Five Frugal Things -- Mammogram & Thrifting
1. I went for a mammogram, which I scheduled at a inconvenient suburban clinic as otherwise I would've had to wait until 2026. I'd already put this task off and felt that sooner was the smarter choice. Not that I have any known issues, but I still needed to scrub this worry from my brain.
I was rewarded with two pieces of Dove chocolate, which my husband and I enjoyed after dinner last night.
2. I stopped at one of my favorite Goodwill locations on the way home. If you're from the Portland area, you'll recognize the Cornell store, as their see-it-from-space signage is designed to grab your attention from the freeway.
I bought a Christmas gift for my mother, but more importantly I finally found a jacket to replace my missing Land's End rain coat. Not exactly a steal at $14.99, but still better than the $90 were I to buy it at REI. (Although it's currently on sale.) We're deeply into rainy season here in Portland, so a warm functional rain coat is non-negotiable.
3. I got briefly excited about this sweater, as it looked like one of Taylor Swift's signature cardigans. But the quality was terrible, which prompted me to examine it closely and compare it to her officially licensed sweaters -- yup, it was a cheap knockoff! Too bad though, as it would have been worth hundreds of dollars had it been the real deal.
4. I listed a high end cell phone case on eBay that I found awhile back in the street in front of our house. I did my due diligence of asking in my neighborhood Facebook group if it belonged to anyone, but got no response. It's missing the strap and a tiny bit scuffed up, but I might as well try to get it back in circulation and make a couple of bucks.
It sells new for $128, so $38 is actually a decent price for a bargain hunter.
5. I have zero plans to do any black Friday shopping, as frenzied consumerism and falsely low prices are not my jam.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
1) After patiently saving my Safeway health points (they award points for meeting my step and activity goals as well as other various health challenges) I was able to redeem them for a $25 off $65 purchase coupon. Safeway is often overpriced but have some good sales and coupons so I only bought those items that were a good price and then used the $25 off coupon.
2) I had two kitchen items recently break (one I dropped on the ground, the other I dropped a glass vitamin bottle onto it and it broke, clumsy lately!) My instinct was to replace them immediately but then I paused for a few days and realized I didn’t really need either of them. One was a covered butter dish but since going plant based, I don’t eat butter and I’ve reduced how much my family eats too. Plus there is still butter in the fridge if needed. The other was a small serving tray, but we have many other trays and dishes and don’t need that particular one.
3) I’ve gone almost an entire year now not shopping at Target. Considering I used to go there almost every week, I feel like I’ve probably saved $100’s (even if some of the necessities I used to buy there I still buy elsewhere, I think I was prone to more impulse purchases at Target)
4) I’m hosting friends for brunch on Sunday. We all live about an 1-2 hours away from each other so when we do get together we want plenty of time to catch-up, which isn’t conducive to restaurants who don’t usually want you taking up a table for hours. Plus one of my friends needs to bring her 5 year old with her, it’ll be much more relaxing having him play with my kids at our house than trying to bring 3 young kids to a restaurant. I’m using veggies from my produce box delivery this week to make a Mexican breakfast hash and everyone else is bringing a dish to share too.
4) Bought the kids matching Christmas pajamas used on eBay. This is cheaper, keeps the item in rotation and my kids get attached to certain pairs but then outgrow them, so I can usually keep finding the same ones year to year on eBay.
5) My work let us telecommute today because of the holiday so saved a bit of gas money!