Five Frugal Things | I'm almost there
Hey everyone!
I'm off taking my final exam this morning, and then woohoo, my life is gonna be quite freed up. Yay!
1. I used a wood marker on my free dresser/bed frame
Reader Kate let me know that the furniture she gave me had been through a move and had some dings.
(Of course, that was totally fine by me; the price of $0 was extremely reasonable. 😉 )
I need another painting project like I need a hole in my head (!!!) so I did not want to bother painting the bed frame and dresser.
For an immediate no-painting fix, I popped into Home Depot and found a multipack of wood markers, and I used the reddish one to disguise some of the scratches and dings on the furniture.
And not perfect, but much better!
2. I used another wood marker on my free side table
You might remember that I got this side table from the Buy Nothing group.
It was in pretty good shape except for some scratches. So, I used another marker from my multi-pack and touched up the scratches. Easy and quick!
3. I used another $5 coupon for the new Aldi
I had another one to use up, so Zoe and I popped in on Sunday (the day the coupon expired!) to pick up a few things.
4. I returned an extra prom dress
Zoe and I had bought two prom dresses because we weren't sure which one would look right with her heels (which we did not think to bring with us when we shopped!)
Prom was back in April, and I knew I had to hurry up and get the extra dress returned before the special occasion return window closed!
Luckily, we made it in time for a full refund. Whew.
Two related notes:
- We purposely shopped somewhere that allowed returns (some prom dress places don't).
- I put the receipt in a safe inner zippered compartment of my purse so I wouldn't lose it. Receipts are so, so easy to lose, especially in the midst of a move!
5. I walked to college yesterday
My rental is within walking distance of the school! Now, that obviously means that my rental is also a short drive from school, so I don't think walking is actually saving me all that much in the way of gas/wear and tear.
But hey, it's a little extra exercise for me at least.
Unfortunately, I forgot to look at the forecast and when it was time to walk home, there was a torrential downpour. Whoops.
But the rain was short-lived, so I waited it out and then walked home.
Good job on the easy furniture fixes. Lately I’ve been seeing a stripped looked. Also deconstructed furniture instead of painted. Some looks really good, some looks like they just didn’t get finished. I already have lots of hand me downs with scratches and missing vernier. Lol
Nothing really frugal this week. Saved some leftovers. Had a power outage so I guess that saved some, at least it wasn’t unbearably hot. Dropped of donations at thrift store.
Veneer is not the only think missing. My proofreading never works until I post.lol
I never even knew there was such a thing as furniture markers, but as a frequent user of a Sharpie on shoes, black sweaters, etc., I approve.
This is our last week of school, so I guess I can do a summer-themed frugal things . . .
--I give all the teachers and staff loaves of bread for end-of-year gifts, plus a note telling them how much I appreciate specific things they did. It's become a tradition, and they all expect it. Except one of my sons' teachers doesn't eat wheat, but she does make ice cream all the time, so I made her a jar of hot fudge sauce.
--My husband is going to Las Vegas (Nevada, not New Mexico--and if you didn't know there was a Las Vegas, NM, now you do) Friday for his sister-in-law's memorial service. Vegas appears to be booming, and the hotels nearest his brother's house--nowhere near the strip--are more than $300 a night. He's staying at a motel in Flagstaff the night before so he'll have a shower and can be presentable for the memorial service, but doesn't need that for afterwards. So he made a reservation at a campground outside the city and will bring his tent with him for the night after the service. He's actually looking forward to it, I think. When we camp now, it's anything but relaxing, with four kids and two dogs, so one night out by himself seems appealing.
--Similarly, when we take our trip to Tucson next month to see family, we will be camping on the way there and back. The drive can be done in one long day, but it's no fun with the aforementioned four kids and two dogs, all of which love to camp. I do not, but with that crew, it's much better to sit on a log and watch them run around like maniacs than try to keep them moderately well-behaved in a civilized setting like a hotel after they've been sitting in a car for hours. It is also way cheaper, which is a bonus. 🙂
--As always, I will be packing all the food we bring with us for the car trip, including some fun snacks. Even quick stops in gas station convenience stores to get a treat for six people add up to a lot in the end. There will probably be one highly anticipated stop like that, though, just because we can, and I like to spoil my kids with gas station chocolate milk occasionally. 🙂
--When we were in Tucson last year, we stayed at a really fantastic Airbnb house, which we all loved, but that would be considerably more of an expense now, given how prices have increased. So it's back to staying with family. It will be easier for this trip than last year's, though, when we were there for my brother-in-law's memorial service and there was all kinds of craziness with all the family all over the place.
@kristin @ going country, I didn't know about furniture markers either. I've had a dedicated wide brown Sharpie for furniture repairs for years! If only I'd realized there was a market for such things, I coulda been rich! 😉
@Bobi, There are metallic gold and silver Sharpies too. I have used these to touch-up picture frames.
I sort of remember my Dad having some very thick, intensely pigmented wax crayons for furniture dings. I have used magic marker-like products often for that. And typewriter white-out (when such a thing was still common) to cover nail holes and damaged acoustical ceiling tiles.
@Heidi Louise, Rub n Buff is another product that can transform metallic items. It's a very waxy product that, you guessed it, you rub onto a surface and buff. Not great for doorknobs since it wears off, but it works well for items that don't get touched a lot.
@Bee, my husband had black lacquer furniture when we married. It developed some spots that were missing the shine. I bought a bottle of glossy black nail polish to dab those spots.
@kristin @ going country, @bobi, @bee, I just learned a trick with etching cream and Sharpies. If you buy etching cream for glass to make a decoration, and you can't see the decoration, you can darken it with an oil-based Sharpie. Then you can clear around the etching with alcohol (on a lightly wet Q-Tip) to only show the etching. You have to use an oil based Sharpie tho, and I got mine at Hobby Lobby. I have not tried it yet, tho, but the crafter did show a darker etching with it. Another cool use for Sharpies!
@Heidi Louise, Back in 1984 I bought a slightly damaged dresser when purchasing furniture for my first post-college apartment. A handtruck had scarred up the front of one lower drawer. I sanded it down with a new emery board and filled the spot in with a crayon and some shoe polish. Every now and then over the years I'd fill it a little more. All these years later, and I can barely tell where the damage was.
@Ruby, How wonderfully frugal!
@kristin @ going country, I do know that there is a Las Vegas, NM. On DH's and my one and only trip to the Southwest in 1994, we stopped there for an early dinner. I hadn't washed my hair in 4 days (long road trip) and had it tucked up under a baseball cap, and I was wearing horn-rimmed spectacles and talking in complete sentences as usual. The waitresses huddled in a corner and had a lengthy discussion--and then one of them approached and said shyly, "Are you the actress who plays Gunny on Major Dad?" Not being a TV watcher even then, I had no idea who she meant, but I laughed and said, "I hope that's a compliment!" I've since watched a few YouTube clips of Major Dad, and I think it was a compliment--sort of!
@A. Marie, I love that story! Now I have to look up who Gunny is from "Major Dad."
I hope your exam goes well!
My FFT:
1. Bought no groceries this week and just used what we have.
2. Opened windows to enjoy the season of no heat and no ac needed as long as possible.
3. Switched to the bread machine to avoid heating up the house with the oven.
4. Washed clothes on the cold water, energy saving setting and dried them on the eco setting. I might hang dry this summer as well.
5. Used nails and a hammer to fix my garden boxes instead of buying a new drill.
6. Cooked at home, leftovers for lunch, batched errands, turned lights off when not in the room, the usual...
—I bought $30 worth of healthy shelf-stable groceries (think canned tuna, almond milk, cereal, etc.) for $10 at CVS thanks to a combination of sales, coupons, and extra bucks. It’s always fun when the cashier says “Wow!” after a transaction!
—We’re doing our best to be cheap, cheap, cheap post-moving and are leaning hard on our pantry and deep freezer. We didn’t eat either down since our move was relatively close; I still hit sales and/or stocked up on necessities before their prices changed (again). It made the kitchen an adventure to move (ALL the freezer bags!), but it is definitely proving worth it.
—I used packing materials and boxes I already had on hand from moving for four packages that needed to go out.
—The Goodwill with the Tetris parking lot was blissfully empty of cars when I passed by, so I made an unplanned stop. As luck would have it, I found an enameled metal table the perfect size to fit the gap between the kitchen counter and the oven. Our heavily used crockpot now has an official home right by one of the kitchen’s two outlets without sacrificing counter space. Similar tables go for $40 minimum, so I’m delighted by my $6 happenstance find.
—Related to the above, I always have at least one tape measure in the car and/or my purse. Our Goodwills only let you exchange clothing items, so it’s important to get measurements right!
@N, Love the Tetris parking lot description! Dollar General also has strange lots! I avoid shopping there for that reason.
I love those stain markers and have a few. I've used them for scratches on so much furniture. As you say, not perfect, but it looks so much better that it might as well be perfect. Unless someone studies your furniture, they won't notice that you had some dings and scratches that you've covered, and after a while, you won't either. That's my experience, at least.
1. I finally used the VA instead of a private ophthalmologist and my insurance to get my husband some new glasses. They are not super chic, ,but they are fine and they are free. Free is my favorite price.
2. I'm sifting through the tons of paperwork to get payment assistance for DH's new nursing home. It's a pain, but very worth it.
3. I used a 40% off plus free shipping code to get my little grandson some new clothes for his birthday. As the only boy out of six grandkids, hand-me-downs don't work that well for him. 🙂
4. I notified two medical facilities that they didn't submit to all of the places they should submit for payment on bills for DH's recent hospitalizations.
5. The biting yellow flies are in my yard in full force right now, so that working in my yard can be a painful experience. I use what DH used to always use in yellow fly season, diluted vanilla extract. My husband is allergic to yellow flies, so finding something that worked was vital when he used to work outdoors a lot. Even imitation vanilla worked for him and is a lot cheaper and safer, and seems to work better, than expensive bug sprays.
@JD, hands across the Internet to you re: all that medical paperwork for your DH. Been there, done that, still doing it...
@A. Marie,
I know you understand! It's crazy, all the papers I have to go through.
Good luck on your exam!
Nothing super frugal here, aside from taking kids on free (park) outings, drinking water instead of seltzers, and cooking at home. Managed to save at the grocery store a bit by using promotional sales (buy 5 mix and match, get $1 off each). Trying my best to stay off Amazon shopping except for essentials until July. We'll see if I make it!
1.) Had to get some pots and planters and such as my wife is really going nuts with the flowers this year. I hit up the local thrift store and found some for $1 each versus the $10+ that Home Depot was charging for them!
2.) Used a 20% off coupon at Michael's. We've been fighting a long battle with getting my daughter to pick up after herself and not have everything strewn about. Hopefully having more dedicated places for things will help. Of course the best solution would be to help her get rid of so much of the clutter!
3.) Made a rotisserie chicken last for several meals. The grocery budget is already stretched thin and may need to be expanded due to the bad situation we're in now.
4. Also doing a lot of walking. This includes parking at one store and walking to the other store down the road that I will also be shopping at.
5. I started the veggie garden again this year. We had a long winter that just wouldn't end and we just slammed right into summer so we'll see how things grow this year. I planted potatoes (including some which sprouted from the grocery store) and lots of beans, lettuce, radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers etc. Probably won't save any money but at least it's fun.
@Battra92,
I'm struggling with my son's clutter as well. He seems to have a hard time parting with things and the accumulation can get overwhelming.
@Battra92, I don't think we're going to save any money from our garden either. But like you said, it's fun and fresh and my kids get exposed to real food. It's silly but I want them to know that food comes from nature, not just the grocery store.
@CrunchyCake, this is so not silly! I set up and assist school gardens for that very reason - so that children know that food comes from nature. Good luck with your garden!
@Battra92, I'm with you on the "probably won't save any money but..."; I've always felt that except for the cash value of dried herbs I give as gifts, I just about break even on gardening (and maybe not even that in the last few deer-infested years). But I wish you well on your garden in general and your sprouted grocery store spuds in particular. The ones I planted a couple of FFTs ago are all coming up now.
@Battra92,
Would she respond to "nothing new can be touched until you get rid of some of your old stuff?" We did that with our kids at Christmases, making them get rid of the stuff they no longer wanted and used, before they could use any new gifts.
We always donated the old stuff they gave up, and they became excited about finding items that would be fun for another child to enjoy. It made the giving up of things much easier for them.
Of course, your mileage may vary, as children tend to be motivated by differing things.
Plus if people know that it takes work to get the food we eat, they're less likely to waste it — any of it, not just what they produce themselves.
@JD, It might be worth a shot. The problem is that her grandparents all have gift giving as their love languages and every time she sees them she suddenly has ten more toys that she doesn't play with (but she swears are super special.)
This morning I got rid of about 20 coloring books before she woke up. Most had never been colored in and were of characters she's long left behind or never had an interest in (Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh etc.) They will all be donated to the Little Free Library.
@Battra92, is it possible to speak to the grandparents about that issue?
@Battra92, I used to think my garden did not save us much money but then I started keeping track of what I spent on gardening, as well as what I harvested. The husband went to the grocery store to price out what it would have cost us to buy the stuff instead of grow it. After I subtracted expenditures, I was stunned to realize that we had saved over $400. I did it for a few years running and it has always been a profit, two years in the $1000 range. (Although for us it is not just the money. Alaska really does get the dregs for many fruits and vegetables, so growing our own makes a huge difference in taste, too.)
Kristen, we're all cheering for you to ace that final exam! And tell Zoe she's really rockin' the Cleopatra look.
Also, I'm another member of the touch-up pen brigade. One or two of the "Brown Bettys" in my collection of thrifted English teapots have miniscule chips in their spouts. I've touched these up with a brown Sharpie.
Now, FFT, Using Up the Health and Beauty Stash Edition. My past self had a tendency to overbuy/overacquire H&B products, so here's what I haven't had to buy lately (and shouldn't need for some time). We talk a lot about our food stashes on the blog, but not so much about other things.
(1) Remember those Irish Spring, Coast, etc. deodorant soaps I used last year to discourage deer from the vegetables? They worked OK for a while, but as the season went on and the Bamboids got hungrier, not so much. But all's not lost, as I'm still washing with them! They're fine once any surface dirt is scraped off--and, in fact, a little less offensively scented (to me, anyway) now that they've spent time outdoors.
(2) Shampoo and conditioner. I've finally come to the end of the large bag of hotel-size S&C I was given at a friend's garage sale last summer--but I recently trashpacked a warehouse-club-size two-pack of Tresemme S&C, still in the shrink wrap.
(3) Q-tips. I'm on the last pack of a club-size 4-pack of these that I trashpicked two years ago. (The trash days after moving days in the neighborhood tend to be good for these sorts of finds.)
(4) Sunblock. I went a little overboard on buying Banana Boat SPF 50 last summer at Ollie's.
(5) Hand sanitizer. My Salvation Army superstore has been giving away free bottles of this lately!
@A. Marie, I’m so glad you trash-picked those things! It gives me hope for the cleaning supplies (we just use Dr. Bronner’s around the house anymore) and unneeded cat items (a spurned brush and detangler spray—our fluffy cat HATED both) that I carefully put out on the curb when we were moving. Most of what I put out disappeared within half an hour, so here’s hoping it’s all enjoying a second life elsewhere, just like your finds!
@A. Marie, I adore the idea of trash picking but don't want to do it alone. And rarely does anyone in my neighborhood just set stuff by the curb. Too bad we don't live near each other, we could be "trash" friends.
Kristen, I'm old and come from the age of dinosaurs, so when you mentioned prom dresses my mind went back to the early sixties when we girls looked like fluffy Disney cinderellas, usually in pastel gowns. We all went to the hair dresser beforehand to get elaborate updos, sometimes interwoven with flowers, but always tiaras. And we always wore a rabbit stole (I guess that would be the word) for some warmth getting there. Seeing your daughter in a slim fitting black gown reminded me that girls are way more sophisticated these days. I'll tell Wally and the Beaver.
@A. Marie,
I'm sure it's no surprise when I tell you I own a Brown Betty teapot.
I envy your trashpicks! Living in the country, about all I can pick up by the roadside is roadkill.
@JD and @Anne, trashpicking is a time-honored tradition in my quadrant of my city. There's a neighborhood near the university where it's such an outdoor sport (especially this time of year) that it's referred to as the "Westcott Flea Market" in the neighborhood's honor.
@JD, When I was younger and stronger, the non-profit residential program where I worked was on the list for the troopers to call if there was a moose killed on the road. I was the only employee willing to go out, no matter what the hour or the temperature, to skin and butcher the animals enough to get them into the back of my pickup and to the local processor. (Not always an easy task, at 30 below zero with only your headlights and a head lamp to light up the winter darkness. After I married, my poor husband, who hates blood, was forced to come along to hold more lighting for me.) As payment, I was allowed to keep a quarter of the final packaged meat. Some years the moose seemed intent on running into cars and I would butcher four or five of them and end up bringing home hundreds of pounds of meat. I loved roadkill!!
@Lindsey, I've always admired the folks like you who know what to do with fresh roadkill. Do you know the book "Possum Living" by Dolly Freed? She and her father were living in rural PA at the time (1970s), and she outlined dealing with various types of roadkill in the book. The most recent edition includes an afterword in which she describes how her dad came to a sad end, but it's still a great book.
@A. Marie, I am self-taught. The first time I went I took the Joy of Cooking book with me because it had a picture of a cow carcass. The trooper asked me if I wanted his help to turn the animal so that when I slit its throat the blood would run down hill. "Ah, sure. I guess so..." clued him in that I was clueless. And when I took the carcass to the processor, the owner asked, "What the hell happened to this animal!?" When I explained who I worked for, he was kind enough to spend about an hour showing me the easiest way to do the job. After that I just got better and better with each kill. The weirdest thing was that in the summer, when it is light all night, inevitably some tourist would drive by and want to take a picture of what I was doing. And they ALWAYS asked me, "Are you an Eskimo?" They were disappointed when I said no and I had one person say that they would tell their friends at home that I was because no one would ever know the difference. At 3 am, covered in blood and guts and tired because moving and hauling hunks of meat is some real exercise, I am afraid I sometimes got pretty testy with passers by.
@A. Marie, This is my favorite time to dumpster dive. It is move out week at the local college.
@Marybeth, Yes, I used to do that when I was a studen at Michigan State University. I would find the best stuff, much of it brand new!
@Lindsey,
Wow, moose! I admire you for butchering something that size on the roadside. What I find is mostly smashed squirrels, bloated possums or armadillos, which can carry leprosy. In the Florida heat, they are going to be nasty in very little time anyway, so no roadkill for me. My daughter once accidentally killed an overly optimistic deer with her car, but she let the trooper who arrived on the scene take it home.
Great post! A couple of general thoughts that may be helpful to readers:
1. I have found that a sharpie works just as well as those special wood markers. I happen to have a black and brown sharpie in my marker bin, so one day I tried them on some chairs that had dings. Sharpie worked fine - so try it if you don't happen to have the special wood markers!
2. I keep ALL receipts in a small coupon holder folder in my the glove compartment of my car (I assign compartments for places I go often - hardware store, TJ Maxx or Marshalls, etc). I figure that I will always be in the car when returning something, so why not just leave them in the car so I don't end up leaving them in the house or loosing them or cluttering up my wallet. I also keep all of our various gift or loyalty cards in the car, and the library card - again because then I don't have to carry them around in my wallet!
@monica, I practically carry a sharpie around in my pocket I use one so much for this type of repair. I am a reseller on eBay, and the one time that you CAN’T do this is on any chipped collectible item you’re selling. Unless you tell the buyer, that is. I have passed on certain items at the thrift store because they had obvious Sharpie repairs. Now I will say, that one time I had an edge scrape on a brown picture frame and used a Sharpie on that. It matched so perfectly; but I still told the buyer.
@SandyH, I'm not that fussy about the teapots in my personal collection (see above). But I agree that it would be a no-no for anyone trying to resell items, except in a few rare instances where the buyer would be OK with it with full disclosure (as in the case of your picture frame).
@A. Marie,
I will have to pass the sharpie tip - haha- to my daughter in law. She bought some furniture pens for a friend of hers in Singapore and had them delivered to my house. She will transport them back to Singapore. I have tables with scratches and will look for brown sharpies now. Almost bought the furniture pens but didn't cause I thought they were expensive and I just needed a brown one.
1) The past few weeks, I’ve been collecting free 5 gallon buckets for my vegetable garden. Ceramic pots would look a lot nicer, but they are so expensive. I’m grateful my bakery gives me all these buckets for free! I was also able to give a bunch of buckets to a group collecting gardening supplies for food insecure families interested in growing their own food.
2) I grow all my veggies from seed. I started doing this for the interesting varieties, but with the number of plants I now grow, buying plants would get very pricey! I also love doing it and all the planning and planting gives me lots of free entertainment in the winter and early spring. Another bonus : I also get the joy of gifting extra plants to others!
3) I’ve also been working on my annual garage sale that will take place this weekend. Our neighborhood HOA picks the date and pays for an add in the paper, plus yard signs, so I take advantage of that to get more customers. I know a lot of people hate doing garage sales, but I love it!
4) Last night, I really wanted to order out for dinner, but I just used up some food we already had.
5) I went to the library yet again. Their computer system keeps track of how much money you save by borrowing, instead of buying, and we are beyond a decent annual salary at this point.
@JenRR,
So agree on the library. DH and I visit it every couple of weeks and bring home several books each. I wish mine did that tally but I know it’s a gigantic savings.
I use the “Hold” system to order books I truly want and the library gets them (from other libraries if not in the building) and sends me an email when they are in.
All for free. What more can you ask for?
They also have movies and TV shows and music DVDs/Blu rays. The TV ones save on cable.
@Erika JS, Our county property tax statement breaks down expenditures, and I think our family of three house pays less than a cost of buying one book per year in library costs. I would certainly vote to increase that!
@Erika JS,
I also love the “hold” feature. Our library is in a very small town, but it can get any book in the library system across the state. It’s also great to have a pile of books waiting for me when I get there!
@JenRR,
My library does that now too. I love seeing what I "saved" on my receipt. I say "saved" cause my town property taxes are very high.
I will have to get some of those wood stain markers! We have a few things that could use them.
1. We bought a new induction oven range, our old oven was gas so many of our pots and pans didn’t work on the new stovetop. Someone on buy nothing was giving away a box of pots and pants that would work on the new stovetop so I picked them up. They are in great shape and work great.
2. I also picked up a giant unopened box of diapers in my daughters size from buy nothing. We are potty training next month so this should be enough to get us through until then and then will be done buying diapers! (Well probably will still use pull-ups at night for a little while but that’s still a big reduction in diaper purchasing)
3. When my son was born, my cousin gave him this little lamb stuffed animal, it was a $65 handmade stuffed animal. He was never into stuffed animals so it sat untouched. I discovered it recently and found that the brand is popular and people sell them online. I listed it on fb marketplace and it sat for weeks but finally someone bought it for $20. I put the money in his college fund (I don’t have a problem selling gifts people give to my kids once they are no longer useful to my kids but I do always put the money in their college fund, so that the gift giver is still benefiting them!)
4. Our dog is quite old now and needs a few different supplements and special treats. I had set them up on subscribe and save on Amazon but recently the price seemed higher than before and so I looked around for better prices. I discovered Chewy had them for cheaper and also has subscription option so I canceled on Amazon and set up an order on Chewy.
5. Ordered more free Covid tests from the government, they are sending 8 this time.
@LB, Thank you for the #5: I didn't know more free tests were available.
https://special.usps.com/testkits
@Heidi Louise, I just found out this morning, too, and got them ordered!
@LB, thanks for the heads up! Ordered.
@Heidi Louise,
Thank you for the heads up! Here's one of my own: The dollar tree has individual furniture markers in their tool section. They work great if you just need one or two colors!
I've gotten individual ones before; perfect if you have one shade of wood.
In my case, I have oak, walnut, mahogany, and black furniture. Heh. So a multipack was definitely in order!
@Heidi Louise,
Thank you for this link! I just placed an order.
@LB and @Heidi Louise, thanks for the heads-up on the new USPS offer of test kits. DH's nursing home is going to require pre-visit testing for the foreseeable future, so I can use all I can get. I've just ordered mine.
@LB, Thanks for the reminder for the Covid tests. We just used several since my kiddo's class had an outbreak. So useful to have some on hand so I ordered more.
@CrunchyCake, we are in the middle of a school outbreak right now too so burned through most of our supply, hoping this new batch arrives quickly!
@A. Marie,
I don't know if you are on Medicare but a woman waiting in the pharmacy told me that Medicare will give you 4 Covid tests for free. I don't know if it was 4 packages for a total of 8 or just 2 packages for a total of 4. She also said you can get 4 every month. She probably told me cause I have gray hair and look as if I could be on Medicare. No offense was taken and I can share the info.
@Heidi Louise, thank you so much. just ordered the tests. i ;earn so much from this blog.
Good luck on your exam! I love Zoe's prom look, especially her hair. I miss my blue hair.
1. I planned to build more self watering planters to expand our container garden. While researching the materials budget on a whim I looked at ready made planters. I found a type that was a little smaller than I planned to make but was cheaper than building from scratch. Good thing too. When I went to buy supplies for the rest of the garden project,
I bought the last 2 cedar boards!
2. Added 17 new planters to my patio container garden, refurbished a planter I previously built, and converted 2 planters with drainage holes I already had to self watering. This will save on water and my vegetable and herbs have a better chance at living when I forget to water them.
3. Planted our vegetable and herb garden. Normally my husband and I go into it by picking things that look interesting/we're curious what it tastes like. This year, we actually came up with a plan to plant veg I can preserve do to random supply chain availability.
4. Did a small side hustle performance at a promo for our state's tourism day. It was fun to stretch those muscles, to people, and I picked up info/was reminded of things (many low to no cost) we can do on summer weekend adventures.
5. We've been eating down the freezer and pantry which probably has more to do with being busy with outdoor projects than anything else.
I applied for a new credit card this week that is just a straight 2% cash back on everything card. I think I'll be much happier with those rewards than my REI Mastercard. Not that I don't love REI, but I also don't need all my credit card rewards going to that one store.
I've been spending lots of time tending to the garden and using what it's already producing: herbs! I'm taking the time this year to ensure we have a good bountiful garden and that means...before long I need to clean out the freezer. Which means...it's freezer inventory time. We all know what a great way that is to avoid food waste!
Mostly we've just been using up things, repurposing things, etc.
I - took my bike instead of the car
- cooked all meals at home, even days we had little time
- took a dress my daughter didn't like and now wear it with great joy (she didn't pay for it either, but exchanged it at a second hand clothing party)
- line dried my laundry
- used up the last bits of toothpaste and shampoo by cutting the packages
Good luck on your test!
Frugal things:
1. I cooked some tough cubed steaks like pot roast in the slow cooker for my husband's lunches this week, along with some of the bounty of carrots and tiny potatoes we had on hand.
2. Oddly enough, I was using a brown marker this morning to spiff up the worn edges of the desk in my summer work office. The desk probably dates back to the 1990s and looks like it's been to the wars, but a good cleaning and some marker work has it looking a lot better.
3. Found a cute neo-retro battery-operated clock discarded in a drawer in my new work office: the battery cover was missing off the underside. I fixed it with new batteries and a scrap of plastic trimmed from a cat litter jug. It works great.
4. Got the free version of My Fitness Pal because the post-vacation step on the scales was rather startling. The paid versions are $19.99 a month or $79.99 a year. Free has fewer bells and whistles but is working fine.
5. After ten years of use, we were suddenly down to only two dishtowels. I used a 15% coupon to Ollie's Outlet -- the really fun clearance store -- and bought eight dishtowels, four of which included a free dishcloth, and a set of memory foam chair set cushions. The cushions are probably intended for kitchen chairs, but are working great in the driver's set of my 12-year-old car and in the dent in the most-used spot on our sofa.
@Ruby, all hail Ollie's, my source for everything from Banana Boat sunblock (see above) to remaindered Martha Stewart books to cheapo crushed red pepper to mix with my birdseed as a deer/squirrel deterrent. I'll keep an eye peeled for those memory foam cushions at my Ollie's, and I too will be clutching my 15% off coupon. (Be forewarned, though, that I've had to restitch the occasional hem on household linens.)
@A. Marie, I don't mind the occasional restitch when the prices are that low. We also buy lightweight striped beach towels there and use them as bath towels. It's the only place I can find stuff with pink stripes to match our 1952 pink and blue tiled bathroom.
I kicked myself for missing out recently when Ollie's had a shipment of cherry pie filling.
@A. Marie, does the red pepper hurt the birds?
1. A friend treated me to lunch and gave me a ginormous gift bag of items she made - soaps, scrubs, lotions, lip balms, body butter, etc. - as a thank you for my help in her shop.
2. Saved a wrinkly nectarine: chopped it up, added a bit of sugar and cinnamon, and cooked it down. Added to 1) oatmeal and 2) a bowl of yogurt and granola.
3. Due to a bad headache, I did not attend a gathering which saved me a 2-hour round trip and the cost of dinner.
4. Friends took me out to brunch as a thank you for my organizing help.
5. Treated to a fundraiser dinner. Made a generous donation but dinner was still free!
My FFT this week:
- I scheduled an in-network, covered medical appointment. My counseling and massage therapy sessions have not been covered, so this is the cheapest appointment I've had in the last year. Woot!
- My appointment is virtual, so I don't have to spend gas money driving to the appointment.
- I hand stitched a loose seam on my shorts. These babies should last a long time, and the seam was easy to fix.
- I am taking steps (pattern and instructions printed!) to sew some fun jumpers for summer. I already have the pattern, the fabric, and almost all the notions, so the cost will be minimal.
- I cooked at home a bunch this past week. Nothing special, but meals that got the job done.
Well, some of the girls did have fluffy gowns...but there are a lot of movie-star-looking black prom gowns too!
Zoe tried on some gowns that were other colors, but when your hair is teal/blue, a lot of gowns clash. Black was a nice neutral option.
Zoe looks adorable. Did she go with a group of girls the way kids do now?
Was thinking of you at exams this morning and sending good luck vibes. Now you can dig into the good work of turning your house into a home. I’m sure it will be rewarding and we all are avid to watch and cheer you on.
She went with a group of girls. I love that you do not have to have a prom date; so nice for students who are single!
@Kristen, yes, I love that too. Such a great development in social mores that ANYBODY can go.
My goodness, yes. I think it's kind of dumb to require people to have a date. That puts so much social pressure on these poor teens.
My grandma swore by furniture markers. They sometimes have them available at Aldi (as a seasonal buy).
1. Returned a birthday gift that was too young for my son.
2. Returned some party supplies we ended up not needing.
3. Enjoying library books instead of buying.
4. Bought Starbucks cinnamon dolce creamer which will be added to several cups of at home brewed coffee.
5. Ordered more at home Covid tests (thanks to your readers for the heads up).
I'm sorry if I missed this somewhere else (kindly point me in that direction if so!) but can you tell us more about the prom? I work in a high school so am well versed in what it looks like here but love hearing that someone home-schooled has a celebratory event as well!
Well, it all depends on the area you live in, but if you are in a place that is populated by a fair number of homeschoolers, a lot of times you can find a prom to go to. Homeschool groups, or homeschool tutorials sometimes put on a prom; the one Zoe went to was put on by a local homeschool tutorial (not one Zoe goes to, actually!).
Oooh - I love that you can walk to school! This morning I saw so many people riding their bikes to work, which is great since we live in a pretty suburban area - it's great to have options outside of driving. My FFTs:
1. I emptied our ice maker's bin into a grocery bag so that it will make a second bin of ice. This should be enough to fill our cooler for our camping trip this week so we don't need to buy ice. It's a little expense but also it seems dumb to buy ice in this instance if I can just get it from my fridge.
2. I made a point to use the coupons my grocery store sent me and planned meals around them. I love that they send me coupons for things I buy (in general, I don't like having my behaviors tracked anywhere, but at least it's beneficial in this use). Among other things, I ended up getting a free half gallon of almond milk and was able to stock up on some canned goods for a great price.
3. 3rd grader wanted me to buy a Hermione Grainger costume for a school assembly on Amazon with a $40 price tag. Her class theme was literary characters. I pulled up a picture of Hermione wearing a skirt, cardigan and white shirt that looks *exactly* like her school uniform. Bought her a $7 red and yellow tie, borrowed her sister's HP wand, and gave her Dad's notebook that passed for a spellbook. Braided her hair the night before so that it was wavy. That costume on Amazon looked so chintzy so I was much happier with this. I also want her to know that you don't go out and buy something on every whim. Be creative with what you have. I think she gets this tendency from her dad (see #5 below)
4. Big sister's class was doing an athlete theme for above mentioned school assembly. Pieced together a tennis outfit with an athletic skirt that grandma had given her (that has been sitting unused in her drawer for almost a year), a visor that I have no recollection of buying, and her tennis racket. $0 out of pocket.
5. Convinced my husband that we did not *need* a $60 cast iron dutch oven to make nachos on our camping trip. Seriously, folks. He really thought we *had* to have one. For nachos. To show him the light, made a test run in our cast iron skillet and he was satisfied. I do think that it would be valuable for some people but not for the way we camp and what we cook - I have been really trying to be judicious in buying kitchen stuff. Only multi-use things for the kitchen that I'll actually use. I just don't want more clutter.
@CrunchyCake, love Nos. 3 and 4.
@CrunchyCake, Kudos on #s4 and 5! Those costume days at school are painful to me - nobody in our house has ever been into that (don't really want to dress up, but feel compelled for school spirit or whatever), and I'm not naturally creative to be able to easily see how to pull something together. So I always admire people who naturally have that good eye!
(ok whoops, #s 3 & 4 : )
I'm sure you will ace your exam!
My FFT:
1. Returned items before the return window expired
2. Worked with PT office to get charges removed since we've met our family deductible for the year
3. No grocery shopping this week - using what we have in the house
4. Cashing out credit card rewards dollars to help cover our Memorial Day vacation
5. Planning meals for Memorial Day vacation. The rental does not have an oven so I have to plan around that
I live and work in a college town and last weekend was move out weekend! Some of us wait for this weekend, so we townies can have our town back and SOME of us (me included) wait for this weekend to do some trash picking!!
1-5. We found some great items this time around: a huge gallon water jug with inspirational quotes to keep you drinking (which was promptly sanitized and used). Brand new boxes of tin foil (not sure which college student needed three of them?). Brand new boxes of bulk pasta...still wrapped in the Sam's club outer wrapping (pasta, yes I understand why college students have pasta). Two guitar hero guitars which I will sell on Ebay. An inflatable costume that my son will just have a ball with! A cute three legged stool for my daughter's vanity & tons of new cleaning supplies. Next year I will make an effort to have gloves in my van and make the time to go out to REALLY look. Now to sneak some of the items into our home and make them look like we already owned them (pasta, etc.) Hubby can get grossed out by my trash picking some times. But for me, it's a win, win. There are lines that I will NOT cross when it comes to trash picking (college couches and open food are a big NO NO)
@Jenelle, see my FFT above re: trashpicking. I don't actively compete in the university area any more on graduation weekend (the price of gas, the amount of local interest, and the fact that I'm old and slow are all factors). But it's less well known that leases in university-area rentals run from June 1 to June 1, so I may have a slow cruise for old times' sake on Memorial Day weekend.
@Jenelle, I went dumpster diving at my college the summer I stayed for a job. I had to be frugal then, and I couldn't believe how wasteful some other students were! (My friend picked a perfectly fine stereo!)
1. Our neighbors moved and didn't take everything with them. They had a small dumpster and I asked if I could scrounge in it to try to save items that were not trash. I pulled out some old metal items and combined them with some we had and gave away scrap metal on Freecycle. I pulled out a wooden "rocking" chair that is built for heavy people (they said up to 600 pounds). There is a small crack in the seat but my husband glued it together while I was away. I also pulled out a small table with a drawer that needs a small fix. The later items we will give away after fixing them. I try hard to keep items out of the landfill.
2. I went to New England with my daughter to visit family. We packed snacks and drinks for the trip, drove the hybrid vehicle set to ECON, timed the drive to not endure backups (timing and luck I know), skipped the nerve wracking George Washington Bridge/Cross Bronx Expressway, and stayed with relatives. One day we all went to an animal sanctuary. There was no admission fee but we bought plenty of goat/sheep food to help support it (and feed the animals).
3. I am still working on getting an Rx co-pay card to work to help pay for a prescription our insurance no longer wants to cover. I spent time on the phone today with the co-pay issuer and will visit the pharmacy tomorrow.
4. I received a lovely flower arrangement when I attended a work dinner with my husband. It's nothing I'd ever want anyone to buy for me but I've enjoyed the flowers.
5. I ordered the next round of federal government provided rapid Covid tests. This time they are planning to send eight tests between two shipments. I also submitted to medical insurance for reimbursement of tests I bought at a warehouse store.
Scored a bunch of clearance meat at Target
Old swimsuit top didn’t fit but the bottoms did and I liked them. Found a top that did fit and went with the bottoms at Target and their swimwear was 30% off. Feel like this was fairly frugal because it turned something I was going to give away to Goodwill into a cute suit I can use.
Line dried our clothes on the hottest days so I wouldn’t have to heat up the house with the dryer.
Made tea from mint in the yard instead of having soft drinks.
Made mini muffins with the juice from an empty jar of maraschino cherries for snacks for the kiddos, sweet potato mini muffins with leftover mashed sweet potato, also made homemade peanut butter and date granola bars for snacks instead of buying snacks at the store.
Lots of mending this week:
1. Ordered & sewed on replacement straps for two very old but still lovely summer nightgowns whose tiny straps had fallen prey to my tossing and turning at night. I got elasticized bra straps, so between the elastic and the adjustability, hopefully they'll last a long time. I later found a little hole along a seam of one bodice and got that sewn up quickly, too.
2. Darned holes in a pair of my son's Star Wars socks. He actually remembered that I'd told him that it's far easier work for me if he tells me when the holes are small, so it didn't take long. These are pretty cheap socks, but he loves them and it's keeping things out of the landfill, so I'm happy to do it.
3. Found a pair of my husband's athletic shorts that had been lost in the back of my sewing shelf for so long he thought I'd gotten rid of them. Sewed up the hole and now he has another pair of shorts to wear.
4. Got a lovely cashmere cardigan with a few moth holes at our church rummage sale. All my darning thus far has been on socks, and thus not particularly needful of being done attractively. I've been looking at lots of visible mending posts on Instagram and think I'll have a go at it on this sweater.
@Kate,
Embroidering flowers or stars or birds over the mends might work as well! You could use the same color yarn as the sweater or something with contrast.
I like the possibilities of visible mending, (though not enough to make rips on purpose; I am too old for pre-ripped jeans).
Congratulations on being done with another class!!! And those wood markers did awesome work. I love it. I'll have to keep that in mind. My FFT...
1. I'm hanging a lot of laundry outside that I would normally dry in the dryer.
2. Free fun like swimming with friends and attending an open house with games and ice cream that was at my son's speech therapy clinic.
3. Looked at Ibotta and got almost $9 back on stuff I needed to buy anyways.
4. Batched errands yesterday.
5. I mended my daughter's favorite cat sweatshirt (again) AND mended my other daughter's umbrella!! I'm not sure exactly how it got broken, but I sewed one of the ribs to the canopy in a couple of places and you can hardly tell anything is wrong with it. Since the umbrella matches her rain boots and allows her to flawlessly wear her brother's hand-me-down rain coat (the blue that's on part of the umbrella and boots matches the blue of the coat and looks very cute), I am very happy to have the set still complete and not have to buy another umbrella.
Popped on to wish you well on your exam. Was not expecting a post today. Nice surprise.
Finally made it through every inch of the place pulling out everything not used in the last year, cleaned every corner, touched up any paint. Now to donate to animal thrift store.
Repurposed some clothes by taking off sleeves, hemming, or altering.
Grabbed the big orange sissors and whacked off my way long covid hair into a pixie.
Bought some small non leaking food containers to put frozen lunch and snacks in purse to avoid eating out.
Had to replace part of my TV antenna, really cheap, and bonus 8 new TV stations.
@Tiana, very brave of you to cut your own pixie. I'm impressed.
@Anne, lol, when I go into a shop with my extra long thick hair and say pixie everyone runs to the back and hides. I don't know if they do rock, paper, sissors, or fight club but last time my hair cutter was either drunk or high and gave me a dumb and dumber hair cut. Much laughter was enjoyed by family and friends.
So, more lesser of two evils than brave.
I have the same stain markers, they are very handy!
Bought some apples and made applesauce.
Helped out a friend with packing glassware for moving.
Just the usual day to day stuff.
The weather is gorgeous here in Upper East Tennessee!
I love the color of your daughter's hair. When I was in college I had a reaction to pool chemicals and ended up with bright green hair. Back then, it was considered so bizarre that I was asked by the dorm parents to get it "taken care of." As a work-study person, I felt compelled to listen. I am so glad things have changed.
I had never heard of those repair pens and will be buying some asap for several pieces of furniture. Thank you for making me aware of them!
My savings this week seem to be concentrated on food. I found several meat mark downs at the grocery store. We made soup just to use up some fading vegetables, even though neither of us felt like soup. A neighbor going on vacation gave us 4 dozen eggs and we have been eating crepes for breakfasts, lunches and dinners to use them up. When I had to trim the leek seedlings, I salvaged them and used them like chives rather than throwing them out. We did not eat out, nor did we throw away any food this week...
1. I found a mirror for my bathroom remodel on clearance that I’m really happy with.
2. I went on a little weekend trip. We bought a few meals out, but also went to the grocery store and packed food for a few of the meals.
3. I ate leftovers for lunches yesterday and today. The food was yummy and not wasting food is frugal!
4. I opened up windows to cool down the house this morning before work, so the air conditioning doesn’t have to work quite so hard this afternoon when it gets hot.
5. I used a gift card to buy a new swimsuit from Amazon, so it didn’t cost me anything.
Congrats on being done with your class!
1. Every once in a red moon ( get it?) everything lines up with sales and digital in app grocery coupons. I bought what I normally do and saved 44 dollars.
2. Packed a boring so over it lunch every day. I switched it up a couple weeks ago and made a brown rice salad for the week and that didn’t do it for me either. But I keep packing that lunch!
3. Driving very little!
4. Doing larger loads of laundry.
5. Non frugal. After shopping for a year for a good sale and checking eBay posh mark and thredup for months, I bought a new pair of birkies from the birkies website. No sale. No free shipping code. Nada. My last pair was shot and I needed a replacement. I have feet problems and wear them every day and to every occasion all summer! My last pair looked good for two years and are now at three years. Garbage time for them.
@Stephanie, real birks can be returned to the manufacturer and they will replace the rubber soles and/or the cushioned footbed. It is expensive but cheaper than new ones, if the top straps are still in good condition. I did this with some of my birks once and they did a great job.
I love how your three daughters are all individuals! Great job allowing them to be themselves!
Five Frugal things:
My husband and I were busy planting seeds (not wasting the money we spent on them) this weekend and my husband repurchased some items to use for projects! They're awesome!!
I know this isn't everyone's favorite thing here, but we've been using our clothes line to dry laundry. We had a week of 90 degree weather, and now cooler but windy, so it makes sense.
We were able to harvest and actually froze some of the rhubarb. It is growing beautifully this year.
I accepted a bag of chicken feed from my past manager. I accidently texted her instead of my son that I would be there soon, I was chasing the chickens back home- a whoopsie text gone right!
We've been consistently eating the leftovers.
Love your blog and all the great ideas.
Nice work on the furniture!
1. We purchased our seedlings from the Public Market this weekend. Our market has very affordable seedlings. I purchased strawberry mint and it smells amazing. Most of our vegetable garden is now planted. We just need some more tomatoes and potatoes.
2. I made baked french toast for my kid's breakfast this week. I used a loaf of whole wheat bread my daughter's daycare was giving away.
3. I went for a lovely hike with a friend this weekend. She then bought me coffee!
4. I picked up pots off Buy Nothing to plant my mint seedlings in. They are too invasive to plant into the vegetable garden.
5. I used my FSA to pay 2 co-pays this week.
Love that pic of Zoe!
I...
- ran almost all of my errands via bike this week. Exercise plus avoiding gas prices!
- Picked up 2 bags of chips to share with our sandwiches at my daughter's outdoor band concert last night. I call this a frugal thing because it's a LOT cheaper than buying individual bags of chips for 4 adults and 2 kids (my in-laws came, we treated them to dinner)
- Planned a weekly menu that relied entirely on meat I already had in the freezer and fridge
- Returned a bunch of things (my local Meijer no longer has a fitting room, so you have to purchase a bunch of different sizes, take them home and try them on, and then bring back what doesn't fit. Which means you have to REMEMBER to bring things back to return!)
- Found a very-on-sale bikini for my Hawaii trip. It looks fab AND was my size (I'm not a small person so finding bathing suits that fit correctly is difficult, this is the first bikini I've bought since I was about 8!), and since this is an anniversary trip, I'm very much looking forward to feeling confident and sexy on the beach. 🙂
1) Yesterday for our anniversary my husband and I had a simple fast-casual lunch while the kids were at school. After over two years of having the kids up under us at all times, it felt like the height of indulgence to get to spend time just the two of us without the work and expense of coordinating someone to watch them in our absence. I'm so thankful for the people in my life--paid and unpaid--who sometimes watch our kids, but gracious it takes a lot of coordination and discussion and prep on my part.
2) We used rewards to cover part of the cost of the lunch.
3) We kept the lunch quick and easy so we could indulge in a Goodwill visit. He and I used to regularly hit up the Goodwill together but haven't had the time since the beginning of COVID. We had a number of good scores: a beautiful quilt for our daughter, a couple pairs of shorts for my husband, and a couple of pairs of biker shorts for me.
4) We all had leftovers for dinners.
5) In the evening I worked on getting a home exchange for an upcoming trip to Canada. And I think I found one! I just have to confirm the dates with my sister in law who is (hopefully) watching the two youngest while we travel. We are going for a wedding that the youngest two are not invited to and wouldn't enjoy if they were.
Oh gosh, it has not been a particularly frugal season for us. Lots of travel booking, paying for our tax prep fees, & then my 15 y.o. decided to do some camps this summer. We are thrilled he's excited about tennis camps & definitely prefer that over him gaming in his room, but it's an expensive tradeoff.
1) I was traveling for work all week, so I spent $0 on myself.
2) I used 2 - $20 rewards for the grocery store, to stock up on some things we needed.
3) Jumped through a ton of hoops to use a flight credit from a previous flight.
4) Used airline gift cards (they are what generated the grocery store rewards from #2) to cover some of the cost of a travel booking. I'm always thrilled when I remember to use gift cards!
5) Completed a few Fetch & iBotta offers. Disappointingly, both required follow up, but are now redeemed. I also had enough to earn a $5 gift card via Fetch.
I helped a friend pack last week and was given an applesauce grinder and a mattress, the latter of which I gave to my son.
I have continued harvesting wild foraged food, including dandelions, fiddle heads, brook trout, pickerel and white fish.
I combined a needed shopping trip to a bigger city nearby with visits to my sisters. I try to limit the visits to once a month, which means a have lots of errands and not a lot of time to visit. To help with this, I drove down one day, spent the night and returned the next day, which worked out well. And my sister gave me a bottle of dish detergent that she didn't like.
I'm coloring my hair at home tomorrow (nope---not ready for gray, Ha!).
What a nice blessing you got from helping your friend! A win for both of you.
I just wanted to say that Zoe looks beautiful!! I absolutely love her haircut too. So, so flattering! 🙂
the furniture is so beautiful. am so happy for you. i have used guardian pens on my dining room table. they make such a difference. hooray.
Great prom look!
Dear Kristen, so good to hear from you.
I didn't know such a thing as markers existed to fix up scraped furniture. And your daughter looks stunning in her prom dress!
Here are my frugal things:
1. I didn't buy lunch out once during my last temporary job. Granted, it was only for 7 days but still.
2. I need to learn at least some Excel. This morning I looked at buying it but then I remembered that Google Sheets could work just as well for my purposes. And Google sheets is free.
I use those furniture markers a LOT! They are a quick and easy way to make those minor scratches and dings less noticeable. I LOVE the sleigh bed - and such a rich, gorgeous color!
At 72 years of age and my husband 82. We are building a deck off our out building 8x12. We have it framed and the floor joists hung. Working mostly two hours a day. It was to expensive to hire done. The treated lumber is heavy but we will get it done eventually. Maybe in two weeks. We both cut are on hair.
Ok, this is seriously impressive! Kudos to you guys!!
Your daughter looks beautiful in that dress. She is so statuesque. Hope she had a wonderful time at prom.
Here's our Five Frugal Things for the week.
1. I received a VISA gift card for Mother's Day and used it to purchase vegetable plants for our garden. Between the seeds I ordered earlier in the year from an organic seed farm and these plants, we'll be able to fill the expanded space we've tilled.
2. With the price of food rising so sharply, we doubled the garden plot and are planning to do a raised bed for annual herbs. I did a small herb garden last year and dried much of the bounty. We enjoyed it so much that we've decided it's going to be a permanent fixture.
3. A fellow sewing friend took a trip to the New York City Garment District and brought back a "fabric challenge". She bought us both a yard of the same fabric - a patterned denim in creams, browns and golds. The challenge is for both of us to make something from it; not showing the other person until it is done. I decided it would make a pretty summer denim skirt. It wasn't quite enough fabric for the project, so I purchased a yard of light brown denim for $3.6o to coordinate with it. I downloaded a free online pattern, too. I'm excited for a new skirt and can't wait to see what she does with hers.
4. I do costume work for a local dance studio. One of the costumes needed to be glitzed up and I had to source about 18 yards of fabric. The local fabric store chain didn't have enough yardage in any one location and there was no way I was spending time and gas money running from store to store. The store said they could not consolidate it for me either. They suggested ordering online. When I googled, it, I found what I was looking for at a different company at a fraction of the price. The chain was selling it for $9.99 a yard plus shipping. With the coupon I had, I would have been able to get it for about $8 per yard. The alternate place I found had it on sale for $3.09 a yard with free shipping on the quantity I ordered.
5. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I was contesting my house reassessment increase of 63%. I met with the assessor and gave her photos and comparables from my neighborhood. I got a letter in the mail that they are dropping the increase from $89,900 to $33,000 - doing the math, I determined that this represented an increase of about 4.9% per year since the last eval; which is lower than the national average. After understanding the math she used to calculate the new number, we felt the assessor listened and was fair. I am, however, going to be watching market trends over the next few years and will have no hesitation asking for a re-val if the market drops significantly.
Ok, I love your sewing challenge. So fun!
sorry the markers are guardsman and they came from bed, bath and beyond a thousand years ago. they have not driied out and they were $4.59 plus tax. the price label is still there,
i had a huge frugal fail this past week. an acquaintance from synagogue had her cat pass away. she wanted to meet my new puppy. i invited her to the stuy town cafe in my apt complex where buddy can stay on the terrace. i gave her $20. she gave me nothing back in change. i couldn't believe it. she knew my husband lost his job. i told her i would treat but my drink was $5. Am trying not to dwell on it and continue to be my generous self. my hubby is also generous. that is one thing we always agree on.
We have a furnituker for the maple cabinets in our RV (where we live full time) but my husband discovered that one of the colored pencils in my Prismacolor pack of pencils was a PERFECT match. So if any of you use colored pencils for artwork or coloring then you may find a great match in there too!
*Furniture marker
My proofreading is like CC's. It works best after I hit "post"
Haha, I kind of like "furnituker". 😉