Four Frugal Things -- Thrifted Twine & Hot Dimes
1) I stopped into Goodwill and walked out with a roll of twine, which I'll use to weave another hanging basket liner, like the one I did a few months ago:
It's looking good and the scrappy propagated plants seem to be thriving.
I also picked up a 100% cotton Land's End T-shirt that was the half-off tag color, which brought the price down to $3.50. It looked brand new.
Not an exciting haul, but it's good when I can thrift everyday staples.
I was tempted to pick up this bag that must've contained at least a hundred zippers for $7.99. A bargain for someone!
These souvenir pottery pieces were stunning and certainly caught my eye. They were actually in different areas of the store, so I placed them together for the actual buyer.
2) My sister repaired her vintage umbrella and sent me some photos. Most people would toss that umbrella without a second thought. My sister isn't "most people."
She firmly sewed the fabric back onto the ribs and even fixed a hinge with a piece of wire.
Lastly she sewed a button into place.
There, that's better!
3) I added the last bits of embroidery to my Ralph Lauren inspired shirt. Of course, my thrifted shirt differs from the original, so I had to adapt.
I'm cognizant to not over embellish the shirt, as I don't want to cross the line into kitchy. Although it's a fuzzy line and I may have passed it a hundred stitches ago!
All done now!
4) I went to Winco to pick up groceries and found a scaldingly hot dime in the parking lot, as well as two abandoned receipts, which I scanned into the Fetch app.
The soda machine was out of order, so I saved 50¢.
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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As I write this, it is 79 degrees F in my bedroom -- yes, the AC is on full blast-- and 105 outdoors at 4:20 p.m. I'm in Texas where it's hotter than you-know-where. My pal is going to help me try to fix the perpetually problematic west-facing window where the sun heats up the room. There is nothing to shade it outdoors. I have some thrifted solar film and we are also going to get some plywood and insulation to stick in the window. The drapes will hide the ugly looking stuff from the inside and the reflective solar film is dark enough that it won't be an eyesore on the outside. Hopefully that will help!
I installed some solar film on the glass fan window in my front door yesterday afternoon. It was a b*tch to get up for to the weird shape of the panes, but it made an IMMEDIATE difference. My only tip is to use more water than seems reasonable.
Update: we made the repair and my bedroom is now only 75 degrees, the same temp as the hallway. Refreshingly cool! It is noon local time and 93 degrees outside.
Also it looks great from the outside! From outside to inside there is: One layer of solar film, one layer of plywood, 2 layers of "Pink Panther" (actually its lavender colored) foam insulation, another layer of plywood; then it is all covered up by the thermal drapes. On the bedroom side, it looks like it did before. Bonus: All this also helps soundproof the room.
If your bedroom window is on the first floor I have had great luck putting a big market umbrella in a stand outside the window to help block the sun.
1. Tropical storm Bertha dumped some rain here to cool things a bit down to where it feels like 90 degrees instead of 110. I will take it. Unfortunately, my son’s air went out and had to be repaired $$$$$. The only frugal thing about this is that the whole unit did not need to be replaced.
2. I walked an hour this morning.
3. I made baby lime beans from my supply of dried beans, salmon salad instead of tuna salad for a lunch (and enough for several days), still eating my free cucumbers, and ate a tomato and egg sandwich for breakfast. Bottom line: no eating out.
4. Gas was $3.47 a gallon which is still a sucky price but it could be worse.
5. I hand washed my work clothes and hung them out to dry before Bertha showed up. Ditto on my jeans.
Your shirt came out lovely and not kitchy at all!
1. I am cleaning and organizing our garage which is only used as a laundry and storage room (old house). So far I've done the household cleaning, fixit items, tools plus yard supplies and equipment. I did put a few items in recycling, trashed some and have some to put out in a free pile. My husband agreed to a more organized supply area and let go of a few things. We sort of organized it when we moved in 3 years ago but this is better. Hopefully it will reduce future purchases.
2. The items I found needing stocking up were a filter for the Dustbuster, Barkeeper's Friend and packing tape. I used a $5 of coupon at ACE to buy those.
3. I'm sticking to my only free books (library, Little Free Library) to read and finding plenty of ones to enjoy despite how many books I plow through.
4. We do pay for one streaming service but I personally mostly utilize PBS Passport for members. I paid my annual membership which is really a deal and for a good cause.
5. Frugal for others: We are holding "Nana & Papa summer camp" next week at our 9 year old granddaughter's request. I've got her snack and lunch preferences list for shopping and one free outing planned so far. If we weren't doing this it would be one more week of paid camp for her parents. Besides, it is fun to spend time with her especially if she has asked for it.
My parents did “camp grandma and grandpa” for us for a week too and it was so great, in addition to saving us almost $1,000 (camp is $950/week here for 2 kids, and it’s one of the cheaper camps!), the kids also really enjoyed having a break from their regular camp (it can be overwhelming at times with so many kids there). It’s great you are able to do that for your granddaughter (and her parents)
My parents ran Nana & Papa camp until my kids graduated from high school - it was their absolute favorite & they always asked to extend it to more time with their grandparents.
That is so encouraging! We have a 3 year old granddaughter too who is in nursery school daycare but are hoping she will want to have a week of camp with us too when she is in school.
I love your Nana & Papa camp. What fun for your granddaughter and so helpful for parents.
Kudos on the Goodwill finds, the hot dime, and especially the embroidered shirt. As mentioned earlier, I used to do embroidery like that myself, back in the long-ago days when my fingers and eyes would cooperate.
And your Goodwill twine find inspires me to pass on this parody of Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line." I can't get a straight story online re: who came up with this, but here it is anyway:
I keep my pants up with a piece of twine
I keep my arms wide open all the time
I keep myself quite willing all the time
Because you’re mine
please pull the twine. 😛
lol...Lol...LOL!!!
I'm inspired by your embroidery, Katy! It looks so fun and whimsical.
1. When my DD bought her cute Suzuki right-hand drive truck, the driver's seat was badly torn, with the foam underneath the cover also deteriorating. She has been driving it for months with a jury-rigged cloth grocery bag seat padding, courtesy of what I had in the car when we picked up the truck.
I encouraged her to bring the truck up to see me, starting the day early. We set to work to solve the problem using what I had on hand, including a lovely large swath of upholstery fabric, some cotton 'smoothing' fabric, some foam pieces from a few projects, an old fitted sheet for padding, two different glue guns, my aged and competent sewing machine, various socket wrenches and extensions. We worked steadily and with patience, as of course there were challenges, yet with a willingness to just keep going, we were successful in re-upholstering the seat. GO US!
During this adventure we tried those cornmeal pancakes – good, if rather filling – and leftover chicken and potatoes and broccoli and chard from my dinner the night before, when I though I was cooking for my Daughter Outlaw. Her loss was our gain; we fell upon that food like a ravening hoard, once everything was done and all the tools and such were put away. I felt as if I used every muscle in my body – who knew that something so 'simple' could be so demanding?
2. Got a visit from #2 son the next day, he ate more cornmeal pancakes (from the fridge batter ) I was fasting pre-surgery. I drank some of the broth from when I cooked chicken legs earlier in the week – a delicious 'clear fluid' that was satisfying and very frugal.
3. On two more occasions I have picked a Katy's Special bucket of blackberries – one of those days I walked across to the neighbour's you-pick raspberry patch, but I really was a week too late. I wandered every row and got under a quart of raspberries. Since they are neighbours and the picking was more like gleaning, they insisted that I get the neighbour's price (free)! I kindly put the 'closed' sign up on the driveway when I walked out! Nice to have newish neighbours who are becoming friends (both the wonderful twenty-something son and his parents). The berries have been frozen and bagged up for future smoothies or maybe jam.
4. I've succeeded in (getting rid of) er Gifting all the zucchini that my plants have produced, save for the harvest today. This is brilliant, as I am not really a fan of the darn things. Once they really take off there is no stopping them so remembering to harvest daily is part of my process from now on – then I can keep the baseball bats out of the garden! My cucumbers are slowly producing, they are always tentative, I'm going to revisit where I plant them next year to see if the problem is in the soil. The weeds are doing very well, Jack the Sheep is happy with any weeding I do, as he is a big fan of most of them. However, there are more weeds than even he could eat, so I am leaving many of the pulled ones to mulch in the field.
5. I'm feeling pretty wonky post surgery, so am trying very very hard to slow down and take care of myself.
I did cancel out of a meeting that is important to me; that tells me that I truly do need to give myself a break.
In my mind, for some reason, when they call something 'day surgery' it seems to ignore the fact that it is SURGERY – any surgery is invasive and a shock to the body.
I watered the big greenhouse (20 x 50') due to our unusually high temperatures (it couldn't wait), however I did most of that sitting down, then I came inside to the AC cooled house, had a shower, and SAT DOWN. Learning to listen to myself is taking decades, people!
I've never been the biggest fan of zucchini, but I found a zucchini and carrot cake recipe that was absolutely delicious! Maybe mixed with something else you might have a taste for them!
Ecoteri, yes, I had day surgery 3 years ago. They couldn't get me lucid, before 4 pm.
Since I had an almost 2 HR trip home, we all decided I should stay the night.
I sill remember the mashed potatoes and gravy! Probably was not as great as I thought!!!
I would have snatched up a lifetime supply of those zippers. And the Faux Ralph shirt is looking very nice!
Found a dime on my dresser, where it likely fell out of the clean laundry. Froze the last two portions of a homemade veggie-heavy cheeseburger mac skillet dinner. It was yummy but made a lot of food. By freezing the last serving or two of a dish, I build up a stock of single serve quick meals for when cooking is not happening.
Hand-washed a bunch of Swiffer dusters for the umpteenth time and let them dry on the garden bench. Waxed a sticking spot on a door with the stub of a white candle and now it shuts fine.
Shirt looks fantastic!
1) Checked to make sure I received the $250 credit card statement for a vacation we have coming up in 2027. I have a tracker where I list everything I'm keeping an eye on, to make it easier to remember.
2) Spent some time with my employee benefits person to understand how my benefits will change when I go part time & setting the ideal end date.
3) Chased down paperwork needed for the health insurance waiver for DS19's college. If I don't show that he has health care through his parents (he does), I have to pay $2600, so it's definitely worth the hoop jumping.
4) Paid DS19's fall tuition, and then reimbursed myself out of his 529. All of that savings in the early years paid off.
5) Decided dinner tonight would be very low key and easy (and frugal) as DH will be at a work event, DS19 is camping in Yosemite & DS20 is working. It will just be me, and I'm easily satisfied with random fridge bits & bobs.
I went into a Goodwill in a neighboring city. I was disturbed at how dirty and messy it was. I did not buy anything.
1. I found a perfectly good drawstring kitchen garbage bag blowing around so I picked it up and will use it.
2. I combined a gazillion errands today.
3. I sold a couple more items on Ebay and listed several more.
4. I started another library book on my Kindle - The Gale's of November: the untold story of the Edmund Fitzgerald by John U. Bacon.
Your #4. I bought that book for my DH for Father’s Day. As far as I know he hasn’t opened it.
1. “I came into some money” - I received a two dollar bill in the mail with a request to fill out a survey. Haven’t done that yet. Then filled out a different survey on tobacco use and even though I wasn’t selected to complete the survey I received a digital gift card(?) for $20.
2. Curb alerts have been frequent and sometimes DH and I get there before the folks who load up their vehicles with all-the-things. Last week we obtained one of those bookshelves where the shelves fold up and the sides fold in. Today we picked up a 60 ounce bottle of Pinesol, a ninja air fryer for DD30, a soda stream and a few books.
3. After ignoring it for a year (!) I started purging my craft room in our finished basement. I’m retired, no excuses just no motivation. By organizing countless bins and boxes I found that I have enough wreath-making supplies to make 20 wreaths. I’ve never tried to sell them but maybe this year at a craft fair.
4. I’m plotting my maiden voyage into selling on eBay. I have a lot of vintage Christmas and Disney collectibles that I never use.
5. I’m getting better at eating leftovers but I try not to cook too much in the first place. Some dinners are like a smorgasbord but DH and DS31 never complain.
Great job on the umbrella repair,sister!
Great job on the shirt Katy! It’s adorable!
Today I picked up a huge lot of name brand water bottles as a buy nothing gift. Although I’m trying to replace my plastic, leaky water bottles, I’m not in a rush, so I coordinated to share the lot with others. As I was travellng to the other people’s homes, I came across roadside piles with sales-worthy items, including old model Dyson vacuum and a cute mid century modern-inspired set of drawers, as well as a couple things I’m going to keep for myself (an old Dyson stick vacuum and a garden decoration). Between those finds and the brand new, still in package Stanley mug (engraved with an investment company’s logo), I was feeling flush! I’ve always wanted a Stanley (because capitalism) but never bought one (because I know it’s a fad that sooner or later will pass) so I didn’t mind taking the mug with the logo and pass along the standard branded items to others. I have been the recipient of the generosity of friends, family and strangers more times than I can count. I like when I am organized enough to do something nice for others the way so many have for me.
-I waited two extra days before grocery shopping than I usually would. I used up a few pantry items I otherwise wouldn’t have.
-I washed my stanky trash bin. I didn’t pay for a service to do it.
-Gardening is a frugal hobby, right? Enjoying my newly blossomed zinnias is 100% free.
The main event today was losing my Internet for no particular reason. I was streaming a show, and suddenly it was gone. No weather event and no outages. Astound will send someone out in a week. A week! Not happy.
A better event was having dinner at a Mexican restaurant where my grandson is working as a line cook. I had fish tacos, which were great, and my son treated. At the end of the meal my grandson brought out a complimentary platter of warm churros. What a treat! So yummy.
I found a receipt and a bright new penny on my walk to the restaurant. I had the pleasure of seeing five rabbits on the way, one of them a adorable baby. We have strict leash laws, so the rabbits have learned they are safe.
I have two library books to return, so I'll do that tomorrow. I have two LFL books to read, but will probably look for something at the library, too.
I didn't make it to the Shakespearean rose garden, but tomorrow is another day.
Of course the above would not have posted had the Internet not come back. I don't know why it left or why it came back, but I'll be cancelling that appointment today.
Buy Nothing continues to be a great resource. These are the things that I received recently since no one else wanted them:
-- Enamelware tray
-- Fancy cheeses left over from a party
-- In-drawer knife block
-- Three Lazy Susans that I put under the sink and in the pantry
-- Three sturdy kids' stuffies to use as dog toys. Then I put the half corpses of our dog's expensive toys in the textile recycling bin.
The denim shirt you embroidered looks very nice. I love denim shirts. They go w/ everything & don't show dirt. They look better with wear & wash up nicely. What's not to like!
Wow - you did really well on that shirt! Kudos.
1) I hung laundry to dry
2) Baked sourdough bread to avoid buying
3) Listed some thrifted items on Poshmark. My favorite part is the buying and washing/ restoring. The listing step is one I need to force myself to do
4) Put a chiro receipt through my health spending account
5) Ate out of the freezer
Plus the usual coffee at home, meals at home, library books through Libby, etc
I'm with you -- I hate the listing.
Your embroidery is exquisite!
What a lovely shirt you have created. Was the RL shirt made in China? Very curious….
The listing doesn't say where it was manufactured, but a google search said that RL manufacrures in Vietnam, Cambodia and China.
Love the shirt!!
1) I’m in Portland as well and took advantage of the heat the last few days to rehang my clothes line that had fallen down the end of last summer, and hang two loads of wash that dried very quickly.
2) Made a big pot of pozole that my wife and I have enjoyed for lunch multiple days.
3) One of our overloaded fridge door shelves cracked, so I taped the crack and may use some fun adhesive contact paper to cover up the bright blue tape, rather than buying a new one.
4) I reserved and picked up a few books from the library, including a few cookbooks, to help give me some easy meal planning ideas and avoid last minute take out temptation.
5) I spent an hour on the phone with AAA regarding an $80/month increase on our car insurance bill with our recent renewal. Turns out they hadn’t calculated for our multi-policy that included home insurance. An hour on the phone to save almost $1000. I dread those calls and get frustrated with how long they always take, but, worth it this time!
Dana, wow to your #5! That's some serious $$$. I have to make a bunch of calls today and hopefully some will result in some savings as well.
That shirt is absolutely fabulous! Kudos to you on all your hard work with the custom embroidery job. You should feel very proud of your frugal up cycled fashion masterpiece! I can't get over it - just so cool!!
OBSESSED WITH THE SHIRT!!! This is such a great reminder that if you want something - you can make it yourself!! Can't wait to see future FFT selfies with you sporting it around town.
Thank you, it was a fun project.
My father in law grew up with RL in the Bronx. Of course, back then Ralph's last name was Lifshitz, so any RL we own is known as the Lifshitz pants (coat, jacket, whatever).
(Oddly enough my own father went to high school with Calvin Klein, who is a very nice guy who would press bottles of perfume on Dad when he saw him.)
My dad was friends with Marilyn Monroe’s makeup artist, Whitey Snyder. Their boats a were next to each other at a small marina. He told me Whitey was super nice and had many photos of Marilyn that nobody had seen. He said he would never sell them as Marilyn was exploited enough in her life. Sadly, after Whitey passed, they have been sold.
Poor Marilyn. She really was exploited--and I wonder how many younger people know that she actually was a gifted actress and comedian? One of my favorite movies is "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes," though the wisecracking character played by wonderful Jane Russell is my favorite.
My dad met many many famous people in his life--the one he was genuinely starstruck about was Fred Astaire.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gentlemen_Prefer_Blondes_(1953_film)
If you guys have never seen it, watch it! It's a delight from beginning to end.
Yes, she was an avid reader - everything from physics books to Russian novelists. It is said she had a genius IQ. Another fun fact - a descendant of Mayflower passengers.