Four Frugal Things -- Soccer Games & a Disappointing Library
1) My friend Lise texted to ask if I wanted a table to rehab. Unfortunately I have neither space nor inclination for a new-to-me table at the moment. I did offer to take it for my Buy Nothing group, so I stopped by her house to grab the table.
Luckily it didn't weigh too much!
I was not more than three minutes from her house when a neighbor complimented me on the table, which garnered her the offer of a free table!
She gave me a couple stalks of fresh sage as a thank you!
2) I also walked my plastics recycling to New Seasons Market, which is always satisfying declutter as it piles up on our back porch. I didn't buy anything in the store.
3) My next stop was the newly expanded Belmont branch library. I actually checked it out a couple weeks ago when my sister was in town, but had held off from writing about it as my first impression was straight up disappointment. We went without a proper library for a year and a half while the county expanded the library and I guess my expectations were too high.
Multnomah County passed a bond measure a few years back to build new libraries and every one that I've visited has been amazing. Beautiful and functional in the best possible way.
This is the lobby of the Belmont branch library:
It's dark, colorless and oddly empty. That dark windowless corner in the back is where book holds are kept. I asked a librarian if the big open space is kept that way for events or author reading and was told "No." I hope he was wrong.
The second story is certainly better, but I counted the bookshelves and came up with the number "seven." I'm pretty sure the library before the expansion had more bookshelves, and were at least six shelves high. I fully understand that libraries no longer serve the sole purpose of lending out books, but surely it should be one of the bigger priorities.
The children's library, which is located in the attached original library is bright, colorful and thoughtfully designed. I didn't take any pictures as it's creepy to snap photos of stranger's kids and put them on the internet. Here's one from the library website:
The room to the left holds more books.
I'm still processing my feelings and frankly surprised by how disappointed I am. Perhaps the library will grow on me.
Here are blog posts where I full on gushed about our three newest libraries:
4) I stopped by Fred Meyer after my library pilgrimage to grab a half gallon of milk and made sure to peruse the clearance produce shelf. It was decently stocked and I came home with a $1.50 bag of apples.
I ate one Cosmic Crisp apple last night and it was indeed -- delightfully crisp. Well named!
4) My husband bought a pair of Portland Timbers soccer tickets, not remembering that our youngest was going to be out of town. I'm not a huge sports fan, but I still agreed to be his date. It wasn't until we were a couple blocks from the stadium and seeing all the women's clear plastic purses that I remembered that standard bags are usually banned.
I then recalled that a Mariner's employee let me know that purses are allowed if they contain medication. I have asthma, and as such I carry a rescue inhaler with me at all times. I shared this information with the Timbers security person and was quickly granted an exception and had a "approved guest bag" label strapped to my purse.
I will hold off from buying a doomed for the landfill plastic purse as long as possible.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Katy Wolk-Stanley
"Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without."
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I would also be disappointed if the library did not contain many books! Our local library in the town next door ( town size 3,000 people) has three good sized rooms of wall to wall books with shelves in the middle with books. Maybe call the main office and express concerns?
Cute table!
I make sure I have some good pockets for “no bags” events. I’ve found that a light jacket with zipped pockets can make a dandy purse!
I notice that a common feature of the remodeled libraries is that they have short bookshelves, and I assume that’s so the librarians have a clean line of sight. That probably keeps the antisocial behavior at a minimum.
I hadn't thought about that, you have raised a good point.
Also, I believe ADA standards for accessible design are for no higher than 48 inches high... many older libraries that still have taller shelving are using upper shelves for displays or leaving them empty.
I hadn’t thought of that!
My complaint is shelves at floor level: I can't bend to see them, let alone take books from them. Not so crazy about reaching over my head, either.
I agree about the floor level shelves. I feel like I have to assume a yoga position to actually see what's on them. Sometimes I don't even bother trying to see what's there.
We attended a volleyball game at my college kid's university last night, and I barely remembered the "clear bag" rule as we were leaving the house. Whew!
Was a fun and frugal outing - students and one guest get in free, so we only had to buy a single $10 ticket, and my student bought us dinner using the "dining dollars" that come with his meal plan. We had a blast and are hoping to make it to some basketball games this year also.
The closing earlier this year of book distributor Baker & Taylor might have affected your library’s expected inventory for opening. (https://www.npr.org/2026/01/07/nx-s1-5668426/libraries-books-distributor-closing)
Katy,
When I worked as a security guard at a college football stadium, we told the ladies they could use a clear, gallon sized Ziplock-type plastic bag instead of a clear purse. It's exactly the right size and you probably already have one (or more!) at home.
Our local branch library is in a rented office building that had its air conditioner stolen. It's landlord white with gray carpet. But the staff is awesome and it's busy all the time.
Today was potluck after church and I made a cheesy corn spoonbread that was a big hit. It's always good to bring home an empty dish, especially if the dish is an easy one that uses stuff one has on hand.
Spent the afternoon shortening three skirts and two dresses. I am only five feet tall so everything is at least four inches too long. Got no idea how much tailoring costs but know that being able to sew has saved me thousands over the past 50-plus years.
Gave both dogs a manicure. Watered the garden very early in the morning so it did not evaporate too fast in the scorching heat. Am reading a free book on Hoopla.
I bet you could ask in your Buy Nothing group for a clear tote … I have several and would gladly give one away.
Casey, I was going to say the same thing. Before I buy something - even secondhand - I ask in my Buy Nothing group and someone often has what I'm looking for.
Make yourself a clear plastic bag. It isn't that difficult and would make a cheap/frugal Xmas present.
The branch library in our community center also uses the low shelving. It does allow the light in from the expansive windows.
Today I will start the third day of medication and I will be more than half done with the regime at the end of the day. I'm dragging my feet, but I'll get there.
I slept most of the night, which is a big improvement.
I'm reading By Any Other Name, by Jodi Picoult. It's a fictionalized biography about the woman who MAY have been the real author of Shakespeare's plays. Interesting.
My free trial of Britbox will wrap up soon. I must remember to cancel.
Beth W.,
I once read The Secret Confessions of Anne Shakespeare by Arliss Ryan which also was a fiction novel based on the notion that Anne Hathaway Shakespeare wrote many of her hubby's plays. I will have to read and compare Jodi Picoult's book with it. Thanx for sharing.
Hope you are feeling better.
I was given a clear plastic tote at family weekend at DS19's University, which I used for the football game. I brought it home, and have loaned it out 3x on BN, and will bring it to this year's family weekend football game as well. People are very appreciative to borrow it, and to your point, keeps junk out of the landfill. Although other folks up thread had other great solutions as well.
1) Did a largely inexpensive "date day" yesterday with DH. We drove our electric car to Point Reyes National Seashore, which was free for the trail we took. Our ~10 miles took us through Tomales Point, which was absolutely gorgeous, with ocean views that wound through an elk preserve. We saw quite a few elk & it was a beautiful day on the coast. We did finish up with a very late lunch at a restaurant with lots of local oysters (DH). I had a burger & wine. The restaurant wasn't cheap, but it was a wonderful day together. We've talked about doing an overnight in this area, but with Labor Day prices as high as they were, we just made it into a day trip - about 2 hours each way.
2) We skipped dinner, since we had a late lunch. DH had nuts when he got home, and I had a piece of cheese with some rice crackers. Similarly, we packed breakfast & our own drinks.
3) I once again used my trusty Osprey day pack that I received free from a work event.
4) I took advantage of an eBay offer for 1/2 off boosted listings, which I rarely use. I've sold a lot in a week, so I suppose that was a nice win as well.
5) DH is grilling chicken & making rice tonight, for an easy dinner at home.
1. Since last posting I finished "Into the Water" by Paula Hawkins and I'm never going to get those hours back. I didn't enjoy it.
2. I also listened to "We Are All Guilty Here" by Karin Slaughter and that was a very good read!
3. I bought a box grater with the ambition of finely grating down 4 lbs of carrots (I accidentally bought WAY too many with our grocery pickup order) and gave myself two nicks and two deep cuts. I remember now why we stopped using our old box grater in Oregon.. but no blood or bits made it into my carrots! I managed to limp along with some bandaids and get through 2 lbs of carrots before admitting defeat. I did find a good deal on cute bandaids because of it though! We were down to only a few in our first aid kit to it was GRATE timing!
4. I used 3 of the 5 cups of carrots to make some absolutely delicious carrot and applesauce muffins. Let's be real, they're essentially naked cupcakes.
5. My husband rode his bike to the store to pick up some medicine and soy milk. I had a grocery pickup order the other day but the prices for even the generic children's Tylenol and soy milk were horrendous so I didn't add it to our cart. I did combine store points and sales to get a $65 cart down to $33!
@Shyla, I cannot recommend enough that you purchase a glove for grating / use of Mandolin. (I think they are called 'cut resistant gloves - food grade')
With the cucumbers I have been slicing (on my mandolin) I am so GRATEful (see what I did there) that I have it to wear. I keep it in my knife drawer. that will allow you to deal with the carrots now and in the future!
That sounds like an excellent long term use purchase! I'll have to add it to our gift list! Thanks for the GRATE recommendation!
1) I finished one library book, They Called Us Enemy by George Takei about his experience in Japanese internment camps as a child, it’s a graphic novel and really engaging so I read it in a day, highly recommend it. I then started another library book, which is our book club read for this month, How to Read a Book by Monica Wood. I’m only 1 chapter in but already really like it.
2) I did some cooking yesterday as I’d fallen a little behind in using all my produce. I made a delicious spicy Korean cucumber salad (this was because my husband bought a big bag of Persian cucumbers at Costco that weren’t getting eaten, they are all turned into this salad now which I am devouring). I also made a cauliflower, kale and veggie sausage soup, I don’t eat veggie sausage much but my mom had bought some for me for a bbq at their house and then gave me the leftover ones so now they are all used up in this soup which also turned out very good. I also made a vegan mushroom stroganoff with my daughter last night for our dinner, this recipe is always a big hit. Today I’m going to use some beans I soaked overnight to make a kidney bean curry and I’ll use the cabbage I have along with tofu and cooked beans from the freezer to make the filling for a srichacha slaw burrito recipe I enjoy. That should get me all caught up on using produce and provide a nice selection in the freezer for my lunches at work.
3) It’s supposed to be lovely and warm today so we are going to have a beach day. We can walk to the beach from our house (half mile) so no gas or parking costs, I’ll pack food from home and we already have a little beach tent and beach toys to use. Good free fun!
I really enjoyed How to Read a Book!
Thanks for the graphic book recommendation. I love graphic books since reading Ducks. If you haven't read that one, you might want to try it. So good!
Perhaps the members of the community will brighten up the place with their presence. A person can hope.
If this makes you feel any better, my beloved branch library is closing for 8-10 months. The County will be replacing the roof, the 50-year-old HVAC system, upgrading the electrical system, and upgrading the lighting, all of which should have been done many, many years ago. As of now, there are ZERO plans for interior improvements, not even cleaning the carpet. They're doing all this because they want the City where the building is located to take over the building. Fortunately, the City sees it for the white elephant it is and has no plans to do so. For the entire time the building has existed, the nearby homes have paid an extra quarter percent on their property taxes to support the library. Alas, the County used the money elsewhere. Don't even get me started...
1. I sold $70 of stuff (4 items)on FMP. Now that I am unemployed again I have time to list and sell stuff. I have been listing stuff like crazy.
2. Hubby and I stopped by Bob's while out running errands. We have been in need of a new to use couch for a while. We haven't found anything that we want to spend our money on yet. We were each given a t-shirt as its their 35th anniversary. I also had a free ice cream. We will keep looking.
3. Sheets were washed and hung outside. It is beautiful today.
4. Needed hamburger buns. I checked the sale flyer and chicken cutlets were on sale too. I grabbed a pack.
5. Hubby brought a bag of garden veggies to his dad and step mom. The garden is still going strong. Our son did laundry at the house yesterday and I sent him home with garden veggies too.
Sorry that you're unemployed, but happy that you're able to scrounge up a bit of income.
Thanks. The lady I took care of passed away at home at 91. I did my job. I have several offers currently. Just meeting with people to find the best match.
1. Some people in our town complained about different aspects of our new library and one of them was all the empty space in the lobby seemingly used for no purpose. Since then, events and displays have crept in there. For instance, a table with quail eggs and chicken eggs ready to hatch, vertical tower type shelves for the Friends ongoing book sale, some comfy chairs near the magazine rack...I hope your library does some of the same. I do agree the amount of books seems woefully small. I hope this changes over time.
2. I found a quarter while taking my 94 year old friend shopping at Kohls. So yes, I did come into some money recently. I didn't buy a thing while at Kohls.
3. DH and I are in the White Mountains of New Hampshire for an overnight getaway. I drove and kept my speed to 65 to conserve gas. This was a bump up from my usual 64 mph. We brought coffee and water in to-go cups from home for the ride. We had an ice cream cone from a stand for lunch but are going to a restaurant for supper.
4. We walked trails around The Basin, a natural phenomenon where the water rushing off a mountain has carved a large "basin" in the rocks. Free with free parking.
5. I brought a library book to read tonight at the hotel before sleep. One of my Summer Reading Bingo squares is Take a Book on an Adventure so this will qualify me for another raffle ticket.
Free outdoor activities with free parking are the best!
That’s a bummer about the library! Hopefully it grows on you.
1. My dad is finally open to letting go of some of his stuff. He is by no means a hoarder, but he has lived in the same house for 54 years and things do build up. Today my husband and I loaded our entire car with CDs, records and accessories. I spent two hours rummaging through everything into keep, sell, donate, trash. 5 garbage bags for the dump and 3 huge boxes to sell at the used record store or donate.
2. My dad also invited my husband to look through his lumber stash and my husband is going to take a bunch of it for projects. He had a small business doing handyman and carpentry work so it will come in handy!
Next up will be a carload to the Restore and then we’ll start going through books and other miscellaneous.
My dad is 83 and in perfect health, but seems ready to clear out some of the clutter. Now that I live close to him again, he seems to understand that this will be a huge burden on me someday if he doesn’t get the ball rolling now. I would rather take the time to work on this in bits and pieces rather than be stuck with a mess during a crisis!
3. I took my son shopping for lunch and snacks for school. I was happy to see the healthy choices he was making and hopeful that he actually eats it!
4. School starts tomorrow and I’m excited to get our family back in a schedule again!!
5. I found some amazing buys at a local thrift shop yesterday.
It's such a burden. I'm glad you're abelt to go through things while your father can be part of the process.
Definitely room for improvement, if only paint on walls and some posters. Kids’ space looks great.
It's baffling.
I've thrifted two of the clear plastic totes for sporting events. They're handy, and I didn't buy new!
Also, at a recent WNBA game, they didn't even allow those. My (very annoyed) husband walked ten minutes each way to take ours back to the car, and also snagged a purse style one from the trash can where people were ditching theirs. I cringed at how many were probably tossed and re bought. But I do use ours often for events!
That's frustrating and so wasteful for people who weren't able to return theirs to their cars!
Thanks to the reader (or was it Katy?) who recommended Yesteryear. Fearless writing, fast-paced, unlikable but fascinating protagonist, rough internal and external dialogue, uncomfortable, and diabolical. I'm still glad I read it and would recommend.
I'm still on hold for it! I just checked and I'm #329 out of 1119 holds on 98 copies!
I've shared a few times that I work for a library system. We have had several remodels where there were some questionable design choices. One library you walk in and see an exit door and no books until you enter the kids room or go upstairs. The main desk isn't in view unless you turn and walk about forty feet. The building is awkward and echoey. Another one they did the cement floor thing, it's so noisy and unwelcoming.
My library we got rid of a quarter of our adult collection to make more open space for the 1-200 teens we get after school every day. However, we don't have the budget to buy tables. The joke continues.
1. I worked every day of the three day weekend doing Instacart to cover credit card bill. It was exhausting, but I am proud of myself for pushing myself. I plan to do a little every day to try and help it compound more. I went and did a shop only order at Public this morning. It didn't feel fun, but it will help at the end of the week.
2. My son, friend, and I went to a neighbors for a small meal of ribs and wings. I brought cheese and crackers I had on hand. We had a great time. Entertainment doesn't have to be expensive.
3. Myself and three friends enjoyed an art opening and night on the town plus rooftop bar for free. We car pooled and ate sandwiches at home before, and brought drinks. Very frugal and fun night.
4. My neighbor gave me four bags of clothes. I have laundered them and brought half of them to two thrift stores. I sold exactly one item in two hours. It was a bust, but I tried. Two more bags to go. There are several items I plan to keep for myself, so that's a net win.
5. I put a few things on the curb, which I had curb picked. I didn't think they would sell and decided my space was worthy of being mine again. I listed a few things in my neighborhood group on Facebook. No sales yet.
I have used a clear zipper bag that sheets came in, some even have a handle I can affix a strap to. Sheets lately seem to come in a fabric pouch made of the same material as sheets. I use these pouches to keep socks and undies in a suitcase.
I saw someone use one of those to bring their stuff into a Seattle Mariner's game.