Moving stuff out to move

Probably buying a house, which means moving, so decluttering is accelerating.  I took 6 grocery bags of clothes/shoes to Goodwill this week, donated some books to the Prison Library Project, and managed to sell a dress, a pair of shoes, and three books on eBay or half[dot]com. Tomorrow when the consignment place opens I’ll call them about taking a couple of jackets and dresses and combine that with taking in some old-fashioned jewelry to the place that buys such things. 

Went out for a pricy dinner last week.  Somehow I thought “we want to take you out” meant the other couple would treat … that plus the babysitting added up fast.  It was fun, though, and they are wonderful friends.  It evens out because they threw a great party (catered!) this past weekend and my parent came and watched the children, so we had a free fun night out.

Ate lunch for free at work twice last week.  Free lunch today and free dinner tomorrow.  And with Other Adult working through dinner time 5x/week, my dinners are much cheaper. 

Have to remember to make the luminarias with the children to use up the thrift store candles and the miscellaneous glass jars.

Raffle for savings

Last week my mother treated the children and me to a Christmas party put on by one of the clubs to which she belongs.  There were snacks and, excitingly, a raffle for which not many attendees bought tickets, apparently.  I bought 6 tickets for $5 (the party was a fundraiser for a Good Cause) and won a $20 gift card to a local toy/bookstore and a $10 gift card to a local cafe with a pound of coffee.  Each child got a craft kit. My mother (who bought 12 tickets) won a giant Christmas wreath and a journal. SCORE!  We used the cafe card the very next day.

Thrift store this week: I got a bag of miscellaneous candles — I want to make luminarias with the children; a holiday dress for #2Child; a pair of knee-high boots, real leather; 4 tops; and a puzzle for #2Child for Christmas. $35.  The dress was the most expensive item at $9.99.

Had free lunch at work twice.

All this, and we’re buying a house and about to take on hundreds of thousands of dollars of debt and see our monthly expenses rise, not in rent/mortgage so much as in utilities.  Lalala!

Remembrances of thrifty finds

procrastinating and reading the Non Consumer Advocate blog.

http://thenonconsumeradvocate.com/2010/02/its-all-in-the-jeans/

She asks about great/favorite thrift store finds.

When I was in college I got a pair of shoes for $1. Sturdy, thick soles, I wore them for years. At the same store I got a warm jacket for $2. Nothing had prices; you just hauled your finds to the nice elderly lady at the front and said, “How much?” and waited with bated breath while she looked at the shoes and said, “Well, they’re in pretty good shape.  How about … [long pregnant pause] a dollar?” which she said as if she were expecting you to cast down the shoes in outrage.

Last summer, I got a long teal silk coat with the tags still on, originally priced at $120, for $5. I need to have it taken in but it is beautiful.

Once I found my mother a purse, of the exact brand she exclusively favors, with the tags still on, for $8; it retails new for $60.

#1Child found ice skates for $8 the same day that #2Child found Barbie rollerskates for $2.50. I have trained them well.

Thrift store score, eating fail

You win some, you lose some.  I wrote a post on Thursday and then wordpress went down, so I lost it.  I believe the gist was:

• free lunch at work 3 days this week. Since work lunch often involves a very good salad bar, this is good.
• some rather haphazard dinners, some of which was wasted by the children. Dang it. I thought the meatballs with fresh ginger and garlic were delicious, myself.
• there was probably something else in there.

As for new news: yesterday at the thrift store #1Child found The Toy that #2Child has been coveting for months. New, it would be $60; I’d been looking on craigslist and ebay and seen it for @$40; at the thrift store, the price tag was $16.99; and it rang up at 50% off, so it was $8.50. You go, #1Child!

We also found some Halloween decor items, candles for the luminarias I hope to make with them, a tablecloth for the Halloween party, and even Halloween straws.

I couldn’t work out today because my car wouldn’t start. Other Adult fixed it but in the interim I took a walk with the children. We ran into a friend of #2Child’s and got invited for a playdate, which turned out to involve pizza. Which I ate, despite not being all that hungry. I also ate several of the chocolate chip cookies I made as our contribution. Now I’m carb-heavy and unhappy. Bleuch. October Unprocessed is not going well, I’ll have to shoot for November Unprocessed, I think.

Food waste, free fun, thrifting

An entire sweet potato went bad. Very sad.

On the plus side, #2Child enjoys my homemade yogurt with honey or maple syrup. I enjoy saving money and PACKAGING.  At the farmer’s market I got a wonderful avocado which made very delicious guacamole. OH! I checked the clearance section of the meat department and found several large roasts, 50% off, with an expiration date a couple of days safely in the future.  I bought two, stuck one in the freezer and the other in the crockpot. The crockpotted one so far provided two dinners for 4 and at least one lunch for 1 — all for $3.50.

This weekend the children and I enjoyed a friend’s birthday party (alas, not having my thrifting skills in place, I had to buy a new present — gift card) and also went to a free outdoor festival with a merry-go-round, bounce house, snacks, photo booth, and temporary tattoos. Did I mention it was all  free? The photo booth was my favorite part.

The other day #2Child and I swung by a thrift store while #1Child had a music class. I found a pair of pants for work and #2Child found some little tchotchkes. The children are not on board with the decluttering. We all went to a community rummage sale where #1Child spent hir own money; for my part, I got a skirt and two tops, a small picture frame for a print we got at the farmers market (it’s a card, but so pretty that we’ll frame it for one of the kids’ rooms — so original art for $3 including the frame!), face paint crayons, a shirt and a teapot for #2Child, all for $10, and the money supports a local food bank, so wins all around.  We went home happy.

Now to figure out how to bring in the kids’ Halloween party for a reasonable amount of money.