Five Frugal Things -- Vintage Lighting Globes & Salmon Burgers
1. I stopped by Goodwill and thrifted this vintage lighting globe for just $4.99. You likely know that I consistently pick these up, as they're an straightforward sale to a store in my neighborhood. It's an easy side hustle, as there's no photographing, researching, packaging, mailing, etc. I simply hand them over and they write me a check.
$4.99 to $40 in under thirty minutes!
2. I took my daughter's boots back to the cobbler, as the zipper repair was done incorrectly the first time around. (The bottom piece wasn't put into place, which means the pull tab kept disconnecting.) He fixed the zipper and no money was spent as I'd already paid for the repair a few months back. I noticed that he didn't bother to shine them up this time, which annoyed me.
It was a pain to run this errand twice. Actually four times, as it was drop off-pick up-drop off-pick up!
3. I'll be hitting the Franz Bakery Outlet store bright and early tomorrow morning, as my day is busy. I have speciality items like buns and gluten-free bread in the freezer, but am out of regular bread.
4. I was inspired by a reader mentioning her salmon burgers in the comments section, as I had a leftover fillet in the fridge. I briefly glanced at an online recipe, but went rogue and made my own recipe using a cup or so of Dollar Tree panko bread crumbs, eggs, oyster sauce, scalliions, dried parsley, salt, pepper and steak seasoning.
I then grilled a patty in my cast iron skillet and topped it with sriracha mayonnaise and lettuce on a hamburger bun. Dear readers, this was maybe the most delectable thing I've ever eaten! Plus it took what would've fed a single person and stretched it into enough for three servings!
Thank you, Karen A.!
5. I ordered an amazing birthday gift for my sister on eBay, which supports an individual seller and continues my buy-nothing-new decision that I began in 2007. I can't share what it is, but I'll divulge all in a few weeks.
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
That salmon burger looks delicious. What a great use for leftovers.
1. I picked up a couple things at an estate sale. I found a Cutco knife, Cutco kitchen scissors and a Henckels paring knife. I will sell the two Cutco items but will keep the Henckels knife for myself. I have a goal to find a new to me set of knives at estate sales and thrift stores. This particular knife is on sale right now for $75
2. Meijer had a sale on berries. My mom was out and called to see if I wanted any. Yes please. It's nice to get my grocery order fulfilled without having to walk into a busy store.
3. Dinner last night was leftover tuna casserole that my mom gifted me. She knows I love it, but I never make it. She doesn't care for leftovers which is a shame, but works out well for me sometimes.
4. My handy man came and replaced a worn out light switch and a broken GFI outlet as well as a couple other things. He charges a fraction of what I would have to pay an electrician and always does a great job.
5. My invisible fence which is over 20 years old quit working. It has a lifetime warranty. I had to pay a service charge but it is now up and running again. My too smart pup figured this out and decided to help me out with the raking near the road. I live on ten acres. She gets the run of a couple acres. The cost of a real fence would be so much more than the invisible fence.
I had gotten my granddaughter a Little People ferris wheel from a local reseller. She absolutely loves it as it plays music and goes round and round, two big wins in the 6 month old set. However, none of the actual Little People I had picked up worked with it. It seemed like they were all top heavy and ended upside down and stuck at the bottom of the rotation. Seeing as this was sure to give her a complex, I checked this toy out on ebay and learned that it was originally sold with the original LP - smaller with much smaller heads. LOL I grabbed a few random ones off ebay - I have a feeling this is going to be a favorite when she is old enough to actually play with it.
Her stocking is almost done. Just doing all the backstitching and then need to sew it together. Seeing our stockings hanging up makes my Christmas perfect.
I have also picked up random LP from the same reseller which I will just drop in her stocking. She is starting on food now, so I will put some puffs and pouches in her stocking, too. Filling stockings is my favorite part of Christmas, maybe.
Working 5 hours this Saturday morning. We have been short-handed, and I always welcome the OT.
Going to a college graduation party today. I'm going to pick up a gift card to a local coffee shop for the grad.
Not to be a kill joy but those original little people were discontinued because they are a choking hazard. Perfect size to lodge in little throats.
Hopefully yours are bigger?
I actually wondered about that. These are from 2015, so I don’t know if they modified them to be better from the ORIGINAL original ones. I will definitely only let her play with them when supervised and put up between times! Thank you for your concern!
Alice,
Side note: I'm reading the book Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson. It's about Chicago's Columbian Exposition of 1893, which included the very first Ferris wheel. The engineer/designer had to submit his idea for it several times before it was accepted. (The Exposition planners wanted something to "out-Eiffel" the Eiffel Tower. 🙂
I love this book, and I have met the author! As a resident of the Chicago area, I really enjoyed the references to the city. I even used to work in the only building surviving from the Columbian Exposition!
Beth W.,
How cool is that?? I have been wondering if any of the buildings were still around. I'm really enjoying the book, too. One of my nieces goes to DePaul, so I'll definitely be suggesting this book to her. 🙂
I did not know that!
Alice,
I didn't either! This book has had so many historical "aha" moments for me!
The salmon patties look delicious!
1. Sold a Christmas jumper on Vinted (for a lot less than 200 and even 30 Dollars!) but it all adds up. I will keep an eye out for H. Moser & CIE jumpers in charity shops in future!
2. Used some wool from my wool stash to make fingerless gloves as a Christmas present for a friend. Will make another pair with the same wool, it’s a nice colourful wool, lots of colour needed in winter I always think!
3. No Aldi box this week as our freezer is too full, I wouldn’t be able to freeze anything. We’re working on using up frozen food now.
4. We had torrential rains recently and as a result there were some pot holes in the tarmac in the driveway. We were able to repair them with bags of pothole repair tarmac which the owner of the house we are renting paid for. One of the very few perks of renting.
5. Recent favourite library (re)read: Mara and Dann (Doris Lessing)
Love that you were inspired by the comments to try a new "use it up" recipe, and bonus, that it turned out great! Well done, collective team! I also really like those vintage globes & while they don't suit the style of my house, I can appreciate them all the same.
1) Chased a return that went sideways. I suppose this was partially my fault, as I'd ordered several things from the same retailer. I attempted to place all returns in the same package, to save on postage (for the company) & reduce the waste of having two separate packages. Turns out that one package needed to go to the retailer directly, but the other items went to a different manufacturer that sells in the store. I had no idea, and my attempt to be even slightly responsible caused a big headache for everyone. The second manufacturer mailed my item back to me, but I couldn't start a return, because of course, the store showed that I'd already started a return on the item & it was listed as "in transit". Anyway, this was my fault, and it took at least an hour and multiple stops at the mailing shop to get it resolved, as well as a chat with customer support. But, all is well now & I will not make that mistake again.
2) Traded in an item purchased as a gift for the sale version, saving $34.
3) Did not quit when boss's boss made an absolutely unreasonable demand, and practiced my serene poker face instead. (spoiler: I have a terrible poker face, which is why I described this as "practiced").
4) We will decorate the house with all decorations that we've had for 10+ years, including our tree. When the lights attached on the tree stopped working 5 or so years ago, we painstakingly went through & removed them all from the tree using wire cutters. We now just add our own strings of lights.
5) Looked into some gear rental (vs buying used & then reselling on eBay) for a few items we need for our NZ hiking trip.
I dug the last of the carrots from the greenhouse. I almost waited too late, as the soil in the boxes was starting to freeze. It was a great year for carrots and I'm going to miss them when this last harvest is gone.
After 20 inches of much-needed snow my husband plowed for two neighbors. They don't live here in winter, but if the snow is left it melts then refreezes and come spring it would take heavy equipment to unearth the drive. They pay him at the end of the season. A nice little side hustle.
I finished the last of the boxy zipper pouches I'm sewing from fabric scraps. I'll put some goodies in each and give them as gifts. They look very nice.
Attended the annual children's concert in our little town. Best holiday entertainment ever -- and free. I don't have children but the whole show is delightful.
Dinner when I got home from the concert was clean-out-the-fridge leftovers.
Oh my gosh! I inspired the Non Consumer Advocate; my day is made. 😉 Your salmon burger is much schwankier than ours; we use a can of salmon, some quick oats, and sauteed minced onion and garlic + an egg (or 1/3 cup aquafaba). It's obviously a very forgiving sort of burger. They are delicious and a very good use for leftover fish! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
I was wondering if I could use canned salmon for the salmon burger. TY for update.
We grew with “salmon patties “. My grandmother used 1 can salmon with the bones picked out, self rising flower and 1 egg. Spoon mixture to hot oil to fry, turning at least once. Delicious with biscuits and syrup of choice.
A leftover salmon fillet in my house? That would last about as long as leftover wine. 😛 But I'm glad that Karen A. has inspired Katy. Both here and at The Frugal Girl, it's all about great minds running in the same direction.
1. Got two tiniest characters from our buy nothing group to go with our hand me down tonies box. I also ordered a creative Tonies to record myself, husband and grandparents for my little one for Christmas.
2. Spent yesterday afternoon at the goodwill outlet. Found a handful of things to resell and odds and ends for my family.
3. Attended a toddler class with my little one at our local community center. They are about 12 dollars a class , but was great bang for the buck as far as kids events goes. I look forward to attending more, and when he’s a bit older will be able to drop him and go to the gym or run errands, which is MUCH cheaper than a babysitter.
4. Sold a few more things on Poshmark. It always humors me when I end up thrift flipping to someone who lives in my state/close by, which has been happening a lot recently! I guess this makes sense, as I tend to find a lot of outdoor gear/brands at our bins in CO.
5. Spending the day listing my bins finds, cleaning and may take the toddler and doggo to Home Depot later for a real thrill!
Oh that burger looks delicious. That is the reason I vacuum pack larger filets for the yummy second meal.
I went to Franz this morning with my friend, visiting and catching up on the 30 mile trek. Delighted they had GF everything bread for $1. Picked up bread for our household and cousins.
I am so excited to have a no rain day today to finish up the outside decorating. I have an antique manure spreader at the entrance of our driveway, I have solar powered party lights and a large-ish nativity scene on it with all the animals.
Put the rest of my dad's crab pots for sale as the season is almost here.
And now that I have a moment, here are my frugal things for today:
Went with practical things for the kids' St Nicholas Day gifts. Oldest got a backup camera for his car, another kid got a battery pack for his phone (for those long school days where there's no outlets in the classroom!), and for others, some money downloaded to their debit cards.
I decorated with my uber-frugal-because-I've-had-them-for-years decorations, including one of those handmade ceramic Christmas trees from the 60's or 70's. My mother had been gifted it from a friend and she didn't want it because a couple of the lights had broken off, but it's still pretty and I love it.
We are continuing on a year-long streak of eating only food made at home; tonight is personal pizzas made with homemade pizza crusts, and a mulberry pie made with the berries I picked back in the summer. It was time to get them out of the freezer! And homemade whipped cream in the Vitamix; I am unreasonably excited about this one because I made my own powdered sweetener with the Vitamix as well, so the whipped cream will stay fluffy for at least two days in the fridge now.
A couple of my classmates wanted to give our anatomy professor a little something to thank her for a great two semesters; they hopped online and ordered a mug and I volunteered to make a card with the craft supplies I have on hand. I am not sure how she'll feel about getting a mug that says "The Tears of my A&P Students" but I am pretty sure she will like my card, as it's cat-themed and she loves cats. I have noted that everybody loves a handmade card, as well.
While visiting a Little Free Library near me, I found packs of unused Christmas cards--from England, no less!--and scooped them up, even though I don't send a lot of cards out. But after doing clinicals at a nearby nursing home I realized I could send some cards to the residents we met and helped (I called the facility to make sure this was okay), so the cards were found for a purpose.
Karen A., I'm sure that the nursing home residents will love those cards. I know all too well that a lot of residents don't get visits or other attention. As the late great songwriter John Prine reminds us, "Say hello in there."
I thought of your husband, A. Marie, as we were assigned to the memory care ward. It was bittersweet because many of the residents were very patient with us students and enjoyed seeing new people, but I hated having to tell them we were only there two days.
A quote attributed to Maya Angelou: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel." This goes double for folks in memory care wards. Don't fret that you couldn't have been there longer; I'm sure that you did a great deal of good.
Co worker out with a fall so I picked up extra hours this week
Long distance fb friend sent me 5 boxes as her mom passed in October
I am enjoying finding holiday decor and plethora of new baking pans I’ll gift for the holiday
I love the vintage globe! What kind of a store buys them?
1. The temperature soared to 30° today, so I got in the car to do some errands. Even though it's been below freezing, the snow mass on the car had shrunk quite a bit and it wasn't too bad to scrape. I went to Jewel, where I spent $42 and saved $28. My best buy was getting a package of sliced cheese free on a BOGO offer -- a $4.49 value. The other savings ranged from 20¢ to $3.
2. I went to the post office and mailed my property tax payment. I avoided paying for parking by being in and out, quick like a bunny.
3. I went to the community center to walk on the track that surrounds the indoor skating rink. The bonus was I got to watch a rehearsal for a ballet on ice. I think the music was Swan Lake. It was so lovely, it took my breath away. I'm sure tickets to the actual show will be pricey.
4. I dropped off my son's birthday present a week late, but he seemed to appreciate it. It was a Bluetooth meat thermometer, a Black Friday deal from his Amazon list.
5. I picked up a book from a little free library -- a Philippa Gregory novel.
I don't think it truly counts as frugal as my husband had bought it at some point but I finally got around to cooking some gnocchi from Italy for lunch today, pulling it from the depths of the pantry. I asked him to pick up one thing when he went to Costco a while ago and he picked up several random food items, this being one. I'd had a spate of terrible gnocchi so wasn't excited to try another one despite it being "from Italy!!" Turns out it was fine and a very, very quick meal prep.
He's been sick for a week and I've steered clear, hoping to stay healthy. His appetite has returned so this evening is another carb heavy meal as I'm using an old cabbage to roast with sea salt and vinegar and will make mashed potatoes. I have plenty from Thanksgiving to cook up.
Reached out to Jus-Rol because I'd bought two pie crusts and they're not cheap at almost $5 each but was buy 2, get 1 free and they were all in pieces when I unrolled them after letting them warm on the counter. I said if had luck several years with their vegan pie crusts, puff pastry and pizza crusts... But these were a mess and were in more than 20 pieces each. I said I tempered them on the counter before using as always. They responded with did I temper them before using? Hmmm I replied that I had. And that's been it. I feel like they should offer a coupon off or something but apparently they don't think anything of it. (Has anyone else ran into this mess with those crusts lately?) I'm lazy and don't make my vegan pie crust.
Also reached out to a company who had a massive recall on battery chargers and my husband and I submitted out forms/photos on the same day in June. He picked replacement and stupidly I picked gift certificate to that store (anker). His battery came in Sept and my gift cert never came. I reached out in October and they said wait longer. Then I was like this is long enough and they responded immediately d are going to mail a replacement battery which is superb.
One outta two ain't bad I guess.
That is an awesome return on the globe light shade
1. Did returns promptly so the store doesn't have use of my money any longer than necessary.
2. Baked gf goodies to put in the freezer. I'll take them with me on a trip next week.
3. Bought day old bread for $2 a loaf (1 pound loaf). Used the plain brown bag from that purchase to wrap my sister's family Christmas gift.
4. Used a press pass to get into high school soccer game for free. We watched the son of a neighbor. They were very pleased we had come.
5. Picked up book on hold at library and dropped off a scarf (at the library's "take a coat, leave a coat" rack. Made from free yarn, it only cost me my time (and I like something to do with my hands) and someone will be very happy to receive a brand new scarf.
That is very kind, Kara, to make the scarf to donate! You're right, someone will be very thankful to be able to choose that!
Hmmm... we have Seven Fish Dishes for our Christmas dinner, and salmon's always there. I usually just bake it in teriyaki sauce, but hadn't thought about burgers! I think I will try this, instead. (Thanks, Katy, for mentioning it.)
Now that our kids are older, we split the dishes (and the cost) -- but all that seafood still adds up.
1. Wonder James called in, saying he could come tackle the raspberry patch - which is essentially an overgrown bramble of mostly invasive blackberries (and both kinds, including the nastiest Himalayan ones with thorns out to here). He is cutting the 'branches' about 3 feet long and piling them onto tarps, which we drag to the truck and pile 2 or 4 tarps high (depending on what else I am doing in the day). If the tarps aren't overloaded, I can pull them off burrito style and roll the prickles out, at the garden waste depot. Today was three trips of 2 tarps each, due to grandbaby duties and dog to vet duties.... the progress is slow and visible. There is no charge to drop things off at the garden waste depot, and it is only 8 minutes away if the light is not on my side.
He also assisted with the ongoing burial of the Yuki the sheep – I now know the hole was bigger than necessary, however I also know that the process of covering her up is very good for my grieving process. I joined him to do my 100 shovelfuls, all my shoulder will take.
2. My new Gardening buddy showed up again, happily dug outside, transplanted several more dozen kale from the volunteers and generally had fun in the dirt. I am finding that if she is there I will certainly try to join her, even on hectic days; it is a blessing to have another living breathing human out in the cool and wet, revelling in the joy of gardening. At the rate we are making improvements I suspect next year's garden is going to be spectacular.
3. I attended a free workshop/panel an hour north of here, on the Toxic drug crisis. I asked an acquaintance to join me and I think she was tickled pink to be invited. I know this issue is close to her heart, too, so I knew she would be good company. She paid for the parking, which was great (and I let her do it, which is also great, I am learning to allow others to be generous back). There were 4 panelists, then an open Q & A session, and all of it was so informative; I'm very glad I went.
There were lots of sweets (bars and cookies) on offer for attendees (free) and I happily partook. And when the show was over and almost everyone had left, I helped myself to 4 bars to bring home, which both the roommate and I enjoyed.
There were a couple of booths with stickers (YAY) and information, folk very willing to share about their corner of this terrible situation. I came home with two naloxone kits (they are free in my province, and at this booth I learned that they don't expire, and they CAN be left in the car – better to have one in the car than to need one and not have it – so I got extras for my car and to share with family). I picked up a couple of candy canes, a handful of wrapped chocolates, adding more at the end as the booth folk weren't wanting to take them all home. I even got 3 granola bars!. In addition, as everyone was packing up, I asked for and was gaily given a 'party pack' bag that contains safety items including condoms, drink testing strips, and who knows what else. (some of those will be shared with my kids) It was a long afternoon and the drive was through very misty weather both ways, and I am very glad I went.
4. My grandbaby finally has a slot in a daycare!!! in Canada we have what is ostensibly $10/day daycare, however the subsidy doesn't really cover most daycares. Yet #1 son and my Daughter Outlaw will only be paying about $17 a day. I paid over $25/day for his daycare, 37 years ago, so this is a huge win for them!!
Grandbaby gets 'out' of daycare just before 3:00 PM (and daycare doesn't run on Fridays) so I am going to talk to the parents to see where I can now fit in. I am thrilled he will get time with other kids, he is very social, however, I will need to change up some of how my days run as I HAVE been having him two long afternoons a week. Perhaps we can figure out how I can have him overnight now, but he doesn't sleep in a crib so I will need to be creative for a bed for him. Huh. Things to figure out!
5. A young friend of mine has a trades job that is really demanding (and she has cerebral palsy so doing a physical trade job is even more challenging). She started at a new place a couple of weeks ago and has shared how emotionally hard it is to work with all these trades 'bros'.
I texted her on Friday and suggested she drop by on her way home, and I would feed her. We had a great visit, she got the last slice of hash brown pie while she was there, and I sent her home with a chicken fajita (with peppers, onions, rice and beans) meal. My roommate arrived home just as my friend was leaving and promptly gifted her with a loaf of bread from her bakery job. I have already received a report that the dinner was delicious and for breakfast today she made french toast (per my suggestion) using some of the eggs I also gifted her.
I really like this young person, and enjoy being her friend, and love that she allows me to 'mother her' a bit as I know she didn't get any of that when she was a kid. Gathering them in when they are hurting seems to be one of my superpowers!
I love all of your FFT's but your #5 is so, so kind. You're a good friend.
1. Hosted book group and a generous member brought me Trader Joe's rosemary nut mix. Will use at an upcoming dinner party.
2. Mailed the eight Christmas cards that I had on hand. I send only to those who need some extra, extra cheer.
3. The base of our rec room end table came apart. This table has been in my family since before I was born (66+ years). Our neighbor is a woodworker and said he could fix it for us.
4. Enjoyed coffee and cookies from Meals on Wheels for volunteer appreciation.
5. Received a quart of buttermilk from Buy Nothing. Used to make pancakes, quick bread and salad dressing.
1. I deep cleaned both bathrooms, thanks to the power of vinegar and Dawn it wasn't too terrible.
2. My husband walked the kids to the library and picked up the book I had on hold. They enjoyed craft and story time and I got a few extra chores done while they were out.
3. As a reward for my hard work I made myself a cup of dairy free hot cocoa. Little luxuries.
4. My oldest is very excited for Christmas and will help us decorate the tree today.
5. I'm finally about halfway done with the last crochet project for Christmas. My plan for the evening is to work on it, we'll see if my kiddos let me get that far 😉
I cat sat for one of my neighbors Thanksgiving week, and she paid me $50! I used the cash to take my friend to dinner before we went to the Lights of Love ceremony put on by our county Hospice. I donate to them, because my mother had 2 weeks of at home end of life care in 2018; my father was in one of their homes for a week before he died (double hemorrhagic stroke) in 2019, and my daughter had 3 weeks of home visits before she died of cancer in 2020.
This year marks her 5 years of being gone from me, so I had her name pic on the tree, and my friend offered to go with me, which I appreciated so much. It is much harder going alone.
I tidied up my sewing area after a whirlwind week of sewing a Barbie gift, and now I will resume making fancy pillowcases for Hospice patients.
Trish, I am so sorry for all of your losses. Hard to imagine so much grief. And still you find yourself at the Lights of Love event with a friend. Makes me want to hug you!
Thank you. I know that everyone carries some kind of pain, so I am not alone. All here are so kind, and I am grateful.
You are doing such a nice thing making fancy pillowcases for hospice patients, sending a big virtual hug and maybe even a plate of virtual cookies your way.
Thank you, and I am grateful that you keep this blog up, as I get inspiration to continue non consumerism, and also kindness from others, which also keeps me from despairing.