My friend that works at Salvation Army called to say he has a salad spinner and a stovetop coffee pot. I'll pass on the salad spinner unless it's better than the one Mom gave me or unless she would like hers back. I would like to try to learn to make coffee on the stove and stop buying overpriced crap from Farberware.
So I had never thought of this as a shopping strategy before, but I think it could be a winner. I mean how many people have their own personal shopper at the Salvation Army Store?
Rosa, that would awesome, having someone on the inside like that!
I made pancakes for a Mardi Gras breakfast today and for lunch we splurged a bit and had nutella banana sandwiches. Dinner will be the hoisin beef lettuce wraps I was supposed to make last night.
This afternoon we are decorating soup cans to make pencil cups. I think James' and mine are going to be robots. I have no idea what the girls are going to do. It appears to involve flowers and beads we got at the surplus art supply store the other day.
My blog: www.sunnysideuplife.blogspot.com
Guess why I smile? Because it's worth it. -Marcel the Shell with Shoes
Yesterday was a thrift store sale day. I spent $23 and got a dressy jacket, a top for work, a set of grill tools for DH (his tongs broke last year) a Pottery Barn king-size linen duvet cover in the most awesome dark red, a lovely soft yellow throw/blanket, a quilted pillow sham, a brand new throw rug, several vintage sheep (of the Nativity variety from Italy, for my old sheep collection) a hand carved little wooden dog, a book on pattern fitting and sewing techniques, and a #1 Ladies Detective Agency book I didn't have. It was a really fun day, too. Went to IKEA afterwords for late lunch and had the meat-ball special for $2.99. Yum!
Stella: I recently bought Nutella for the first time and DH loved it. I'm not crazy about the taste of hazlenuts, so we found a chocolate almond spread at Trader Joe's that I think I'll like better.
Early: Sounds like you got a lot for your money!
I brought my lunch to work yesterday & today (including "spun" lettuce in both meals). DH got oil changes on both of our cars today, so it wasn't a no spend day, but it was certainly a day that didn't involve any frivolous spending.
Rosa!!! THANK YOu for sharing your file organizer/baking pan trick! We actually bought a pan holder designed for such nonsense and it is too big for the designated cupboard. However, we can pick up a nice heavy metal file holder at any thrift store, and it will last a lot longer and probably do a better job, since all we want to use it for is flat pans, and the other was made for shallow casseroles and such as well.
Thanks again!
Monday two friends came over so I could help them with sewing projects. One bought a big pan of chicken noodle soup and left the leftovers. So I had chicken noodle soup for dinner too and DH froze the rest in little containers for his lunch to bring to work. Yesterday I went to MIL to help her with some things she is too old to do and she made me a big pot of chicken noodle soup (it tasted almost exactly the same) which I had for lunch with her. She sent home a bag of baked goods which I froze in small packages. So I had a lot of food for no expense this week!
When I was helping MIL clean out her attic and she sent me home with boxes of stuff to donate - it helps at tax time and she just can't part with stuff. I have no problem parting with stuff, I love lack of clutter. Also, I keep telling her that my theory is there is probably enough stuff in the world, but the problem is distribution. I have too much of x, she has too much of y and someone else has too much of z. If we all donate it to charity that resells it it keeps tons of stuff out of the waste stream and we are all happy. I did find some valuable stuff that she didn't want so called my BIL who is out of work and trying very hard to get a job to check it out- he may be able to sell it on e-bay. They are really good people and need all the help they can get.
I already mentioned this once this morning, but we're selling our house right now so organizing and making things look nice is really important right now. That said, so is saving money. I've actually found a ton of different ways to spice up the rooms in my house with stuff I already have. I covered my ugly ottomans with a nice blanket and put them at the foot of my bed. I folded another blankets and put it over the tears in the couch, and it actually looks like I planned it haha. I've also been covering random boxes with adhesive paper from the dollar store and using them to decorate and hide random items. So far so good!
"Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it." - Winston Churchill
Working hard to live my life to the fullest! I spend my days working as a writer and guest blogger for PartSelect and my nights enjoying the company of my dog, a nice glass of wine and a book.
Try Justin's Organic spreads-- AMAZING STUFF! Our whole family is addicted to the chocolate hazelnut, and I'm planning to try the others next time we're back in the US.Originally Posted by rosarugosa
I bought 4 jars of the chocolate hazelnut spread to bring back to China. And when that's gone I will splurge and order it through iherb. It is that good....
lhamo
"Seek out habits that help you overcome fear or inertia. Destroy those that do the opposite." Seth Godin
Kelli: I hope that works for you; it would make me feel good to know that was a useful tip.
Flowers: It sounds like you're doing the same type of work with your MIL as I'm doing with my Mom. Keep up the good work!
Rose: I love it when I can solve something creatively without spending any money.
Lhamo: Thanks for the tip on the Justin's. What other flavors do they have? I also was interested in the food expenditure graph you shared on the other thread; I would say we're on the low side as well.
I've been very virtuous about bringing my lunch every day, and I actually like my salads better than the ones from the salad bar at work. I think some of their ingredients have gone downhill in quality, probably in an effort to keep prices down. But we're taking Mom out for a belated birthday dinner Sat night, and that will more than offset my lunch savings by a huge margin. That is her gift though, we don't buy her a physical present. My sister & BIL will also be there. We aren't able to all get together often due to work schedules, so it will be nice.
Thanks for the tip Lhamo! I'll have to try that. I love chocolate and hazelnuts. I looked it up and they have it at a Target nearby. Cool!
Rose, good luck on your house sale!
Dad went on another spree of buying stuff made at Monasteries. I love when he does that. He ordered chocolate stuff for the kids at Easter. He's done this the last few years. We've agreed that it's better to get them a few high quality handmade chocolate items than go all out on large quantities of cheap candy. Zach and I will get them something else, but it does save us some money that Dad buys the candy.
He also ordered two kinds of apple butter, three kinds of preserves, three kinds of creamed honey and two kinds of mustard. We should be set on those for a while.
Other than that it's pretty much business as usual around here.
My blog: www.sunnysideuplife.blogspot.com
Guess why I smile? Because it's worth it. -Marcel the Shell with Shoes
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