We're leaving today for a week-long visit with my family back in the Midwest, so things will probably be quiet around here until we go back (hence no Menu Plan Monday!). Hubs enjoyed his birthday a lot. I managed to get a free pedometer and a free pack of playing cards (with our dog's face on them!) by signing up for some freebies a couple of months ago, so that helped to supplement the lean birthday gift allowance.
I've found that keeping an eye out for those good deals throughout the year really helps with gift giving. iMommies is a good resource for finding these deals, but you have to request them well in advance, as freebies usually take about two months to arrive. Hubs actually jumped on the bandwagon over Christmas by surprising me with a little collection of perfume samples. It was a lovely, pampering little gift that didn't cost him anything but a little time.
So, wish us a safe and fun trip!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sweet Bag Sales, How I Love Thee
My garage sale-ing has been thwarted this weekend due to badly-timed car malfunctions, so I thought I'd relive past successes! I didn't blog about last week's trip because I washed and put away everything before I thought to take a picture.
We started out badly. It was late in the morning, so we were only planning to hit up two or three sales on the way to the park. It's true that garage salers fall into two categories: people who just want you to take their "junk," and people who are trying to make money. Both of the first two sales fell into the second category. Everything was priced up to retail value (retail, in this case, being our already-overpriced thrift stores).
So we (mostly I!) were feeling pretty dispirited when we headed to the last sale. If it hadn't been basically across the street from the park, we might have decided to skip it. The ad on Craigslist just said it was a fundraising "dollar sale," which I thought meant that everything was a dollar. Boy, was I wrong! As we pulled up, I saw a parking lot full of tables, piled high with clothes, curtains, and what-have-you, and a big, glorious sign that read, "FILL A BAG FOR A DOLLAR." That's right, glorious. I was out of the car and off before Hubs had a chance to say, "I'll just park, then?"
I duly filled my bag (plastic, not paper, unfortunately!) and we headed to the park. On the way home a half-hour later, though, we were passing by the sale again and the sign had changed . . . . Now it read, "EVERYTHING FREE."
Oh, you can bet I told Hubs to pull over and went scurrying across the street with my mammoth shopping bag in tow. I knew that keeping a "green" shopping bag in the car for impromptu trips to the grocery would pay off . . . . I found more good things the second time around, probably because the items on top had been picked through and/or carried off already. So, for the price of my original dollar, since I can't remember exactly which clothes I picked up when, I hauled off a winter coat, black Dickies (capris), a pair of brown Eddie Bauer jeans, a zip up black sweater, a 65% angora beret, a white scarf, a J. Jill blouse, a polo shirt, robe, and a pile of clothing to resell or give away. Whew!
Where else could I have gotten a whole new wardrobe for a dollar? Talk about a great, guilt-free shopping spree!
We started out badly. It was late in the morning, so we were only planning to hit up two or three sales on the way to the park. It's true that garage salers fall into two categories: people who just want you to take their "junk," and people who are trying to make money. Both of the first two sales fell into the second category. Everything was priced up to retail value (retail, in this case, being our already-overpriced thrift stores).
So we (mostly I!) were feeling pretty dispirited when we headed to the last sale. If it hadn't been basically across the street from the park, we might have decided to skip it. The ad on Craigslist just said it was a fundraising "dollar sale," which I thought meant that everything was a dollar. Boy, was I wrong! As we pulled up, I saw a parking lot full of tables, piled high with clothes, curtains, and what-have-you, and a big, glorious sign that read, "FILL A BAG FOR A DOLLAR." That's right, glorious. I was out of the car and off before Hubs had a chance to say, "I'll just park, then?"
I duly filled my bag (plastic, not paper, unfortunately!) and we headed to the park. On the way home a half-hour later, though, we were passing by the sale again and the sign had changed . . . . Now it read, "EVERYTHING FREE."
Oh, you can bet I told Hubs to pull over and went scurrying across the street with my mammoth shopping bag in tow. I knew that keeping a "green" shopping bag in the car for impromptu trips to the grocery would pay off . . . . I found more good things the second time around, probably because the items on top had been picked through and/or carried off already. So, for the price of my original dollar, since I can't remember exactly which clothes I picked up when, I hauled off a winter coat, black Dickies (capris), a pair of brown Eddie Bauer jeans, a zip up black sweater, a 65% angora beret, a white scarf, a J. Jill blouse, a polo shirt, robe, and a pile of clothing to resell or give away. Whew!
Where else could I have gotten a whole new wardrobe for a dollar? Talk about a great, guilt-free shopping spree!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Frugal Gardening
Here's a peek at our little garden. We have limited space to garden in (obviously!) so we try to make the most of it. Here are a few frugal tips we've used:
1) Start plants indoors, from seeds. We picked up most of our seeds at 10 for $1 at a local discount store and started them a few weeks before planting time in an improvised windowsill greenhouse. This tactic has saved us from purchasing "pre-started" plants for a much greater cost.
2) At the end of the planting season, stake out nurseries. In July of last year, we noticed a "free" sign next to Wal-Mart's Bonnie-brand herbs and vegetables. We scooped up Greek oregano, sweet marjoram, several jalapeño and habanero plants, squash, green pepper, and tomatoes. We harvested dozens of peppers, plenty of herbs, and a few squash before the frost came. Most of the tomatoes didn't have time to ripen, but we made fried green tomatoes and they were delicious! We like to garden, so the minimal time investment was worth the joy of harvesting our own free, homegrown herbs and vegetables. As an added bonus, the Greek oregano wintered over well and is exploding in one corner of the garden (bottom left).
3) If you have limited gardening space, like us, plant the herbs and vegetables that are most expensive at the grocery store. We took that tack this year by planting cilantro and dill. My husband has a few signature recipes that call for these herbs, and I frequently make salsa, so having "free" herbs makes a big difference in the expense of these recipes.
A few frugal gardening practices that I haven't yet tried mainly revolve around composting and natural fertilizers. I can't wait until we're able to have our own compost heap--how weird am I? We haven't yet made the leap to natural fertilizers because we're having some trouble figuring out what kind of soil we have. Some of our plants thrive, but others are really struggling, namely our thyme and basil. To any gardeners out there: what are your favorite natural fertilizers? How do you practice frugal gardening?
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
My frugal bathroom makeover
Some of you may have seen the "before" of our dilapidated '50s bathroom. For those who haven't, I'm sorry that I don't have a photo to show you, but it would have broken the lens.
I dumpster-dived a massive armload of fabric wallpaper samples from the architecture firm near a downtown bank. I don't usually prowl the dumpsters, but they was lying right on top on a pile of clean-looking magazines, so I backed the car up and loaded them in. I also found the green rug that lives on our porch. Just your basic, industrial-grade rug, but it's better than nothing.
I debated for a long time what to do with the samples. One day last week when we were having guests over for our dinner party, I decided to tackle the bathroom. Hubs and I have been meaning to repaint it since we moved in, but good intentions don't make for time off work, and I don't feel confident enough of my painting/sanding skills to tackle it alone.
So we used upholstery nails to nail the samples in a (hopefully) artistic way around the bathroom. We also made a Home Depot run to buy knobs for the cabinet, which didn't have any, and I rehung a couple of framed, pressed flowers between the sort of awful mirrors. I hated those mirrors at first, but now I've embraced the whole gold thing and they are, unbelievably, growing on me. I picked up on the gold again with new switch plates and a thrifted gold toilet paper holder. So, here it is, in all its dubious glory!
The picture is sort of yellow because we don't get much light in the bathroom, but the wallpaper is unfortunately sort of yellow anyway. This might not be my dream "after," but it's already such a relief to both of us not to have to look at quite so much of that wallpaper, and when your decorating budget is $5, you can't be choosy!
So, I still have a big pile of same-sized fabric samples in various prints and fabrics. I'm considering making a really big, mismatched quilt, which shows how (not) crafty I am. Does anyone more blessed have some more practical ideas?
I dumpster-dived a massive armload of fabric wallpaper samples from the architecture firm near a downtown bank. I don't usually prowl the dumpsters, but they was lying right on top on a pile of clean-looking magazines, so I backed the car up and loaded them in. I also found the green rug that lives on our porch. Just your basic, industrial-grade rug, but it's better than nothing.
I debated for a long time what to do with the samples. One day last week when we were having guests over for our dinner party, I decided to tackle the bathroom. Hubs and I have been meaning to repaint it since we moved in, but good intentions don't make for time off work, and I don't feel confident enough of my painting/sanding skills to tackle it alone.
So we used upholstery nails to nail the samples in a (hopefully) artistic way around the bathroom. We also made a Home Depot run to buy knobs for the cabinet, which didn't have any, and I rehung a couple of framed, pressed flowers between the sort of awful mirrors. I hated those mirrors at first, but now I've embraced the whole gold thing and they are, unbelievably, growing on me. I picked up on the gold again with new switch plates and a thrifted gold toilet paper holder. So, here it is, in all its dubious glory!
The picture is sort of yellow because we don't get much light in the bathroom, but the wallpaper is unfortunately sort of yellow anyway. This might not be my dream "after," but it's already such a relief to both of us not to have to look at quite so much of that wallpaper, and when your decorating budget is $5, you can't be choosy!
So, I still have a big pile of same-sized fabric samples in various prints and fabrics. I'm considering making a really big, mismatched quilt, which shows how (not) crafty I am. Does anyone more blessed have some more practical ideas?
Monday, June 23, 2008
Menu Plan Monday: Invalid Edition
Hubs has thrown his back out, which happens a few times a year. He can still walk, which is good; sometimes it can be really bad. Consequently, he's coming home from work as I type, so I won't have as much time as usual to work on this week's menus. I usually brainstorm while I do other things in the morning, and then sit down and plan in earnest in the afternoon.
A friend of ours gave us the leftover ground beef from the birthday party we attended over the weekend. Combining that with my leftover ground beef from last week means that this week is going to be very "beefy!" Here is my rough menu plan so far:
Monday: Savory Pancakes, melon, leftovers from this weekend (I was planning to make the stuffed chiles today, but Hubs devoured the cheddar!)
Tuesday: Meatloaf?
Wednesday: Chicken-Stuffed Poblano Chiles with Enchilada Sauce
Thursday: Shepherd's Pie (Thanks to ahorne for her suggestion in the comments! We tried this last week and it was great, but I'm still plugging away at that pile o' meat.)
I still don't think that meatloaf is going to use up all of my uncooked ground beef, and I think we're a little meatloaf-ed out at this point. So I'm throwing myself on your mercy again . . . any meals that will use up about five pounds of ground beef? Neither Hubs nor I are big hamburger fans, and we did the pizza and mini pizzas thing last week. And tacos the week before. Ground beef ice cream? Beef-sicles? Aaagh!
Friday, June 20, 2008
Summer at Last
A roadside flower stand downtown had a sign posted: JUNE SNOW BRINGS JULY FLOWERS. I hope that's true, since our cold snap has finally passed by and the snow on the mountains has melted. Today was hot and beautiful. I love skirt weatherWe just bought me my first sewing machine, a Brother ES3000. We found it for $115 with a coupon code on Overstock.com, so I was very happy! Hubs is almost more excited about it as I am, since he's always wanted to learn how to sew. Right now I'm working on a "gathering apron" from The Cottage at Frog Creek. I'm feeling proud that I haven't managed to sew through my finger yet. I'll keep you posted!
To compare with this photo of our roasting black cat, here is a photo my husband took on his way to work last week:
See those big clouds and the snow on the mountains?
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Cheap Makeup and Easy Freebies
This has been a big week for bargain shopping, and it's only Tuesday! Here is a round up of some great deals I've been reading about:
I used some of our stockpiled Amazon rewards from our Chase Amazon Visa to buy myself some Bare Escentuals powder foundation, which I've been lusting after but can't ordinarily afford. I don't use a lot of makeup, but I do like to have a nice powder and some color on my lips, so I'm excited to try this popular foundation! Mine will be $5.20 after the rebate, which is cheaper than the powder I usually use!
- Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope to "Outback Steakhouse Fathers Day Certificate Request, 2202 N. West Shore Blvd., Tampa, FL 33607" to receive a free $10 gift certificate to Outback Steakhouse. This deal may be too good to be true, especially because it looks as though you can request one certificate a day from now through July 5th. Read more about this deal here, as originally posted at iMommies.
- From WantNot.net:
I used some of our stockpiled Amazon rewards from our Chase Amazon Visa to buy myself some Bare Escentuals powder foundation, which I've been lusting after but can't ordinarily afford. I don't use a lot of makeup, but I do like to have a nice powder and some color on my lips, so I'm excited to try this popular foundation! Mine will be $5.20 after the rebate, which is cheaper than the powder I usually use!
- Also, Walgreens has Organix shampoo and conditioner on sale this week buy-one-get-one-free. Many of their bottles come with full rebate forms clearly visible around the cap. If you haven't yet taken advantage of the rebate deal, this is a great time to pick up two bottles of shampoo or conditioner that would usually retail for $6.99 each. Hooray! Edit: Bethany just gave me the heads up that not everyone is receiving their rebates. Maybe I'll get lucky, since it's too late now! Proceed with caution if you decide to give this a try.
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