Thankfully Frugal

Saturday night we attended a fundraiser for our friends’ daughter’s 8th grade trip to D.C. When we were asked to go, we were mostly excited to be able to support Hannah, be able to hang out with one of our favorite families and enjoy some Italian food together. The silent auction that was included in the evening was, honestly, a second thought. 

So we arrived, said our hellos and casually visited the tables full of gift cards, collectible bear figurines, handmade goodies and bags stuffed with DVDs and popcorn and lotion and bath salt. After a couple minutes I thought, what the heck? It’s for a good cause right?

So Isaac and I had a quick “What d’ya think?” talk before picking up a pen and making some initial decisions. But only those that were frugally intelligent, of course. We started going after a seriously huge Tupperware set for 12 bucks and a Jockamo’ s gift card for about the same amount. There was a little old man who really wanted the Tupperware set and after a back-and-forth battle with Isaac, actually ended up bidding way more than what it cost. Another couple was seriously determined to get the Jockamo’s gift card (which also came with a t-shirt that we couldn’t care less about) and hovered around the table to make sure they always one-upped everyone. So, we let both of those go.

In the meantime, I noticed that my friend had knitted a blanket. This is not a typical item I would purchase considering my lack of ability to purchase ‘for-me’ things but I thought it would be cool to have since she made it. When I ventured over, I realized that her two sisters-in-law were already in a fight for it, so I let that one be, as well. ;)

Time passed and we set down to have dinner. The crowd dispersed from the tables of wonder and after a few minutes I decided to walk around again just to get a better look. Around that same time they decided to slash prices on many of the items because they had not received an initial bid.. hmm, interesting.

On one side of the gym, there was an ever-popular Justin Bieber signed photograph and magazine. Next to those, they were auctioning off several lunch dates with teachers. I thought it was a little creepy, but the kids were lovin’ it.  Needless to say, there were middle-schoolers swarming that particular table for most of the night. Lucky for us, there was also a gift certificate on the same table for carpet cleaning that was marked down to eight bucks. It was conveniently hidden beneath the swarm of children.

So why is this possibly exciting? Well, as it turns out we have a very ornery kitty who has made a few messes on our basement carpet. Yey! Fortunately, we’ve come close to getting the problem under control but clearly there is a need for carpet cleaning. Eight bucks is a steal for something we were going to have to purchase, anyway.

So I put down my first bid for eight bucks. In the meantime, Isaac found an oil change for 10. This is when things get crazy. Isaac and I began hovering over the items and giving ourselves looks without being too obvious. We were pretty convinced that no one had found the sweet deal on the carpet cleaning because of the crowd and we sure as heck didn’t want to give away any tips.

In the meantime, Hannah was upset because she was outbid on the Bieber stuff and she didn’t have enough money to make the next bid. I snuck in a bid for her when she wasn’t looking only to get out-bid by one of her good friends.

Great.

I decided not to get in the middle of the mess and explained to Hannah that we would be laughing together ten years from now about the night she fought for Justin Bieber’s signed face. She agreed and we left it alone. I was sad I couldn’t be a hero for her, but quickly got distracted again by the looming deadline of the evening.

The final bids were taken at 6:30 but for some reason they ran it 10 minutes longer. I’m assuming to get more money for the fundraiser (oh ya! this is for the kids!.. ?) but it was still way stressful. I needed my carpets cleaned!

Ten minutes later and one mad dash between a couple people to get a nice set of pots and pans (Isaac may or may not have been involved), the auction ended and we went home with carpet cleaning from The Tool Shed and an oil change from Ray Skillman for a total of 30 bucks. We also helped our friends score a sweet set of pots and pans. Not too bad. Looks like this will not be our first and only silent auction experience.

Oh, and I also got this awesome sweatshirt:

For those that really know me, it’s no secret that I have a deep love for bags - purses, makeup bags, travel bags, etc., etc. Of course, I also have a deep love for frugality so luckily my bag obsession does not lend itself to overspending.

A new avenue for my bag obsession (or maybe it’s just a new obsession, in general) has been Etsy. For those of you who do not know about Etsy and even love handmade items a little, I strongly suggest you do some window shopping.

This is my second bag from Etsy. It was a gift from Isaac for Christmas. He spotted me eyeballing it one day on Etsy and as a wonderful husband should, made a mental note. It was made in Turkey and the artist has many others that are similiar. I must say, I’ve received more compliments on it than any other bag I’ve owned.

I enjoy knowing that it’s unique and that it helped support someone’s business. I’ve been asked more than a dozen times if I made it. Quite the compliment if I do say so, myself. I need to be better about not laughing immediately when I get asked, however.

The rack it’s hanging on was an $8 find from Mindland Antique Mall in Indianapolis. I found it lying on the floor waiting for us to give it a home! It’s a necessity for right inside our front door.

Today is a good jewelry-making day. The preschoolers this morning at church were a bit crazier than normal. Tears, poop, finger paint and excessive screaming - let’s leave it at that. Isaac has been sick for the last day or so and after giving him a hard time, I’ve now developed a horrible pain in my chest and a wheezing cough. Isaac fell asleep in the basement with the cats and I sat by our balcony door while Baruch took a nap in the sun. I decided the only thing there was to do was make some earrings, especially the tools were close enough I didn’t have to get up. :)

I’ve been wanting to make this pair since I found the unique, little beads in Massachusetts over Christmas. I found them in a tiny building, probably the size of our laundry room, that smelled like incredible body odor. It was also a couple days before Christmas and there must be a new bead fad because lots of daddies and kiddos were in there shopping for mom. I’m lucky I could focus on finding a few things (for myself) before jetting. It was also about 40 minutes from my in-laws house and it was snowing really hard. Isaac and my brother-in-law sat in the car and waited while I searched. Fortunately, I found enough pieces to make it worth the trip.

The beads are made out of shell, I’m going to assume from somewhere on the east coast because that would make sense and it’s way cool. I love these earrings because I finally allowed myself to make something simple just for me. I hate buying jewelry, even the ‘cheap’ stuff because it’s so overpriced.

It took me about 10 minutes to make these and cost me a couple bucks. Plus, the chance of anyone else having anything close is pretty unlikely. I’ll have a better picture once I can recruit Isaac to take one. :)

Hopefully I can snag a few more packs of these on my next trip if they still have them. :) Let me know if you’re interested! I would make you some sooner, but I broke one of the beads and now only have one left. Sad.

Antique shopping is such a thrill for me. In the last few years it has been a successful counter to shopping which I’ve developed a hatred for since I was young. I think the main difference is my ability to walk in an antique store with an open-mind. I’m rarely (close to never actually) looking for something specific. The stress is gone and I just let things happen upon me. I never leave feeling guilty if I didn’t find “the thing” I was looking for.

When I try shopping like normal people” I get so stressed out I either end up getting something I regret or buying too many of one thing so I can process the purchases later and return the rest. Ridiculous. I do not have the love of shopping in me, even though I’m supposed to according to my genetics. If I find something I like, my reaction is to go to each store that might have the same thing for a lower price just to be sure. It’s exhausting and frustrating. But I know no other way.

One day a few years ago Isaac and I were driving around in downtown Noblesville, Indiana (close to Indianapolis). We noticed the antique store and I remember telling him I always wanted to go in one. I remember walking in and immediately feeling a sense of comfort and excitement - two words I do not associate with new shopping opportunities. We ended up spending hours in that three-story building scouring the shelves, looking inside of random boxes hidden underneath piles of old baby bonnets and access pieces of fabric from who-knows-when.

On our first trip, we did not end up purchasing anything. But I did find my new love. We went back, maybe even that next weekend and I found my first “find”.

In the basement of the building, there were tons boxes of dozens of old, yellowed photographs. Next to the photographs were old handkerchiefs - mostly pink and covered in lace. Underneath both of these was an old, weathered yellow end table for $20.

I remember walking past it the first time and not thinking much of it. On our way back out I saw it again and decided to uncover it to see what it really looked like. It was obvious that it had been painted twice, each a different color of yellow. The top was much larger than I thought and several pieces of paint fell off when I picked it up. It was a beautiful mess! Isaac asked if I would paint it and I thought he was crazy for asking.

So, we brought it home. I must say I was a little nervous at first. Before my discovery of antiques I only know how to buy furniture items from Wal-Mart or Big Lots. I always thought to get something nice I would have to save up for years and go to one of those fancy furniture stores (I mean that’s what my parents always did.. so what other option is there?)

We decided to put the table in our guest bedroom in our apartment. I moment I placed it next to the bed I knew this was going to become addicting. The room took on a whole new but old look. It was completely transformed.. and so was I. And that is where it all began.