Thrifting Finds #64: Two bucks

Hi, kids!  Did everyone have a wonderful weekend?  Your ol' Uncle Veg had a nice quiet one, which is just the way he likes 'em.

So Hubs and I managed to do our usual weekend rounds, though there was much disappointment.  Out of the 8 thrifts we visited, only one yielded any finds at all.  Oddly, I  started finding Pyrex again, after a dry spell of several months.  I have no idea where it all went.  Unfortunately, it was nothing I could use.

I'm also starting to find the British Pyrex (it has a name, but I've forgotten it.)  Was it imported here?  Seems kind of strange to have it keep showing up--often enough that I can recognize it without looking at the bottom.

What I'm not finding is Corelle.  No, I haven't started collecting it.  I just need one microwaveable plate to keep at the office and since Corelle is hard-to-break to boot, that's what I looked for.  Naturally, since I want it there is none to be found.

Well, no.  There is some to be found.  I got a few plates a couple of months ago for the princely sum of 48 cents each.  You can imagine my surprise when I picked up a Butterfly Gold plate yesterday and saw it marked three bucks.

Three bucks?  Really?  For one plate?  Another instance where I want to go in the back and start smacking heads.

Anyway, that's my rant for the week.  Here's what I found:

1.  Another cookbook???  Yes, but look--it's no ordinary cookbook.  The recipes are magic.

Magic.

Do you know what that means?  I think it means you can put turnips and cabbage in the Osterizer and pull out a steak.  I haven't actually read the book yet, so that's just a guess on my part, but you have to admit that would certainly qualify as "magic", no?  Savers, $1.00

2.  Seriously??  I bought another Betty Crocker cookbook?  You bet yer buns I did!  Because I need "a wealth of ideas for today's entertaining", not to mention "more than 400 guest-tested recipes."  I mean, who doesn't?

Plus, look at that house on the cover!  I would kill for a house like that.  And if I had one, you can be sure I would be entertaining.  A lot.  Savers, $1.00.

It was half-price book day at Savers, btw.

And that's it.  I'm wracking my brain for some interesting little story to share, but I got nothin'.  So I'll just go ahead and link up with the Usual Suspects:   Sir Thrift A Lot, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm,  We Call It Junkin and The Nifty Thrifty

Thrifting Finds #63: I did the math...

When I was but a wee tot (lo, these many years ago), my Mom had a tile hanging in the kitchen that said "Never complain, never explain."

Clearly, this lesson made no impression on me, as I'm about to do a little of both.

Now when I did the math, I discovered that what with one thing or another, Hubs and I didn't make our usual weekend thrifting rounds for over a month.  I know, right?  No, it wasn't easy.  I can only attribute my survival to a world-class constitution.

Hubs and I were both on vacation last week, as it was my birthday week (it was lovely, thank you, and I don't look a bit older.)  We never go anywhere or do anything, so the plan was to make up for all that lost thrifting time.  Which we did.  In spades.

Once again I did the math. Last week we went to seventeen different thrift stores, a couple of them new to us, and made multiple visits to a couple for a total of twenty three visits.

We found one thing.

I can't even say "we".  Hubs found it.

So that's how it goes.  Either I've become much more discriminating overnight, or the thrifts have just been full of crap.

"Full of crap" gets my vote because, yeah; crap.

So what did we find?

Stretch Vase!  Yes, another one!  I've lost count of how many we have now.  At least three at home, plus who knows how many more at Hubs's office.  It's not the best one I've ever seen, but I'm a sucker when it comes to that shade of blue.  It only looks green because of the yellow wall in the background (See?  I remembered my color theory from second grade!)  Goodwill $7.00.

Aaaaannnnd that's it.  I'm on the verge of just giving up here.  Is anyone else having the same problem we are?  Is it going to get better?

Thriftiness Department:  So far this year, I've started saving 12 bucks a month by dropping the FIOS TV that we never used, and another 25 bucks a month by switching my cell phone over to Ring Plus.  My latest project came about kind of by accident:

Hubs:  And when we get home, you're going to cut my hair.

Me:  Do what now?

I had one of those do-it-yourself haircutting kits that I bought a while ago and used once.  Hubs decided that we should make use of it.  So I gave it a go, and dang if his hair didn't come out looking pretty good.  Coulda knocked me over with a feather.  Saved 23 bucks right there.

Not willing to leave well enough alone, I cut my own hair as well.  Did it come out looking professional?  No.  Did it look any worse than when I paid 23 bucks?  Nope.

So I think we're going to stick with this.  Unfortunately, my clippers are really crummy, so I ordered a good set (any excuse to buy something new, right?)  And the funny thing is that we're not really doing it to save money. Hubs is never really happy with his haircuts, and I hate everything to do with getting my hair cut.  Really--I hate going to the place, I hate sitting there, I hate waiting, I hate making small talk, I hate paying for it.  The list goes on.  Plus, they never get it short enough.  I always say "as short as you can make it", and they cut off two millimeters instead of one.  Then they always ask "Is it short enough?"  And usually I say no, so they cut off another millimeter.

After that, even I don't have the nerve to make them cut it a third time.  Plus, I'm itchy and dying to get the hell out of there.

I think I put myself through that torture no more than 4 times a year.  Hubs probably twice that.  At 23 bucks a pop, that averages out to $276.00 a year.  So even by paying about 60 bucks for new clippers, we're definitely saving some serious scratch.

Linking up this week with  Sir Thrift A Lot, Thrifter/Maker/Fixer/Farm, and We Call It Junkin , if I can even remember how to do it...