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.