Jump to content

Menu

May Frugalistas 2021


mommyoffive
 Share

Recommended Posts

6 minutes ago, saraha said:

I think some of it was returns, so open boxes etc, but not all of it, they had 20 brand new calf and foot massagers for example.

It was advertised in our local paper

For $280 dh bought at the auction:

10x10 pop up canopy

2 flat pack end tables (ds21 will get the ones we told him he could have or these, whichever ones my dh likes less)

4 boxes of Christmas lights

2 32 inch tvs (they were opened, he's hoping at least one will work)

1 flat pack desk (like the one ds got)

2 flat pack sets of shelving (from same lot ds got)

4 patio chairs (One had a leg that had damage, but not to make it unusable)

1 propane gas outdoor stove (he said I could use it for canning to not heat up the house or in an emergency if we have no electric)

He spent $5 for a range hood to see if it will work to replace my old one. It might not, but he felt it was worth $5 to find out.

The big winner- a brand new ping pong table that folds up into a case. The kids have been using it all afternoon! Its not a full size one, but the the fact that it folds up means it can be set up on the back deck and enjoyed.

The one that made me 🤨 was a brand new WHITE couch he bought for $5. No one bid on it so he said $5 and they said sold! It has a tear on the back of the couch, but somewhere you wouldn't see if it was against the wall.  I don't know what he was thinking or what we are going to do with it as right now it is on the back deck and it is supposed to rain tonight!!! He said if nothing else we could donate it, but we have to put it somewhere tonight!

Wow, he got so much for that much money.  So amazing.  I want to go to an auction like that. 

We had (still have) a white couch that we got as a hand me down.  It survived about 14 years with all these kids and dogs without stains and we were not careful with it.  It only started looking bad in the last year or so.  

do you not need it inside or anything? 

Edited by mommyoffive
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Wow, he got so much for that much money.  So amazing.  I want to go to an auction like that. 

We had (still have) a white couch that we got as a hand me down.  It survived about 14 years with all these kids and dogs without stains and we were not careful with it.  It only started looking bad in the last year or so.  

do you not need it inside or anything? 

We have a crummy couch we don’t like that was handed down, but this one doesn’t seem like some kind of cover would work as all the cushions are detached. How did you manage to keep it clean?!?

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, saraha said:

We have a crummy couch we don’t like that was handed down, but this one doesn’t seem like some kind of cover would work as all the cushions are detached. How did you manage to keep it clean?!?

It must have been some miracle.  I have no idea.  We didn't put a slip cover or anything on it.  We just let it be. Now the other couches we have bought, we got in dark colors to hide marks.  

But I think for 5 bucks I would keep it and let it look nice for however long it would last.  I think you can put slip covers on couches with cushions.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, saraha said:

We have a crummy couch we don’t like that was handed down, but this one doesn’t seem like some kind of cover would work as all the cushions are detached. How did you manage to keep it clean?!?

You could try putting a blanket over the seat cushions and tucking it in. Then the blanket can be taken off and washed easily. We do this with one of our couches and it works well. The back cushions are much less likely to get dirty.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/7/2021 at 11:42 AM, hjffkj said:

we want a 15' or 17' one.  12' seems easy enough to find even though prices have doubled.  I can find tons of brands that I've never heard of or have few to no reviews and I'm not willing to shell out that much money on something with few reviews

Just saw this deal.

14' Heavy-Duty Pro Trampoline With Basketball Hoop Just $199.99 at Sam's Club - Hip2Save

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

We’ve shoe horned it in for now since it’s supposed to rain, it’s really comfortable. Dh said we will replace the couch we hate with this, and if we take it out and burn it in a year or two, it will have been worth the five bucks 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

43 minutes ago, Longtime Lurker said:

You could try putting a blanket over the seat cushions and tucking it in. Then the blanket can be taken off and washed easily. We do this with one of our couches and it works well. The back cushions are much less likely to get dirty.

Now that you say that I seem to remember going to someone’s house one time and they had pinned coordinating dish towels over the arm rests, I bet both of those would work. And if by some miracle we have some fancy company, we could take all those things off and have a nice white couch

Edited by saraha
Dish towels not fish towels
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Am I having a panic attack or am I invigorated by possibilities? I don’t know how to tell the difference.

So, like, I’m awaiting a closing schedule for building my dream home. (Moderate dreams, lol.) And I just found out today that dh’s company is getting sold in a few months. 😮 

Dh hates working for this company, but is also really, really good at it. The main reason he’s stayed was because of a non-compete agreement. But if they no longer exist...

He’ll get a decent payout on his shares. It’s not a life changing amount in dollars but it, combined with our likely profit from selling the house, plus other funds, could be enough to take his stellar reputation and go solo!  We’ve almost taken the plunge a few times before, but I’m thinking this could really be it!

A million things swirling around today, but all basically come down to I need to get more frugal than I had been aiming for!!!

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Carrie12345 said:

Am I having a panic attack or am I invigorated by possibilities? I don’t know how to tell the difference.

So, like, I’m awaiting a closing schedule for building my dream home. (Moderate dreams, lol.) And I just found out today that dh’s company is getting sold in a few months. 😮 

Dh hates working for this company, but is also really, really good at it. The main reason he’s stayed was because of a non-compete agreement. But if they no longer exist...

He’ll get a decent payout on his shares. It’s not a life changing amount in dollars but it, combined with our likely profit from selling the house, plus other funds, could be enough to take his stellar reputation and go solo!  We’ve almost taken the plunge a few times before, but I’m thinking this could really be it!

A million things swirling around today, but all basically come down to I need to get more frugal than I had been aiming for!!!

Oh my gosh!!! Yay!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Got our Farmers to Families box. I've noticed the last few times there hasn't been that package of institutional style meat and instead had hot dogs and bologna. Have a theory about that. This box has:

1 gallon of milk

1 lb sour cream

1/2 gallon of drinkable yogurt

1 lb smoked bacon gouda cheese

1 bag of apples

5 lb potatoes

some onions

2 packages of hot dogs

On the not frugal side a stray came up on our porch and started to have kittens! She is up to 4 now... and there was not a can of wet cat food to be found in our nearby town!  I have five kids on kitten watch this evening

  • Like 2
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

19 minutes ago, saraha said:

On the not frugal side a stray came up on our porch and started to have kittens! She is up to 4 now... and there was not a can of wet cat food to be found in our nearby town!  I have five kids on kitten watch this evening

Holy moly!!!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Am I having a panic attack or am I invigorated by possibilities? I don’t know how to tell the difference.

So, like, I’m awaiting a closing schedule for building my dream home. (Moderate dreams, lol.) And I just found out today that dh’s company is getting sold in a few months. 😮 

Dh hates working for this company, but is also really, really good at it. The main reason he’s stayed was because of a non-compete agreement. But if they no longer exist...

He’ll get a decent payout on his shares. It’s not a life changing amount in dollars but it, combined with our likely profit from selling the house, plus other funds, could be enough to take his stellar reputation and go solo!  We’ve almost taken the plunge a few times before, but I’m thinking this could really be it!

A million things swirling around today, but all basically come down to I need to get more frugal than I had been aiming for!!!

How exciting!!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, saraha said:

Got our Farmers to Families box. I've noticed the last few times there hasn't been that package of institutional style meat and instead had hot dogs and bologna. Have a theory about that. This box has:

1 gallon of milk

1 lb sour cream

1/2 gallon of drinkable yogurt

1 lb smoked bacon gouda cheese

1 bag of apples

5 lb potatoes

some onions

2 packages of hot dogs

On the not frugal side a stray came up on our porch and started to have kittens! She is up to 4 now... and there was not a can of wet cat food to be found in our nearby town!  I have five kids on kitten watch this evening

Awww that is so cute.  Do you think they are going to stay there?  Are you calling an animal shelter? 

 

Yay for getting the F2F box.  The last ones I got had a basically a whole chicken.  Maybe that was before the whole chicken shortage. 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

38 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Thinking about selling our house again this week.  The prices that people are selling their houses in our area is nuts!! 

But then won't you have to pay a nutso price for another house, losing the extra money?

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

15 hours ago, saraha said:

Got our Farmers to Families box. I've noticed the last few times there hasn't been that package of institutional style meat and instead had hot dogs and bologna. Have a theory about that. This box has:

1 gallon of milk

1 lb sour cream

1/2 gallon of drinkable yogurt

1 lb smoked bacon gouda cheese

1 bag of apples

5 lb potatoes

some onions

2 packages of hot dogs

On the not frugal side a stray came up on our porch and started to have kittens! She is up to 4 now... and there was not a can of wet cat food to be found in our nearby town!  I have five kids on kitten watch this evening

Nice haul!

We adopted 4 kittens from friends. Kittens are such fun.

17 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

Am I having a panic attack or am I invigorated by possibilities? I don’t know how to tell the difference.

So, like, I’m awaiting a closing schedule for building my dream home. (Moderate dreams, lol.) And I just found out today that dh’s company is getting sold in a few months. 😮 

Dh hates working for this company, but is also really, really good at it. The main reason he’s stayed was because of a non-compete agreement. But if they no longer exist...

He’ll get a decent payout on his shares. It’s not a life changing amount in dollars but it, combined with our likely profit from selling the house, plus other funds, could be enough to take his stellar reputation and go solo!  We’ve almost taken the plunge a few times before, but I’m thinking this could really be it!

A million things swirling around today, but all basically come down to I need to get more frugal than I had been aiming for!!!

That is exciting and slightly terrifying. Best wishes for your decision making.

Dh's company went bankrupt and was then bought last year. It was nervewracking. WE didn't get a pay out but he ended up with a more secure job so it is still a win.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm getting nickle and dimed by the kids. Parking pass, plays, games, etc. Nothing very much but lots of little expenses. 

Picked up a few grocery items for my mom and brought home some farm fresh eggs from her.

Got a bbq grill cover from Aldi's for pretty cheap. 

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, saraha said:

But then won't you have to pay a nutso price for another house, losing the extra money?

Sort of true in our area.  In my town the prices are nuts.  In the places that we are looking at the prices are what we were sort of looking at years ago and decided we would stay put since our house was half the price.  

But the houses we are looking at would get us closer to dh's work or my the activity my kids do that is going 6-7 days a week, get us a bigger lot (which I really want), and give us a bigger house.  And what we could sell our house now for (maybe) isn't as far off from these houses now because of how fast the prices are rising in our town.  The house in our area that just got listed if it sells for what they are asking for is so crazy.  But another one that got listed crazy high got an offer after 2 days. 

So anyway if we moved closer to dh's work or activities it would end up saving us money too.  What I was spending in gas was crazy.  But also our family life sucked because I was spending 2.5 plus hours on the road 6-7 days a week.  We never saw dh.  One place I like is cutting that time in half.  

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, mommyoffive said:

 

Thinking about selling our house again this week.  The prices that people are selling their houses in our area is nuts!!  

It is nuts here too!   3 houses in my parents neighborhood went above $400,000 last month.  They purchased theirs for $300,000 in 2007 and that value dipped a bit during the recession but has been at around there ever since.  

My brother moves out of that house next week and then we get to rush to put it on the market!  I'm very excited.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our neighbors just listed their house for $385,000 (for reference we bought our house in 2019 for $300,000 and it was the first house to ever sell that high in our neighborhood.)  He had 4 offers within the weekend and the one he accepted was above asking, not sure how much above it though.

The house in my neighborhood that my brother is buying next week they did it without realtors and agreed on $330,000.  My brother didn't realize how good of a deal he got for it in this market until I told him the above info.

Edited by hjffkj
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, hjffkj said:

Our neighbors just listed their house for $385,000 (for reference we bought our house in 2019 for $300,000 and it was the first house to ever sell that high in our neighborhood.)  He had 4 offers within the weekend and the one he accepted was above asking, not sure how much above it though.

The house in my neighborhood that my brother is buying next week they did it without realtors and agreed on $330,000.  My brother didn't realize how good of a deal he got for it in this market until I told him the above info.

Wow. Our situation is a little different. I anticipate getting right around what we paid 16 years ago.  I consider that a win, since it’s still more than double what our value was in 2008 and a few years after that. Before the market went crazy, we were preparing to just get out without having to pay our way out of the rest of the mortgage!  Now we’ll actually have money to take with us.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, mommyoffive said:

Oh I didn't know that you had a cat.  So now you have a whole family of 6?

Yes! I didn’t have the heart to take her to the shelter after the kids did such a good job of “helping her through it” 😆

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

33 minutes ago, Carrie12345 said:

Wow. Our situation is a little different. I anticipate getting right around what we paid 16 years ago.  I consider that a win, since it’s still more than double what our value was in 2008 and a few years after that. Before the market went crazy, we were preparing to just get out without having to pay our way out of the rest of the mortgage!  Now we’ll actually have money to take with us.

I know it seems like a huge win doesn't it?  We bought in Nov 2006 and then watched our neighbors walk away from their houses and get foreclosed. Because of that we were underwater for a long time.  I was just hoping to sell our house for what we paid in 2006 for years and years.  I cant even get over the fact that we could sell for more than what we paid.  One of the houses is a foreclosed house that took forever to sell. It finally sold in 2010 and they selling their house for double what they paid in 2010.   Others are looking at getting 140k or 160k over what they bought theirs for because they got in after the crash.  This is just nuts where I live.  I am not in Cali or anything.  Small town USA.  And these are not high end custom homes at all.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Picked up free meals last week.  I need to order them for this week.

Finally finished the refi on our house.  This was a nightmare with our lender.  Skipping 3 mortgage payments and getting all escrow money back.  Plus a lower payment.  We are down over $1K in monthly bills in the last yearish now.  

Got new tires on the van.

 

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 5/13/2021 at 7:41 PM, historically accurate said:

Just so you know, this may not be really straightforward to get your internet discount. So far, we've gone around at least one time with both companies in order to get there, and we're not getting our discount yet... 

USAC couldn't find we qualified (they're supposed to know via your social security number), so I had to send paperwork. I then got a "You Qualify" email from the EBB program after they approved the paperwork, so I then had to go through Xfinity's site to apply it. However, we now have gotten an email from Xfinity saying they can't confirm with USAC that we qualify. And there appears to be no way to send our qualification email to Xfinity - Xfinity says we have to go back to USAC to get our application correct. Aargh!

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just worked at my parent's house for 3 hours.  Dh made one dump trip and one yard waste trip.  Kids and I got the front yards landscaping done.  My nephew is power washing the house.  So, after today the outside will be down and then we move on to working inside next week once they're out.

Frugal win during all this is I planned ahead and the meat for dinner tonight is done so I just have to make some sides and heat it up!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I FINALLY returned sneakers this week, but I had already paid my Kohl’s card without thinking, so now theres that whole shop to save dilemma. @@

I also finally unloaded about 7 garbage bags of donations because my friend told me about the only spot in the area that seems to have a donation bin. I feel freeeee!

Took the kids on our first decent outing since early fall to watch a friend’s Little League game.  That field doesn’t do concessions, so it was a $0 Saturday for us... as long as I can get my butt in gear to make dinner and resist the temptation to order out!

 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

34 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Just ordered free meals for the week.

Just booked a vacation that I have wanted to go on forever.  Everyone is super excited.  

where you going??  I really want to go somewhere. We're going camping in July but that just isn't the type of vacation I'm aching for right now

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

21 minutes ago, hjffkj said:

where you going??  I really want to go somewhere. We're going camping in July but that just isn't the type of vacation I'm aching for right now

Where do you want to go? 

We are going to the Badlands and horse ranch in the Black Hills.  We were going to tag Yellowstone on this, but I think we are just going to go back and go to Yellowstone later this year.  That way we have more time to just enjoy things. 

My plan for the summer was road trips and airbnbs but now with some of the kids able to have vaccines and they say air travel is safe, we might fly somewhere too.   We did nothing last year, which I regret, but I was way to freaked out about travel and transmission.  I feel like we know more now so I can relax about it a little.

The kids are so crazy excited after not traveling for so long.  I just found this place today and so crazy that they have an openings.  They had one cabin.  I have wanted to go to the Badlands and Yellowstone forever and have wanted to go to a horse ranch since I was a kid.  We are saving a ton of money with the dates we picked too.  Now I have to plan it all!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

5 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Where do you want to go? 

We are going to the Badlands and horse ranch in the Black Hills.  We were going to tag Yellowstone on this, but I think we are just going to go back and go to Yellowstone later this year.  That way we have more time to just enjoy things. 

My plan for the summer was road trips and airbnbs but now with some of the kids able to have vaccines and they say air travel is safe, we might fly somewhere too.   We did nothing last year, which I regret, but I was way to freaked out about travel and transmission.  I feel like we know more now so I can relax about it a little.

The kids are so crazy excited after not traveling for so long.  I just found this place today and so crazy that they have an openings.  They had one cabin.  I have wanted to go to the Badlands and Yellowstone forever and have wanted to go to a horse ranch since I was a kid.  We are saving a ton of money with the dates we picked too.  Now I have to plan it all!

We did the Badlands/Black Hills a few years ago. Super fun and pretty spot. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, mommyoffive said:

Any must see things?  Things to skip?  Tips?

My kids were not impressed with Mount Rushmore. To be fair, Mount Rushmore was completely closed off for construction. The National Park caves were closed, and they chose to skip Deadwood entirely.

On the way, we drove by Wall Drug (kids declined to stop), stopped and walked around at Sioux Falls, and toured the Corn Palace. All of the kids were so not excited by the thought of the corn palace, but they all admitted that it was "interesting"' later. 

Hits: 

Bear Country - a drive through bear sanctuary. This was hands down the hit for the kids - a cute fuzzy bear led our car through the whole sanctuary. 

Badlands - kids loved the prairie dogs & mountain sheep

Custer's State Park - got to picnic (safely, in the car) while watching the buffalo walk about 50 feet from our car - the Needles is really, really close to this, and if you like mountain driving, it's gorgeous

The Dignity Statue at a rest stop in South Dakota. She's beautiful.

Tramway Adventures - kids loved, like LOVED-Loved, this. Zipline, adventure playground in the trees, alpine slide, etc.

Crazy Horse - good, better than Mount Rushmore with the construction

My oldest did Reptile City (Garden? or something like that) - none of the rest of us wanted to so we didn't. 

Devil's Tower in Wyoming isn't far. They enjoyed that. 

Cute little perk is the geographic center of the US is just north of the Black Hills. There's a giant medallion and sign where you can get pictures. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 minutes ago, historically accurate said:

My kids were not impressed with Mount Rushmore. To be fair, Mount Rushmore was completely closed off for construction. The National Park caves were closed, and they chose to skip Deadwood entirely.

On the way, we drove by Wall Drug (kids declined to stop), stopped and walked around at Sioux Falls, and toured the Corn Palace. All of the kids were so not excited by the thought of the corn palace, but they all admitted that it was "interesting"' later. 

Hits: 

Bear Country - a drive through bear sanctuary. This was hands down the hit for the kids - a cute fuzzy bear led our car through the whole sanctuary. 

Badlands - kids loved the prairie dogs & mountain sheep

Custer's State Park - got to picnic (safely, in the car) while watching the buffalo walk about 50 feet from our car - the Needles is really, really close to this, and if you like mountain driving, it's gorgeous

The Dignity Statue at a rest stop in South Dakota. She's beautiful.

Tramway Adventures - kids loved, like LOVED-Loved, this. Zipline, adventure playground in the trees, alpine slide, etc.

Crazy Horse - good, better than Mount Rushmore with the construction

My oldest did Reptile City (Garden? or something like that) - none of the rest of us wanted to so we didn't. 

Devil's Tower in Wyoming isn't far. They enjoyed that. 

Cute little perk is the geographic center of the US is just north of the Black Hills. There's a giant medallion and sign where you can get pictures. 

Awesome list!  Thanks.  How long did you guys stay there? 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...