September Frugals [Archive] - Simple Living Forums

happystuff

9-5-20, 8:13am

Well, I spent money, but I'm counting this as frugal because I spent "less" money - lol. Have been doing yard work and needed to trim the bushes. Going from old-to-new shed, we had found that we had two electric hedge trimmers! Well, neither one worked (out on sidewalk and gone in two hours!). So I started researching electric hedge trimmers - expensive!!!! Ended up getting a new set of manual hedge shears that work great! Plus, I'm getting that upper body workout that I wanted. LOL. And all for way less than the price of an electric trimmer.

nswef

9-5-20, 11:01am

Happy stuff, That's great to get rid of 2 non functional things so easily, get a new one that is multi tasking as you use it!!!

Teacher Terry

9-5-20, 12:44pm

My friend bought sheets at a garage sale for a twin bed and it was a double. I have 3 sets for our double so put it in the thrift store bag.

Tybee

9-5-20, 1:03pm

I repurposed an old door and husband made it into bookcase. It was really rustic and ugly and we found it when we were cleaning out shed so I painted it with leftover white paint and am using it for my mcm china and cookbooks. (sorry about sideways)

3422

Teacher Terry

9-5-20, 1:44pm

That looks nice Tybee.

early morning

9-5-20, 2:08pm

Nice bookcase and neat use of old materials Tybee! Today I put a load of laundry on the line, and mended a t-shirt for DH. Researching how to keep some of my annuals over so I won't have to buy them again next year. Considering a grow-light for the basement. For HOUSE PLANTS, not for another income stream, lol.

razz

9-5-20, 4:45pm

Clever use of the door.

rosarugosa

9-6-20, 7:34am

I love that, Tybee!

happystuff

9-6-20, 9:22am

Wow, Tybee! That is fabulous!!

rosarugosa

9-6-20, 3:41pm

There is a vacant house near us that's being totally renovated for a flip. There's a small grape arbor, and we've been watching those grapes carefully. We picked some today and they are perfect! I love Concord grapes and clearly nobody else was going to enjoy them, and it would be shame for them to go to waste. :)

razz

9-6-20, 5:11pm

There is nothing better than homemade Concord jam. Concords have been replaced in stores by another purple grape that doesn't have the same wonderful flavour but seemingly is easier to grow.
I made some Concord cordial years ago for my mother and she loved it. I am trying to remember how it was done.

JaneV2.0

9-6-20, 5:23pm

Champagne grapes are absolutely wasted in champagne, IMO. Tiny little bundles of flavor.

NewGig

9-8-20, 10:44am

Finally designed the refurbished wool blanket(s). I have 3 old wool blankets which came from a church penny sale on the seacoast. We've used them for years, although they're all double bed size and we have a king and they all have holes. The holes aren't the problem, the size is. We layer them, but still it's a PITA. So, I've always planned to make one bigger blanket from the 3 smaller ones.

I'll do this next spring when I take them off again. If I screw it up, I don't want to be cold too!

The first step is to felt them and I may do that now. They were stored unwashed because of Covid. I usually wash these before storage, but I wasn't going to a laundromat in lockdown (won't fit in my tiny washer/dryer).

I would love to find some more like these, but instead of the $5 each I paid, they're around $30 or more, no matter the condition...

My frugal out of season bedding storage system worked though. The winter sheets, wool blankets, down comforters were all stored away, looked good, were labelled and easily accessed when needed. The summer weight stuff will replace it this week or next, depending on how fast I get the stuff cleaned first.

I used canvas laundry bags and foot square boxes to help them stay put. The bags cost $9.xx each and I have 5 of them I think. (I'd bought 2 as a trial, some time ago.) I also bought soft sided storage (on sale) to go along with, but they don't work as well, although you can put them down flat. I spent around $120 total and organized 2 complete seasonal changes of bedding: bottom sheets, top sheets, pillow cases, mattress pads, down comforters, and wool blankets.

If I get bored or ambitious over the winter, I'll cover the foot square cardboard boxes, so they're a bit less utilitarian... The boxes are just over $1 each at Staples.

Tradd

9-8-20, 11:11am

Got my State Farm auto policy bill for Oct-April. $130 less than previous! I had already gotten bill for April-October policy when all the Covid discounts hit, so I wasn’t sure what the discounts were going to be.

razz

9-8-20, 11:53am

You did much better than I did. I got $10 discount.

happystuff

9-8-20, 12:19pm

I haven't gotten my next scheduled bill, but I'm really not expecting any discount.

beckyliz

9-8-20, 2:26pm

Our Liberty Mutual auto premiums were going up by 20% because "there's been a lot more accidents." I contacted a woman I had met at a networking group several years ago who has an Allstate agency. She's able to give us better coverage for 20% less than we were paying before the increase. I wasn't impressed with Liberty Mutual to begin with - plus their commercials are irritating.

Tybee

9-8-20, 2:48pm

I found two Kosta Boda snowballs at Goodwill Saturday and went back today to buy them. First I bought one but then husband urged me to go back and buy the second, so we turned the car around and did so.

Got them both for 9 dollars. They are so great, we are already burning a candle that came in one of them.

Tradd

9-8-20, 2:55pm

Becky, totally agreed on the Liberty Mutual ads!

Tammy

9-8-20, 3:58pm

Changing car insurance companies every 3-4 years is the way to keep costs low. They start low and increase over time. It’s such a pain to switch companies though ...

iris lilies

9-8-20, 6:00pm

I saved money because I did not buy a condo this month. I was all set to buy it and somebody bought it before me. So that’s about $55,000 I didn’t spend.

OTOH DH spent $4500 on an old tractor at auction. DH doesn’t spend any money, well hardly ever. The last time he spent a sum of money was 16 years ago when he bought a nice car. He’s been wanting an old tractor for a long time. Because now we have a farmette! So now we need a 1950s or 1960s tractor it’s one or the other. Roll my eyes. I’m not sure what he’s gonna do with it, but he really wanted one.

Alan

9-8-20, 6:28pm

OTOH DH spent $4500 on an old tractor at auction.
Farmall?

iris lilies

9-8-20, 7:11pm

Farmall?
Massey Ferguson. But he is in love with Cockshutt, too.

Alan

9-8-20, 7:14pm

Massey Ferguson. But he is in love with Cockshutt, too.Well who isn't? The early 50's Cockshutt 20 would be just about the perfect size for an acre or more.

Tybee

9-8-20, 7:16pm

We had an old Ford 8n. It was great.

Watch out Iris, or you're going to be living out on that family farm soon. Maybe get the condo now.

razz

9-8-20, 9:43pm

Those old tractors are easy to service and keep on trucking. My parents had an 8N when I was growing up and it was a workhorse.

rosarugosa

9-22-20, 3:20pm

I cut DH's hair again yesterday. This was the third time; the clipper set paid for itself on the second cut so now we are actually saving some money.
More significantly, DH has decided to go back to work on 10/1 for 20 hours per week. The hospital has stayed in touch and made it very clear that they wanted him back. They reached out again yesterday offering him a shift because someone is leaving. This will be good for the budget, although I will miss having him here all day. He'll be working Mon - Fri 7:30AM - 11:30AM, so at least we'll still have afternoons.

happystuff

9-23-20, 7:30am

rosarugosa

9-24-20, 6:30am

Thanks, Happystuff. I hope so too. It is encouraging that none of the employees in his dept have gotten sick, so presumably the right precautions are being taken. I don't believe they ever had a lot of Covid cases there either.