Four Frugal Things -- NASA Memories
1) Remember the stained Land's End puffer jacket that I picked up at The Goodwill bins the other day? Not only was I able to remove the stain, but I also mended the undone stitching while on the phone with my sister.
I only remembered to photograph the process because she reminded me that I'm a blogger and should be documenting the process. So there may be no closeup shot of the "before," but at least I got a "during!"
Here's the "after." I listed it on eBay for $40 and it's now aside while I wait for the right buyer.
2) I pulled the last of some frozen chicken thighs from the basement freezer, marinated them and baked up every last piece for both my husband's work lunch and tonight's dinner. These were the very last scraps from a honkin' huge Costco bag, so it was very satisfying to get down to the bottom.
I try so hard to not waste food and I always give myself a little pat on the back when something we've bought gets fully utilized.
3) I finished reading my library copy of Atmosphere: A Love Story and let me share that this book was everything I love in a book! Beautifully written, detailed on the subject matter, (NASA in the 1980s) and deep rich characters.
I had the incredible privilege of attending a private NASA event in 2019 when my uncle Bob retired after decades of service dating back to the beginnings of NASA. I had access to things a normal tourist wouldn't, which was very exciting. (They even did a background check on me ahead of time to ensure I wasn't harboring nefarious motives!) I made the most of the experience, which is now seared on my brain.
I think you can see it on my face.
I peppered my uncle with so many questions that he finally just arranged for a colleague to take me on that private tour with someone who turned out to be a senior engineer. Not a normal tour guide!
I geeked the F out that day!
In a different life I'd have worked a bit harder in school and had the opportunity to work at NASA. And yes, I kept my personalized visitor's pass, even though I was supposed to return it.
It's amazing how books can transport a person using nothing more than squiggles on a page.
4) I may not be an astronaut, but I did sell my Goodwill bins Brooks Brothers towel for $30 on eBay, so that's about the same level of accomplishment. Right?
Right?
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
Atmosphere is waiting for me at my library! I was going to pick it up today but I got mired in the process of selling my sister's clothes, and I'm too tired.
I actually listed two things (and I have vowed to myself that I will do five today). I washed another load and sorted another load I brought up from the car. There is still most of a big garbage bag full in the car. Yes, lots and lots of clothes. Lots of work to do. I sure hope some of them sell. They're all good brands in good condition, but I see that there's a lot of competition out there.
What a gift having a tour of NASA behind the scenes and getting to ask lots of questions. Thanks for the book recommendation.
1. I walked to the library to get free exercise and return a book. As usual I checked the Friends of the Library sale table to see if there were any books that might be good for our 3 1/2 year old granddaughter. I found one to keep at our house for 25 cents and paid $1 because it is such a good cause and still a frugal buy.
2. A usual we planned our dinner menu first thing this morning based on what is in the house. A pork chop is thawing now. We'll add a sweet potato and mango that just turned ripe.
3. I was getting ready to wash my lined raincoat and saw that a seam was coming undone. In my "how long can this really take mode" I mended it right away.
4. Hubby reset our irrigation controller based on water district recommendations. Our landscaping is maturing so it needs deeper watering for longer but less often. Hoping this reduces our water usage during the dry season versus hand watering.
5. I did not waste taxpayer money putting my name all over the Kennedy Center and then again to remove it all.
5.
I am in the library hold queue for Atmosphere - #118 on 21 copies. I have more than enough books to keep me out of trouble until then!
In answer to your question in #4, I'd say you're a NASA-level blogger.
That trip to NASA is a dream come true!
Got the next book for the banned book club as an audio book from the library. Am also re-reading a free copy of "The Lathe of Heaven" for the library book club. The June theme is science fiction and that's one of my favorite books.
My son's heavy winter coat keeps breaking plastic hangers and landing in a heap on the closet floor. The nearby non-profit thrift shop sells bundles of heavy duty hangers, so I stopped by this morning. $5 got me six burly hangers, including two for skirts, and a beautiful cut glass bowl for the dresser.
Last night I chopped up the carrot sticks and sweet peppers my husband did not finish this week and added them to a stir-fry for our lunch. Printed out a 15% off coupon from Ollie's Outlet and bought a litter box paw-cleaning mat for my son's messy cat, a set of ice cube trays for freezing fresh herbs in oil -- the basil and oregano in my garden are huge, two placemats for the kitchen table, a container of coffee and a can of cashews.
Our town hosted a “walk the trail”
at local lake. Free hot dogs, icees and water. Plus booths had snacks, highlighters and travel packs of reusable utensils. Maybe I’ll win something in the raffle.
I have a number of things listed however nothing is selling right now.
Watching tv and reading for entertainment
Friday I had trigger finger surgery. My boss had basically bullied me into working Saturday (10 pm Friday to 7 am Saturday). I will never ever again do that. As I told a friend afterwards "if I had the brains God gave a goose I would have stayed home!!" Pain up the gum stump, a lot of loud swearing, and then I got a paper cut at the top of the incision (it bled and I invented new and creative ways to swear!!). On the bright side working on my SDO (scheduled day off) means that any hours at work on this coming Friday will be pure overtime at $30.00+ per hour).
FRUGAL: went nowhere other than surgery center on Friday and nowhere other work on Saturday. Spent 0.00 LOL. I do not think that I will leave the house again until Sunday night when l go back to work.
I get so much vicarious pleasure out of seeing you salvage things that would otherwise get tossed. Well done!
1) Registered for & then went to a gym class, so no late cancel charge.
2) Made breakfast and lunch out of things around the house. Made Mac & cheese for DS19 & realized we have no milk. I mean, we never have milk, so I shouldn't have been surprised, but it's obviously been a long time since I've made the boxed stuff. Used butter & a little heavy cream, which seemed to work well.
3) Uploaded receipts to Fetch & took advantage of the iBotta $.05 with any grocery receipt.
4) DH got our weekly groceries at Costco, and it was under $100 for the first time in what feels like forever.
5) DH is making a huge batch of grilled chicken & rice tonight, so there will be lots of leftovers for him + DS19 & DS20 during the week. I'll be unfortunately at a work event.
1. My friend and I carpooled to the library for a free cookie decorating class. We were each given 6 cookies and taught basic decorating. No one wanted to take the extra icing home from our table so I took all 6 bags home. There is enough to do at least another dozen cookies. The lady that taught the class told us it freezes great.
2. My friend that I carpooled with got Hubby a dark chocolate bar with chili pepper. They were talking about weird candy bar flavors on my birthday and she saw this and got it for him. I will not be eating it. She returned a jam jar to me, gave us some medicated patches from her FIL's house and paid me for an amazon item I ordered for her. She doesn't have prime and we do through Hubby's work. I gave her a bag of lettuce from my garden.
3. I gave my neighbor a bag of lettuce from the garden. We had a nice chat too.
4. Our other neighbor is away for 3 weeks for work. The oldest son was at a soccer game with friends. I offered to have the little one (7) over to give mom a break. We worked in my garden, he played with the dogs, he sat in Hubby's truck and we had Italian ices that I got on sale. He is a very sweet kid. They don't have any family near by so I try to help out. I remember how hard it was with 3 young kids and Hubby traveling.
5. We planted a lot more in the garden. It is almost done. We bought 6 blueberry bushes and a bunch of strawberry starts for a new garden Hubby built. I called around to find out who had the best prices on blueberry bushes. The same size ranges from $75-$49. We went to the place with the $49 ones which is a family owned nursery. They charge a 3% fee for using a credit card so I paid cash.
6. I found a place in Alaska(going in August) on Airbnb to stay for 1 night. It was an inn so I googled it and found their number. So I called and booked it directly. It was $50 cheaper doing it that way. It comes with breakfast too.
A busy but frugal week
1. I rode my bike to work 2 of the 4 days I worked this week. I would have ridden everyday, but I had doctor's appointment one day, and another day I needed to pick up a grant check the library was awarded.
2. I really love Irish authors. I have read everything by Donal Ryan, Claire Keegan, and Louise Kennedy. I happened to see a free paperback by Maeve Binchy, and I have been meaning to try something by that author so I snapped it up. It's a collection of short stories, and I am really enjoying it.
3. I took Friday off. I am committed to working less and enjoying my life more. I spent the whole day with my husband. We drove to a town where it was community garage sale days. We found so many great bargains. I now have a lot to list.
4. Continue to eat from the pantry, garden, and freezer. Keeping our grocery bill very low.
5. My mom gave me her magazine hand me downs. Southern living, Country living, and Woman's World. I will look at them, then donate them to my library.
Maeve Binchy is one of my favorite authors, and Minding Frankie is my tried and true comfort read. Also, I’m a Johanna, too —- named after my Slovak great-grandmother:)
Jo,
I was wondering which book to try next by her. I placed a hold on Minding Frankie. My name is a salute to my dad. It's been Americanized, otherwise it would be pronounced Yo Hahn Ah, but most people call me Jo.
I'm not sure about the spacesuits those robot-looking models are wearing but the spacesuits NASA uses for the astronauts are made at David Clark in my hometown of Worcester, Massachusetts. My friend worked there for ages. Also the Smiley Face, shredded wheat and the first Valentine card were all created in Worcester. Just a few fun facts from this city girl!
Cool! Thanks for sharing.
Hemmed a pair of pants and took another pair in for dd. She did one alteration. She is learning, which is great. The ability to sew has saved me many thousands over the years.
Watered my friend's garden while she was away. Came home with enough greens for several days of salads each time I visited. Plus 5 lemons.
Cleaned dh's lunchbox (LLBean hand me down). It was truly atrocious, so that job went onto my quarterly household job calendar. I could have had him do it but I wanted it done better than he would do it. I had a handy bucket of water caught in the shower and I dumped lunchbox in with oxyclean, borax and washing soda. This morning it looked brand new. It's drying on the line.
My community had a Fix It Fair today. I had a pair of earrings fixed and a couple small holes mended in a wool sweater. So many departments available including metal, small appliances, wooden furniture, etc. They weigh each item as it is fixed to tally the amount saved from the landfill. I will update this post when I learn the total weight.
Mona, my county has those, too, and it's always great to see how many things get a new life. They ring a bell for every success and some people (including me) cheer. I sure appreciate all those who volunteer their fix-it skills. At the next event, I plan to bring an outdoor chair and a boombox for repair.
1. I was able to pick up 3 mystery shops (grocery stores) on my 2+ hour drive to visit my parents (mom is in a rehab nursing room where she will be until September and my 85-year old dad is needing extra help). I was able to stack 2 shops (2 different mystery shop companies) so I ended up getting $66 worth of groceries.
2. Dad and I also did a mystery shop at a pizza joint for dinner, so that was also paid for.
3. I was able to get something from my local Buy Nothing that my sister was looking for, and I'll hand those over, and she'll give me a dozen eggs from her chickens.
4. I'll give the eggs to my BIL, as part of the thank you for letting me crash at his house for 3 nights while I'm at a conference. As a person in academia, I only get limited funds, and staying with him is allowing me to cover all of the conference expenses from my work, and not needing to dip into personal costs.
5. It is a 4-hour drive to the conference location, so I was able to find another mystery shop for lunch on my way up, and make an extra $18 on top of it.
I grew up in a small town near Huntsville, Alabama and went to the Space and a Rocket Center there about twice a year. Many of my friend’s parents worked there. Good memories!
1. Finished conference. Ate their huge breakfast and snacks. Ate peanut butter and honey sandwich for supper. Katy’s words” what am I, a a Rockefeller” were ringing in my ear as I ate the sandwich… lol.
2. Walked on beach for thirty minutes before conference and before the monsoon rains this afternoon.
3. I took a nap after the last session.
4 and 5. I don’t know, I didn’t buy anything today so I guess that counts.
The puffer jacket washed up nicely. I have never worn one as I don't like the Michelin Man look. But they are popular.
1. I did some rearranging of window curtains. I washed some white sheers that I had in the guest room & placed them in the master BR. I folded one curtain I had formerly in the master & hung it in the guest room like a valance. A new look w/o a cost. I have fabric & may make a valence. The sun fades fabric here & curtains have to be replaced now & again.
2. I found 55 cents in change on the grass near a drawbridge. I guess someone flung it out a car window.
3. I went to the nearby neighborhood to get some mangos. The ones I found near the street were green. They can ripen on the windowsill.
4. I have to pay to wash my laundry here. I do hang the wet laundry in the shower to dry. (The HOA rules don't allow a washer/ dryer. I have considered getting one of the portable small washers.)
5. I found a $5 dollar off a purchase at Walgreens. I used it to buy some discounted items for the local food bank.
texassilver…do you have septic system, that can’t handle wash water? Can’t imagine another reason. We do what we can to get done what needs to be done.
Thanks for the Nasa memories, Katy!
1. A medicine ball stand with balls that was languishing for ages on Marketplace finally sold. I got what I paid for it, whoot! My slowly healing broken arm means I can't use it, so I've gleefully taken the cash and (bonus!) got multiple cubic feet of space back!
2. #2 Son wanted me to grocery shop with him at the scratch and dent vegetable store. I had SO MUCH FUN! We each had our own carts, and bought things for our own houses (he is in the process of moving in with his vegetarian/cooking illiterate girlfriend). The discount shelf had great bargains; we each picked our own 'good deals', and even bought a couple of bags to divide between us.. He was very interested in seeing how I approach shopping and how I consider what was on offer, and I watched his frugal decision-making with pride.
3. With an eye on helping him keep his budget under control, we also shopped Mom's Pantry – home canned tomatoes in various forms, some other canned goods, rice, lentils, etc. He expressed his gratitude with words and hugs.
4. My Daughter wanted Mom time today, too.
She brought over the new-to-her, uber cute Suzuki Right Hand Drive truck – which has been filthy inside and out since she purchased it. (no shame on her as it has been parked at her Dad's place.) I dared her with a 'HLDIAT' (How Long Does It Actually Take), and the two of us spent an hour and 15 min vacuuming and wiping, wiping, wiping the inside. The inside is now ready for another once-over with a good degreasing cleaner, but the real dirt and muck has been seriously reduced.
I think she is much happier with the vehicle, now – the dirt and just general grunge was pretty depressing, even with the underlying cute factor. There is still cleaning work to be done, yet she now can do a bit at a time and not be overwhelmed.
5. I also trimmed her hair, helped her sort two bags of books she had brought up for various people, fed her a dinner of stir-fry made with discount veggies prepped earlier in the day, and sent her home with a really nice travel mug gifted to me from the Hospice folk. More gratitude expressions in the form of words and hugs.
Interesting about your uncle. My maternal grandfather was the first public relations director of NASA.
They probably knew each other. My uncle was an early hire at NASA and rose to the top.
Been reading your blog for years, but today I learned a new thing about you, didn't realize you're dream of working for NASA!
I mean your..not you're...grammar
The women who sewed for Playtex made the spacesuits as, amongst other skills, they were used to wrangling really small seams... https://www.bbc.co.uk/future/article/20191219-the-women-who-sewed-the-suits-for-the-space-race
1. Used the batteries I switched out of the smoke detector (when we changed the clock for DST) to power the replacement remote controls I bought. (Instead of buying new batteries). Old remote control broke and could not be fixed. But at least I didn't order the replacement from Amazon.
2. Took up the area rug, keeps the den cooler in summer time not to have it down.
3. Returned some herbal supplements to the store for a refund. They did not help my tinnitus problem at all.
4. Spilled food on the bedspread, so I washed and dried it on Delicate instead of taking it to the cleaners. It was still a bit damp when I took it out of the dryer, probably due to its (king) size, but I draped it over 2 clothes racks and am air drying it. It came out perfect and should be OK by tonight.
5. Free pizza today at the store. I offered to chip in $ and pay my portion, but my coworker says she gets it free in return for tutoring the pizza manager's daughter in math. This kept the girl from flunking the class, being kicked out of her extracurricular activities and being made to repeat the grade.
I am fascinated with all things “OUTER SPACE” including NASA. On the 1980’s we had an apartment in Clear Lake City where you could see that big rocket on the NASA entryway from our front door! I did nto have a tour as wonderful as yours,though!!!!!
Thanks for the book recommendation! And congrats on selling that towel! You have an eye for finding the good stuff in those bins!!!!!
Do you have a way to watch the series “FOR ALL MANKIND??” AWESOME SHOW with alternative time line..fascinating all the way around!!
Your NASA story brings back great memories. We were able to visit Johnson Space Center in 1987 because my husband's sister-in-law's brother worked there. This was before there was civilian access. We took our 18 month old with us too. It was a wonderful experience that we will never forget.