Five Frugal Things -- WHERE IS MY CURB PICKED LIGHT FIXTURE?!
Edit: I cancelled the sale and messaged the buyer.
1) Remember the garbage picked Rejuvenation light fixture that I sold a few days ago on eBay?
I CAN'T FIND IT!
This is a low moment for me, as I pride myself on being an organizational diva and it's not exactly a small item. I have until Tuesday to ship it out within the standard timeframe, but I prefer to mail things out the day after an item sells and it sold on Friday.
WHERE IS IT?!
2) In other news, the missing light fixture, (where the hell is it?!) prompted a full inspection and reorganization of my downstairs spare bedroom, which is where I keep all my eBay supplies. (Inventory + shipping supplies.)
Time to get rid of a few things.
I listed the above toddler bike back on Facebook Marketplace back in June, a few days after thrifting it for $3.99. (Sells new for $49.95.) Unfortunately they flagged it as a recalled item, which obviously I would never knowingly sell. However, this was an error as this exact model is still available in stores and the only "Retrospec" brand bike with a recall is an adult model.
Of course, there's no recourse with Facebook.
Not the same model.
I decided to throw caution to the wind and relist the balance bike without mentioning the word "Retrospec," which seems to have bypassed the AI that disallowed the previous listing.
I now have four people who've messaged about wanting to buy it, which should get it sold tomorrow. Let's get this out of my spare bedroom.
The fewer things the better.
3) I then listed these foaming hand soap tablets on my Buy Nothing group that I received as a gift. They're a great idea, but I'm very sensitive to scented items and these are highly scented.
Again, someone's coming to pick them up tomorrow.
4) I also gave away two brand new duvet cover sets that my parents somehow received in triplicate. Amazon didn't want them back, so I offered them up in my Buy Nothing group.
The time between listing them and when they left my front porch was literally less than fifteen minutes! The "hyperlocal" part of Buy Nothing groups is chef's kiss amazing!
5) I sliced up the other half of my curb picked cucumber and stuck it in some leftover pickle brine. It's extra frugal, as the pickles were from my my next door neighbor. Apparently her family doesn't like pickles.
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 sure hope you find the light fixture!
Yesterday was a day to stay home and do nothing. I got a lot of reading done.
I chopped up the leftover hash browns I got at McDonald's and made a scrambled egg hash with them, as well as peppers and onions. Pretty good.
Today I am going to donate blood. I am an O positive, and there is a great need right now. Red Cross has been calling me incessantly. They continued to call after the appointment was made! A $20 Amazon gift card has been promised, but I didn't get it last time, so I have little hope for that. I am really doing it for altruistic reasons, anyway. And of course for the cookies afterwards.
I may swing by Goodwill. I have a bag of donations. One thing I am giving back is a set of Glasslock baking dishes without lids. I have looked online, and I can't get the right sizes at a reasonable price. This spurred me to pull out all my baking dishes and match up lids. (I store them in different places, for space reasons.) There are four dishes that need lids, two Pyrex and two Corning. I can get lids for those, and they are in my Amazon cart. I'll keep them there until I see whether I will get that gift card.
Thank you, Beth, for donating blood. You are my hero. As a nurse I gave a lot of blood and blood products to many babies and kids. On the other side, as a patient, I have received a lot of blood. I always say a prayer of gratitude for the donor. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Beth W ,
Thank you for your blood donation!
My daddy had a terminal illness, but because he received numerous transfusions, he lived 7 or 8 years longer than he otherwise would have. Thanks to good folks like you.
To me, the saddest part about me getting endometrial cancer is that I no longer can donate blood. I might be able to again if I remain cancer free fir 5 years after the hysterectomy, but by then I might be too old I will ask and see if it is ok to resume my donating. Because I know it is really, really important. More important than anything else I have ever done. Nothing else I do ever saved anyone's life.
Folks, if you are healthy and weigh at least 110 pounds, you can give blood once every 56 days. That's 6x a year. Please do it!
People always want to donate after a major event such as a mass shooting or huge traffic accident, but by then it may be too late. It takes time to process blood and get it ready to transfuse. They have to have it in the hospital ready to go when the patient arrives!
Our country is at war right now. What scares me is this: should a terrorist attack occur, would they have enough blood ready to save the victims' lives?
None of us can predict when something like that will happen, be it a storm, crime, or act of war. Or even an every day thing like a car wreck, heart attack, or bleeding ulcer. So we all need to regularly give blood so that it's there when someone needs it.
Please, I ask you, go give blood every time you can. I'll get off my soapbox but please go roll up your sleeve!
In the olden days, you couldn't give blood after having certain types of cancer, so I couldn't give. Then the rules changed, but I never got around to it. Three years ago, I had breast cancer. Fortunately, I was offered a five-year drug treatment in lieu of chemo and radiation. Despite the side effects, I consider myself insanely fortunate. Alas, this means I cannot donate blood for the foreseeable future, and rightfully so. I'm sharing this in hopes it will spur someone else to donate now, while they can. My brother had meningitis as an infant and was saved by blood transfusions. He has paid it forward by donating gallons of blood over his lifetime. He has a desirable blood type, particularly for infants; the blood bank has him on speed dial. If you are able, be like Brian, not like me.
Dicey and Kara,
I don't mean to suggest giving blood if it would put anyone at risk. I would absolutely want to die if I had inadvertently transmitted even one cancer cell to another person.
But for those who are healthy and do not live high risk lifestyles, please consider giving this summer and always.
I was also so sad when I realized that the meds I will take for the rest of my life for my cancer make me ineligible to donate blood or organs. Check with your provider or the Red Cross. Endometrial cancer was my first cancer, that treatment would have allowed me to donate blood or organs five years after I completed treatment - depends on what drugs were given.
So happy that you made it through that medical adventure and wish you all the best!
I can't speak for Kara, but in my case, absolutely no offense was taken! I was just hoping my experience would encourage someone who is able to give.
I do remember that my Dad's co-workers all lined up to donate blood for my brother. Then they asked how soon they could donate again.
If I can pay their kindness forward, even indirectly, I'm a happy camper.
No offense taken. I'm glad that donation centers are careful about who can donate.
Thank you for donating. I'm a grateful recipient of a life-saving transfusion when I experienced an intrapartum hemorrhage. Ironically this also has made me ineligible to donate blood in the US as I received the transfusion in a country considered high risk.
Thanks for the nudge, Beth. In Canada they are experiencing a very unusual extra shortage of blood so they are calling us, however I had appointments at the same time they last were in my town. Due to your reminder, I've booked for the end of August! We don't get gift cards but do get cookies and chips which I enjoy.
Beth, I gave blood last week and I just received my $20 gift card via a link in an email. It's not for Amazon card and I get to select from many retailers, restaurants, etc. I hope you get yours soon!
Frugal girl recently mentioned the sophomore brand silicone lids to replace cracked/broken lids. She is a big fan. Might be worth a look…
Sophico brand. I didn’t notice the autocorrect. Grrr.
Yes, two of the lids in my Amazon cart are Sophico lids, for the Pyrex. I have high hopes for them.The other two are Corning.
Met up with my cousin for Hippy Christmas. Fascinating!! She's a pro and has her own route, techniques, and methodology. Our two big scores were a set of apple headphones in the box and an inflatable paddle board nib ($500!). We filled our two small cross overs to overflowing!!! I was able to source most of our new pastor's requests. However, I'm still on the lookout for a knife set (have the block), air purifier, and bath mat. I brought home a new to me shower caddy, small shelf, a huge amount of hot tea, 2 shopping bags, dish soap, shampoo, conditioner, and glass food storage containers. She will donate the clothes and canned items to the homeless. Nail polish will go to assisted living and almost 2 car loads to market place. We have 2 full laundry baskets of dishwasher pods, shower gel, laundry soap and such. She has room to store it and I do not. It's great that it will be used! We had a great time.
Hit the cheapo grocery and Aldis. Planned our meals around the deals. Bought myself 2 tops and ds one long sleeved shirt for fall at gw. Have a donate bag for my next trip to town.
Made an ebay sale. Reported a scam.... yuck.
Hit the laundromat (hopefully) for the last time. Our washer is now fixed!!!! Hung out everything. Scrubbed all my dumpster goodies and have put them away or delivered them to where needed.
In the last post you did about the rejuvenation light fixture, you mentioned not being sure you had the right size box to ship it. Did you perhaps try on a box for size, it fit and it is still in there?
I'm sorry about your missing light fixture. That is super frustrating.
Well done on moving some things out the door. That has been my theme this summer and I'd have to say, it has gone well.
Yesterday I bagged up 5 excess cucumbers from my garden. I have 4 in my fridge already and seemingly endless ones on the vines. I didn't know where the bag of cucumbers would go but I knew they needed gone. Minutes later a person on FB marketplace came to buy the wine barrel ring hearts that I've had listed for a while since I had about 20 of them and I sell them in sets of 3. I asked them if they'd like a free cucumber and the said yes. I brought the bag out so they could choose and then I asked if they had people that might like cucumbers. Their faces lit up and they took the whole bag. So I got $25 (all profit) and got rid of my bag of cucs.
I made bone broth.
We sat and picked grapes off the stems and I have them outside in the sun to become raisins. We used to live near Sun Maid and they literally pick the bunches of grapes and lay they on brown paper on the ground at the base of the vines. It's pretty impressive to see mile upon mile of grapes laying on the ground. When I see this I know it's back to school time
I picked up a cup of coffee for dh at my mother's assisted living yesterday. He saved it and drank it this morning instead of making his morning coffee. We end up with about 2 free coffee days a week. They have an ice water dispenser next to the fancy coffee machine. Yesterday it was 90° and I noticed they'd put an iced Gatorade dispenser out as well. Super smart way to help keep the elderly hydrated. I know the sugar is problematic for some, but they only put it out on hot days and the sugar is less problematic than dehydration.
A friend gifted us 50lbs of homegrown apples. I made rhubarb apple crumble, using our own rhubarb, gifted apples and GF flour from clearing out my mother's house. I put it in the oven at the same time as the chicken.
Did you already sell it? When i saw that you’d sold it, i actually thought to myself, “I thought she already sold that?”
OMG!! Where is it??
1. My weekend friend trip was not free, but we did well. I did a large snack and drinks run before we got there and utilized our suite's fridge and kitchen.
2. I drank the free coffee Saturday and Sunday morning in the suite.
3. I put my leftovers from Friday night dinner in a tupperware I happened to have with me and brought it home. Ultimately it became Sunday dinner.
4. We did not indulge in any of the major "upsells" at the resort, like the spa or golf. Instead we took naps poolside and took a boat tour - both included in our room rate.
5. Hit my favorite affordable grocery store on the way home. Stocked up on canned goods and seltzers. We should be set for the summer!
1. This is a week of frugal eating - other than cilantro and a GREAT deal on chicken and beef stock (32 ounces for $1), nothing spent at the grocery store. (Yes, we do make our own chicken stock, but in the winter, we can't make enough for the amount of soup that we make/eat). I've made zucchini-cheesy bites; Dutch baby (half buckwheat flour) with raspberries and bacon; pulled pork sandwiches on brioche, with corn-on-the-cob, cole slaw and sliced cucumbers; turkey, bacon, avocado, tomato sandwiches (first tomato from the CSA box!); Copy cat Chipotle chicken tacos with cabbage & avocado, with sauteed zucchini.
2. I did, however, stock up at Ocean State Job Lot, as they are having their annual 40% back for educators. I bought birdseed, olive oil, and panko. I imagine that with the fires in Europe, olive oil prices might increase dramatically.
3. While out, I did a quick mystery shop for deli meat (see turkey sandwiches above), and made an additional $11, which covered my stock and cilantro!
4. I'm giving a talk at a museum in a different state tomorrow night, and the museum will pay for the hotel room (going rate is $300 per night!!!), mileage, and the Ex Dir. is taking my partner and me out to dinner. On Wednesday, we will be tourists before returning home.
5. My partner makes coffee every day, to bring to work, but he doesn't use up the entire pot (French press), so he saves the rest everyday. Yesterday, we drank that, stretching the coffee beans one day further.
5b. Finally hit 28,000 on Fetch, and cashed out for a gift certificate. My online cart is already prepopulated to buy pantry staples -- a gallon of Bragg's apple cider vinegar and sesame oil.
That is the worst feeling when you can't locate an item you've sold...ask me how I know.
St. Anthony is the patron saint of lost things and some folks say a request and thanks help them locate the missing items more times than not.
I hope you're able to locate it soon!
St. Anthony has helped me out many times!
I hope you find the lighting fixture soon.
1. I was craving pizza so I used a burrito size flour tortilla, leftover spaghetti sauce and shredded cheese to make a delicious thin crust pizza.
2. My 93 year old friend asked me to take her to the dollar store after we went to church. She did drive up until age 89. Not bad! We both bought cards for her granddaughter's shower and wedding. She took me out for coffee and a delicious Danish in thanks. She and her husband were close friends of my parents. While the other three are gone, I'm so grateful I still have her.
3. I finished the library book I was reading for Summer Reading Bingo at the town library. I'll earn another ticket toward the raffle they hold at the end of the summer.
4. Shopped in my own closet again for something to wear over the dress I'm wearing to the bridal shower. I found a stylish denim jacket that will go perfectly with the dress I already own.
5. All the usual...keeping my speed down under 65 on highways using cruise control not only saving gas but avoiding a speeding ticket, making my own iced tea, reading library books, linedrying laundry, cooking at home, trying to use the fan instead of A/C (except at night when I need a cool room to sleep) and enjoying picking our own tomatoes and raspberries.
I wish I could drive 65 on the highway, I would get run over by speeding cars I'm
Afraid Even going 70 is to slow sometimes. No police presence on the highway anymore. The downtown area of where I live is crazy driving.
1. Went to town to workout with my trainer, but her cat was suddenly needing to be put down, so she was a soggy mess. I hugged her, walked her through some centring grief work (as she has to help her young adult kids through this), then I did a ¼ workout with what she had previously set up for me.
I wasn't really feeling inspired, it was a hot day, and I had a number of things to do later, so I jammed out the rest of the workout. I did take advantage of being in town to pick up a book I'd ordered from the local bookstore, and a prescription.
2. Then I stopped in at the dented veggie store to see if they were interested in buying any of my dill. They weren't, due to bad weather affecting the pickling cucs.
I picked up discount strawberries and cherries for me, then as I was leaving the store they were refilling the discount racks!! I snagged two large bags of those snacking cucumbers (~12 pounds total), and a large bag containing three 3- pound Bags of onions for $1.99 each. DEAL! Now I know what to do with all my dill!
3. My BB has a plethora of apples and was bemoaning her procrastination on dealing with them all – I offered to help with a pie bee.
With an apple corer peeler slicer and two good buddies, 6 2-crust pies, 6 galettes (three with some blackberries from across the road) and 6 bags of apples were produced. One big bucket of cores and skin came home for the chickens. This was a greatly appreciated together time for us, PLUS our future selves will glory in the richness of multiple pies in the freezer.
4. I gifted BB the bag of veggies I was going to gift my trainer (#1) – some zucchini, some beans and some very nice tomatoes. I also brought some eggs to our pie bee – she offered to pay me, but she provided all the butter for the pastry extravaganza - there was no need for financial transactions. I got rid of more delicious veggies and had a fab day with her, priceless!
5. My daughter came up for some Mom time prior to her Dad's birthday bbq. She didn't want to go to that, however she is working on showing up to awkward situations. Good thing her brother was going too, they do manage to help each other buffer. GAH.
So, she had a shopping list, so we spent time at the dollar store where she picked up a few pantry shelf stable items, then we took the canning jars I had left in my car from the apple event (#3) (we had hoped to make apple sauce, which was clearly a bit of a reach considering what else we did).
Anyway, I had jars, so we found lids and went to the bulk food store as it was 15% off if you bring your containers. A bit of a pain for them to weigh everything, but worth while for us!! Spices were additionally something like 15 or 20% off, and DD had two coupons, each with a $3 off a $12 purchase. She had to pick up a small bag of tootsie rolls to get over $12 for her stash, but that wasn't painful at all, LOL.
We finished our run of stores at the local grocery, as she had a couple of urgent things on her list including a present for her dad.
The $1 dollar store card was carefully written in and signed by her, while I dug through my collection of gift bags. I discovered that many of my used bags are Christmas themed, but one was a local “farm-stand map” converted into a gift bag, which suited her food based gifts.
6. Once DD had headed off to her Dad's, I finally was able to get to the big greenhouse and water (it was getting very dry due to my many activities) and harvest more 'starting to ripen' tomatoes. I also picked at least 3 gallons of green beans, a milk-carton gallon (and more) of zucchini, two glorious big bunches of huge and tender kale leaves, a bouquet of snapdragons and oregano flowers, and another bouquet of sunflowers. My wheelbarrow was full! Many of the veg will go home with DD and #2 Son (who is also at the birthday bbq). Both of the kids have left things in my fridge that they will pick up before they head home.
C'mon, St. Anthony, help my friend Katy out. Looking' for a fixture to light the way outta her home! Thank you.
We are hip deep in Apple season. Apple sauce, cider & vinegar.
Pickle season: my dill pickle recipe is from the 1870's. So good! My fishing cousin asked for a case of my sweet and spicy dills and my spicy pickled carrots and a dozen pints of pickled baby beets. He gets 10 cases of home canned veg and fruit for fish. Best barter ever!
Oregon has over 2 million acres of wildfires burning. Washing house filters every other day when we are socked in with smoke.
My extra clever foodie daughter combined my GF cornbread recipe, added air dried shredded zucchini and grated cheese, put it in the waffle maker and she calls them zucchadillas. Favorite summer thing ever! I froze one to test to see if I can make them ahead.
My grandmother was always in search of the perfect pickle recipe. If she didn't like how a batch turned out, she would can them over again with more spices, brine, whatever.
Of course, the few times she made excellent pickles, she could never recreate the recipe.
You must have a different type of apple than I do, because none of ours are ready yet! We have gravensteins, prince rudolph, jonagold, Rome, and winesaps.
King gravensteins. This tree is 51 yrs old and has been ready for a week. I'm usually later, too, but this year is dry. My plums are 2 weeks early. Our ranch is in the foothills of the central coast range. My red heavens twins are barely starting. I also have multi graphed trees with trial varieties. I check those daily, test brix. Fun science.
I’m on the valley floor. The red plums are ready and I made jam today! (And canned tomatoes. And blanched green beans.) I love that the Brooks plums are later so I can pace myself with the canning.
I think it was Gravensteins that my friend and I were using for the pie bee. Great cooking apples, a bit tart for in hand eating.
Our train trip from OKC to Ft Worth was an adventure. On the frugal side we got two complementary glasses of wine as hubby is a prestige member of Omni hotels. We had free bottles of water and enjoyed the complimentary cucumber water in the hotel lobby. We used the free blue bus from train station to hotel and around downtown. The Sid Richardson Museum was free. The rest of the trip not so frugal: hotel stay, meals and pet sitter
I sold another item on Poshmark. Using Katy’s Frankenboxed method I joined two padded (recycled Amazon) envelopes together.
Used quarterly Humana rewards for OTC stuff.
If that was my light fixture it would be hiding under the car seat.
A couple weeks ago I stir fried hamburger, cheese, and a pile of chard from the garden for supper and froze the leftovers. Tonight I used a box from the freezer, some leftover refried beans, and salsa and made enchiladas. I tried to look up how to say "leftover enchiladas" in Spanish. According to google it's "enchiladas server error." Oh well.
Campenchano is the word I use to loosely translate to leftovers. Like tortellini for the northern Italians - not to be confused with tortelloni which too many stores call tortellini. Based on my MILs info, a way to use up left over meat or intentional use of pork shoulder (read: inexpensive at the time). Tortellini are very small, tortelloni are not.
Enchiladas repetir. Or my favorite Enchiladas Reimaginar.
I hope you find the missing items ASAP; few things are more frustrating than misplacing an item.
I rearranged my bedroom furniture myself, did not hire anyone to do it, and now things are so much better. With the insulated window, I won't be bothered with cold winter air seeping through this winter and will be able to sleep without wearing a wool cap. Which is why I moved the bed to the interior wall in the first place. Meanwhile my bedroom continues to feel a lot more comfortable without the summer sun heating up the room!
I bought some Cheerios at Ollie's Outlet for half price. This is the new variety of Cheerios that says each bowl is a serving of fruits and veggies. Hopefully it will make up for the lettuce and produce I'm avoiding due to the cyclosporine outbreak.
Ordered a Bible-themed book from Thriftbooks for $3 instead of paying an outrageously high price that a TV preacher advertised in his show for the same thing. I have no idea whether the proceeds would've actually benefitted a religious mission or just paid for the guy's lavish lifestyle. (I suspect the latter. But it is a very informative book.)
My friend is about to start her final school year before retiring from a decades-long teaching career. Dug through my collection of greeting cards, many bought from thrift stores and estate sales, to find one to send her to wish her a happy first day of school and grand finale. Many of the thrifted ones cost a dime or a quarter apiece. No need to pay Hallmark or Walmart several bucks for one!
I burnt the bottom of an enamel pan while boiling spaghetti sauce. It's really stuck on. I've soaked it with wayer overnight then scrubbed it with plastic netting and baking soda, plastic netting and dish detergent and finally an SOS pad. A little bit came off but there's more still there than what came off. Any suggestions?
...soaked it in WATER...
Simmer water with a generous amount of baking soda for hours. Or a perfect use for my solar oven. Then the crud will come off easily. Good luck.
Thank you Mary. It appears to be working.
Thank you everyone, for all the suggestions! It's looking better and better. One more "spa" treatment today should do it.
I've done that before! Try filling the pan with water and a few tablespoons of baking soda, bring to a boil, and then a high simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn off the burner, place the lid on the pan, and let it cool down before using a non-abrasive sponge or a wooden spatula to scrape off the bottom. Good luck!
That's my approach, MB in MN. Sometimes a second application after you get off what the first loosened can do the trick.
And ARGH, Christine - isn't it annoying when we do this? Commiserations to you
Yes Ecoteri, it's very frustrating. I cut my toe when the sauce started to boil. I was dripping blood all over the floor so I cleaned up the cut, then bandaged it, then wiped up the floor. My poor pot suffered the consequences! I wouldn't be so concerned except the pot belonged to my grandmother and then it was passed down to my mother, then to me.
Oh dear, I hope your toe heals quickly and your pot comes back from her Spa Treatment (s) looking like it did when your Grandmother first got it!
Thanks MB. I just tried it...it looks a little better so I'm going to repeat it, then scrape.