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Someone left a cold seltzer can on my $25 thrifted coffee table, which left the above water mark. Luckily I noticed it the next morning and knew of a reversal method, which was mostly likely successful because the damage was fresh.
That method? Running an iron on the lowest setting over a towel until the moisture steamed out of the wood. I was nervous that I’d further damage the table, but it worked like a charm!
Better! Even 17-year-old Zelda approves.
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It’s been weeks since I’ve done a proper grocery shop, so I added Winco Foods to today’s to-do list and will bring an impressively long and random shopping list. I always put off shopping at this bare bones store, as it’s a bit of a schlep and somehow emotionally draining. However, I’m always happy when I’ve gone as it’s so much cheaper than any of the traditional stores.
Wish me emotional strength.
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I cut my lotion bottle in half, which makes the entire product available for use. Easily a couple extra weeks! The manufacturers have zero motivation to make sure that consumers get their money’s worth, but I don’t let that stop me from hacking their packaging to bits!
Come to think of it, I just added water to the bottom of my “empty” hair conditioner this morning.
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I had a library book for so long that it prompted an email telling me that I was being charged the full retail price! Luckily the email also mentioned that the charge would be reversed if I brought the book back. My library system stopped charging late fees, (I think during the pandemic?) which is been fantastic. Perhaps I actually need a bit of a deadline every now and then.
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I found a dime outside the credit union and then a penny later that day. So yes, I recently came into some money!
Five Frugal Things — Water Mark, Begone!
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My husband and I also cut up tubes, bottles whatever has more product in it that needs to be used up. I even Cut up a toothpaste tube for two more brushes. Why the hell not.
My husband has spent tbe entire day replacing our broken fireplace hearth. It’s backbreaking, tiring work for his senior body, but saving us big bucks. I walked to the local farm market for a single green pepper and also bought a $1 bundle of ‘bruised’ potatoes, which to me look fine. Making flatbread pizza tonight; way cheaper than buying takeout pizza, and using mozzarella that was gifted to me. The accompanying salad kit was purchased half price, best buy date being today. I will be dressing it up with cherry tomatoes from our garden.
We do the same thing with tubes of skin care products. There is so much left in the tube when you do so.
1. DH had the day off so we checked out an arboretum in the city. It was free and worth the trip. We got some ideas for future plantings like Profusion Bicolor Zinnia seeds.
2. We ate lunch at home, finishing pulled chicken I cooked in the Crock Pot a few days ago, the last of a package of shredded cheese, and bread that was lingering in the freezer.
3. We made a quick trip to Grocery outlet. I bought Impossible Burgers on sale and also some herbal Chai tea from England to try.
4. I listed some items on Freecycle. I noticed some things we don’t use in a kitchen cupboard the other day and decided to pass them along.
5. A friend and I I were scheduled to get together. There were complications so we just finished a long phone conversation. It was satisfying and there was no driving involved.
My husband has always been resistant to small frugal things like cutting lotion tubes in half, but has joined the club after I fished a 1/3 full tube out of the trash and cut it for him. His preferred foot cream is $11 per tube, so the savings are real.
I handsewed a buttonhole at the bottom of the placket on a blouse today and added a button salvaged from roll-up sleeve straps that I removed because they annoyed me. The blouse looks much tidier with the front lying flat all the way down now.
Also used a pinch of real cotton fluff saved from a long ago vitamin bottle to pad a thin spot in some quilted oven mitts before mending the spot.
The strip on a gift card I have refilled for years to buy gas wore out and the pump refused to read it. I took it into the store and customer service was able to read the total left on it ($8.41) and use that toward a purchase.
Gave DH a pair of grass clippers to sharpen after his victory in getting our old push mower repaired this week for only $40.
1. I finished my bathroom painting project — pretty much. It’s not perfect but I’m very tired of it, and I’m done for a while. I swear on a stack of Bibles I will never attempt this again! I do have a few easy things to do — painting a shelf, a medicine cabinet, and two step stools.
2. I made an apple pie from some free apples.
3. I’m reading books from the little free libraries.
4. I am not going to grocery shop until I have made some space in my food storage areas.
5. A pulled muscle is keeping me away from the gym. That will save a little on gas.
I feel the same way about WinCo. The prices are great and worth the schlep, but it is emotionally draining. We don’t live near one any more, so that particular emotional drain is gone from my life. I do have a short list of things I’ll buy there when I visit that area next month.
1. I’ve been stuck on how to beat use my furniture in my small space. I’ve had a good rearrange which has helped me get unstuck. Hopefully this weekend my husband will do the carpentry items I need done.
2. I’ve been selling on FB marketplace pretty steadily and have 3 buyers line up for this afternoon. Hopefully they all show up
3. I went to a clothing giveaway last weekend and have been altering various pieces to fit me.
4. I took a bag of clothes to Plato’s Closet when I was nearby for another errand. These were all cast offs of my daughter’s which were destined for the thrift store. I got $35 cash for the items they accepted and the rest I took promptly to the nearest thrift store.
5. File a missing money claim with the state for around $33.
1. Picked up a mystery shop for lunch that both fed me and put an extra $9 in my pocket.
2. Next door to the mystery shop is an Ocean State Job Lot, which is currently having its customer appreciation days, where you get a gift certificate back on everything as long as you spend $30. Among other things, I bought 6 bags of coffee (good until 2027) that, after the gift certificate, cost $5.60 per pound.
3. A couple of people didn’t pick up their CSAs at my partner’s job, so we were able to get some extra items (fresh ginger, now in the freezer, etc) before passing on the boxes to other folks to enjoy.
4. Made chicken stock from scraps.
5. Despite it being 60 with a low of 37 overnight, the heat is still not on. As a New Englander, “no heat ’til trick or treat” is in play.