Four Frugal Things -- Raspberries & Thrift Mistakes
1) My raspberries are starting to ripen, so I'm getting half a handful most days. I'm even remembering to water them so they can start to grow a bit bigger.
I planted them from some canes that a neighbor set out for free at least ten years ago and they just keep coming back. My kind of gardening!
2) I'm working my way through a stack of Terence Conran library books for ideas and inspiration. I used to love the Habitat/Conran's store in London back in the day, (I spent a few years in London as a kid, plus an additional semester in college) and enjoyed browsing their NYC Astor Place store later in life.
I once even splurged on a pair of their drinking glasses, back when a $10 purchase was a big decision.
Looking at the pretty interiors photos won't me unhappy with my actual home, (no FOMO here!) but they might spark an idea or two or even further hone my eye for thrifting.
After all, I already knew to recognize the above Philippe Starck juicer when I came across one at Goodwill a couple months ago.
That was a fun thrift find!
3) I once again repaired my yard debris wheelie bin, as my last repair job wasn't exactly one for the ages. This time I used heavy duty zip ties and zero duct tape. We already had these zip ties from some mysterious past project, so zero dollars were spent on this project.
My husband asked why I don't just get a replacement one from the garbage company, but I reminded him that we don't have an account as we share pickup services with a neighbor. This saves us a ton of money and I don't want to draw attention to our little arrangement. Plus I'd prefer to not send a huge hunk of plastic to the landfill.
4) My friend Lise wanted to hit Goodwill to look for a blanket to protect her couch from her boisterous new puppy. Don't let her cuteness distract you from her ability for destruction.
I was tempted to buy this $24.99 Le Creuset Dutch oven, but wasn't loving the price. I probably should've though as even used ones can sell for a lot of money. The interior was in excellent condition, so I really botched this one.
Oh well, I'll chalk this up to "live and learn."
Now your turn, what frugal things have you been up to?
As I tell my students - you're allowed to make a mistake!
Thank you.
Pinching a penny until it screams. Leaving for a dog judging assignment on Thursday in Tampa, Florida. I’ll pack as many snacks as possible along with my travel water bottle. I’ll have to buy my own meals on Thursday and Friday. I’ll be home mid day on Saturday
Upside I’m meeting a friend and his wife on Friday. We met in 1999 during a training class.
1. Hubby sold his 1988 corvette for more then we paid for it 5+ years ago.
2. We planted everything we bought from the 2 garden centers that we went to. We used pots, fencing and hoses that we already owned many of which were garbage picked. Looking forward to lots of fruits and veggies.
3. My daughter and SIL are back from their vacation and staying with us tonight. We made chicken souvlaki, a huge salad, hummus and pitas for dinner. My other 2 kids came over too. It would have been expensive if we had ordered it as takeout. Plenty of leftovers for tomorrow.
4. I bought 2 packs of orange peppers from the reduced rack. I will slice them up and freeze for fajitas and sausage and peppers. Future me will be thankful. I found 11 cents at the store.
5. I bought extra cucumbers. My son buys pickles from the Farmers Market. I heated up the brine and added the sliced cucumbers to it. I will let it sit for 2 weeks and see how they come out. I'm sure they will be good.
6. I did order 2 bagel orders on TooGoodToGo. Each order was $5.99 verses $18. We aren't picky on bagels. My daughter will take most of them home with her.
1. I invited my mom and sister for dinner yesterday. I made a creamy bacon and mushroom tagliatelle. It was delicious. Afterwards I treated them to ice cream at our favorite place. This was much less expensive than eating out. They've fed me a few meals recently so it was nice to return the favor.
2. I have my granddog for the weekend. My daughter and her husband are celebrating their anniversary. They watch my dog for me whenever I'm out of town.
3. I listed a few items on Ebay. I cleaned and priced a few more garage sale items also.
4. I made split pea soup. A little late since summer doesn't feel like soup weather. I used the ham bone and mirepoix taking up space in my freezer. I'll share with family since it's too much for me. I'll freeze some since I now have room in my freezer. Funny how that works.
5. I gave myself a pedicure. All the money saved over the years...
Oh my goodness, that puppy is almost cute enough to make me want one! We travel too much for that to be reality, but we do sometimes pet sit for a friend, who has a very well behaved pooch.
I'm traveling for work, so I will attempt to be creative for this one.
1) Grabbed a free "lunch" a the lounge, as I didn't have time to eat before we left the house & didn't want to buy food at the airport. Technically, could have likely expensed it, but this is less paperwork for me. Ate the insides from two mini chicken tacos & a bit of salad. Also filled my water bottle at the lounge, vs buying plastic.
2) Used Uber credit for the ride from the airport to the hotel. I bought the Uber credit on a deal at the grocery store a ways back, earning free grocery money. I will be reimbursed, which makes the grocery money "free".
3) Made sure to activate my hotel loyalty account (I had an old one, but hadn't used it in years) for this stay, as I'll get points & maybe we will have a use for them some day.
4) Put the hotel stay on my travel credit card, where I will earn points to use for personal travel.
5) Digging deep here, because who wants to be at a work event on a Sunday... used my Southwest account for booking the airline flight,so I'll earn a few points towards a future trip.
I've exhausted the good options, so the rest of the days should get interesting with my attempts at frugality. 😉
Hawaii Planner: you travel like I do. I have a CC w/ 4 lounge visits per year. I used one in May to get lunch. I get $28 credit. I ate 1/2 & took the rest on the plane to eat for dinner.
Next I used an Uber GC to travel from the train station to my condo.
I didn't stay at a hotel but if I did I would stay at one where I can use my hotel points. I would also choose one w/ a free breakfast. (Sometimes my travel buddy gripes. I say "We are staying where it is free not at an eclectic place".)
Sounds like you have things down, texasilver!
I do appreciate that my current company allows me to use my personal card for expenses (all minus the flights), which helps me accrue points & makes my fee based travel card worth it. When I'm done at this company, I'll have to run the math again.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda - things happen for a reason. Some times you know why, some times you never will. Back in the early 80s I *almost* bought a baker's table with flour bin. Just could not bring myself to part with the cash - it was off season for tourists at the time (not long after that, one was hard pressed to find many, if any, antique businesses open during the "off" season).
Today was the first harvest from my container garden. I picked a lot of basil, whizzed up the leaves in the food processor with a little olive oil and used two ice trays to portion it up to freeze. Also trimmed up the five green onion plants and froze a gallon ziplock bag of sliced green onions. And ate the first cherry tomato of the season -- yum!
Used two packages of store brand pizza crust mix -- 79 cents each -- to make two 10-inch deep dish pizzas. These used up a bag of shredded mozzarella that had been frozen for a year, along with some leftover salami and a can of olives from Dollar Tree. They turned out quite good and made enough to feed him today and two more days.
Have harvested our first greens here in Maine and our kale overwintered. Our garlic looks meh this year.
Found DH a pair of Wicked Good slipper booties from LL Bean. Bean's price $120 plus tax yard sale price $1. Last ones did last for years but the duct tape repairs were getting too much. Never thought I'd find those. Also found him several pairs of nice jeans and some NWT men's pants I will put on marketplace.
I have a lunch box that I carry when I yard sale with nuts, yogurt hm granola....if I get hungry I've got it covered.
Our local consignment store has craft kits that I buy discounted for the grand kids. Also a good source for presents as well as finding them at yard sales.
Cooking from scratch and enjoying my cooking. Fun to create and we love different ethnic and plant based meals.
Am planting my flower pots with seedling I grew annuals and perennials and they did well. The prices of plants has really risen and I am not going to pay it. My only "flop" were bivolor petunias. While I started them in April they are still tiny tiny. I will factor that in next year. And it's a fun project to do with kids as well.
Oh, the things we should have bought...
And the things we shouldn't have bought....We can drive ourselves crazy!
I am planning to scavenge today in the university neighborhoods today because the students are moving out.
My son and grandson installed my AC units yesterday and I gave them a Calphalon pan I thrifted but didn't need. I also sent the alley-picked camcorder home with my grandson so he can figure out if it works. He thought it was cool, so I told him he could keep it if he wants to.
I am picking away at selling my sister's clothes. They are all sorted now, so I just have to follow through. I find listing very tedious, but I'm committed to listing five items a day until they're done.
I made a bean salad yesterday with so many substitutions it is probably nothing close to what it was supposed to be. But it was okay. I used up a lot of stuff that needed to be used up.
Gosh, I'm surprised it doesn't cost an arm and a leg to ship a Le Creuset! I would have thought the shipping cost would be prohibitive, given how heavy those pots are.
Pup so cute could not possibly be naughty
Frugal things:
1. DH only spent $28 for groceries last week- only bought closeouts
2. Found shepherds hook to hang free finch food on. A porch find.
3. Very happy to be acknowledged by The NC Bird Club for spotting very rare solid white hawk in my yard. Hope he returns. My husband told me it was my recently departed sis telling me she was watching after me. I like that idea.
4. Dh found filters for air system half price.
5. My tiger lily bulbs have come up! Not really bulbs but autocorrect won't let me use the right name.
Have a great week all.
1. I am still up late reading past my bedtime on my library books
2. We went to a yankees/red sox game yesterday and took the train, brought water bottles, and soothed our pain at the sox losing by enjoying the lovely breeze over the stadium instead of buying ice cream
3. Heading to a concert tonight - paying nothing for parking and walking a little bit, and eating beforehand. We're gonna have a blast though!
4. Visiting friends bought bagels - having my other half for breakfast this morning
5. Been gifting our friends catnip from my plant in the backyard and it is some goooood stuff.
OMG I am with you on the late night reading. Seems that I have decided that I can pick my own schedule, so late night reads which lead to late morning starts. the only folk who object are all the early birds in my lift - they have had half their day before I am presentable, however I get all those delicious evenings with my reading.
As my daughter reminds me, this is my life and I am of an age that I actually CAN choose when I sleep and wake.
And yes, still have a lotta WASP guilt about it all..
Topped off my gas tank yesterday with the .50/off per gallon offer from 7-11 (valid on the 7th and 11th - so timing my fill-ups accordingly!)
Had to pick up a few needed items at CVS, did 2 transactions to maximize savings and extra bucks offer - saved over $14!
Ebay has been in a summer slump for me, but finally had a sale today, will package it in a recycled mailer from my stash.
Had a family gathering at my younger sisters for great niece's birthday, I was sent home with leftover grilled chicken.
At same gathering, i was helping clean up with gift wrap/tissue all over the floor - i was flattening the tissue paper and folding it for storage/ reuse, carefully flattening a large piece of gift wrap that could clearly be reused -- older sister asked what I was doing and told me she just throws it out as "its cheap at Dollar Store" -- younger Sister looks at her and laughs "OK Miss Moneybags, but we recycle tissue and giftwrap around here, there is nothing wrong with it but wrinkles, it can be used again!" LOL
Cheryl, even if I had a million dollars, I would still save all gift wrap and tissue paper!
@MB , YES!! ME TOO!!
You didn't botch it - you probably made some struggling young cook's day!