a while might help! Or hanging them in the sun. I've also heard that putting things in the freezer helps, but I've not tried this.
Forgot to say I spent $8 for the $44 dollar new Vera Wang shorts.
I love that toaster Katy! And the fawn, you did luck out
1. My Ex was a really good and interesting cook, and he often purchased odd (to me) ingredients. He's been long gone, however lentils last almost forever – so the de puy french lentils were languishing in the cupboard. With my plan to eat more legumes, I've been cooking up those fancy lentils – and I just cooked up the last cup worth. The jar they were in is a very old mayonnaise jar (the ones with the really wide lids) rescued from my mom's.
2. I used the rice cooker to cook the lentils, and once they were done I soaked some basmati for an hour or so then cooked that rice up. I had soaked a couple of cups of garbanzos overnight so popped them in the instant pot when I went out to walk the dog. Adding a handful to any salad ups the game considerably.
3. I also soaked a cup of black beans, cut up a rather sad onion and added a couple of heaping tablespoons of my homemade taco seasoning. Once the garbanzos were out of the IP, the black beans went in. My fridge is looking very meal preppy!
4. My young neighbour offered me what looked like a couple of wheelbarrow loads of firewood he had harvested from a tree that had come down on his place. Their fireplace isn't functional right now, so he was going to (!!) throw the wood onto his burn pile. Gasp
Anyway, I finally got the truck over there and turns out it was a full pickup load of heavy hardwood – not sure what kind of tree it is. I set my stopwatch and used the “How Long Will It Acutally Take” ( HLWIAT) approach, which got me moving. 22 minutes and the truck was full, the spot where the wood had been was cleaned up, and I even made the acquaintance of my neighbour's mom as she came to help for the last bit. Truck still needs to be emptied however that will be another HLWIAT event, soonish.
5. At my favourite thrift store I was gifted two cute vintage wall pieces – one a blackboard/pinboard with a chalk tray, the other a blackboard with a sweet grocery list with holes (for pins?) beside all the prewritten items, and letter style bins at the base. I guess they weren't up to the store's standard (they are pretty picky there) and I was the winner rather than the trash. They suit my old farmhouse – now to find some chalk!!!
I am going to have to use your HLWIT method!! I’m a procrastinator so maybe this will help me. Also your chalkboards sound wonderful! I wish we could see a picture!!
I found a freight damaged store that includes groceries. The store is immaculate and nothing looks damaged to me except the prices which are 1/3 or 1/4 that of grocery stores. And surprisingly nothing has expired dating.
I don’t drive over 55 ever. It gives me 20 more miles to the gallon and sometimes more in my ordinary vehicle. I keep my cars gas mileage app on the screen to encourage me to keep doing it. 65 mpg? Yes please.
I buy my socks, bras, and panties in the girls section.$3 for a bralette instead of over 20? Yeah. And I like the colors better except unicorns, I don’t do unicorns.
Right now Dominos has their menu pizzas 50% off. Or one topping 6.99. I will probably do a gluten free pie. I’m new to all the fast food apps but after watching my kiddos work their magic I’m starting to explore all ways to get cheaper food. I already do kids meals where they let me. The crispy taco kids meal at Chipotle is my favorite and $5.50.
Anything else I buy by the pound at the bins. If they don’t have it I don’t need it. Sometimes I find little bits of silver jewelry I save up and sell at the coin store for current price of silver. I’ve found bracelets, charms, and necklaces I don’t want but silver prices are good right now.
Hey what's wrong with unicorns? LOL. I envy your size if you can purchase girl's clothing....
I’m not the least bit tiny, but apparently neither are all girls. They have large, extra large, and exta extra large sizes.
Yay for garage sale season! I haven't taken advantage of them in a few years - it seems estate sales have become more common in my area, and those typically happen while I'm working, and get wayyyyy too crowded.
FFT:
1. Last night's dinner was made with BOGO chicken breasts and ingredients we had on hand.
2. I came into a little money this month. I immediately put half in my emergency fund and will use the other half to book our every-other-year trip to Germany to spend Christmas with my partner's family.
3. My work outfit today, as usual, is almost entirely thrifted, and many years old.
4. My parents treated me to dinner when I visited them this past weekend to help with my grandma's move into assisted living. I ordered a Buffalo chicken salad for dinner, with a side of mac and cheese. The side of mac and cheese was HUGE. It could have been the full meal for all three of us. So (even after leaving half with my parents for their enjoyment) I have had it for lunches the past few days, supplemented with side salads.
5. Dinner tonight and tomorrow and possibly Thursday will be leftovers.
I love your new deer and those pots are so pretty! Nothing better than free!! I have a little red bike planter made of metal. When I pulled it out of my garage I noticed how faded the paint is. At first I thought I would pick up some spray paint and repaint it. In the end I decided to use the red acrylic paint I already have. I painted it while watching tv. It turned out beautifully. I will add a coat of clear coat spray. My lilacs are blooming so I cut some and put in a vase for my living room. One of my favorite flowers and free!! I pulled out frozen rotisserie chicken pieces from my freezer and will make something with that for dinner tonight. Also got free bananas from work. They were quite bruised. So I turned some into banana, pecan (free from my dad), chocolate chip muffins and the rest of the bananas went into the freezer for smoothies. I will save a couple muffins to have with my coffee this week and put the rest in the freezer.
I also love the deer. We buy apples at the Grocery Outlet for the does and their fawns that have frequent our driveway.
Katy, I stayed up late last night to finish Abraham Lincoln, A Novel Life. I absolutely loved it. What a treat! I will be reading much more of your late father’s books. He was a great writer.
My husband found a deal on his favorite treat, Reese's Thins, at our local Menards. He bought 2 bags and told me about the deal. I then priced checked them at our local Walmart and they were on sale, but his purchase price was still less than their sale price. He promptly returned to Menards and bought the remainder of the bags of Thins on the shelf. 😉