Skip to Content

Miscellany: REI, pumpkin votives, & I want something unnecessary.

Happy Thursday, frugal peoples! It’s time for some miscellany.

REI is skipping Black Friday.

For real.   You can read all about it here.   They’re closing their stores and sites and encouraging people to go outside instead.

REI-OptOutside-Black-Friday-e1445944915341

I don’t really love the way that Black Friday has been creeping backwards until it runs smack dab into Thanksgiving day, so I like that REI is going against the flow by giving their employees an extra paid day off.

And I love that they’re not afraid to make a decision that could hurt them financially.

(Although I feel hopeful that this will just solidify their customer base even more and possibly win over some new customers.)

I remembered to get out my pumpkin candles!

I’m not a big seasonal decorator unless it’s Christmastime (and even then, I don’t really go all out).

But I do own these little terracotta votive holders, which my girls love, and I actually remembered to get them out at the beginning of October this year. So, yay me.

pumpkin votive holders

I, uh, bought these at an after-Halloween clearance sale some years back. Because of course.

Can we talk about my dishes?

So, I’ve had these black Pfaltzgraff dishes for about 18 years now, and miraculously enough, a great percentage of them survived the years when my children were all small.

pumpkin votive holders

Well, that’s not entirely true.   I still have plenty of big dinner plates, but I’m a bit lacking in the smaller-plate department because a lot of those bit the dust.

Anyway, I’ve been wishing for a set of plain, minimalist-looking white dishes for some time now.

(Why yes, this would be partially motivated by the fact that white dishes are good for photography. Ahem.)

Also I just really dig white dishes.  But my frugal, practical self is having issues with this. I mean, the black dishes do still work fine.

I dunno.   I need to think about this some more.

I’m reading the new MoneySavingMom book.

It’s not published yet, but it IS available for pre-order on Amazon.   I was lucky enough to get an advance copy to read, though.

#bloggerperks

Money Making Mom

I’m only a few chapters in, but I’m liking it thus far, and I think it’d be really helpful for anyone looking to start up a business doing something they love.

Our router died.

This last weekend, our internet gave out, or at least it seemed that way.

Luckily, this is an area where Mr. FG shines, and he figured out the router had gone kaput.   He ordered a new one, but then rummaged through his spare parts box to hook up an old extra router while we waited for the new one to come in.   That way we didn’t have to be without internet for days.

Wives who blog appreciate these kinds of things, you know?

The new one router came yesterday, so now we are back in business for real.   I’m so glad that Mr. FG deals with our techie stuff because it’s really, really not my area of expertise.

There’s an ePantry giveaway goin’ on.

Enter to win a complete set of Mrs. Meyers’ products, which consists of one of everything they make!   Plus the winner gets a bonus set for a friend.   Schweet.

(14 items in all, with no purchase necessary.)

ePantry Giveaway - Mozilla Firefox 10282015 105646 PM

This is really quick giveaway, so if you want to win, enter right away! The winner will be emailed on Friday, October 30th.

And of course, you can also still snag your 3 free Mrs. Meyers’ products plus free scrub brush plus free shipping when you spend $20.  

(That offer is for new customers, but existing customers, click here and you’ll get a free Mrs. Meyer’s hand soap added to your next order!)

__________________

Oohkay! I think that does it for this week’s miscellany.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Lynn Miller

Sunday 1st of November 2015

I get the following message when my computer freezes on your webpage:

A script on this page may be busy, or it may have stopped responding. You can stop the script now, open the script in the debugger, or let the script continue.

Script: http://secure-ds.serving-sys.c…urstingScript/SZMKFLVPAIDBR.js:17

ckflamm

Friday 30th of October 2015

I love the dishes I bought at dollar tree. I've had them for a while and they are thick. My 5 kids ages baby-7 haven't broke one but even if they do I can go and buy just one instead of a whole new set. They aren't exactly white but more of a cream color, but they have worked great for us.

Ruth

Friday 30th of October 2015

We have had white Corelle dishes for over 6 years and still love them.

Julie

Friday 30th of October 2015

I HIGHLY recommend white Fiesta dishes! They're USA-made and incredibly durable. They're also attractive and often used in restaurants and photographed in food blogs. (Hint, hint) We've owned our Fiesta since our wedding 16 years ago and through many moves and almost all pieces are intact. Plus, it's sold in stores like Macy's and Kohl's that offer lots of coupons.

Kristen

Friday 30th of October 2015

Are Fiesta dishes all really thick? I have limited cabinet space, and so I haven't considered those because of my assumption that they are all thick. I need my plates to nest pretty tightly in order to fit them in my cabinet!

Angela

Thursday 29th of October 2015

I bought these dishes a few years ago, because like you I really wanted a set of plain white dishes, even though I didn't NEED them. I felt like it was a reasonable splurge for such a large set. And 10 Strawberry Street had great customer service. One of the bowls was chipped when the set arrived and then set me out a new one right away. http://www.walmart.com/ip/10-Strawberry-Street-Nova-Square-Banquet-45-Piece-Dinnerware-Set/19525094

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.