Jan....2017...Frugals

[Sloeginfizz]

Went to Goodwill yesterday and emerged very pleased with my haul. Before we left Bellingham, my stepfather gave me a bike he wasn't using after he upgraded his own. It took awhile to get it in shape, but then I needed a helmet. I priced them out, but the one I wanted cost $27. Too much! Found the same one at Goodwill, clearly rarely--if ever--used, for $3.99. Score! I also managed to get some stemware I'd been looking for, for a crazy low price of $0.69 each, plus a top and some other bits and pieces. Total cost: $14.85.

A bike helmet is something you should always buy new. Even a relatively minor accident could damage it in a way you couldn't see but that could make it worthless in another accident. Also, the plastics in a helmet degrade over time, so you Should replace after several years. With a thrift store helmet it might be ten years old and you wouldn't know. $27 is worth it to keep your brain safer. I think they only way I would buy a helmet from the thrift store is if it was still sealed in the original package.

[rosarugosa]

DH made an amazing pot of chicken stew/soup using thighs, which are pretty cheap and very tasty. The cumin and turmeric are the special ingredients making it so delicious. We've got enough put away in the freezer and refrigerator to feed us two more meals, so this involved economy of effort as well as $$.
We came in well within budget on groceries this week and the monthly Costco run.
I needed several small items so I bundled the purchases together to get free shipping from Amazon and Bing search points paid for half of my purchase.

[MaryHu]

Found a 1980's vintage Levi's flannel lined jeans jacket at WSU surplus for $1 that I should be able to sell on Ebay for $50 or more.
Found a pair of high end shoes at Good will for $5 that should get about $35 or so on Ebay, found a $5 bottle of perfume at Goodwill that might fetch $25 on Ebay.
Had a couple of pretty cotton scarves from India that I got at a yard sale last year for 50 cents in hope of selling on Ebay that didn't sell. Since they were long and narrow (12" x 60") I cut them into six peices each and hemmed them and now have 12 new pretty handkerchiefs. They are so soft and my old ones are all falling apart.
Earned $500 for spending a couple of days over the holidays painting my boss's office at the library. WooHoo! I'll probably donate most of that to my sponsored kids. All my Ebay money goes to them too.

[Gardnr]

We are eatin' in 6 days straight now. chili/cornbread x2. Spaghetti squash/bolognese x2. Baked chicken/roasted veggies x2. And we're brown bagging lunches too.

It's a wagon I hop on/off waaaaaay too often.

[MaryHu]

Just sold a rare book on Ebay for $125 plus shipping for which we paid 50 cents at WSU surplus. Unfortunately now DH who found the book wants to put it all and more besides to the purchase of a banjo! Nevermind that he's got 3 or 4 guitars, a ukulele, a dobro, a mandolin and who knows what else. Oh well. Not so frugal after all

Had garden produce from the freezer for dinner tonight: Homegrown tomato soup and green beans.

[rosarugosa]

Mary Hu: Well at least the book partially funded the banjo!
Gardnr: Sounds delicious, especially the spaghetti squash bolognese.
We came in within budget on groceries, even with a trip to Trader Joe's, which always makes it more challenging. DH got a good deal on haddock at Market Basket, because the employee messed up when she was skinning the fish, and threw in the piece she had messed up for no charge, so we got almost 2 lbs of fresh haddock for $6.99. He made a yummy haddock/risotto/spinach concoction for dinner that was way too much food for two people, but we managed to eat it all anyway. Yesterday we walked in the woods, I walked 1.5 miles home from the hairdresser (DH had dropped me off), I visited a tiny old cemetery in the center of town that I've been passing by for over 50 years, and I got Richard Russo's new novel, Everybody's Fool from the library on the way home, which is pretty exciting.
My last frugal is vicarious, but the best one of all. One of my employees just refinanced her condo for a much lower rate. I had helped her a bit with rate shopping, etc. and she had been coming to me with advice for improving her credit score over the past couple of years, so I felt really good for providing assistance and she'll be saving more than $200 per month!

[MaryHu]

Everybody's Fool was great!

[Gardnr]

Another week has passed. We went out for a burger Friday night. other than that? Cooking at home for lunches and dinners and continuing on freezer foods and emptying out the fridge. one more meal of carrots and 3 apples and we are completely out of produce and look Mom....NO COMPOST

Hubby is doing the Costco run after work tomorrow. Produce....that's all we need for the next week. Yea us!

[MaryHu]

Used our last "buy one entree, get one free" coupon at Q-doba yesterday. Since we took it to go, had drinks at home & since their entrees are so large we got lunch AND dinner for 2 people for $8.27.

Costco & bakery outlet & Grocery Outlet store run today (about 35 miles away, we do this 4 or 5 times a year) plus we'll hit the thrift stores in those towns as well.

The high end shoes and perfume I got at Goodwill about 10 days ago for $10 have both sold on Ebay for a combined total of $55.50 (and the customers pay the shipping). Pretty quick turn around.

I have an offer from Chase bank to open a checking account with them and get a $300 bonus. I have to keep $1,500 in the account to avoid fees, have a direct deposit go to them and must keep the account open for 6 months to earn to bonus. Whenever I get ones of these offers whose terms I can easily comply with, I take it. My boss says it's no big deal to change my direct deposit and then change it back in 6 months when I close the account. That works out to an annual interest rate of 40%! With interest rates so low this is one of the few ways I can earn something worthwhile on my liquid money. In the last 4 years I've made $675 from different banks around town and online with these offers. The terms are usually pretty minimal. This is the first time I've had to change a direct deposit to one of them. Got to earn some interest somehow!

[Meezer_Mom]

I started a new contract job last week. Long commute. I did a cost comparison for reducing costs for the 2d bus system I need to use. A 7-day pass would be $14, the 5-days pay as I go $12.50 BUT if I get an interagency transfer in the morning for that trip for 50 cents, I can bring down that added weekly expense to $8.75. That's something.

It's in kind of a remote area that doesn't have a walkable convenience store or restaurants so I'm constrained to taking lunch and snacks.

It's work. Not a career move. It'll keep the cat in kibble for now while I get some other things in my life re-aligned and on track.

Today I plan to go to a museum offering free admission, the gym and then the grocery store. I have some Kroger freebies to gather before the digital coupons expire.