1. I got some free silverware!
We were getting by with a rather motley assortment of flatware from the abandoned house, but we were pretty short on knives and forks.
So when someone from the Buy Nothing group offered a set of Martha Stewart Living flatware, I threw my name into the hat, and I got chosen!
(She’d received a new set as a gift, so she didn’t need this Martha Stewart set anymore.)
I am so delighted to have a well-stocked silverware drawer again.
2. I got some coffee for 50% off
I took a peek at the markdown shelf at the grocery store and ooh! There was a bag of coffee that I like, marked to 50% off.
I have no idea why it was marked down (it doesn’t expire until August) but it’s all good by me. 😉
3. I cleaned out a clogged ear
(I promise I will keep this as un-gross as possible.)
Being a self-moisturizing person (aka greasy. Ha.) has upsides, such as the fact that I almost never need to use lotion.
But a downside is that sometimes my ears are a little overzealous with the cerumen production, and it gets bad enough that my hearing is muffled.
You can go to the doctor to have your ears flushed out, but I didn’t really want to pay for an appointment, so I tried the Debrox ear drops.
It took several applications over several days, but my ear is doing way better now.
And this reminds me that I should probably do this treatment every now and then as a preventative before my hearing gets muffled!
4. I got Zoe a free Slurpee
Yesterday was 7-11’s anniversary, so they put a free Slurpee deal in the app. I had to run out to the grocery store anyway, so I brought home a Slurpee for Zoe (she was in online driver’s ed!).
5. I did not buy a 3-hole punch
I printed a recipe the other day, went to add it to my recipe binder, and realized that I had no hole puncher.
I stopped in at Office Depot after my cat shift and was a little surprised at how expensive these are (I was not expecting to pay $30-$50!)
When I got home, I put out a message on my Buy Nothing group to see if someone had an unwanted punch sitting around. Reader Kim is in my Buy Nothing group (Hi, Kim!), and after she saw my message, she happened to be at a church thrift store and she picked one up for me.
So, I don’t deserve a lot of credit for this one, other than this: I put the word out.
I remember Amy Dacyzyn (of Tightwad Gazette fame) wrote about this years ago, actually! If you let people know you are on the hunt for an item, sometimes you can get the item for cheap or free.
Back in the Tightwad Gazette days, word of mouth was basically the only option, but in this age of Facebook groups, it is easier than ever to put the word out.
Your turn! What frugal things have you been up to lately?
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