Five Frugal Things -- Relaxed Conversation & a Bit of a Gossip
1) I quickly flipped my curb picked Ikea chair through Facebook Marketplace for twenty bucks. It's great to make da' big money, but these $20-$30 sales are a quick thrill. I'll never turn that down!
Keep in mind that the garage sale vendor had it priced at just $2 before they slapped a "FREE" sticker on it!
There was zero research involved, as the model information was on the bottom of the chair. Couldn't have been easier.
As always, I simply set the chair out on my covered front porch for the buyer to pick up at her convenience. She paid through Venmo and the transaction took almost no time from my day.
2) My husband and I spent another couple hours working on his late parents' storage unit. Today we removed and delivered a number of slightly busted pieces of antique furniture to a high school woodworking student that we connected with through Buy Nothing.
He and his friends have a side hustle of restoring furniture.
We're both so very happy to have found someone who'll rescue these neglected pieces.
We think tomorrow will our last day to work on the storage unit. Our plan is to disassemble the shelving units, take a few more furniture items to the Habitat ReStore and do one last dump run. My brother-in-law will come by over the weekend for the desk/shelf/thingy on the right and this task will finally be completed.
Goodbye, $137 monthly storage unit fee!
This was our beginning point.
3) My husband decided that he'd rather barbecue at home instead of hitting a restaurant on Father's Day. I felt bad that he'd be doing the work, but he was insistent that his ideal Father's Day was spent at home with family.
Someone gave him a Blackstone outdoor griddle a couple years ago and this gave him the opportunity to put it to good use.
4) I texted some of my neighbors inviting them to join me in the backyard for an after-dinner get together. Only two households were available, but that made for a cozy and enjoyable gathering. Perfect for relaxed conversation and a bit of a gossip session.
Everyone brought their own beverage, so it cost $0.00 to play hostess. Small efforts like this strengthen communities and are straight up enjoyable.
We've put a lot of work into making the backyard an enjoyable space through the years, so it's good to make sure we take full advantage of it.
This was our starting point.
5) Neighbors walking through my side yard to access the backyard prompted me to prune back the plants that were encroaching the path. Specifically my monstrous rosemary bush. I hate for it to go to waste, so I tied up a bundle and put it on the curb for passersby. Next time I looked it was gone, off on its merry way for some lucky Portlander.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
I hope you kept what looks like an Earth Machine compost bin. I paid $35 almost 35 years ago. A new one costs $195 (plus shipping which I suspect is not cheap).
We did not, as having having a compost bin was attracting rats. We did pass it along to someone else though.
Our son and daughter in law hosted Father’s Day barbecue. I contributed 6 ears of corn fresh from the farm stand. Nice break from cooking
I have Amazon gift cards I am hoarding for real needs this summer
I’ve returned more packages to
Amazon in the last month
Moving at a snails pace are my online sales
Wowser to the backyard transformation! And what a cool thing to connect with a woodworking student for the neglected furniture. Kudos on the storage unit clear-out! Actually, all five of your things deserve extra applause.
My life continues to be limited during my recuperation but is slowing opening up.
1. Had more visitors last week. Enjoyed the company and all of the food and flowers that they brought. I will miss all this special treatment after I'm healed!
2. Added a bit of water to the leftover ketchup in the bottle, shook it up and squirted it into a small mason jar of navy beans. Added just enough subtle flavor.
3. Sister gave us the leftover sesame lime dressing from her restaurant salad. We used this up in rice-tofu-veggie bowls.
4. Using the recumbent bike at the community center for one of my P.T. exercises. I have a free membership through my Medicare Advantage Plan. Can't drive yet so my husband or sister drives me there. It's close to our house.
5. Husband and I went out to eat for the first time in two+ months. Enjoyed an early dinner at a local restaurant and then stopped for ice cream at a local stand. A $50 date. This was on Father's Day, and my husband received a gift from the restaurant: a retractable measuring tape that is nicer than the one we own. He's a dog dad. Paid for the meal in cash after learning there was a fee for using the credit card.
What a fun idea! Even better at a zero dollar price tag!
1. Our oldest was itching for a walk today so my wonderful husband took the kids for a walk to see a castle about 20 minutes away from us. They had a great time looking at the outside for free! There is a tour that can be taken inside but they wanted to wait until next time so I wouldn't miss out.
2. Lunch was a mish-mash of leftovers followed by an "upcycled" dinner reusing rice from two different nights to make fried rice.
3. Despite my hint about possible adventure coffee while my husband and girls were out for their walk we both made coffee at the Airbnb. Zero dollars spent today means more for later.
4. The kids were getting squirrelly after dinner but before bath time, aka when the grownups finally get to eat, so we brought out some crayons and $0.10 wide rule spiral notebooks from 10-12 years ago that I bought in a stack of about 8-10 because I *obviously needed them*. I gave away several a year or two ago and kept the rest that were unused. Now they make excellent freeform coloring books for the kids.
5. My husband has an interview later this week *fingers crossed* and it would move our family to a different state. I've done some investigating into the rental market in and around the potential new job location to see if there are any good deals to be had. Being prepared is frugal! We're still on vacation for a while but if an offer comes we want to be able to schedule some virtual tours.