Four Frugal Things -- Dirt & Buttons & Propagated Fuchsias
1) I sold the floral Birkenstocks that I thrifted from the bins the other day. I'd listed them for $25 but accepted a $20 offer, which adds another $17.04 to my monthly Oregon Food Bank donation.
I spent $6.36 from my $100 Goodwill giftcard to buy three items that day, so I estimate that I spent $2 on the sandals. I also bought the dry bag and an alpaca cardigan sweater that's currently undergoing a stain treatment regimen.
Click HERE to see how I listed the Birks.
Of course they're packaged up in secondhand shipping supplies, which is always very satisfying.
2) I didn't end up going to Fred Meyer's "Fuchsia Saturday" event, as A) It was raining really hard, B) I was exhausted from getting up at 4:00 A.M. to take my sister and her family to the airport; and C) Straight up laziness. However, I still have a fair amount of potting soil leftover from last year and Portland's mild weather meant that all of my annuals wintered over.
I'm attempting to propagate some fuchsias on the kitchen windowsill. So . . . I guess I'll file it under "frugality" as I didn't have to buy any plants starts to get "free" potting soil.
3) I made a Dirt and Buttons meal last night, utilizing a zucchini, chopped cabbage, a forgotten half bag of pasta and a scoop of chicken bouillon. It wasn't something I'd serve to my fanciest guests, but it did the trick of nourishing us and using up food that was at risk of going to waste.
There's even a bit leftover that I'm going to go heat up right now.
4) I didn't go anywhere yesterday other than a pair of walkable errands, although I may have undone any positive karma from not driving by putting six loads of laundry through the dryer.
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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This blog post includes an eBay referral link.
The greeting card I mentioned earlier sold for $100!!! Although, the buyer did point out that I had listed it as unsigned, and it did, indeed, have a signature on it. A very small one, which myself, my hubby, and my son all overlooked. He was still willing to pay the full price, but I did not feel good about that, so I refunded him $25. But I’m feeling pretty darn great about selling a free greeting card for $75!
I went to a mother-daughter sorority tea with the daughter of a friend of mine. She attends college in my town, and we have taken her under our wing. Her mother was not able to come up for it, as she will already be here for the next 3 weekends for other things, so she asked if I could attend as her “second mom.” I was honored.
I’m working on the last two dozen of paper roses that I have promised. I’m a little tired of them, but they have helped my savings quite a bit!
My hubby had a very good week with goodies coming into the dump - he has picked up a toy kitchen, two riding toys, a busy board, and a Radio Flyer riding horse. My granddaughter loves the Little Tyke riding horse and will grow into the other items.
Very honorable and generous refund.
Thank you.
Do you mind sharing what type of greeting card it was? I love to hear about great flips in ephemera! What a kind gesture to refund a portion. I'm a paper lover, snail mail writer and card sender. With my mom and brother having passed, I write to my sister a few times a week since my MIL left sheets and sheets of stamps. Some cards I have five stamps on it to add up to 78 cents.
It was a 1989 GI Joe 3D birthday card with 3D glasses included. The only other one I saw on ebay was listed at $750, but included the envelope. I could not even think of listing it for nearly that much. LOL (And that one hasn't sold, so...)
I love snail mail! And vintage cards are my weakness. People will give me cards/stationery all the time that they find at estate sales, thrift stores, cleaning out houses, etc. I had a goal to send out 30 pieces of mail this month, but then I got sick (again!), so that isn't happening.
I am curious about what kind of greeting card sells for that kind of money!
1. We had some very strong thunder storms last night; poor Snuggles was scared out of his puppydog mind. (Even though he was inside the house the whole time.)These were the heavy rains that my mom called "gulley washers". Sure enough, all the live oak leaves littering the street gutter were washed away. So I don't have to beg the city for street sweeper service nor do I have to hire the yardman to bag it all up. Health and back problems prohibit me from stooping and bending to rake and can the leaves and pollen tassels. Happy to have the problem solved. Oh, and I didn't have to buy more leaf bags.
2. Wore a brand new blouse -- from a new store, not secondhand -- to work today. It was a yellow tunic with matching lace and a necklace that was included with it. I'd gotten it at Belks last January during the after Xmas sale. Originally $63, it was left over from the previous spring and on final clearance. My price was just under 10 bucks. After I got it, it's been in the closet for 3 months. Totally worth the wait, as I got a lot of compliments today. So that's 3 outfits in 3 days that have gotten others' approval. The other 2 were in the back of my closet for years before being reintroduced.
3. Took home 3/4 of a cheese pizza from Sunday lunch in the break room. Free.
4. Some of the "Late July" brand chips are getting shrinkflated, going from 10 ounces down to 7-point-something ounces per bag. I bought a couple of the larger bags for $2.99, the same price they are charging for the smaller size. I'll enjoy it while I can but likely won't buy the shrinkflsted product.
5. Did not travel to Turkey to interfere in that nation's election. (Although I am giggling over the fact that the candidate Trump and Vance promoted has lost. )
It's always so nice to hear a compliment on an older clothing item or something we didn't break the bank on. The new shirt sounds pretty. I love how the necklace on it didn't cost you any extra.
Thank you. Yes it is a thrill to be complimented especially at my age. And since I can unclip the necklace from the little loops seen in the new blouse, I can wear the necklace with other stuff, although it'd be much shorter due to having to hook the 2 ends together. But whatever!
Sewn, not seen. Spell checker error
You can also use official "necklace extenders" to make it longer, or, more frugally, use a simple chain bracelet of the length you want.
When you mentioned dirt it reminded me DH discovered two 40 pound bags each half full of potting soil while spring cleaning the shed.
2. He also found a partial bag of dehydrated cow manure hiding out behind shed stuff. I'll throw it on my perrinials including the rhubarb and raspberry bushes.
3. I had three delicious little triangles of cheesecake at my friend's indy bookstore thanks to her keeping track of regulars' birthdays. This was to honor three of us with April birthdays who were all in attendance that day.
4. We were driving by Aldi's today anyway so I returned a container of cottage cheese I bought last week that had already been opened or had the plastic film pulled back while processing by accident. In any case, the very pleasant cashier refunded my $2.85.
5. If I lived in Hungary I would've voted against Orban even if his competition was Mickey Mouse. Either way, I'm glad he's out. One less dictator on our planet.
1. Met a friend at a coffee shop at the mall. Brought my water bottle and didn't buy anything. Tagged along to Williams-Sonoma afterward where she bought some specialty baking items. Gorgeous store, high prices.
2. Met a friend for a walk around a nearby lake - they are plentiful in Minnesota!
3. Took advantage of a Target offer for $5 off a $20 purchase. Spent it on groceries.
4. Finished the remainder of a $100 gift card at a local restaurant on a lunch date with my husband.
5. Spent $300 on a gas stove repair (one of the burners wasn't igniting correctly). On the hook for the total amount since we're just past the one-year warranty. Ugh.
so UGH about the stove. Wouldn't hurt to contact the company to complain about the just-past-due date!
I tried! They were unmoved, to say the least.
It stopped raining by noon so I hung two loads of laundry on the line. No detergent can replicate or beat the smell of sun-dried crisp cotton sheets. One of the fitted sheets has a large patch I sewed. There is always a fitted sheet in my rotation that has a patch! (lol) The patch was from my mom's last fabric clean out. The sheets were gifts, part of my minimalist wish list.
Did a fridge and pantry clean out/reorganization. A few condiments had gone too far past their expiration dates. Ditto for a can of diced tomatoes that got shoved to the back. Food poisoning isn't frugal! I pulled everything out of the bottom pantry shelves and used a Sharpie to put the month & year on the top or front of the packaging. It was a great reminder of what I have on hand. Threw a batch of cornbread in the oven to use up some dribs and drabs, then ate two slabs for dinner.
I realized I've lived here for years and am frustrated by the weird deep shelves I call a pantry. (Note to self--when either washer or dryer dies, replace with stackable so the laundry cubby can hold shelving instead of two huge appliances!) I had some Fetch gift cards to Lowe's so put those toward some shelf-slidy drawer mechanisms that pull out. I've wanted them since I first moved in. Free DIY options just haven't worked out so I feel comfortable spending a bit to make this space work better. They are scheduled to be delivered next week after a big work project is completed--it's like a gift to the Self that's on the other side of that 🙂
Did a stock-up grocery shop at Aldi. Did NOT replace the condiments from there as they only have one too-big-for-me-to-use-up size. Realized it's not saving money to throw away 2/3 when I can get a smaller size at a different store.
I got a lunch combo at my favorite local burger drive thru as a reward for all my hard work. My favorite combo is sometimes too much, so I eat the burger hot and put the fries and special sauce in the fridge for later. I'm about to fire up the air fryer to have a yummy snack!
Speaking of air fryers, I learned you can hard boil eggs in them. Mine even has a button for eggs. Made a yummy egg salad on homemade bread for dinner.
1. Got a free shelf of fb
2. Used up multiple things that have been lingering in the freezer and cupboard
3. Bought a bag of items for $5 and 2 new living room chairs for $30 at a garage sale
4. Adding more to the garden
5. Got rain!!!! Free water for the plants!
Pictures and more details here: https://practicalwalk.com/2026/04/13/frugal-five-new-chairs/
I. I came home after work on Friday and won’t be driving my car until tomorrow morning when I go back to work! I am wondering what gas prices will be in the morning!
2. I did walk an hour in my neighborhood.
3. I made baked chicken and potatoes with coleslaw for lunch. I made an egg sandwich for breakfast, and used leftover sauerkraut to make a sauerkraut mustard hot dog for supper.
I used sandwich bread as my bun bc that is what we did when I was a kid.
4. I enjoyed the breeze through my screened window and observed the beautiful sunset.
5. I watered my front yard rose bushes, which are in full bloom, as well as the spinach, lettuce, and green onions I planted between them.
Yes, I left work Thursday, expecting gas increases by Monday.
Luckily or unlucky, still $4.84 gallon
Yesterday I finished processing my rotisserie chicken. I have chicken noodle soup to eat today, maybe tomorrow, and then what's left will go in the freezer. I also have some plain broth which needs to be frozen. I was too tired to make adjustments in the freezer to fit everything in. Two containers of chicken meat are already there, waiting to be turned into yummy future meals.
I am missing my walks, but I am afraid to aggravate my hip, at least until I know what's going on with it. I have to call my Medicare Advantage insurer today to make sure they will cover the MRI.
Today I'll be laundering sheets and towels, but with the sheets I will throw in some light-colored clothing. Otherwise I will run out of bottoms and underwear. I don't have a clothesline, or any access to installing one, but I will be air-drying some smaller things inside my condo. I have an armchair that serves nicely as a drying rack.
I finished reading a library book, and I'm well into another. I imagine I will be making a trip to return them tomorrow on the (free) train. Hoping I am healed enough to tackle the steps in the station. Or I can take the bus, which doesn't involve steps, but runs less frequently. I always forget about the bus, which is also free.
Dirt and buttons. Never heard of it, but I like the name!
I was raised with shipwreck. We have a 2qt stainless steel lidded dish that lives in the freezer, little leftover bits of veg and proteins get tossed in until container is full. Sometimes it is soup, sometimes a stove top casserole. A little better than bouillon added in, a green salad and dinner served.
I was given 3 rotisserie carcasses to turn into chicken chili and cornbread for our community dinner this week. Carrots from the garden for sheet pan carrot cake.
I live too far away for the Fred Meyer fill a pot Saturday, but I do collect everyone's pots at the end of season that gets composted. In about 2 years, we have compost to use. Enjoyed pics of friends and family who participated in the event.
Mended 3 kitchen towels by appliqueing flowers using a decorative stitch on the sewing machine.
Have a wonderful Monday everyone!
I spy another vintage Recipe Tea Towel!