Five Frugal Things -- Repairing & Refurbishing
1) I shampooed and cleaned up the $3 Ikea ÖRFJÄLL desk chair that I picked up from the Goodwill bins the other day.
Here's a reminder of how grimy the fabric was when it came into my possession. I understand why my fellow thrifters left it behind.
Especially as it had this stubborn glob of white paint, which I removed using a butter knife, a rubbing alcohol pad and lastly a dab of non-whitening toothpaste with a vigorous scrubbing from an old toothbrush.
I'd estimate that I spent twenty minutes on the whole job.
The current version of this chair sells for $79.99, so I started my Facebook Marketplace listing at $35. It's super cute and looks brand new at this point, so I'm confident that it'll find a buyer.
2) I knocked over the standing fan in our bedroom, which snapped the thin circular brace that holds the back piece onto the front. You can see that I already repaired this part a few years ago by securing the inside with a length of thin zip tie and super glue. This created an invisible repair, which isn't all that important, yet is somehow extra satisfying.
I put a bit of clear packing tape over the repair to support the joint and we are back in bidness!
Before:
After:
I'd estimate that my husband and I purchased this fan in 1995 or so and we'll continue to use it as long as it continues to be repairable!
3) Yesterday found me in the mood to immerse myself in my library book, (The Arcane Arts) but also to engage in some productive puttering around the house. I decided to do both -- employing a back-and-forth routine where I'd set my alarm for thirty minutes of reading, which I'd then alternate with a bite sized chore or two.
This is how I was able to pull a thousand mini maple starts from the yard, while also indulging in some grade A reading time.
Kind of a back-achey job, but it's completed and I got to finish my book!
4) One of my "bite sized chores" was to run some laundry through the wash and although I didn't hang everything on the clothesline, I did line dry the pillowcases. I pick up cheap white cotton pillowcases when thrifting and while they don't scream "we don't actually match!" on the bed, they certainly do when strung out together on the clothesline.
It made me laugh.
5) I put off assembling dinner until I was straight up ravenous with neither the time nor patience to prepare a grown up meal. Luckily I keep a couple cans of refried beans on hand for these instances. Combined with leftover rice, cheese and lettuce and wrapped in a warm tortilla, a satisfying meal is created that takes less time than you'd spend in a drive-through line.
I ate two.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
1. I trash picked a tiny 4 ft pre-lit Christmas tree for my daughter's tiny apartment. She requested I look for one. It had all it's pieces and parts and the lights even work. Yay for free stuff.
2. My youngest and I took some roasted vegetables and sausage to my MIL's house for lunch. It was an inexpensive and satisfying meal and very easy to put together.
3. I sent some scrap lumber and dry wall pieces, that have been cluttering up my basement and garage, home with my daughter and son-in-law. They rented a large dumpster and had extra room.
4. I sold a small trash picked item on Ebay. It's not a lot but it's free money.
5. My daughter had The Joy Luck Club in her book collection. I've been wanting to read it but it's not available as a Library Kindle option. Funny that it's been in my house this whole time.
Hooray for "free money!"
1. I sat down last night and worked through my pile of mending. It really didn't take long.
2. Continuing my short time spent frequently work on keeping our landscaping spiffy. Today was a bit of weeding.
3. As usual, this morning I reviewed mentally what is in our food supplies and proposed an easy dinner plan to Hubby. As usual, he said it sounds fine. I've never really stuck to meal planning but do the daily planning lol.
4. I filed a stack of paperwork that had collected. My future self will thank me if I need to find any of those things.
5. I decided I have plenty of clothing to get me comfortably through summer at least. I reorganized my closet so what I like to wear for the season is front and center.
I like to alternate chores with reading, too. Helps me get a lot done in an enjoyable way.
My friend and I left NC this morning to start out for home. My sister gave us some bacon to make sandwiches on the way, and I picked up an orange and a banana from the center's break room. As well as coffee.
We have made it to Lexington, Kentucky. On the way we stopped at the Kentucky Artisan Center (?) in Berea to check out the very expensive handmade crafts. I wouldn't buy anything there, but I did enjoy pricing items and imagining finding them at Goodwill at some future time.
We enjoyed a corn dog lunch at a Love's gas station for only $2.50 apiece.
Incredible mountain views were free of charge, except for the gas it cost to toddle through them. Expect to arrive at friend's house tomorrow and then home on Tuesday.
I thought I was the only one who organized the day with stints of chores and reading! It’s just the right balance of physical and mental activity—and I like thinking about what I’ve read while doing “mindless” chores.
It's not my normal routine, but it really did hit the spot!
That chair looks awesome!
1. I ate dandelion greens picked from my garden. I know I use zero pesticides. I wash, pat dry, put in pan combined with olive oil, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, and bake until crispy. I also ate a ground turkey meatloaf sandwich. I made tea from the dollar box of 100 tea bags.
2. I walked an hour this morning in my neighborhood.
3. I worked from home for my first court case as a private lawyer in decades, and I did not have to drive anywhere. Actually I did not drive anywhere today so saved on gas.
4. I took a Sunday afternoon nap.
5. I will sit in my own house that I pay taxes for, listen to the crickets and birds through my screened windows, and enjoy the sunset .
1. I went through the bag of trash that my handyman had left after cleaning out the garage last week. The contractor's bag he used was so large and heavy that not even he could lift it to put it in the trash can. Which is required, because the garbagemen won't pick up plastic bags left on the ground. So I was putting things into 2 lighter bags. Another thing: trying to lighten the first heavy bag from Wednesday's trash pickup, I discovered he'd trashed my grandmother's hand-embroidered dresser scarf (a placemat for your dressing table back in Victorian times) and I wanted to make sure he didn't similarly disrespect/discard anything else of value. I found several times that needed to be recycled, not trashed, so I pulled those out and put them in the recycling bin. The actual garbage went back into the original bag, and one other, and by the time I was through, I'd right-sized them so they could fit into the trash cans. They'll be gone tomorrow, our regular trash collection day.
2. Rescued a wicker basket from the bag, and will put a sun-faded flower pot inside. It already has a rosemary plant in the pot. So I will have another potted plant looking good on the front porch.
3. I also found some floor-length unlined drapes from my former residence that should have been donated to a thrift store, not put in a stinky, dusty trash bag. So I washed them and line-dried them. They came out perfect! Then I remembered one of my coworkers saying she didn't have any curtains for this sliding door/window in her new mobile home. I took the drapes to work to see if she wanted them. Lo and behold! Yes, the color will go nicely in her room, she said, and she likes them! Even though these window treatments are made of thin fabric and definitely not thermal window coverings, her windows are energy-efficient, and won't transmit the summer heat. So she can use them! She seemed happy at the gift. So one more thing saved from the landfill, and a frugal win for my newfound friend!
4. Popped by the thrift store yesterday, the one where I'd bought all those slacks, and they were having another bag sale. Found some tops that I thought would go with them. Not all of them did -- colors are hard to match when you don't have the item with you. But I think most of them will go with other things, or else I can wear them with black or denim bottoms. I got lucky in matching a couple of items. I didn't have enough clothes to fill a big bag, but the clerk told me that a fancy jacket I was buying would've been $10 by itself, and she'll throw in all the other blouses for free into a regular shopping bag. Heck yes, I said. (And wouldn't ya know: the jacket was the one that ended up not matching anything here. I thought it was the same color as the same brand linen slacks I'd bought from them. It wasn't.)
5. Also found 2 free books: Bill Clinton's autobiography (hardcover in like-new cond.), and Ulysses by James Joyce, a classic I've wanted to read.( Lest you think I'm taking advantage of that particular thrift store, I donated a framed poster and some dishes, tools and other items from the garage cleanout. )
Re: that very last parenthetical on your FFT list. Please, please, don't feel that way! I volunteer at a thrift shop. We love our regular shoppers, and we love our regular donors. There is zero expectation of any kind of shopping/donating reciprocity. Bring when you can, buy what you need. Just keeping things in circulation and out of landfills is a huge win.
Raising money for the cause is also a good thing. On that topic, please be mindful of the difference between non-profit and for-profit operations. For example, a huge Savers (for-profit) located themselves just outside a large Senior Community. They're killing the existing nearby non-profits because people don't understand the difference. They just take things to the closest place. If you want your giving to benefit your local community, do a tiny bit of research, like this:
From AI: "No, Savers is not a non-profit. It is a for-profit, publicly-traded retail thrift chain (often operating as Value Village in certain regions)."
YES!! @Dicey, it is really important to me to know who profits from the thrift store. The one my Thrift Store Buddy works at (Sassy Lion) is a subset of the local Lions club, and most of the people who work there volunteer. They give TONNES of items to people in need (both through local organizations and just straight up over the counter when they know the folk - it is so sweet), they donate a lot of money to local organizations from kids to seniors, and they curate their offerings so it is easy to shop. I prefer them to any of the other shops in town, although the hospital auxiliary is larger (also run by volunteers) it is far less well curated so harder to shop.
But in any case, I don't donate to Value Village even if Diabetes makes most of their yearly running costs through doing the collections - because mostly VV is a profit driven place and I prefer my local joints.
As for donating items versus buying them - the stores need people who do both, but they don't need each person to do both, they just need folk to donate, and folk to buy. My church ladies always love me as I don't have time to offer for their events but I bring my wallet and purchase baking and plants with abandon.
I volunteer at my local Hospice. They have 4 thrift stores whose only purpose is to raise money for the Hospice services. All the proceeds from the stores allow this Hospice to provide care for anyone, regardless of their ability to pay.
1. Yesterday, on the way home from the graduation party, we did stop at a French grocery store to purchase jambon au Paris, and I did splurge for some delicious French butter, to celebrate the publishing of my latest book project. The butter was about $12, so super pricey for butter, but I'll take it as a fairly frugal reward for a very long project. (My friend with whom I working on another book project buys herself a very pricy pen when her books are published, so everything is relative!)
2. Today, I stayed home and drank coffee that I purchased using Fetch $, and it being $5.63 per pound my coffee is about $0.15 per cup. Breakfast was toast made from artisan sourdough that comes in our free farm share (with super expensive butter!).
Dinner was croque monsieur, made with brioche, gruyere, milk all free from mystery shop, and roasted potatoes and a salad greens, both free from the farm share that partner gets from work.
3. Tomorrow is my annual dr appointment, but I can/will walk to it
I think that is it....
I absolutely love jambon de Paris. We don't have a deli that has that in our area, but Sacramento does, and it's off the beaten path, so I don't go. My favorite sandwich in the world is French ham with butter on a baguette.
The cushions on the Ikea chair cleaned up nicely. You are a master a removing stains!
1. I walked to the grocery store to save gas & to get in some steps.
2. I had some small amounts on 3 GC. I scanned them to get a reduction in the price of what I bought. (The Walmart here does not take Apple Pay but Publix does.) I'm happy to get to use the GC as they were to expire after May 31.
3. I bought 2 12-volt batteries for my smoke detector. Not frugal for the condo to burn down. It's made of cinder blocks, but the inside could burn up w/ me in it.
4. I had a sandwich after church. They had a brunch for a celebration.
5. I don't usually shop on Amazon. However, I had $137 in GC in my account. I earned these doing surveys & other tasks. I needed to replace my water & air filter for my new fridge. I ordered these, some fingerless UV protection gloves, and 2 bras. I still have $40 left. I ordered enough so I could get free shipping. If the bras don't fit well there are free returns. (Good supportive bras are expensive & not something you usually find in a thrift store.)
Of course Wally won't take Apple Pay - Apple is bigger and can't be bullied.
Our Frugal 5 for the Week!
* Summer Eats: The girls will be eating for free in June and July thanks to the local Free Summer Lunch program.
* AC Break: We're turning off the AC and opening the windows to catch the cool breeze this week.
* Rain Delay: Mother Nature handled the watering for us, so the sprinklers are officially off.
* Fuel Efficiency: We parked the truck and stuck to our two fuel-efficient cars for all our driving this week.
* Free Summer Fun & Treats: We signed up for the library’s summer reading program, Pizza Hut’s Book It!, and the Nothing Bundt Cakes challenge. The kids get to read and earn tons of free food! We also registered for Kids Bowl Free—paired with some adult coupons we found, our only cost this summer will be shoe rentals.
Bonus Free Entertainment: We’ve been watching a mama robin who hatched her eggs right under our deck. Best free show in town!
I agree with you about the birds! Yesterday a pair of house finches (red headed beauties they are) came to my window feeder. The male patiently sat and fed the female who opened her little beak as he placed seeds in it! So sweet. And (drumroll)
an albino hawk sat on a power line at the edge of my yard . So momentous I notified the NC Bird Club in Raleigh. I am 81 and that was my first sighting of the beautiful white bird. Free entertainment!
Ran into a HS classmate at her mom's garage sale. She is a size larger than me and had an athletic bra for $5. I tried it on before buying it, using her mom's laundry room. She invited me to her home to try on whatever I wanted out of her spare bedroom. So fun!
I spent 6 hours working on the flower beds. Will pick up a load of mulch one day this week. Even my mom worked on her roses. So much better than sitting inside.
I dug up worms and grubs for the western blue birds feeding their babies.
Took cuttings of my curly willow to start new bushes. I love using the branches in cut bouquets.
Set up the sitting spot under the big apple tree.
I get so much pleasure out of seeing your clean up projects. Well done.
First for my frugal fail - planned to brush my teeth right before we checked out of a hotel, and left my electric toothbrush in the room. Didn't notice until we got home. Filled out the lost & found form, and housekeeping didn't find it. It was right out on the counter. So sad, because electric toothbrushes are $$$. 🙁
1) Had an overnight getaway for DH's birthday. Used Hyatt points to pay for the stay, which also covered all fees & parking.
2) I have Hyatt status, so got upgraded to a super nice room & got two free drinks at check in. Also got two additional free drinks at the pool.
3) We also received a very nice free breakfast buffet & I brought home the other half of my omelette (breakfast today) & part of a muffin I didn't finish.
4) Went hiking before we checked in (free) & DH & I took advantage of a spin class on Sunday morning before we left (also free).
5) Got home, caught up on laundry, unpacked & DS19 had five friends over to swim & hang out, so we offered up dinner. We grilled hot dogs, I cut up a watermelon & we served a few sides DH bought at Costco. We weren't fans of the pasta salad, so we sent that with DS19's friend. We priced it out, and still definitely cheaper than pizza delivery, which we considered, since we had just gotten home.
I live near student housing and dumpster picked a brand new Nike backpack. It had some borax powder spilled on it. Ran it through he wash. Perfect!
Grabbed the borax box too as it was mostly full.
Also got:
a plastic 3-drawer unit on casters. In my tiny bathroom now holding my towels and washcloths!;
2 adjustable drawer dividers;
Nice insulated water bottle;
Some acrylic paints I will give to my niece who loves to create;
A pad of graph paper;
A small White Barn Cactus Flower candle that smells so good!!!!!;
A small Bissell sweeper vacuum;
A Swiffer pole...I needed one!
1) Spotted a free pile while running errands. Scored an IKEA picture frame and two terracotta drip trays that perfectly fit two herb pots on my deck.
2) More weeding and debris clearing at the neighbor’s (and a bit at our place, too). Kept us home so we weren’t tempted to spend money!
3) Made an apple pie with four apples that were getting a bit mushy and no longer appealing for fresh eating.
4) More rhubarb in the dehydrator, along with some herbs.
5) Provided taxi services to the 21-yr old son and his telescope. He was taking part in a sidewalk astronomy event at a local park, where he and fellow astronomers shared views of Jupiter, Mercury, and even the sun (through a special scope) to anyone that happened to walk by, at no charge. I brought a book and a book light to keep me occupied during the 3 hour event and out of the nearby coffee shop. This also saved gas since I stuck around instead of driving back and forth.
It takes too much discipline to be able to stop reading and start the chores again, so I've been trying to pair mine with audiobooks, that way I can do both at the same time. Haven't posted recently as we've been packing and clearing out the house, our closing date is this week! Yaaaay! I've listened to almost 120 hours of audiobooks this month because of it. Now we're in a budget hotel with the kiddos as we wrap up the house and await some much needed vacation! We're off on a two month trip while we virtually look for a new place to live.
1. To save money (and keep some try to eat like real people) we brought a kettle and an electric griddle and have been making lunches and dinners in the room. The hotel has a "light breakfast" (emphasis on light, but it *is* a budget hotel) so we've been taking advantage of that. To further complicate things, I have a dairy allergy and our toddler is teething- FOUR teeth coming in!! If anyone wants hotel cooking tips I'm happy to share!
2. As we finish cleaning out the house we've been giving away almost everything we own. We're only taking what can fit in suitcases for the trip and storing 4 boxes of sentimental items and larger things with a friend. It's been freeing and a bit sad, but mostly great.
3. With things people don't want/need, we've been taking to our senior center thrift store and to Kid to Kid consignment store. We've slowly brought stuff to Kid to Kid the last few months, and in the last few days we've made around $55 with some of our large items. It's been a long time since we've made good money there, but every bit counts!
4. Last week I met the cold plates of destiny, (I had an early mammogram) and it came back unremarkable! Early detection is important, especially as someone with a close family history of breast cancer. The tech explained that they now only need about 1/3 of the pressure on the breast compared to what used to be the norm. She said it's now about 10 lbs vs 30!!! lbs of pressure.
5. Our hotel does have a large pool and we've been making good use of it, almost daily! And going on walks up 3 flights of stairs to calm our toddler and get good exercise for ourselves and our preschooler. Getting our steps in and stopping a meltdown is gold in my book!
Hopefully now that we're less exhausted I'll be back to commenting more! I miss everyone's frugal wins.
Shyla, I'm glad you're back and looking forward to hearing about more of your adventures!
Thank you for your kind words!
Glad to see you commenting again, I had wondered how you were.
Thank you! Exhausted and going slightly crazy, but who isn't these days? 😉
1) While helping our neighbor move I was gifted two Pendelton camp blankets. These have been on my "want/ need" list for a couple of years, but I hadn't found them at a price that I wanted to pay for blankets that I actually do want to camp with. They were in great shape, but he had washed them a time or three. Perfect for me since I plan to hand wash/ line dry them every year or so.
2) We were gifted food from another neighbor, so I'm getting creative with the menu this week to use some bonus items.
3) I'm slowly wrangling the packing list for one kid's summer adventure. Why is this frugal? By giving myself the time to find and repurpose what we already have and putting them together in a bag we aren't panic-buying things that we can't find at the last minute.
4) I'm using the same philosophy for a specialized family trip. I suspect we have everything we need, it just needs to be found and isolated.
5) Still rocking the thrifted/ me-made wardrobe, making my coffee, packing my lunch and taking the bus. Boring, but thrifty.
The chair turned out great!!! Future you will thank you for pulling up all those little maple twigs!!
I repaired an old lampshade that was falling apart. Once I inspected it, I realized the thin strip of fabric that folded over the metal ring (that attached to the harp) on the inside top was coming unglued but the rest of the shade was in good shape. Looked in my craft supplies & found a suitable glue. Took a little finessing to get the fabric smoothed over the ring. Now the ring itself is attached to the shade with glue as well as with the fabric glued over it. The glue dried clear. Honestly, I think it looks better than the original glue job! And was a heck of a lot easier/cheaper than shopping for a new shade!