I am reminded about the reasons for my frugality & seeking things in bargain outlets this weekend, when, since we were on a sort of a vacation, I had to resort to regular sources for things! The only underwear I could find at the drug store was 3 for $7 - and the hairpins I usually get at the dollar store were $3 - so things were 2x to 3x as much! And I found I spent $10 in a jiffy.

Now the dollar isn't what it used to be - as I try to remind hubby -so even spending $25-$30 is not a LOT, altho it feels that way to US...But there is a reason I send for lotion samples & pick up vitamin samples at healthfood stores & stock up on really good deals when I see them at the dollar stores! We are saving oodles of money! Am I going to pay a lot for a packet of facial tissue, when I can get 6 or more for $1 - 

So I think that wandering around a dollar store to see what sort of merchandise they have is definitely worth it.  There is even a blog out there called "dollar store crafts" - which is, you guessed it - crafts with dollar store items.  I have gotten nice cheap yarn at the dollar store - but with a careful search, I am beginning to see what else they have - even beads for jewelry....

And I love my collection of dollar store scarves! And have been known to get my undies and even bras there! - (some of which are Hanes....) I have a dollar store bandeau bra I got a few years ago & I just saw a similar one for LOTS more!

So go & be inspired - & you will be surprised at how fr your dollar will stretch!

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Gotta brag that I found a DONNA KARAN classic navy crepe jacket ON THE DOLLAR RACK AT GOODWILL!! in its first incarnation it must have cost hundreds of dollars & it still looks good -

Also found books, of course, & a cool pendant watch - wonder if it will work if I put a battery in it?

Had terrible sinus headaches this week - but I DID use my freebie plastic neti pot to put saline solution in my nose & it did work - altho it reminds me of getting water down my nose as a kid....

I have also found out that the dollar store AWESOME cleaner is great for stains Thinking about finding a small spray bottle that I could fill with Awesome & carry around....I love Shout Wipes - but they are expensive & hard to find for some reason??

So carry on, you guys.....

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The media is all over with images of Fall - mostly to sell back-to-school stuff - but somehow the impending change in seasons makes me go back to my knitting.

Can't say I am much of a technician - I really like just to knit straight in front of the TV - But I have produced some lovely multi-colored shawls & scarves.

The trick to it on my nonexistent craft budget is to pick up balls of yarn from thrift shops & THEN determine what I am going to make, rather than vice versa (the way I learned to knit from my mother).

I have discovered a technique, if you can call it that - of combining yarn - which comes out more like folk weaving than traditional knitting. I have discovered you can get very interesting effects by knitting with more than one yarn on large needles.  I find that I enjoy combining the colors out of my thrift shop yarn cache - and contrasting the colors and textures in blocks (or stripes) of row - and every once in a while adding some fun fur or other specialty yarn (also from what I have on hand - some of it came from the Dollar Tree last season when I stocked up.)

I had a brilliant orange yarn - almost the emergency color - and it was too much on its own - so I mixed it with beiges, and maroon, and off greens among other colors - and the end result is very nice.  I wore it to an outdoor event & got compliments on it from strangers!

I adore shawls for the weather here in S. California - where is it always cooler at night - & a shawl is an easy thing to carry with you if you are staying out until the sun goes down.

Still looking for some VERY simple squarish patterns to make kimono-like sweaters... There are lots of free ones on the net, which I have been collecting.

Almost finished with my newest project - a fuzzy pink/green/grey melange - Making it long for some reason so I can throw it over my shoulder....I can just knit for HOURS while watching the tube.  Makes on feel useful.

And rather than even spending $3/4 a ball of yarn - I usually pay $.50 to $1!!

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Feel sortta bad that I have been neglecting my blog - but I haven't felt too inspired - it's summertime, maybe that's it....

But I keep up on my freebies - and I have actually WON some nice stuff - One is a full-sized L'Oreal Moisturizer - and then a weird piece of lingerie which covers the gap when you are wearing low cut jeans (from the Luxury Spot) - retail = $38!!

Started to participate in a trial of dry mouth treatment - as I have dry mouth due to my medications, among other factors - & they sent me a bottle of the product to try.

I have also been using an eyebrow serum on another trial -

If you are in an urban area like L.A. or NYC - if you are interested, check out such trials and testimonials to get nice interesting merchandise.  I get my leads in L.A. from craigslist - could work in NYC area, too...

Have not been buying much - but rather selling off vintage, giving away, having yard sales.  (Two more sales coming up in September to participate in.) But I did find a nice pair of khaki capris at the Goodwill for $3.99 & nice $.99 t-shirt and Ann Taylor ballet flats in a blue reptile finish for $3.99, too. They were all too good to pass up - And some fancy ribbon yarn(marked at $10 a ball originally!!) - I have already made a nice scarf using one color, and I am now making a sash with the black and gold and some velvety cord I picked up somewhere....Those specialty yarns are very nice used with other yarn to provide some weight and make it easier to knit.

Hubby and I have been taking advantage of all the free summer music and events.  Last weekend was Harbor Days at our marina, and they served hamburgers, hot dogs, watermelon, and soda and beer - We listened to our favorite local talent, Teresa Russell & her smoking guitar. (At the same time I discovered another book exchange at the Marina Office, which I hadn't known about & found 4 great paperbacks to read.)  And on Sunday there was another great local music at the Farmer's Market.

We have bought storage bags from the Dollar Tree in an effort to clean up this little apartment, which we have crammed with a LOT of stuff.

All the AC and fans have been on the last few, hot days - & I am grateful for the portable AC unit we found last year at Salvation Army - which just makes the difference in our L-shaped living room/dining room/kitchen area when it's really hot....And also put on fans to push the cooler air around. (Before we go to bed, we can turn the AC off &  turn on the window fans to cool off the apartment overnight, as it always cools off at night here.)

Still getting loads of free magazines - just signed up for SAILING magazine for hubby - and little lotion samples keep coming in the mail.  I have found that the samples are great for keeping in my purse to use on my hands - and I put the shampoo/conditioner samples in my "hair" kit for using up at the boat....The other facial care samples go into my "skin" kit.  I especially like the eye cream samples, which I am using up very carefully...Luckily just discovered another little Clinique sample among my stuff....I first put on a bit of witch hazel and THEN the eye cream, which makes even a sample packet go for almost a WEEK.

I carefully close the sample packets by folding over the top & closing with either a paperclip or a hair clip (or even a bobby pin).  That way they don't dry up before you use ALL of the sample!

So even when broke, I can keep up my "beauty routines". No excuses now ladies! The face you save today you will be the one you are left with! 

So onward & upward.  How is the summer treating YOU all?

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Hubby is out of work for the summer, so he is drawing unemployment - I have my usual sources of income - & my social security - but we are still down.  Time for a Money Diet!!

NO thrift shops!  In fact, we are using this time to CLEAR OUT the apartment - and I have been SELLING extra stuff - vintage clothing and shoes - and recycling books. (Some to turn in for credit at the used bookstore in Ojai - some to the local thrift shop - & we actually sold a few, too.)

Gee - it's amazing how much we have been packing into this apartment! when we loaded up a bag just with my yarn stash it was HUGE! (Have to start projects with that yarn!) I did take that opportunity to SORT the yarn by color, and it did give me an idea of what I have....I put it in a giant space bag - which didn't really collapse much - but it will keep the yarn safe from water, any critters &/or moths.

Thinking about a new project for which I put aside some red, black & other yarn - but it was taken off to storage with the stash - so I will have to retrieve it.

Wore one of my "furry" handknit shawls to the Hollywood Bowl. It can get chilly there after the sun goes down.  Oh, the Bowl is terrific.  So wonderful to see words-class musical artists for the price of a movie.  This is our second trip this summer, & we have tix for Beethoven and a concert version of the opera CARMEN next week, too.

There is a story behind the Beethoven tix.  I subscribe to our classical music station KUSC, and had just received an email saying that you could get a 20% discount with your membership.  My friends were going to the box office, and so I shared my membership info with them.  But the people at the box office were very rude, and asked for numbers which I don't HAVE. It was a bit embarassing...

 I emailed the Customer Relations people at the station, and they were upset that there has been any problem, as the mere MENTION of "KUSC" should have received a discount.  I has asked how they could make this up to me, and they sent me a pair of tickets for the Beethoven night, which the station is sponsoring! Wasn't that nice?  As I often say, the squeaky wheel gets the grease - & there is no harm in ASKING! 

Hubby has been getting boxes for storage from the auto store - & he likes them, as they are sturdy.  All we have to do is tape them together.  (Who PAYS for boxes when one can get recycled ones?)

Oh, & I did an "emergency" hemming of my jeans to wear to the Bowl by folding them up & taping with duct tape.  I read recent about am enterprising lady who is marketing "studs" to put in jeans to do the same thing - for a LOT more $, of course!

All in all - with the boat to go to for "vacation" - we are doing OK - even on unemployment.  The extra $ helps, of course.  And one is so motivated when relatively broke. It turns out that filing our taxes late might not have been such a bad idea - as we are getting our refunds NOW when we need them.  Oh - & we started to file online at H&R Block - but when we had problems my husband got to a real person at a local branch at NO extra charge! (Another squeaky wheel thing....)

I continue to audition for all sorts of stuff.  I am using a brow booster for before & after pix + free product.  And Monday I will be auditioning for a reality show  - they were looking for thriftshop mavens and bargain experts!  Wish me luck...

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It's interesting to go on a thrift shop diet - (that is, I am AVOIDING them!) Instead I am SELLING things.  We have had a boat swap meet, a yard sale last week - & this week I took some of my vintage things - hats, shoes etc. to several vintage stores.  I thought about selling online - but I needed ready cash & these items aren't going for much - My friends have been putting items on eBay - but it's a LOT of work....

So, off to the buying counters of vintage stores.  The first one that I usually go to was only taking things for TRADE - so I went to the fancier one on Melrose Ave.  They took the pink leather boots & my 50's hat - And then yesterday I went to Buffalo Exchange up on Main St. in Ventura - & they took a lot, too...So  Now I have some petty cash! Still have a designer dress which I may take to a consignment store.  One of the items I brought in was a tiny 30's vintage black wool short-sleeved sweater - which I had mended nicely....(& considering I had originally bought it for $1 - I made a profit.)

This seems to be a clearing-out summer - & now I am once more motivated to go through everything & put items aside for SALE.  There is a LOT - but unless one is in real need, you only are sifting through extra stuff. The really good things are only for sale on a very rainy day.

Still, being broke is extremely motivating! A young school teacher stood in line behind me at the Buffalo Exchange & we were comparing notes about summer unemployment for teachers. She was rushing off to her job at FOREVER 21 as soon as she was finished...

I have been going on lots of little auditions, as I am really looking for some, any money - but so far, nada!  Ugh.  Have some more coming up.  But in the meantime, we are hanging out happily on the boat....

A friend is having a birthday, and of course, I ran out of the house without his present or card - so we stopped off at Barnes & Noble and I scoured the bargain rack for something suitable - which I found & I am going to wrap it up in some artsy advertising material and a B&N bag - I think I will also use some shredded toilet paper covers for padding.  (No one will ever know but you & me!)

OK - gotta wrap & then take my Sunday walk down to the Farmers Mkt.....

How is your summer going?

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We are prepping for a yard sale tomorrow.  Hubby doesn't like them - but since we are waiting on checks, it's something we can do  & it will provide petty cash...We went to storage and got out some stuff.  I am proud of me (us) - little by little we are working through our extra stuff - either donating it or selling it.  (Of course, after a yard sale the leftovers go to charity...)  There is also ANOTHER boater's swap meet up at the boat in a few weeks, so we have another place to take stuff....& share a space with a senior citizen buddy of ours who is ALWAYS buying & selling boat stuff.  We can help him schlep.

I have been going through all the extra supplies in the bathroom.  If I am not somewhat attractive it's not for want of trying, I must say - looking at all the lotions/shampoos/other beauty stuff! I have a tendency to stock up - but we have gotten entirely ahead of ourselves in terms of SHAMPOO (& I have gotten such nice generous samples of fancy brands) - so I am recycling some tubes of that...And there are other things sitting on the shelf that someone else can use.  

That's the thing about different yard sale populations.  I know from experience that the small personal care items go GREAT around here in the metro area - but they would fall flat on their faces up at the boat! Even if they are cheap - all those little bits add up - & as I say, I am expecting some petty cash for walking around $. I am very motivated to do all this sort of clearing out when I am broke!  The rest of the time one feels too lazy!!! I used to wait until I had a big pile before recycling cans & bottles. 

Went to storage & we are sifting through the boxes bit by bit - Yeah team! Funny thing is that yardsaling is SO American that my immigrant neighbors don't quite GET IT.  They think of the old country perhaps & that in the USA one is above such things.  Little do they know suburbia or the middle class, who are always accumulating so much STUFF. 

This is going to be a summer of clearing out.  I can see that already!   We are on a money diet, which is good to go on periodically.  Helps one keep everything under control. (And this time, I can get hubby on the bandwagon, too!)

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 I am trying to be very good as far as my purchases go - as we are very broke and suffering from the "teacher's summer" syndrome (that is, hubby is unemployed...) 

But I still fall for the irresistible & I found what seems to be a raw silk tunic in an orangey-beige for $2!! It's long enough & I am small enough that I could even wear it as a dress....& a stone angel that had a stain on it - from a candle, it looked like - but I scraped it off & now have added it to my angel collection.

And I used my book credits (again) at Bart's Used Books in Ojai - & found some mysteries - probably from a mystery book club - you can tell by the way they are bound - 

The new thrift shop in Ojai - had a pair of gold metallic quilted flats, perfect for me - at @ $5 - and hubby found software worth $200 originally - new in the box...

We spent a quiet 4th at the beach - & I splurged on another $4 parasol from one of the vendors -  This one is beige with pink flowers....I am using them all this summer!  And I would recommend them to anyone in the E. suffering from that heatwave.  The one I bought was a cross between an umbrella and a parasol, with "nylon" fabric instead of paper on a bamboo frame.  That makes it less authentic, but sturdier.  Still looking for one like the blue lacquered one I used at the Alice in Wonderland picnic...

Otherwise, I am just READING my books.  Actually picked up 2 interesting ones at the Dollar Tree, of all places! They have hardbacks sometimes (the 99 Cent Store does sometimes, too)....One is all about the perfume industry - fascinating....it's all molecules nowadays...

Wearing all of my scarves - even the orange one with the spangles - It does add a more finished touch to my tshirts & jeans....and I put a garland of patriotic flag fabric on my hat for the 4th - It is like a garland you make with loops - but out of fabric instead of paper.  Interesting idea.

Hubby is at home.  Yesterday our allergies got us (me more than hubby).  Happy to say that the cenopods ("goosefeet" - like beets & tumbleweed??) must have exhausted themselves for the time being.  But yesterday I did the WHOLE allergy thing - tinctures and homeopathic pills & generic zyrtec &  eye drops....ugh.  (Oh, I did find regular Murine at the Dollar Tree for 99 cents & bought 2 - so now i have one in the living room & one in the bedroom!) Still, it takes it out of you - and NONE of my research really comes up with anything about what to do about fatigue - except not to take benedryl, which makes you sleepy....)  Sunday I had BOTH my energy drops AND an iced coffee from Starbucks (whew! the caffeine!) before I went & put in my couple of hours of intellectual work! 

Found a nice little "workshop" over at Tony Robbins' site of all things - it does try to help your delineate what's going on.  I do get discouraged! But I am going to work on it & providence provided me with all sorts of self-help books over the weekend, and I am going to be be working through those!  I always think that such things are sortta diy therapy sessions! And every once in a while you just have to go BACK to it all....

This is really the first time the unemployment crisis has hit us, really - Hubby had to go to the unemployment office in person to try to get his claim going.  Apparently the people over there are just overwhelmed with all the paperwork for unemployment..  But thank heaven it's there! Hoorah for the social safety net we DO have....

Tried to sell some vintage pieces to a local store - but arrived to see that they weren't buying, only taking things for trade. Ugh.  Has anyone tried to sell on www.etsy.com in their vintage section?  It's much cheaper than eBay - Perhaps that's where everything will end up.  I do see things in my thriftshop wanderings that are very nice but not really for ME - I did buy a DVF suede jacket for $1 just for resale...I worked once briefly as an antique picker years and years ago....I wonder if trying to do it online is worth the trouble - Anyone have any experience out there?

Hey - keep the faith - we frugalistas are better prepared for all this than MOST.  I am getting freebies in the mail daily! 

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Shopping in thriftstores is so old hat to me, I have to remind myself that not everyone else has been doing it for YEARS & that they might need some tips....A thriftshop lady & I were actually joking yesterday that when we go into stores &  see "real" prices we gasp! I said to her that every once in a while I take my husband through a store like Macys or Nordstroms to show him what "real" prices are - & then for a while, he will not gripe about my thriftshop purchases.  He thinks spending $25 is a lot of Money!

Actually, I have "infected" him & he enjoys poking around as much as I do - He looks for old classic R n R tapes - which we still can play in the car & elsewhere - And they are so CHEAP! So he can indulge himself.  I am trying to restrict myself to books and small items, as my wardrobe has mushroomed & I really should wear the stuff that I HAVE.  Found some great books yesterday - both at the used bookstore - and at a funky thrift shop.  I also indulged in a few long cotton or rayon scarves (I wear them with my t-shirts nowadays for a bit of chic) - and it's nice to have them in all the colors of the rainbow & not pay through the nose for them.

What's my advice  in thriftshops?  Try to get a sense of what the store usually offers - There may be surprises, but more often than not, there is a pattern to the sort of people who are making donations - and that dictates what is good at that particular store.  Goodwills etc.being big organized affairs - are not good for vintage or antiques for the most part, because they seem to skim those items off the top. Same with Salvation Army....(Although I did find a framed 19thC colored lithograph of a sailing ship on sale for $7 there!!)

What I call "old lady thriftshops" are best for older stuff - as seniors donate when they downsize - or from an estate...You can still get good deals on 50's costume jewelry at one or 2 places I know like that....And they even have some silver, as silver was a cheap metal in those days....

On the other hand, there is a Goodwill I know where everything is very cheap - and they have a great dollar rack, where I can get great t-shirts & so on.   And they have new merchandise from Target - I have recently snagged a new denim sundress and a chambray shirtwaist dress - both for $5 or so.  There is another Goodwill in the area that seems to have more suburban contributions - I got my $7 Anne Klein bag there - and my Clark's and Dr. Scholls sandals....for about $7 each.

And in Pasadena there is a Salvation Army that seems to get contributions from stores or importers - and I have gotten 69 Cent sunglasses & cute beaded clogs for less than $10 - And I have also found some terrific light jackets that seem to be excess merchandise of some kind for $10 or less again...(& I have seen the SAME jackets in tony boutiques for $70-80!!!)

There is a thrill in the find.  It's sort of like big game hunting.  But I have bagged so much, that I have to be a bit careful.  I could use a walk-in closet the size of my bedroom - but, alas!

I justify my book buying by telling myself it is equal to the library fines I used to have to pay! And then I can recycle them for more books...And I do like the odd and eccentric mix of books that one finds at a thriftstore or a used bookstore.  I really don't know WHAT to look for exactly - but when I peruse the books, I always find interesting things I wouldn't have thought of at a library, say...And a $.50 to $1 a volume, I can afford them! Who does pay list price for those things?  $12? $25?

Oh, another tip on books - Random House has a Read  It Forward program, though which they send you "galleys" of their new books to get them into circulation. Galleys are sometimes with some minor errors, and bound in paper - but the guts of the book are the same.

And then there are just finds, like the perfectly good lampshade I found on trashday - or the CYMBAL which a friend of mine found at his friend's condo....Clean them off & no one will be the wiser....And you can secretly gloat at your good fortune...I do....

What's your experience? Want some more tips?  Please let me know. See ya.

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I have been on a cleanout binge - Just had the energy & everything was just right, not too hot, not to allergic - so off I went, and we hauled off several large bags of clothing to charity. (Remember that even if the garment is not perfect, charities can sell them by weight for RAGS - something we can't so ourselves....)

Also selling off some stuff - There was a Boater's Swap Meet up at the Marina, which I talked my husband into participating in (he had some boat stuff...) and all together we made $100, not bad! (The thing that is nice about the Swap Meet is that the spaces are FREE.) And we can now always also have a yard sale in town - which you can only have once or twice a year to be strictly legal.

I also have been going though some of my vintage stuff which I can spare.  I thought I could piggyback with a friend who was doing a lot of eBay selling - but he is off on vacation - so I think I will be lazy and take the things into a Los Feliz vintage store that buys stuff...

I did see that selling vintage on www.etsy.com is a LOT cheaper than eBay - (@ $.20 per item and then 1% commission on a sale - ) But they do get into bidding wars on eBay, I am told; and anything with a brand name sells like hot cakes.

I always do a bit of mending before I sell off my vintage - a seam here or there - as that makes the item more saleable - What DO people do who can't thread a needle?

My knitting has gotten stuck, as I can't think what to knit in this hot weather - I should go back to ponchos or shawls....It's always fun to look at the craft items at summer events (we just went to the Lavender fest up in Ojai) to get a bit of inspiration for one's own projects. 

Oh, since we were up in Ojai during the week, I also recycled a bag or 2 of books - They take them for credit and then I can get more books gratis! Since most of my books cost $.50-$1.00 and found at thrift shops, etc., and the book store gives me 1/3 of the face value - or the value they can get - it is an arrangement much to my benefit.  We also discovered a nice "free" library shelf up there & after having gotten some books, we donated the remainder of the paperbacks, mysteries mostly, to the library shelf. 

The only problem is recycling the books we get from the bookstore - as I get the cheapies, and they mark them $.50 on the edge of the book - perhaps the libraries will take them.  I must say that I do get to read all sorts of eccentric books I would otherwise never think of - Like a book on the Italian conductor Toscanni!

Hubby has applied for unemployment this summer - altho with his part-time status we keep our benefits, thank heaven! But it will mean a bit more $ in our slim purse.  That's always an incentive to SELL - isn't it? 

It's flattering to know that I have been missed by at least one reader out there....Sometimes I feel that I am just repeating myself & am the proverbial broken record! So thanks for the input....

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 I get "girly" invitations to events a lot - & have wondered about those "girls' nite out" beauty events - But, frankly, most of them have been too expensive for me.  Finally, prettycity.com brought their Green Beauty event to L.A. - for only $10 - & that included a generous goodie bag.  So I arranged to meet a girlfriend there - & we had a great time chatting and looking at the tables, getting samples, and munching on the fruit and other food goodies there.  It was in a furniture sales room (??) so there were lots of comfy places to sit.  We arrived just at the beginning - as I wanted to snag the samples before they all ran out - and it was so much fun, we stayed for HOURS.  Then our husbands joined us & we had sandwiches at the bistro next store. 

What a nice, relatively inexpensive evening out for the girls! Skinny Cow has been having events where they have bra fittings & give away free bras (??) - Hope they make it out to L.A., too! 

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I realize that I have neglected you guys in blog world - in the last month - not that I have given up my freaky frugality - Far from it!

The latest is that hubby has initiated a reorganization of our little bathroom - And we have been looking for a nice little extra storage cabinet all over the place - but couldn't find anything HUBBY liked.  Finally found some seagrass/rattanish little chest of drawers on sale at Cost Plus (I had gone in to get a $6 parasol, like the one my buddy had at the Vox Femina Tea Party benefit we all participated in. (Me as Red Queen.)

I found an orange parasol - and then saw the chests on sale - & since I am on their email list, I get 20% off & because it was a slightly dinged floor model, I got ANOTHER 10% off for asking. (Hubby was too shy, but not ME...)  So we got everything for less than the usual price of the chest....I don't usually shop in those sorts of stores, as I think they are pricey - but I DO like the wicker/rattan.... which is a good value for the money....

The day before I had gone to an audition in a weird ethnic part of town near me - & discovered a little Hispanic swap meet - where I scored some rhinestone fashion rings for $1 each - and some nice barrettes decorated with what I think are carnelians and other stones - 2 for $5!!  Hubby sneered, but one does find the best buys at weird places!

When we were looking for the chest for the bathroom, we stopped into our local Goodwill & I found 2 steals I couldn't resist - #1 a Dooney & Bourke vanilla leather pouch handbag for $10 (worth $250 new!) and  #2 a long black fringed scarf, which turned out to be SILK for $4.  Now, how could I resist?  Strangely enough that Goodwill is very expensive for jewelry....The buys were as good as those at Cost Plus - but I revel in even lower prices! And heaven knows, I have enough in my jewelry collection....I fantasize selling it off in my "old age" - but who knows?  Every piece a bargain...

We went to a very nice event at the Motion Picture Academy - did I mention that? Inexpensively - and I am always entering drawings for free tix to events.  I got a discount invite to one of those girly makeup skin care events with gift bags & looks like I will go with a girl friend of mine....

And, of course, in the mail, I get my samples of deodorant, tooth paste, shampoo and so on....Boy, are there LOTS of those - Plus my free fashion magazines, such an indulgence! (Check out www.freestufftimes for leads on that sort of thing...)  I enter EVERYTHING.  Why not?  I do wish I could win a trip - anywhere really - just a free junket....

I AM trying to be good about my purchases - last visit to Goodwill in Moorpark, I just shopped the dollar rack! And there's a dollar rack at the Animal Thrift shop, too - One can find nice tshirts.  Me, pay $20 for a tshirt?  Never....

Saw AVATAR at home on pay TV - & I am glad that I didn't fork out $$ to see it in 3D (well, I don't have much depth perception, anyway...)

Find a LOT of craft sites & DIY on the net now - downloaded 2 patterns for very simple dresses - & I have found some free knitting patterns, too. (Check out http://lulalouiseblogspot.com/2007/two-hour-dresstunic.html & http://www.craftstylish.com/item/64549/1-hour-dress for the EZ dress patterns.) Do you know that I saw a plain crepe sheath done by a designer for $1500?? Whew!

Hubby & I are going to the park for a picnic - & maybe will use the golf course putting green (that's a freebie).  We are so lucky we have such a nice park nearby.  Let's hear it for parks & trees!

(And here's a pic of me as the grumpy red queen at the Tea Party benefit - in my homemade finery...)

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Woke up this AM to realize that I have neglected my BLOG. Guess I have been busy with other things - but I shouldn't disappear, should I?

Haven't been out buying much of anything, because all the $ is going toward car matters.  We have 2 old cars & are debating on what to do - Hubby had an offer of a re-built used car from the mechanic - (the white Tbird we got from them was OK)  - but this other car seems to have problems & it may turn out that we will just put the $ into replacing the transmission on our green car (it has been slipping a bit - but we put in transmission goop & it still works fairly well - Hubby is nervous, but as I have driven cars with REAL transmission problems, like refusing to go backwards, I am for once not as nervous as HE is.)

So I have been going into my closet & wearing things from THAT & I must say that there is more than enough for the time being!  Altho I did snag a few more of the padded cotton bras from the Dollar Tree, because the first ones I got fit so well!

Freebies are a source of amusement now... I got a steam cleaner from Biore which I gave to a friend whose complexion is oilier than mine now is...and I get little samples in the mail regularly from my free sites (such as www.freestufftimes.com) - Also getting a Revlon lipstick from Walgrens - that offer may still work -

STILL using the facial care products I received for being in a trial of the brand - It was supposed to be 2 months, but they extended it to 3....I had just picked up some skin care products on sale at Sally Beauty Supply - so I am stocked for MONTHS to come! (The brand is Med3 & it is great...)

Of course, there are ALL the magazines I get  as freebies- & we have found another way to recycle them, as the art teacher in the school hubby works in loves them for art projects....

Bought a very inexpensive electro-stim belt from www.dealextreme.com - Just to day I saw an ad for one - which was reduced to $149 - while mine was @ $12....& it works, too.  Just the thing to enliven muscles that have gone to sleep for inactivity!!  I DO feel the results from it - & it's supposed to be good for cellulite, too.  (May even go back & get another one....)

Wearing the watch with the interchangeable bands that hubby found for me in a thrift shop - & he also snagged a Knifty Knitter loom set for $10 - about !/2 of retail - so I am making hats on it.  Finished 2 already - & gave one to my elderly neighbor, who wears them even in relatively good weather....Last Xmas was scarves, perhaps this year will be hats!

My buddy found MORE yarn for me & a box of WIGS of all descriptions.  They are great fun & I have been looking at YOUtube for the videos that tell you how to trim them & take care of them - It's because as an actress, many older women have what I call "fluffy" short hair- but mine is thick & just doesn't DO that -

So I am thinking of using wigs for older characters - The idea came to me (again) when I was working on the final re-shoots of the indie mystery flick I am in last weekend - because another actress there was talking about the wig she puts on when she doesn't have time to do her hair....

I also dug up a hair piece to put on to play an opera singer at a commercial audition yesterday.  Hubby wonders why I have all that STUFF - but I DO use it. I actually had to improvise singing in operatic ITALIAN - now that was a first! The internet is a wonder because I could quickly & easily download the sheet music to an Italian aria I had worked on - & then I also could find the accompaniment!!  And I dug out a black wrap dress I had bought at a thrift store, naturally -

There is also talk about showing my French commercial in ARMENIA - which would mean a little more $ - Since I live in Little Armenia in L.A. & there just was an Armenian celebration here - I think that is a bit FUNNY, don't you?

So, hubby is now seeing that I can NOT spend $ at thriftshops, too! I am on a money diet for the time being - But it's also true that the pollen levels have been very high here, according to my online pollen report - & altho I haven't gotten very bad symptoms - which I credit my herbal/homeopathic remedies for - I do get VERY tired....& since everyone else seems to be "dying" - perhaps I am doing better than I think, altho I have broken out the Nasalcrom for the itching in my nostrils! And all the air filters/ac, etc are on...

Isn't it terrible about the oil spill?  It's so bad, I can barely stand to watch the news.. I have asked hubby to turn it off just as we go to bed, as I can't dwell on that disaster when I am trying to get a good night's sleep.  I just read escapist literature - like cozy mysteries & old novels til I get sleepy...(The Dollar Tree also has had a very good sleep remedy with hops & valerian and other herbs, which I take sometimes - good value for $1...)

Now the hard drive of our computer is dead - we woke up this AM to it - & I am on the laptop...Don't understand how that could have happened - so we are trying plugs, wires and so on - Wish us luck - oh, computers & cars, it's hard not to spend $$ on THEM!

And WE are by most standards in the upper ranges of the middle class & live in a rent-controlled apartment below market value by @ $500 a month!  I DO wonder how people with kids manage.  I know the Duggars started off with a frugal household blog - you DO have to REALLY be good at that to have as many kids as they have - it's a family factory by my lights!!

I suppose I have to admit that my job is still being an actress/entertainer - & I do spend time every day at my computer looking for work - hearing about auditions! An old actor told me once that the real job was finding the job - & I have to agree with him.   Even auditions are a chance to act & they can be FUN - like yesterday...

And we just watch old classic movies from TCM - I still don't know why people would BUY them - I just like the surprise of having something pop up on TV. (cheaper, too!) maybe I can find another free screening for hubby & me, so we can go to the movies.  It is special just to sit in the DARK.

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I do love dressing up - I always have, from the time I was a little girl - but I am amazed at how much some find to spend on their clothes! I read blogs where "budget" pieces are $20 or so - whereas I specialize in the under-$10-thriftshop items! I have 2 things I could like that I saw on the internet - but at $25 each, I don't know how I will manage....

BUT we went to a Goodwill in a neighborhood we don't usually frequent & they had a SALE on dresses - at $3 each - so I bought FIVE. Now I have a navy wrap around, a grey knit dress (from the GAP, looks brand new), a pretty summer print, and a navy romper that I will probably wear as a top - oh, and another  knit top/dress - also probably to be worn over pants.  And I picked up some vintage jewelry - some clip earrings for $6 each, too. 

The real buy of the day was an '80s vintage kerry green linen blazer - off a vintage shop's sale rack for $.99!! - I wore it for Easter with a print knit dress I had found - & the saffron scarve I had also bought at the Goodwill for $2.99 - and green tweed thrift shop pumps (new or like new)- (with the green designer purse a friend had given me a year or so ago....he had gotten it as a freebie!) All thrift shop stuff - & perhaps the whole OUTFIT was about $25!!  So you see when ONE piece is $25, it's hard for me!

Hubby thinks I am extravagent when I buy $48 worth of clothes at a thrift shop!  Oh, what a cheap fashionista I am!!

Also found some non-brand name skin care products at Sally's Beauty Supply - Because one brand was on sale 2 for 1, I got 4 products for $30 - about what ONE item could cost for the equivalent. So remember to check out Sally's for off-name brand skin care! There are some good buys out there.  Frankly, I forget about Sally's - I just was windowshopping at a strip mall while hubby ran another errand!

Also found an Ann Klein designer tote bag for $7 or so at a Goodwill a week or so ago - which is now my day-to-day bag, and the leopard print is retired until the fall.

I am so used to getting along on a starvation budget for my wardrobe, I get dizzy when I think of paying REAL prices, which, what with inflation, seem astronomical to me.  I remember $15 silk print dress on the sale rack at a 5th Ave. department store....

I just ran into a quote from Helen Gurley Brown saying that to be well-dressed, a woman has to have a LOT of clothes - I certainly find that to be the case - even in my ueber-casual lifestyle....

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 Had a bad experience with Hi-def digital video - Beware, it's like seeing yourself under a magnifying glass & flaws come out that otherwise are not so obvious!  At least I had worn my makeup - but my hair could have used some help! 

My teeth looked awful & my old caps dingy - I cannot afford to redo the whole thing (Like Kate Gosslin) - because it is dreadfully expensive, so I spent some time on the internet to see what  cosmetic fixes I could come up with - I found & have ordered an Imako smile gadget which seems to be something like a fixed set of veneers you put on your teeth - Looking forward to fidding with them & seeing if I can make them work for me whenever I am under a digital video microscope! Apparently you can even use it if you have teeth missing - which might be an inexpensive emergency fix for some of us....We will see.

I will keep you posted. Wish me luck....

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I had somehow gotten into my noggin that a pants press would be a nice thing to have - as Hubby's khakis come out of the wash impossible wrinkled, and he has a tendency to give me a bit of a hard time because I am not enthusiastic about dragging out the ironing board to iron them.

The new ones can be $200-300 - but I had seen some for just under $100 on EBay  - but couldn't bring myself to spend that much.  Well - hubby found one in a local Out of the Closet thriftstore (lots of men's stuff there - ) for $20 - so I told him to get it.  We could return it in a week  - but I am experimenting with it - and altho it's not really designed for it, I am learning to more or less iron the khakis with the press. (There is a knack to it.) I can set it up in the living room & press while watching the tube - which is MUCH better than ironing - & any minor wrinkling can be dealt with using my trusty wrinkly spray of 1/2 water & 1/2 fabric softener (Boy, does THAT save a lot of work!)

We have found lots of great appliances at thrift stores - but this presser and the little movable AC unit are both gems (& would have cost mucho anywhere else). Ditto our portable dishwasher for the apartment  - they are more expensive than the regular ones!  But at a thriftshop - affordable!

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<a href="http://booksneeze.com/reviews/blogger/10566?ref=badge"><img alt="I review for BookSneeze" src="http://booksneeze.com/images/booksneeze_badge.png" border="0" width="200" height="150"></a>

They send me booksfree & I review them - Just starting with this program.

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Spent  Monday with my buddy Eldon clearing out the bedroom. Sortta spring cleaning a bit early. Earlier I had already started with a cabinet I had, clearing it of miscellaneous books - Some we gave to the thrift shop, some to keep, and some which I haven't read. So we moved on to another corner -

My buddy is unemployed - so besides helping me (My allergies curtail what I can do as far as dusting goes...) we paid him for his work - $ he certainly can use.  Perhaps you have an unemployed friend or neighbor who would like to help you out, too. It really helps to clean up with a buddy!

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Have run into giveaways on the net - including giveawaydiva - which you should check out if you like to win stuff.

This giveaway came from www.freestufftimes.com - and is called "Blogging for Bling" and it is for Chunky Bling, a site that has lots of lovely crystal jewelry - The Swarovski rings are a great deal for $8-$10, and they also have cool jeweled watches for as little as $8 ! I entered their name contest for a beaded, crystal watch - and this blog is another entry - but you should check them out anyway - as it's all very reasonable. (And  they do parties, too). Here are some links for you all:

1. ChunkyBling.com
2. interchangeable beaded watches
3. interchangeable charm necklaces
4. chunky jewelry
5. online jewelry party

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Have run into giveaways on the net - including giveawaydiva - which you should check out if you like to win stuff.

This giveaway came from www.freestufftimes.com - and is called "Blogging for Bling" and it is for Chunky Bling, a site that has lots of lovely crystal jewelry - The Swarovski rings are a great deal for $8-$10, and they also have cool jeweled watches for as little as $8 ! I entered their name contest for a beaded, crystal watch - and this blog is another entry - but you should check them out anyway - as it's all very reasonable. (And  they do parties, too). Here are some links for you all:

1. ChunkyBling.com
2. interchangeable beaded watches
3. interchangeable charm necklaces
4. chunky jewelry
5. online jewelry party

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Sorry, folks, I have been busy & neglected you all -

I troll craigslistla - which is particularly good, I understand - in the show biz jobs and the gigs sections in L.A. -  almost daily - and I have gotten a LOT of nice things/experiences/jobs from that free resource.

Yesterday I actually had a chance to work out with Jane Fonda herself in a W. Hollywood studio on her new exercise program for Boomers.  She said she had had a hard time getting people to come - can you imagine?  Guess that's why it was why it was on craigslist.  We were taped (having signed releases, of course) and put through a very good workout - and then shared our feedback.  There was also talk about getting copies of the program (our tapes? I don't know....) - and it could always lead to being in the final video.

It was great working with and seeing such an old pro work.  She even squeezed in interviews with Entertainment Tonight and People Magazine while she was there...The whole atmosphere was that deceptively casual & upbeat professional tone you find on well run sets.  In my experience, the higher up the ladder you go in show biz, the more calm and sane the stars seem to be.

And the day BEFORE, I went to downtown L.A. to meet Darryn Songbird of Songbird ocarinas - because he is looking for someone to represent his Songbird brand of ceramic ocarinas on YouTube,etc. playing the ocarina. I ended up being given his larger necklace ocarinas - with an octave an a half.  This ceramic flute has a nice mellow sound through most of its range - (& a $20.00 value).  So now, I am teaching myself to play the ocarina!  I do like to learn new instruments.....

Trying to get free tix to a medieval opera downtown - they are sold out, but my connections are still working it!

Oh, and I really like the new aerate 08 bodifying creme mousse Redken sent me to try.  Even without blowdrying, my hair came out very soft and without stray hairs all around....Very smooth.

Going in to see the folks at the Med3 trials on Saturday - (Another bennie from craigslist!)  It is worth it to take a look.

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The lights went out last night during a big rain storm - & we put candles up everywhere - So atmospheric! and we even had enough to give to our neighborhood lady - who otherwise would have been in the dark! I will have to take more candlelit baths - a Valentine's Day idea!

Also noodled in the dark on my concertina.  Hubby always noodles on his guitar - but I almost always play the concertina on the boat?

I seem to have lost a pair of my reading glasses - and am on the secondary ones.  Boy, am I glad I have those.

I have woven 2 little mats on my square little loom which I found with the rest of my old yarn while we were moving into the new storage area. They make nice coasters, I think.   If I can make a bigger loom (apparently you can make ones out of cardboard) I am thinking of making placemats. Whew! In the 30's they actually made HUNDREDS of these little woven wool squares & made suits and dresses and coats - even bathing suits out of them! I don't know how they made them so neat, tho.  But the modular patterns do give you ideas.

Otherwise it's been a quiet week here in Lake Woebegon come Hollywood.. Rainy & chilly.  I took several potted plants out to get some rain water & an airing. Oh - someone took the funky fruniture I put outside in the driveway area into the TRASH! Hubby found it & retrieved it all.  At least it wasn't stolen.  But everyone knows who put it out there - so why didn't they just come to me instead?  I keep on trying to claim some outside space & you really can't put out stuff that is too nice or it will get stolen - or just disappear! Here I am in S. Calif. trying to eke out a space to sit outside! How ironic. 

But all's well that ends well - see ya.

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Just some frugal things I have been doing:

• Found some sunflowers in the trashcan in front of a local florists when we were walking - with some trimming, I made a nice Van-Gogh-esque flower arrangement.  Cost = nada. (Flowers can be recycled from arrangments at churchs and events, etc.  With some pruning, you can make a perfectly nice small arrangement for your home.) Used a leaky beer stein I have and put a plastic bag in it filled with water so it doesn't leak.)
• Eating an almond snack out of the tin the Calif. Almond Board sent me - It holds @ 160 calories worth of almonds. (Or a handful = 23 almonds aprox.)
• Using recycled mousepad w/ wrist support from hubby's office.  There are often useful office materials you can find at your office which you can recycle. - Old office furniture, equipment, paper, and so on.
• Trying to download a free bird mating call from eNature.com  - they are offering free mating call animal ringtones for Valentine's Day.
• My suggestion about a frugal V Day is going to be published at wisebread.com by the frugal duchess! 
• Received a sample of "dried plums" (= prunes) from Mariani - in a nice little package and perfect to take along for lunch or a snack.  Nuts or dried or fresh fruit or a piece of cheese & some crackers make a nice little lunch or snack. Easy to grab and bring along.  I save little brown (& other small) paper bags to bring such lunches in. Reycled plastic bags work, too - I always save the ones the newspaper comes in & bags for flyers, telephone books, etc.

It really is a GAME.  And I enjoy, for example, the sunflowers a bit MORE because they were on their way out & I could rescue them! 

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Even though we see LOTS of movies on cable, hubby really likes to sit in the dark in a theatre.  He has been longing to go to the movies, but at the prices they are charging, I just haven't seen anything worth the $20-30 for the two of us, if I can just wait to see it on cable.

But a buddy got us in to a screening of YOUNG QUEEN VICTORIA with free passes and we talked to a woman on the line who went to free screenings all the time.  So I decided to find more screenings for me & hubby.  I am watching the offers in the L.A. Weekly, our local free entertainment paper (that's how we got into see YOUNG VICTORIA) and being quick as a bunny to respond to online offers from sites such as www.gofobo, as the passes go very fast!

So I snagged 2 passes to see the new Mel Gibson movie, EDGE OF DARKNESS.  The line went across the street and down the block, even though we were an hour early - & hubby almost wanted to go, but I was sort of enjoying being out on Hollywood Blvd at night in a relaxed crowd so we stayed & ended up getting in - with FREE popcorn and cokes, too! We had parked down the street at the Hollywood and Highland complex, and bought coffees to drink on the line to validate our parking, so the whole evening only cost $2 for the parking!! It was a total break from routine, and a real date night for hubby and me!

Everyone is tightening their belts - and I realize that with my freebie skills I am really getting value out of our modest income! We go to free concerts, movies  - and hear music all the time.  And since I shop at thrift stores & dollar stores, I can indulge in pieces for my wardrobe, so I feel well-dressed all the time, too.

Last night it was rainy & I wore my lovely lined bronze vinyl raincoat which I had found at a thriftshop in Solvang, a tourist area, last summer in the heat for ONE DOLLAR.  That's right folks.  And our umbrellas either are from the 99 Cent Store or were freebies from a travel conference.

Speaking of the 99 Cent Store - I went in and bought a couple of long trendy scarves and trouser socks - not to mention a few pairs of stylish underwear.  With that & deals on lotions and even vitamins and car additives, we really save a LOT of money there.  If there is an item which is a great deal, like my Citrucel, I try to buy in quantity - and it will last me several months, saving me at what used to be $10 a box, some $50-60.  Going back for some Benefiber for hubby - we saw it on the way out.

Hubby used to hate those dollar stores - but since he has seen how much money we can save there, he has gotten on the dollar store wagon, too! Great deals on sauces, soy sauce, and salad dressings, too. The pickles and relish we got up at the Dollar Tree in Ventura were outstanding, not to mention the odd catsup brand.

I allow indulge myself with yarn from the 99 Cent stores - with that & my thrift shop yarn purchases, I can pursue my hobby at a price that is reasonable.  And i have gorgeous scarves for every occasion!  Last night I wore my tweedy copper-colored fuzzy scarf which goes perfectly with my bronze raincoat. And the shearling boots I bought a few years ago at a sporting goods store on sale (for my winter trip to NYC). I had sprayed them with waterproofing, so I didn't worry about wearing them in the wet - & they DID keep my feet nice and toasty.

I really don't make much money - I never have - so I feel that my freebies are contributions to our budget in as much as we have saved the $30 we would have spent in a movie theatre instead of a screening, for example - hubby always likes to get drinks & popcorn...And we could go out and enjoy ourselves instead of thinking about money.

I know that members of my family are getting grim over their belt-tightening - but I refuse to succumb to that - There is too much STUFF out there for the picking - IF you know where to LOOK.  So, COURAGE my pennypinchers! 

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Hubby & I went on a mall walk yesterday (Sat.) - I had a coupon from Sephora for some Bare Minerals makeup (from an email from their membership program) - & another for a little pearl bracelet from a jewelry store - which was motivating.  I am trying to walk more - so any motivation is great!

We also were given some tiny hand santiziers as a freebie by one store - it's nice & small to fit in my purse. The bracelet is really NICE - I couldn't believe it!

We walked about & went into the Barnes & Noble bookstore - where we both found $5 books on the bargain table  - Mine is a hardcover Knitting from up down book, which I had heard about - reduced from $25 or so!  I would never have bought this hardback - Those are the kind which I stand & read for inspiration in bookstores.  Finally found a deal on one, and I have already started a new project on my circular needles. We'll see how that goes. (Hubby had our parking validated at the bookstore - so the trip cost nada. We had parked on the fancy paid side...)

Using my M3 skin care regime - nice! Hubby was remarking how much women spend on themselves for beauty projects because he was watching HSN and a Lancome presentation. (I had gotten some little Lancome eye shadow & lipstick at a thrift shop for $1 over Xmas.)  That's why I join all the clubs - like membership at Sephora - and the ones for the fashion magazines, and answer the L'Oreal questionnaires! Not to mention the skin care trial. (I looked it up on the net & whew! each tube was $35 & the whitener $100 = several hundred dollars of skin care in my little bag!)

Got some more pretty underwear, 2 scarves & some trouser socks at the 99 Cent Store.  I am really frugally chic!

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It's finally stopped raining!  Read today about a woman who filled three rainbarrels during the downpour. We need cisterns in L.A. for rainwater - as they did in Biblical times!  But I live in an apt. & can't do any of that.

So what have I been doing?

• Filed my late taxes via efile - did I mention that?  So EZ - Now I no longer dread doing them for 2009.
• Part of a skin care trial & received $$ worth of skin care to use - It's over 2 months - & whew, what a savings that is! Had my before pix taken today - Alas, my growing double chin!  Gotta work on that.
• Saved a knitting project - by making the square into a poncho by cutting a hole for the neck! I then stiched around it to keep it from raveling.  Had to do something as it was much larger than I had planned!
• Got a coupon for free Bare Minerals from Sephora
• In the mail received a coupon for a free pearl bracelet! The jewelry store at the mall must want us just to come in....
• Found some more trendy underwear at the 99 Cent Store...
• Also found Citrucel fiber - which I had seen for $10 - 99 cents - the other jelly equivalent for fiber was $13 for the generic! So I am stocking up!  I have gotten 10 which = $100 worth of product!?!
• Also bought some trouser socks, which are about the same price as in Target, in a pkg of 3.
• Mark rec'd his tix for the free L.A. Philharmonic concert - hope mine are coming soon.
• Hubby had the prescription lenses of my bifocals (which I use only for knitting in front of the TV) put into a $12 pair of reading glass frames he had bought at the drug store.  So for $30, I have an extra pair of glasses! Cool. So smart of hubby. 
• Signed up for free movie passes online.

Just thought I would clue you in on the ongoing saga!

How are you doing?

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It is pouring - strange for S. California - Here rain gear seems silly until there is a deluge - Luckily I have my 99 Cent Store umbrella - & 2 large ones I got at a trade show a few years ago. And I am so proud of my raincoat - it's bronze vinyl - lined - & cost me $1 last summer at a thriftshop in Danish tourist spot, Solvang, CA - (I don't go into the shops, but there are two great thriftshops I always visit!) Then I wear my plastic shoes, so if they get wet, nothing will be damaged. Also have some rubber boots if it's really bad.I I am saying all this because S.Californians don't adapt well to the rain & cold.  They continue to drive too fast & get into accidents - and wear thin clothes & shiver! I am living proof that that is NOT necessary!

After postponing the taxes - even after an extension, hubby got on me while he was home on MLK Day to do them.  I tried efiling for the first time - & was amazed that it was so EASY.  Did the taxes in about an hour - altho we had to pay for it - Still the $60 was MUCH less than the $200 we paid one year because hubby brought the taxes to a tax preparer! (We didn't get any refunds that year, either...whereas when I do my taxes myself, we DO....??) Did get a refund, but it just goes to back taxes...Now I will have no trepidation about doing this year's taxes.  (Just hope I don't get audited or anything...)

There was a break in the rain on MLK Day, too - & hubby & I went out for a walk around the trendy Vermont area - & explored.  I window shopped & picked up a pan pipe at Goodwill for $4 - a bargain! We then had coffee at the French bistro - very nice.  Just getting together with your spouse & sitting down in a pleasant place & having tea & coffee & a bit of cake is such a civilized European habit we should think about adopting! My midwestern mother-in-law has that habit, and we joined her on our last visit - and then continued to mall walk - Mall walking is a great solution for bad weather walking (hot or cold - or wet)- altho I tend to buy something - however small - every time..Hubby says I am easily pleased - it may be so, but I had a lovely afternoon.  It was like a DATE. (& a cheap one, at that).

We are getting CDs of movies up for awards because I am in the Screen Actor's Guild.  And there are some screenings which let in SAG members - altho most only let the folks in the movie Academy in. That's a nice side benefit. Have to hone in on screenings in Hollywood - there are lots of free ones - If you check the L.A. Weekly entertainment paper - or the online screening sites - like campuscircle.com -  It's especially nice when we can go at the ArcLight a short way away - the parking there is free, too.

Also called in for free tix for the L.A. Philharmonic's community concert in E. L.A. in February.  As my buddy says, "Free is our favorite color!"

Speaking of free, I realize that I award myself for my daily hours at the computer with freebies - applied today to try to win some mascara from Borghese thru Luxuryspot.com - and I filled out more surveys for L'Oreal.  I haven't been able to participate in trials of products for them yet - but I get free product for every 5 surveys I fill out!  Last time I got eye cream which in the store is $20!  I did then pick up some anti-wrinkle wands at the drugstore because it was buy one, get the next one 1/2 off - & At $14, I got $7 off!.  Not bad.

I do mix my cheaper & more expensive products - with great success, I may add! When I stay at home, some wrinkle toner & frankly cheap Nivea cream is quite nice.  Have to wear something with SPF when I go out....And I always add a dab of with hazel beneath my eyecream - but you knew that! (& Vaseline on the top eyelid - gee, a pot lasts for months....)

We are feasting on homemade chicken soup - throwing in various veggies - perfect for this weather! (This is due to the stainless steel stock pot, with lid, I made hubby buy for $7 at a thrift shop a month or so ago, saying it was perfect for soup - & it is!) I love vintage American cookware - it lasts forever!

And I am knitting another project - a vest?  Out of my stash - I am going to have to get used to creative knitting to just knit from my stash of odds & ends...But I realize that that's the sort of knitting I like - SIMPLE with varied color & texture.  A machine does a much better job of straight knitting than I can ever do....And now my buddy is bringing me thriftshop yarn HE finds to add to the mix...But 9 balls at the really low price of $2 a ball would still be almost $20 & 1/2 the price of my huge stash!)

Got the electric heater on - & closed off the living room from the rest of the apartment - We have a lovely pocket door to close off the hall, bathroom & bedroom...and dressing warmly day & night! It's even nice to feel a bit chilly - all that sunshine can get too much at times.  And luckily we are NOT in either a mudslide or a flood area!  Staying home warm & dry is very cozy - & I am glad that the week is SLOW....

How are you all in the SNOW?

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Ugh - have a gum infection - which means another round of dental investigation, as I try to figure out the best way to proceed.  Being a performer, this is vital! I am supplementing my antibiotics with LOTS of Vit. C & an herbal gum treatment - getting probiotics to protect the flora & fauna in the bod!

Is this going to be another "teeth & gum period"?  I go through them periodically....Might be the time to get my implants & even consider veneers for my 40-yr-old dental work?  I could then go whiter in color for my smile....

All of my Soc. Sec. $ is going to go for teeth for a while, alas...

We spend a lot of $ on meds & medical issues  - so I try to save everywhere else.  I have 2 pairs of eyeglasses with vintage frames I picked up for practically nothing - which saved a LOT on the the glasses - & was all covered by hubby's insurance.

Found a deal on 10 pairs of sunglasses for $10 + shipping at graveyardmall.com - and I ordered the bunch.  I am always losing sunglasses, and somehow, I am down to one or 2 pairs at the moment & the pickings at the dollar store have been slim lately....But 10 prs should tide me over quite nicely!  We will see.

Xmas was bountiful - but now we are back to pinching our pennies, per usual....How are you all?  Holding on against inflation & all that stuff, I trust...(if you crunch the numbers, we all are a litle bit broker than before due to the change in our currency's value, oh, well....) At least hubby & I are very used to dealing with these issues with frugality - so no painful learning curve for US....

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Back to normal after spending the holidays with family visits & then a long wkend at the boat.  Bless that boat.

• Hubby made a new step for the boat by bolting & glueing a smaller thriftshop blue plastic step stool to what seems like a platform left over from step exercising (also thriftshop & also blue plastic). It's great & cost about $10 as opposed to $60 for one from West Marine! I love the fact that the colors match!
• Picked up surplus plastic table, small bench from someone who was moving to put in our driveway space where we can sit. I like to use used stuff out there so that it all doesn't get stolen! I keep on putting chairs & little tables out there - but if they do disappear, if it was salvage, then it's not so painful.
• Do you know people are uglifying their nice things so they won't be taken?  I do the same with my used stuff.  We have real scratches on the car(s).
• Exchanged paperback books at Bart's in Ojai & received a $50.00 credit!  (Also cleaned out a corner of the apt.) - Hubby was astounded & bought himself a book, and I got some music.  What with our purchases, still have $20.00 credit left for next time!  I get thriftshop paperbacks to begin with - so it keeps reading costs LOW.
• Hubby found generic Zyrtec - which saved us some $ on allergy medicine - as the real kind is $$.
• Starting to knit what I hope will be a squarish sleeveless top.  Wish me luck.
• Hubby also found more yarn for me at the thriftshop where he turned in the books that the used bookstore didn't want! (Got compliments on my tweedy scarves which I gave out.)
• Remember that you can learn to do a LOT yourself.  I myself have put down tile, painted, sewn, and knitted - And my latest self haircut looks very nice indeed!
• We went to a very nice coffee house concert of one of our favorite Ventura musicians - Nathan McKuen - for the price of parking at the Staples Center - as hubby remarked!
• Played mellow pop 70's music at local coffee house and the Deer Lodge in Ojai with our buddy George - and got free drinks!
• Enjoyed the music of Arlene Kohl - another 70's revival singer/guitar player at the Farmer's Market in Channel Islands Harbor. Support your local talent! (We peruse the local "rags" to see who is playing where - a baroque concert at a church next wkend...)

Onward & upward for 2010!!

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Sorry, folks - I have neglected my blog due to the fact that this Xmas season seemed to be particularly busy - Hubby & I appeared as Santa & Mrs. Claus - & then we had to prepare for a last minute Xmas gig - paid! - and on to drive up to Bakersfield to see my brother & his family - and then turning around & driving up to visit my brother-in-law & mother-in-law up in Sacramento for New Years! Whew!

Luckily we had extra $ from the Santa gig + the music gig + the $ from my French commercial! And we rented a car (with an upgrade it turned into a van) to drive up to Sacramento to save our aging cars. Had an Entertainment Today discount - that helped, too.  Not too much gas to get up there & back,either.

Gave everyone my handmade scarves - Still LOTS more - & I am contemplating what to do with them once everyone I know has gotten one...

My Spanish sister-in-law passed on one of her aborted knitting projects - with needles and some nice fuzzy yarn - and I took apart the scarf she had started, as the fuzzy yarn needed more yarn backing for my taste, and expanded it into a lovely tweedy GREEN shawl with all the greens (& touches of blue, etc.) that I had.  Not to long to do - & very cozy.  It's nice, because I didn't really have a green shawl in the repertoire...

Hubby left most of my luggage HOME on top of the bed we discovered in Sacramento - so I had to go shopping in the thrift shops of Sacramento - Various thrift shops do have different character - lots of biz clothes there - but I did score a few tops, some brand new boat shoes (!), and some jeans, + a pair of jeweled plastic J. Crew ballerina flats for New Years Eve.  I pulled together an outfit from my thrift shop finds plus a grey Michael Kors sweater I have and wore the amethyst necklace I had gotten for Xmas - and was quite well-dressed for a home New Years Eve...(Still wish hubby would understand the difference between thrift shop prices & real ones, though....For the price of one $30 GAP tee I acquired a whole outfit of very good quality!)

Curiously,I found that the suburban thrift shops of both Bakersfield & Sacramento are pricier than I am used to - not that the prices are anywhere near retail! BOOKS were more expensive, I found - at $1.00 and $1.49 for paperbacks....but I recycle those, anyway - for exchange...)

We had put up little trees and it was easy to take them all down again! Although I miss the decorations - they will be fresh next year.  That's a bargain tip - get nice bargain decorations that you can recycle year after year!

Now we have to adjust to the post-holiday exercise & diet season! The ads are everywhere.  I didn't really indulge over the holidays - but everyone needs to watch their weight - so I am, too! Thought about joining Curves - but there is a $100+ membership fee - which makes it more than Bally's??

Whew and whew again!  Happy New Year everyone!!

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Have been working as an entertainer for Xmas - so haven't been blogging.  Hubby & I worked as Santa & Mrs. Claus at Channel Islands Harbor - (He got a suit, I had to put together my outfit) - It was drizzly & chilly - but the kids were adorable & hubby is a great Santa.

Last night my group The Pickwicks was revived for a holiday party down near the airport.  Hubby, Eldon Turner & I played and sang and rang bells & jingle bells & a good time was had by all.  In the last minute we had to "fluff" our equipment set up, but luckily there was a 99 Cent Store in the neighborhood which saved the day.  Besides the ribbon and so on - I actually found a pewter VERA scarf (must be 20+ years old) which was real SILK for 99 cents.  One never knows what one will find.

I wore my $12 wonder dress (acquired from Graveyardmall.com a few months ago - there were so cheap - I bought a black AND a red one). I twisted the top to give me a V neck & added a black jacket I had had for years & the tights that I had gotten 2 for 1 at the drug store for being Mrs. Claus (one blue pair and one black) - and the brocade mules I had gotten at a thrift store. Oh - also the earrings from the thrift store in Ojai - and bracelets from the old ladies' thriftshop in Camarillo - & a combination of a ruffly scarf from the 99 Cent Store & a gold sequined one from another thriftshop.  One's wardrobe does come in handy at times like this.

Have started to give out the holiday scarves - and fashion photographer Peter Brown wore his to his photo shoot for designer Cynthia Vincent & got compliments from Cynthia and another fashionista! And another friend I gave a scarf to loved the orange in the knit - which went with his orange emergency jacket - and declared that it was great that the garter stitching knit made the scarf grip at the neck and not slip - an advantage I hadn't noticed before.  And another lady admired the pink one I wore as Mrs. Claus & said it was a nice length & width (i.e. - long and slightly skinny).  It's a flattering shape for me....

Using the gift bags we receive from Maker's Mark (they have been sending us stuff for years....) - but I am putting old greeting cards on them to somewhat disguise the whiskey bottle pattern! We also got Maker's Mark tissue - and I still have some wrapping paper left over from last Xmas.

Found some little ornaments at the old ladies' thrift shop for $.25 each - nice wooden ones - which I added to our little tree which we put up in what Mark calls an "altar" area near the desk.  I also bought 2 bunches of Xmas foliage from the Dollar Tree - which I cut up with wire cutters - and secured the tree into a Santa cocoa tin from last season - with gilded pine cones & such. I glammed up the straw wreath for the door with blonde fake poinsettias from another Dollar Tree bunch - and added a gold bow and a red ribbon to tie it to the door.  Looks great - for a $2 outlay....

But really, I have not bought a lot this year - just recycled decorations from years past - which is a nice thing to do anyway...And the angels - and other figurines and such  - were bargains of years past.

Mark found me a lovely bouquet of roses and lilies at the supermarket on Sunday night for a pittance - and I mixed them up with another bouquet we had picked up at the Farmer's Market - My buddy told me that if I take the pollen tips from the lilies very carefully, they will last longer.  I never knew that.  I am pruning the roses, as the outside petals get dried up - but it's been almost a week now - and I still have my flowers!

Mark has put on the recording of us at the party - It's so nice to enjoy making music and make some $ with it, too!  We can do this forever! Looks like we are reviving our musical partnership with our buddy Eldon - for fun & profit. We hooked up with a very nice lady with an entertainment company who books all sorts of little events and parties - She stopped by & was impressed & more work will be coming from there. And we are so versatile - we have done Xmas music - & 70's pop & standards & children's music & Renaissance music & classical & church music....You ask for it - other than hip hop - we got it..

Now that's an example of how to make $ from your hobby - if you want to call our music making a hobby. It does help to defray the expenses of instruments and so on...And it's such fun!

How are your holidays going?  Hope everything is very festive!

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Hooray! the trim/cut I did myself to my hair yesterday worked out fine!  My hair was so long I just couldn't stand it anymore, and I haven't been able to get to a hairdresser - & I was reading about hair cut "sales in L.A. of cuts being reduced from $265 to something like $165 !!so I took out my new sharp shears and did my old DIY cutting tricks.  (1) make sure your hair is really LONG, so there is margin for error (2) I cut off the back by gathering my dry hair up in a flat barrette, and then holding it up in front of a mirror, and cutting straight across (this may take a few tries) (3) I then straighten out the ends dry and (4) I trim around my face by twisting the hair in wisps and cutting little bits to soften the edges. (This is supposed to work for bangs, too.) (5) Then I check when hair is clean and wet for any last minute cleaning up.

I also renewed my streaking by applying plain household hydrogen peroxide to the new growth area at the top and front of my head several times - until the blonding more or less matched the rest of the old hair which had been streaked.  I just put it on and then let dry.  The front is fine now, but I will have to do more in the back crown later.  Now I will shampoo with colored shampoo - 1/2 blonde & 1/2 red (ditto for 1/2 & 1/2 colored conditioner) letting the shampoo stay on for !5+ minutes....

I have a very simple cut with a side part - so it's not too hard.  Although, of course, a professional would have given me layers - that's for my next real hair cut!

As an actress I try to keep my hairstyle more or less the same -otherwise I would have to get new professional pics taken all the time!  And I like to use mine UP - not throw out the old ones! I don't know why in show biz it is considered to be good practice to throw $ at problems, rather than keep overhead low, as in any other business! And what's more - if you maintain more or less the same flattering hairstyle, as did, for example, old movie actress Claudette Colbert - you will gain an ageless quality all we females need.  It's all about trying to develop your own professional style.

Went to Santa Monica for an audition and stayed and windowshopped on the 3rd St. Promenade - bought myself a bargain cocktail ring for $5 - with a big black "stone" - I then customized it by painting the raised pattern around the stone with a blackish sparkly nail polish - and got an effect of marcasite, which really made a difference to the ring.  I had looked at similar ones for $30 - but the cocktail ring trend will probably be fleeting - so this one will do fine.  (Note:  colored metallic nail polish is great for repairing/resurfacing/enhancing the finish of inexpensive costume jewelry.  You can use auto touchup paint, too.)

Most of my Xmas shopping/making is DONE - so I mostly can avoid the crush during the season - it was nice to walk in the middle of a weekday along the Promenade - for exercise in the brish weather - and avoid the crowds....

 Happy holiday time to you all!

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Hubby & I drove up to the boat after Thanksgiving - no traffic! and went to the new & old Goodwills on our way.  Hubby scored in the new one - & got 2 sets of sheets -&  car seats for the Thunderbird - (we saved $40 there over new & the items were still in their packaging!)  Hubby also bought some pairs of pants for himself & found a pair of cargo pants for me on the dollar rack.  I just found jewelry - a bracelet & what I think is an amber necklace - (it was $.50 or something - so who cares?)

At the next Goodwill, I did find some clothes - a tshirt, some paperbacks, 2 mohair sweaters to take apart for yarn - some yarn and thread for my craft knitting - 

Other thrift shops!  We also stopped into 2 thrift shops on our way to Ojai on Saturday to hear hubby's buddy play at a coffeehouse that has a nice patio - I found a pink fleece hoodie for $2.99 and also a nice tote bag in an interesting golden green patent - 

But we really SCORED at what we call the animal thrift shop!! Someone had brought in a batch of yarn of all sorts & hubby offered $10 for the lot & they were glad not to have to mark it!  Whew! a whole BIG bag!! I also found a fashion ring for $1.99 - (I had bought bargain yarn at the Oriental bargain store, too @ $1 each - but the colors were limited... & I had found some ecru embroidery floss up around the 2nd Goodwill for $.20 a skein - so I will experiment with that, too.)

The only problem now is to find a way to STORE it at home.  I like to have it OUT to check for color combinations, so that complicates matters! But for about $22 or so  - I got a LOT of yarn - which should keep me busy.  

So - here is a tip - CHECK your local thriftshops for YARN if you want to keep your material costs WAY DOWN. 

P.S. Hubby had several slightly used tires put on the Mercury & with that & an oil change/fluid check -  it only came to $85!! I have had good experiences with getting gently used tires from our mechanic's place! They will last as long as the car, hubby predicts!  (& NEW ones would have cost a LOT more!)

We are actually a bit ahead for once.  What a change!  Still waiting for the check for the French commercial I did - and we are going to make $ playing Santa & Mrs. Claus at Channel Islands Harbor 12/12 - Want to pay off the back bills & then bank some $ - for emergencies & travel?  Onward & upward - even in the holiday season! 

P.P.S. Almost forgot to tell you about the nice RING I got at the church thriftshop in Ojai! - It's got a hall mark - & I can't figure out whether it's silver or stainless steel - but it fits nicely over my wedding ring for exra pizazz - at $1 I could hardly go very WRONG!

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 Spending a quiet day at home because I almost lost my voice yesterday & felt crummy - recovering & to the boat on Friday. 

Do you know that you can download FREE Xmas & other music @ amazon.com? - Go to free downloads & click on name of artist to get entire albums rather than single songs.  Listening to an early music album right now. 

Going to wear my $10 Target sale dress (I had a $10 off Target coupon, so $20- $10 = $10) again for Thanksgiving dinner + thrift shop leopard ballet flats & sale leggings.  Total = $25?? Hubby got compliments at work last week on how sharp he looked & everything he had on had come from a thrift shop! We do get better quality that way.  Hubby's wardrobe has never been as nice.

We have a lot to be thankful for! Thanks to all those folks who get such nice things into the thrift shops we frequent! And let's remember the charities which benefit from our thrift shop purchases! 

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Got over  what I think was the flu & then caught what seems to be a cold.  Bummer.  Taking my Chinese Jade screen pills with astralagus - good for the immune system...Plus the ginseng I usually take and LOTS of vitamin C. My body is just eating it up. (You will see it in bright yellow urine if it's not, forgive me for being indelicate...)

Stopped at out favorite Sta. Paula Goodwill  - in addition to ANOTHER new Goodwill in Moorpark & found things on the dollar rack - including a nice salmon colored golf shirt for hubby.  I have some pants hubby urged me to buy - which I haven't tried on yet - but they were on the dollar rack, too.  I also got some lovely Clark slipons in a blood red leather for $3 - and in Sta. Paula I found gold flats and some nice golden leather loafers. (They had damage at the heel - so I glued down the leather rip and then colored the worn areas on the heels with colored eyeshadow of the right golden color.  Worked fine.) Also picked up lots of $.50 paperback mysteries in Sta. Paula.

Hubby is pleased with our $500 Thunderbird - which seems to be running fine.  Maybe we lucked out.  I am sure we could now sell it for more than we paid for it & invested in it to clean it up.  The old truck is being recycled/sold to a friend who needs transport and only drives locally up in Ojai.

Found a great bargain site - www.dollarextreme.com - where they have gadgets for under $2 with free shipping.  Great for gifts.  They even sell some jewelry - so I spent some of my PayPal $ on a ring for under $3 - we will see how it works out.  Had my Pinecone research $ transferred to my PayPal account - They said so many checks were being STOLEN that they couldn't take responsibility for them, so this is the better way, and very FAST.  I got my $3 for the survey within days in my PayPal account - which is linked to a PayPal Mastercard, which makes it very easy to pay for things on the net....I also have my little Associated Content royalties paid into my PayPal account - It's all pin money for me. (The dollarextreme referral came from www.wisebread.com - which is a great source for frugal inspiration.)

Hubby found a whole chicken for $3 which we cooked all day in the big new vintage stainless steel pot I found last weekend.  Added rosemary - yummy.  Lots of soup left to eat. Oh, also picked up a slew of spoons at Sta. Paula - because I am so tired of us running out of them between dishwashings!  They are mismatched stainless steel - but who cares?  I don't think anything but my dress silverware has ever really matched! As long as it sort of coordinates.  Same with my dishes.

Oh - yesterday I also download CC cleaner - a FREE registry cleaner - as I am trying to clean up my relatively old computer to make it run faster.  Also defragmented the hard drive and got rid of old cookies and my web history.  It is a bit faster now.

So that's the update.  I am still under the weather and watching movies etc. on TV.  Not even knitting - altho my buddy Eldon has found a lot more yarn for me, which I am looking forward to! But the rest was probably good for my wrists, which were a bit overworked.  Also made 2 rings out of black rubber Halloween rings I got for practically nothing at a yard sale - and shaved off the top and then inserted a single pierced earring I had - and taped the back shut with black tape.  So now I have 2 black pinkie rings - one with a amethyst stone - the other a red stone. The amethyst one is particularly nice. A nice use for orphan pierced earrings! Especially when fashion rings cost $7 to $10 for plastic ones at the stores.

Oh, I did pick up a nice large brass fashion ring at the Farmer's Mkt. for $5 - and I saw in Ojai that the rayon shawl I had picked up for a dollar or 2 actually cost $16 retail! That's why I have my bargain scarf and shawl collection! Wore several of the checked ones I had gotten at the dollar store last weekend to coordinate my outfits. Also found a $4 grey/blue fleece jacket with a zip down the front in Sta. Paula - which is perfect for the boat.  It was chilly up there last weekend. But we do love to get away...

Signing off - We picked up cranberry jelly and stuffing mix at the Dollar Tree for when we cook our turkey - but we may just go to a restaurant this year....

It is beginning to be the holiday season - no?  But no Black Friday here!  And you?

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Had a sortta business networking cocktail party last night & went out with hubby.  It was fun to go to a place we hadn't been to before - very classy  - & we parked around the corner on a surface street rather than valet park (the car probably ended up in the same place, anyway - as valets usually just park in the neighborhood!)

It has been fun dressing up & dolling up - just to show hubby & myself that I still know how to DO it. Resurrected a batik jacket of mine, added the new jeans I had bought last season for practically nothing - added my silver jewelry, and a light yellow sweater tunic underneath, and wore my "new" thriftshop leather shoes - A nice ensemble if I do say so myself - my uniform = a nice jacket/jeans (or nice slacks) + a top + a scarf + my good jewelry.  Works almost every time.

Used the new mascara that I had somehow gotten in the mail from L'Oreal along with a full size eye cream! My oh my, these new mascaras DO lengthen & don't clump! I have to say, I was impressed with this Telescopic Explosion mascara - it DID noticeably lengthen.  (This is one of the freebie mascaras I have snagged recently - I also have Cover Girl & even a small Chanel...) The cosmetic cos. seem to be giving away LOTS of great samples! I also have a full-size Olay 2X moisturizer, and some Clearasil sensitive face wash....not to mention the little packets that arrive...

I also have a TON of magazines!  I have never had so many in my LIFE & they are all FREEBIES, too!

Back to our evening.  It is nice to get dressed up and go out - and all things considered the evening wasn't TOO expensive. I stuck to light beer - but $7 each? (Hubby remarked that you could buy a 6-pack for that!) But all the other drinks were worse - But I wasn't there to drink....

I spend a lot of my time nowadays in my old comfy jeans & tshirts or sweatshirts here at the 'puter...So It's nice to remind myself & hubby that I still clean up nicely!  And a change from the routine...Mix it all up occasionally, I say!  Even that can be done more or less on a budget! 

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Hubby & I had recovered enuf from the flu to spend a night at the boat on Sat. night. Yeah! Still gargling with hot salt H2o & tking a LOT of Vit. C....Gotta totally lick this thing...

We stopped off at what I call the "old ladies thrift shop" in Camarillo - that supports a senior meal program - & has senior donors.  No yarn - which is what I was looking for - but found a brand new white cotton spa robe in a big size which fit Hubby, I always grab those, & he does need a new one. And I also found a large vintage  Revereware stainless steel stew pot with lid for $4.50! We are making lots of soupy things now that it's cooler - & this pot is perfect.  Using it to make turkey soup right now. (Add cider vinegar + salt to bones/carcass to start off a nice frugal & yummy stock...& cook & cook & cook....) And I snagged a whole bunch of $.50 classic murder mysteries, my secret failing...There was one Chico's ensemble that tempted me, but I was trying to stay with  the budget.  Now I am still thinking about it! But I did get a Liz Claiborne hot pink cotton top & a light yellow sweater tunic, both $1 each + a pr. of vintage earrings with mother of pearl chunks for $2....We also stopped into the Dollar Tree & I got hubby some of his non-Alcohol cough medicine (he's been coughing, me not) - and various sorts of glue to fix everything, and throat drops & 10 relaxation CDs they have as extra Xmas gifties (Very nice music & I had to grab them, as they tend to go fast). Some folks will get CD + scarf....

Proud of myself that I embellished a "jelly" ring (of the same material as all those bracelets) with a little orphan single blue gem stud that I had been given.  I poked a hole through the material, & bent the prong to hold it to the ring & it's fairly sturdy.  Now that I look at the stone closely, I think it could be a tiny opal (I had thought it was a turquoise)...If I could figure out how to get more rings like that, perhaps I could do the same for my other studs which I received at the same time...I like the contrast between the gem stone & the "rubber" of the ring...

Also want to glue the art glass stone back to the ring blank.  I have another one - & perhaps I can manage to glue another art glass piece I have to another ring...It's feeding my ring mania - as I have taken up the style of wearing multiple rings...& you have to have larger sizes or adjustable sizes to wear on fingers other than the ring fingers...Bought one for $3 next door to the thrift shop - wonder if I paid too much!  They had the rings I had gotten at the Oriental bargain store in Sta. Paula for $7 & mine were only $.99....It's ok if they are base metal, because I won't wear them all the time, unlike my other rings - which have to be sterling or stainless steel...

Speaking of vintage - much to our surprise, our "$500" car is turning out very WELL.  Hubby worked on the exterior & detailed the interior & touched up the paint job and so on & I can't believe the results! Runs pretty well, too - rough at the beginning, but I don't think it had been driven in a while & there was gunk in the works, which seems to have burned out...It's an 80's Tbird with some sportscar still in it (do they still make Tbirds?) & it turns out that there is a reverse "cachet" in having an almost vintage Tbird (another 10 years & it will really be a classic!) Hubby loves the car, as it has a big engine & it reminds him of his sportscar bachelor days.  Good.  I like to see him happy.  And me?  I am simply astounded that the thing cleaned up that well (it was grodie when we got it.) And it's a nice looking car.  Whew, they made them sturdy then  - real steel..Makes you realize the changes we have gone through since the 80's - That was the tail end of true American craftsmanship, I think....(which makes me think back to the stainless steel soup pot - probably from the 50's or 60's & made to LAST.)

What we have seen - If I get cooked by solar radiation in 2012, I will have lived a full life (although I would prefer that the calendar just coils back on itself & any changes are on a spiritual plane!)

How are you guys?  It's always nice when you check in.

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Hubby & I are slightly ailing - so we are taking all of our resistance nostrums - that is, Wellness vitamins(using the leftover drops I got once by accident) - lots of Vit. C - and ginseng, astralagus and so on.  I even took some the Chinese Gan Mao Ling  remedy (which is for colds that begin in the throat - it's so inexpensive - but strong, so I save it against the time I need it) and Echinechea and Goldenseal! And I am also gargling with hot salt water for my scratchy throat. And we are resting a lot. Especially in the flu season we need to take care - Although at 50+ I think I have had all the flu bugs going around - We have them every winter!  So at least we have probably developed immunity....

There are so many mechanical ways to deal with flu symptoms, too - you can clear your lungs with a tea made up of Chinese Five Spice seasoning from the grocery store plus thyme - serve hot with honey (honey also has antiseptic qualities).  That will serve to break up the mucous in your lungs and help you to expel it. You can also inhale steam - I have a facial steamer I picked up at a yard sale for that - but you can also just breathe in the steam from a mug of hot tea - or put your head under a towel over a steaming wash basin of water, and inhale the steam.  It's sort of a diy nebulizer.  Allergy sufferers will know what I mean.

Keep on taking your vitamins - the B's and all - and eat regularly and well and sleep enough - all to keep the system up and running in a healthy way.

Knitting away - mixing the cheap dollar store yard with my thriftshop wools and so on.  Thinking about getting a Knifty Knitter for hats - Have any of you used one? And what size?  I don't need the set of 3 - because I rarely knit for babies! But my baby "blanket" is done - I do hpe everyone likes the scarves they  are going to get!

All for now - going for a nap....See  ya...

/+-+

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Turns out I rarely do any shopping except on the weekends with hubby - so it does look as if I am going a bit mad buying stuff - but I suppose when you balance that out with not spending ANY money during the week (not even for Starbucks or fast food drinks!) that it all evens out.

We stopped off in at a NEW Goodwill on the way to the boat - and I landed a nice tweedy cotton sweater - perfect for fall in So. Cal for 99 Cents - and a fab wool vest with fox-like fur trim for $3.99 I think and a basket and some crewel yarn and a few books - for about $10! The Dollar Tree had more of the long scarves in black and white, which I got and spot remover -

In Sta. Paula I remembered that what I call the Oriental Bargain Store has bargain yarn - and I bought $20 worth (at $1 a skein) - Utilitarian - but nice and the price was RIGHT.  My buddy has asked me to make a baby blanket as a gift for a couple we know - so I was glad to get more acrylic yarn in the right colors for that project.  Also picked up some lavender yarn at the 99 Cent Store - along with MORE scarves! And I got more books at the Sta. Paula Goodwill - I just looked at the categories I needed and nowhere else not to be tempted! - so I was very good.

Found a lovely vintage wool sweater at the new Goodwill for $1 - which was too SMALL for me - but I will mend it and put it in the winter things to sell to the vintage store.  Should be able to make $ on it.....

And of course, eventually the books can be recycled at Bart's Books in Ojai....So it's OK if I spent $1 for some....

Bought a thrifty book  at Goodwill to give myself inspiration.  That's how I initially honed my pennypinching skills - having first learned some basics from my mother - I then really made a study of pennypinching literature! My favorite book was HOW TO LIVE ON NOTHING - which seemed to have been written in the 40's in a sort of "back to the country" movement - I like the older books because they offer intriguing tips about older ways to save/conserve/repair and so on....Maybe someday I will finally write my own. 

I do have better tips on wardrobe than the Yankee thrift book I read through -because I suppose Yankees are not much on style and more on utility! But here in L.A. - one has to be a bargain fashionista to keep up - even with my low profile lifestyle!  That's where all the scarves come in...

Oh, I also picked up a burgundy L'Oreal lip gloss at the 99 Cent Store  - great on top of my regular lipstick fro Wet N' Wild.

In the mail received some facial wash from Clearasil - which Glamour has asked me to try as part of a beauty panel trial - I am getting products all the time from my panel memberships.  If you remember, I received Olay's 2X moisturizer last week and some pricey shampoo, too.

Brought some business magazines to my writing client - and asked him for a scalpel - since he works for some surgeons and has them around - Thought it would be good for tearing apart some sewing projects I have to do.

Also my buddy showed up Friday to help me go through my closets - We actually made some PROGRESS and have a box to recycle - and he took away a bag to give to the Out of the Closet thriftshop around the corner....

So,  so far, so good - after registering our bargain Tbird we are broke agin - but my Social Security check is supposed to hit the bank on Wednesday -we will see how prompt they are!

More later - How are you all coping?  Hmmm?

P.S. A note on mending jeans.  Even though we think of jeans as BLUE, there is often a lot of GREY in that blue, especially when they are worn.  When they stretch or have to be mended - the underlying white cotton shows up and highlights the mend - I have found that using GREY washable marker (or even eye shadow) tones down the underlying white to blend in with the rest of the worn denim - and it gradually fades irregularly to blend in even more - masking the mending -  You always want your mending to fade into the background as much as possible!

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Ok, this is a confession - I have been finding great bargains - but a few too many, perhaps, recently!  We are on the edge financially and waiting for some checks to come it, which will help - and here I am SHOPPING.

I have been using mall walking as a lure for my walking as exercise - and yesterday after I rode along with hubby to the W. side so I could hand in some paperwork from my French commercial job (he was at a W. Side school, working) - I then decided to walk up and down Main Street in Santa Monica - which has a nice upscale shopping area. Actually, I thought everything would be SO expensive that I wouldn't be tempted by anything except what's at the lone church thrift shop - but - alas I found lovely BARGAINS - and bought a lovely heather knit shawl/vest, and a ring with a garnet 1/2 off for $9! I suppose I was a little nuts to get the knitting thing - & I was persuaded by the fact that it HAD BEEN $88(?) The ring was a great deal - the only one there in jewelry & is perfect for wearing on my middle finger - as my new look is sporting multiple silver rings.

So, I was looking great in my thriftshop Polo bright pink top worn with jeans and an ethnic scarf - (& my pink Topsiders) - & I got carried away.   Had lots of fun, talked to the shopkeepers and so on - and walked up and down - But, ouch, Pamela.   I joked that I will be the best dressed homeless person - not that it's gotten to THAT.

Let's see - I do have an image to maintain as an actress in L.A. and I do have to dress "up" for certain appearances, like the one at the production office on the W. Side.   And I DO DO it on the very cheap - But there is so much wardrobe to be gone THROUGH. Waiting on a buddy to help and then will take the vintage to be recycled at a vintage store on Vermont Ave. where I have been going for years. (They said they won't take winter things until after Halloween).

Help! What does one do as a female?  You just have to have clothes and so on!  I manage to get lots of beauty freebies (just received a month's worth of Olay's 2X moisturizer (@ $30 worth?- from Vocal point) - and I seem to have WON some fancy shampoo from Allure).  And I get discount lipstick and other makeup (I also got some Covergirl makeup and mascara - gratis.)

I don't have manicures or pedicures - and I manage to have nice hair without spending a fortune on it a(Hint - I use colored shampoo + conditioner and stock up at the dollar stores when available). I am still working though the moisturizer collection I bought up in Ojai for $9 - & that included 2 lip glosses!

My hair is very long and needs to be cut, but I am thinking of trying to SELL it on the internet - there's a site for that - Why not?  I have at least 7" and it's in great shape....Very O'Henry, no?

Used my Associated Content money on Paypal to buy a knitting kit on sale from Lion Brand yarn - Have to write more articles for pin money!

Oh, all this stuff makes me feel good, and since I have a depressive tendency, I veer towards pleasurable enterprises....And I am well dressed and have a yarn stash acquired on the cheap and nice facial products and makeup and...and...Rings on my fingers, if not bells on my toes!

But, I confess that there is a bit of bravado in the face of being strapped, which is counter -intuitive, since I should be avoiding ANY purchases, bargains or not - but don't you find that when your purse is the slimmest that the BEST bargains pop up?  (I found nearly new Talbot's loafers at the thrift shop for $6!  such a nice buttery color - after I got them hubby noticed wear on the toe (?) - but I fixed that up with an application of my yellow coverup stick! - You can use makeup on shoes, too!  And looking them up on line - I found they would have been $99!!)  My weakness -

I did phone hubby to see if any purchases were permitted - (which they were) - And I DID get a nice walk out of the shopping expedition - It seems when I have worked and made some money, I feel I have the right to spend some - I did the same thing last year with a stylish print chiffon dress - another steal....

Hubby said that would mean we couldn't have dinner out - but I replied that I would much rather have clothes than food - so we went and ate at home - and saw some great horror flicks on TCM - including THE TINGLER, with Vincent Price. Tuesday is old movie night on TCM, and I gorge myself on them - I almost stayed up to see another one, but was just too beat.

Finished an orange scarf last night- using big needles and the advice of a shopkeeper who knits that orange + pink work together - of course! I have SO MUCH orange - so I have to think how to put it to good use....Oh, and a knitting store site said I could just cast on 150 stitches to make a long scarf/shawl laterally - size 15 needles, which I have.  I suppose that's my next project!

So bear with me - no saint, I - and you - what's your weakness??

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We had car troubles this month, which has left us terribly broke.  So I found it heartening to be able to waltz into Victoria's Secret with a coupon from their Club Pink and get a pair of deep pink bikini underwear GRATIS. (They were marked $7.50 - imagine.)  They had $45 bras, and the other coupon wanted to lure me, as it was $10 off a bra - but even with $10 off they were still TOO expensive. Fun to look, though. And the coupon got me to the mall for my weekly mall walk.  

I also bought a knitting kit on sale on line from Lion Brand yarns with the bit of money I had in my PayPal account.  I thought I was supposed to get a discount of $25 from the PayPal Buyitnow option - for something else - but ??? Still checking on that.  The Buyitnowoption of PayPal is great for grabbing internet bargains - you can just be billed later (when you know you will have the $.)

Made $ on the Fr. commercial I shot Saturday in downtown L.A. - and I brought home some rolls, fruit, and  cookies which I didn't eat as a little treat for hubby. (They had lovely craft service catering on site, and I enjoyed a nice hot lunch and lots of coffee.) Waiting for THAT check - have to submit all sorts of paperwork for the French government, so they don't take a third for their taxes....It was a curious pleasure to be able to enjoy a fairly picturesque downtown street in L.A. and be totally relaxed  because of the presence of the cops for the shoot, and so on....

Received freebie magazines, vitamin samples and Philosophy samples through the mail this week! Always look forward to the mail nowadays...

Have to rack up some more Paypal $ - Another article about something?  Seem to be getting back Associated Content royalty payments??

In the mall we talked with a Cash for Gold vendor at a cart - They are really looking for old gold to melt down & a chain that they had as decoration, would have been almost $500 in the same weight in real gold.  They are only paying about $.35 per unit for silver, though...I do have some gold rings, etc. I could recycle if I felt I had to...But one's jewelry is a sort of bank account, as one can always pawn it/sell it. Getting divorced?  Pawn those diamonds to get some getaway $.

Hubby is working on our "new to us" 80's Thunderbird he bought from our mechanic for $500.  Do you know you can use regular spray paint on CARS?  Hubby did that to touch up the trim, and so on (from the $.99 Store, by the way, along with engine/oil additives.)  I told him to spray the interior with Febreze to freshen it up - which he did with great effect. The car is almost old enough to be a classic, and so far everything seems to work.  Mark replaced a bad speaker in the sound system with one he had found in a thrift store...I have to admit the car was a bit scuzzy when hubby first got it - but now - it's amazing, it looks FINE! And I really would rather drive that on the L.A. freeways than a crackerbox tin little Japanese car that crumples at the first contact.  We won't be going far - this is for around town - so mileage isn't paramount here. Think hubby is actually enjoying this renovation! 

A colleague of mine seems to think we are a bit mad - I told hubby that and he agreed - we ARE a bit mad.  But to quote Quentin Crisp (Saw the flick An Englishman in N.Y. about his last days on cable last night) -  if madness is you - it's your style! 

And surprisingly the T-bird has a certain retro chic which appeals to me! 

Looking forward to my first Social Security check at the end of the month....

How are you all? 

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I joke with my husband that he brings home the bacon and I bring home the bacon BITS.  Got published on Associated Content & made some pin $ that went into my PayPal Mastercard - THEN I got an  email about a deal for $25 off if you paid with PayPal and used the Bill Me Later Option - So I sprung for a Native American silver ring at Overstock.com - which,with $25 off + free shipping + my Pay Pal $,  should only end up being about $3 directly out of pocket.  I splurged.

Oh, and hubby and I went to Target to get reimbursed for the item that never made it into our bags.  Whew, they had a lot of receipts for similar errors.  A whole file of them!  Gee, all that lost stuff.  At least We got reimbursed with a gift card - so I went right back to the same department and found a similar dress on sale - actually I like it better than the other one I had lost, because this one, while filmy like the other one, has a lining. (Oh, I heard my mother's voice in my head when I found myself telling hubby that.)  It 's an autumnal color - and since I lived in So Cal - I will be able to wear it in the coming months.

• That's a shopping tip - look for transitional clothes on the sales racks.  A lot of clothes are really not determined by the season - especially if you don't live in a very cold climate! For fall/winter here I can wear lighter weights in dark colors and be just fine.  The other day I saw someone walking in the brilliant sunshine in W. Hollywood with some sort of fur around her neck, and October or not - it did look out of place!  But then, I rarely find it cold enough here to wear my boots.

I GOT the commercial - so now I am rummaging around for summer clothes to show the stylist.  That's one reason my bedroom is jammed with clothes of all sorts! Hubby is happy because I will be bringing in some more $ - bacon chunks, this time!  And it justifies my hours at the computer and so on - looking for WORK.

• Received a very generous sample of day cream from Clarins for joining them on Facebook - I sign up for all the panels and so on - as I have gotten some nice products from them - gratis.
• We are doing a lot of car stuff - as our aging cars, well, AGE  - and we have traded off the truck to a friend up in Ojai to use, and have bought a VERY cheap little car from our mechanic - that's for my use, although I haven't driven it yet....The Mercury seems to like the transmission goop we put in, and has very few clunks - If the little car doesn't pan out for our use - we know several people who would be happy to buy it. Wouldn't it have been nice to have been able to do the Cash for Clunkers thing - but it, alas, was only for a new car - and we can't really afford those monthly payments right now.
• Found hundreds of dollars worth of yarn at the thrift shops up in Ventura last weekend! So now my yarn stash is renewed at about $.20 on the dollar,  Nice stuff, too - better quality than I could otherwise afford - or that's how I justify me buying all those bags of it.  Now or never sort of thing.
• Also found hubby some tshirts for $.50 at a sale at one of the old ladies thrift shops.  He needed them, as his are getting ratty - and these were just the right size. In addition, found some nice $.25 paperbacks and a $1.25 fashion ring with a glass "stone".  They were having a sale!
• Hubby found a practically new Bill Blass golf shirt at the thrift shop in Ojai - and I found more yarn - and at another one at pair of very nice navy knit pants, and a silk scarf and a couple of visors.

I don't feel too guilty about it all, because we do almost all of our shopping at dollar stores and thrift shops, with occasional forays into real stores for sales if there is a coupon. I have a new coupon for a pair of pink underwear from Victoria Secret, of all things - to justify my next mall walk. (The weather here has turned rainy. )Ha! When I told a friend that hubby had grunted at spending $40 - he laughed and said that I had turned hubby into as big a cheapskate as I am! (Well - $40 is NOT what it used to be....)

At least we do most of that sort of shopping at these thrift shops on the weekends - and during the week will only buy food or medicine!  One of my new prescriptions has a co-pay of $40, as there is no generic - ugh.

• We also used a coupon for 2 for one iced coffees at McD's - hazelnut - sweet, but nice.
• Another clothes secret - some  maternity clothes fit me just fine!  I didn't notice that the peasant dress from Target was from a maternity line until I brought it home (I did black out the maternity on the tag, though!) And the navy knit pants had that maternity elastic, too - I  find that there are very nice things on the maternity racks sometimes, because there is all this stylish maternity wear - and they have barely been used, too! I am sort of boxy in my physique by nature - never had much of a waist - so things cut for expecting mothers fit me just fine.  But don't TELL anyone...
• Exchanged a small pile of newish books at Bart's (the used bookstore in Ojai) for trade credit and received a $9 credit, most of which I immediately spent on their $.50 books.  The books I exchanged had been expensive new (one marked $25) - but I hadn't spent that much, as they all came from thrift shops and so on & the $25 one had cost me $.50 - so I got the better part of the deal. Nice to exchange books, as it were - all with NO money and a bit of hunting.

That's all for now folks! No pix because I am at hubby's laptop & no pix there, sorry....

P.S. I think the economy is making everyone cranky - what do you think? 

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Had a $10 Target gift card, so hubby and I did a mall walk (it was smoky from some brushfires outside anyway...) and I thought I had gotten a tunic which was about $10 off the sale price with the gift card - which made it about $10 - and hubby found $2.99 pillows (elsewhere they had been $7 on sale), so we got 2 new ones- BUT the filmy tunic never made it into the pillow bag - and we never got it! Called Target - luckily we have the receipt - and they say they will make good.  We will see....

Found some more thrift shop yarn, and a nice pair of pants for $3.  But my odd coup was to make a ring out of a $.25 hoop earring with a dragon fly on it - it was made of silver wire, so I bent it around my finger & broke off the part that goes in your ear.  Very cute.  And it fits on the middle finger where I want to wear it... Gee, the plastic rings like the one I got at one of my Oriental cheapie bargain stores for $1 cost TEN DOLLARS at Target!!??  And the silver-toned long chain necklace I bought for $2 at the thriftshop cost almost $20 at Target, too - and mine is of a better quality. (But another silver wire ring flipped away when I took it off my finger last night before knitting, and I CAN'T FIND it!  I did find my blue plastic watch I had gotten for $1 - similar ones in Target were $12.)

Another find - a woolen/acrylic blend sweater on a dollar rack.  It was pilled - and I had to take off the the furry tufts, but for $1???  It's in fashion with a hood to wear as a sweater jacket, too.  And a great fall color.I think I will be wearing it A LOT.  Funny how that goes....

Hubby steered me into a Ben Franklin for more yarn....I showed him the prices even with some off - so he would realize why I grab at bargain yarn wherever I find it! (I got a ball at a thrift shop for $.25!)  And now I have some accent colors so I can continue to make my scarves.  Heaven knows how many I have by now.  HOW do people pay $80 just for YARN for a sweater?

Oh, the pink/grey sweater from another dollar rack I thought I was going to rip up for yarn turned out to be a cape of sorts - so I am opening the seam in front (it's just thread) and will actually wear it.  Another fashion item.  I am also taking out my grey sweater coat from the closet.  

I have boots to wear - but it's never really COLD enough in So. Cal.  The Hollywood sylphs wear them - I don't know how they manage....

Received the package of 3 "shape/underwear" garments from www.graveyardmall.com yesterday.  A great buy.  I pick up those sort of things when I see them, because otherwise they are dreadfully expensive...but at $3 each, not so bad....

Unexpectedly found a couple of nice new hardback books at the Dollar Tree of all places!  Bought 4. They will make nice Xmas presents, along with the scarves, of course.  And my brother's birthday is in December, too....(By the way, I saw a sign at the checkout that they will have vintage clothing??? I will check it out at their website, now that I think of it....)

Did I mention that I mended my knee length jeans?  one pair was good enough to wear to that audition and I forgot all about the mending....

My weakness is that I can't seem to manage a "one in, one out" policy for my clothes - so I continue to accumulate.  A buddy says he will have time to help me out next month after getting through a move.  I watched a TV program about hoarders the other night, and hubby made some knowing wisecracks - but my accumulations are MUCH better organized than those undifferentiated PILES.  And they have HOUSES, too - not just a one bedroom apartment! But the emotional aspect hit home for me.  There is a strong emotional attachment to things, which some of us have....and the fact that you probably can't do it without HELP - if you haven't been able to tackle it - & you know, that's OK.  The women seemed really so sad somehow. And therapy is almost always in order.   

I have the added justification of my checkerboard life as an actress besides everything else.  I could use a closet the size of my bedroom, like the stars have! I read an article about having only 30 outfits of quality - but that's for a business woman - it would never work for me. I have jeans/tshirts/sweatshirts, etc. for home and writing and computer work.  Then upgrades for going out - and costumes for auditions (I save old ugly clothes I wouldn't wear otherwise!) And clothes to wear up at the boat where it's beachy....

Still haven't started the yoga classes, yet.  Found my mat,though...

Can't believe rich women pay their dermatologists for regular skin care. (I was looking at book about being classy.) I would only go with a bad rash! It's not that hard to tend to your own skin if you pay attention.  My skin used to be oily, but has dried out - so, I change my regimen...And even then there is leeway for climate, etc.  There is so much info out there on the net - there really is no excuse for ignorance.  And so many great drugstore brands, too.  

For some reason my nails are like rocks nowadays, and I can't figure out WHY, as they have always been weak.  The COQ10 I have been taking?  The glucosamine for my joints?  I really don't know, but I have nails for the first time in my LIFE.

Checked up on a letter we got from Blue Cross about my psych's bill - turns out we don't owe anyone anything, so I don't know WHY they even SENT it.  But perhaps the phone # will help me find a practitioner within the system, as I can't afford my outside therapist anymore....

Still nervous about getting my Social Security early.  I am going to get some $ by the end of October - I had no idea it would be so fast, as I had read that it would take 3 months! But, you know, we really need the money - and I am practically retired anyway.  You can't call writing $4 articles for Associated Content WORK, really - it's just pin money.  But it does go on my Paypal Mastercard, so I can use it to order things on the net.....

Had an audition for a FRENCH commercial.  Americans throwing snowballs in the summer -  for France? - Would be nice $, though. But you are warned to file paperwork with the French government or they will take 33.33% off in taxes.  (And the teabag folks complain here!)  But that includes one's healthcare, so it's probably a deal in the long run....As for me, I try to stay as healthy as possible.

So that's the news from not-so-Lake Woebegon! (No lake, though....except Lake Casitis which we drive past every once in a while....) Ha! I saw a 1950's scifi flick on TCM and they were using the beach at Zuma Beach N. of L.A. for Chesapeake Bay?? and they blew up L.A. buildings that were supposed to be Washington, D.C., too. I had forgotten that there was an actor in it I met in the 70's - he had become a writer to support the family, but still missed performing...Me? I chose to starve, I guess - and pennypinch!

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Here's the ongoing saga of my frugality in short:

• Participated in a swap meet up at the boat - and I sold a lot of little things and Mark sold an engine he hated and got some line for the boat (otherwise quite expensive).  I set out my scarves, but none of them went - probably because of the hot weather - but everyone is getting one for Xmas, like it or NOT.
• Sold some old sunglasses I don't use, gave some away to my swap meet buddies who didn't have them  & also had my old reading glasses I can't use now that I am just that much blinder - After the sale I took the bag of them and gave them to one of the old ladies thrift shops.  It's nice to be able to donate a bit.
• We went shopping after the swapmeet and allowed ourselves to go into the 99 Cent Store.  We got lots of bottled sauces - such a good deal there - and really 1/2 of it was food - but how quickly the profit from the swap meet flew away! 
• I also allowed myself a peek in to another thriftshop - and found 4 skeins of different colored baby fine acrylic yarn - for $.25 each - and I did splurge on some lovely leather shoes (VERY pricey in their first life) - and a coat and long vest made of ultrasuede & some books.  How could I resist the ultrasuede at $2 each - and the shoes at $3??
• Plan to do a big book swap up at the used bookstore in Ojai when I next see my doctor there.
• A woman was moving out of the apt. complex next to the boat & I scored 4 large pink acrylic yarns for $2.
• And on the way out of the beach, I stopped at the less-frequented 99 Cent Store and found MORE yarn.  I can proceed with my knitting.  Boy, my stash was getting LOW.  (OK, they also had great scarves, and a bought a few of those, too.) Found a way to hang my scarves by the rings of plastic or cardboard they come with - on an old chain with hooks I had...
• At the Dollar Tree I found some car additives - injection cleaner so on - and we put it in the truck.  It seems to have liked it and didn't buck the way it usually does when I took it out to a last-minute audition yesterday.  Hoorah for additives!  The car's transmission is chugging along, too - so it seems, after the application of transmission goop.  So we are not panicked about the cars for now...
• Mended my denim capri jeans with iron-on patches.  Also worked on another pair which I will have to sew up.  It's not as hot - so these are better now than the shorts I have been wearing in the heat wave.
• Looking online at buying a clothes press for hubby's pants.  It we could press them in a large format that way, it would really be a labor-saving device! (And get hubby off my back about IRONING all of them, which is a DRAG!)
• The computer has been very slow - but when I decided to switch to Google Chrome, all of a sudden it's fast again - any explanations???
• Mixing heavy handcream with a lighter one - and mixing lip balms/glosses, too - Sometimes products seem just to work better when mixed together - and it rescues product you might otherwise not use a lot.
• Saw that Dove has a program for donating ponytails of your cut-off hair for use in wigs for cancer patients.  Isn't that a great idea.  Maybe my hair is long enough....(They need 7 inches of it.)
• Got a sympathy card out of my card stash for a friend whose husband died unexpectedly - in his 50's! It's nice to always have cards on hand - but it's usually for birthdays - not the opposite.

That's it for now - Who knows what other gambits will arise?  How are you all doing? Around me everyone is getting very cranky about being financially pressed - & I fear some employers are taking advantage of the high rate of unemployment to squeeze their staff just that much more - almost to the point of demanding work that in the end is not paid for - (according to the law, not strictly legal, either....)

And you guys?  

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We are going to share a space with a buddy up at the boat for a "boater's" swap meet. Dragging up the cardtable and display items - like shallow containers for jewelry and miscellany.  Also going to try to sell my handknit scarves - and plan to drape them over a piece of cardboard.  Hubby assures me that folks will like them enough to buy them, we will see.  I just want some more $ for my yarn stash, as I am running out of nice colors! (The rest will be Xmas presents - everyone is getting a scarf this Xmas!)

It works that way with my old books, too - I try to recycle them to pay for my book habit. Recently found an outlet that will take them - oh, goody! I am good at gleaning books, even nice hardbacks,from thrift stores, etc. - so I can almost profit from taking them to a used bookstore. 

Checked with a local vintage clothing store - and found out that they are taking in winter merchandise after Halloween. (I did buy a vintage huipil which I mended nicely....I do love those things & have several in my "collection".  They have gotten expensive, so I grabbed this one when I saw it for about $20 bucks.) I have a few vintage wool things to take in them. There are also two designer dresses I should take to a high-end resale shop.

Trying to go through the little tsochtkas (odds & ends) I have around the house for the sale - Have filled a box with all that stuff.  It's amazing what ends up selling.

So - wish me luck! A recounting of how it went next week -

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What have I done frugally lately? Well -

• I had the optician put lenses into a nice pair of vintage frames I had found at a thrift shop - so it would cut the cost so my insurance would pay for a 2nd pair of reading glasses. I was warned that it might not work - but I have used old frames before with success & these fit well & were very sturdy.
• Using my mall coupons as an incentive to go mall walking! This time my $10 off coupon from Sears didn't WORK, alas (it was only good online) - but we did get a nice walk with A/C. (& I did get a pair of leggings on sale, anyway.)
• The accessory stores are having sales on the summer merchandise - so I scored 2 scarves for $2 each on one visit & $4 for one on another (Originally $16-18 each?!?)
• I found a NEW tshirt dress at the Goodwill for $7.99 - It's the perfect weight for the Indian Summer Days of autumn here in S. Cal.
• Found another Diane Von Furstenberg tshirt dress for $4 at a different Goodwill - and & hubby got a lovely new-ish camel corduroy jacket for $12 -
• We are having trouble with the transmission of our car - so hubby bought a transmission goop for $14 to put in and hopefully coax a little more mileage out of it - We are driving it gently and listening for every clunk - Hopefully we can nurse it along a bit further....(I believe in additives because years ago I had a little car that periodically wouldn't go into reverse - but when I added transmission stuff, it cleaned out whatever dirt was sticking and it would work for another 6 months or so - the $ THAT saved me!!)
• Did all the math & finally decided to apply for my Social Security (Yes, I am that old -  eek) -  We plan to put some of the $ into hubby's retirement fund, because they MATCH IRA contributions...) (My mother always asked me if I were getting Social Security & making my contributions - and hubby & I have, and the outlook there isn't too bad....But I have friends who, well, I don't know what they will do...) The online application process is FAST & pretty EASY, and the $ goes straight into my account with direct deposit.  (Remember the old days of standing in line at the Social Security office?) Oh - fyi - the process seems to take 2-3 months - so you could apply 3 months BEFORE the time you qualify to get your benefits right on time - I will get my $ by Xmas.
• Going to transfer my private therapy to someone covered by my insurance to save $160/month (it was cheap, but even that is pinching nowadays....)
• Still getting my FREE magazines.  I applied for more through Mercury (I found it on freestufftimes.com, I think)...Was on a set & read through 4 or 5 of them...
• Transferred my purse things over to a satchel hubby found for me at an Out of the Closet thrift shop - It's a jungle theme in black & tan is perfect for fall....
• Knitting away at my scarves with CREWEL yarn that I had been given.  The strands are short, but I can knot them together, and they are fine wool which I am combining with a background yarn for a tweedy effect. - They will be Xmas gifts - and I am thinking of selling a few of them at a swap meet next weekend.
• Gathered up books to recycle - but didn't get within range of the used book store this time...
• Will collect miscellany for the swap meet up at the boat next weekend -
• Received a gratis lip balm, a small tube of acrylic paint and sample of laundry detergent in the mail...(from my freebie sites)...
• Also received a $10 Target gift card from another freebie offer...
• On another mall walk brought in the birthday coupons I got from Aveda and received a purse-sized hand creme - and a scented oil with atomizer (refillable) - and a hand massage to boot...
• Let me strain my grey matter - anything else?  Oh, I found a neighborhood FREE Sr. Citizen yoga class 3x/week - & FREE.  I may be with octogenarians, but, hey....I can WALK to it! They also have a book exchange, and I picked up a book & will bring some in...
• Did I mention that I swabbed myself with cold black tea when I had a reaction from an antibiotic last week?  that & I took LOTS of Benedryl - Called into the nurse hotline of the insurance co. to check on what I should do....but the cold tea compresses were MY idea....A call to a nurse-manned line may very well save you a trip to the M.D. or to the emergency care center....(There's also web research...)
• Got my new Paypal Mastercard debit card.  Do you know that you can get one for FREE with a Paypal account?  You can load it up and then use it to buy things online...(.In the past I have made bits of $ online that would go into my Paypal account,)

OK - that's all for now - we are more frugal than ever - and even though it's fun windowshopping in the malls, and walking about - we don't know WHO pays THOSE PRICES!   Not us, for sure....

Happy bargains, everyone!

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We are frugal as usual - especially since my husband the teacher hasn't been getting full salary over the summer! Went on a mall walk to entice me to get my walking in (and it's air conditioned, too) - Picked up some samples I had coming from Aveda - a sample of hand cream and some scented oil - plus a nice hand massage!  And I found 2 scarves on sale for $2 each - which I treated myself to.

Oooh, the prices! I had made a trip to Goodwill the day before when we finally found a good hassock with storage inside - and I found a brand new salmon knit dress for $7.99 - Dresses are perfect for the transitional weather here in the fall & salmon is my color.  Gee, similar dresses in the department stores were at least $20 - if not more....The T-shirts were $18!?!   As I write I am wearing a new one I got a while ago for attending a spa event.

Still knitting away - Saw a very long knitted scarf in a boutique while mall walking made up of multi-colored squares, with hanging threads at the corners - which I tried to copy sitting watching TV with my yarn remnants.  Turned out very nicely.  My friends are urging me to SELL them, although, I don't know about that....They are intended as gifts, and I gave my first one away today to a friend who takes public transport, so needs a scarf to stay warm as it gets chilly out there.

The other scarves I am trying to make light for the S. California climate...A friend gave me some crewel yarn, which is in short,strands, but I am managing to knit it in my wabi-sabi way, anyway....But I am going through the yarn stash....

Still getting my free magazines, which hubby has taken to putting in the bathroom for HIM to read. I have to grab mine first or they disappear.

Had a bad reaction to generic Bactrim, an antibiotic, and was covered with a madly itchy rash.  I looked it up on the net, stopped the antibiotic, and took Benedryl AND Zyrtec and slathered on cortisone cream.  Some times it was so bad, all I could do was put on cold black tea compresses, which did ease the swelling and itching for a while. That's how my neck area recovered so nicely...But on Benedryl, all one can do is sleep a lot...

Whew, it's over - and NEVER AGAIN!

Still religiously checking freestufftimes.com for samples - and should be getting some skin care samples soon...I put the hand cream sample from Aveda in my purse.  One could spend $1 or more on those little tubes - but I use samples and freebies instead...

Otherwise all is quiet on the Western Front as it were...a buddy is going to be coming in to help me go through the accumulation here - that's going to be something, as he can be a nervous neat freak - but I will try very hard to do it - and put together things to sell off - I find that if I SELL my clutter, it becomes very motivating....And there is a yard sale up at the boat 9/25 - so I should put together some stuff for that, too -

Trouble is I am a collector at heart - and it's a wrench to recycle - Just lost a nice rug to bugs - ugh - but easy come, easy go, as they say...How are you guys?

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Sitting here enjoying the gratis little lipglosses I received from Sephora for my birthday.  Nice generous mini tubes in 3 colors.  Boy, was the variety of makeup and skin care at the Sephora store overwhelming!  I noticed the dry shampoo from Bumble & Bumble - I use scented bath powder myself!

I do save $ on skin care and makeup by supplementing my stash with samples - and by keeping a lookout at the Dollar Tree and the 99 Cent Store for national brands like Revlon and Maybelline. (I got a nice makeup selection at Big Lots, too...) To me, even $8 for a lipstick is a LOT - and at Sephora they have $20 ones.  I pointed that out to my astounded husband. (Check out freestufftimes.com for free samples - there's one of mascara now....)

In fact, all through our mall walk, I pointed out to my husband  the mall prices of items I have - like costume jewelry - which in retail stores cost a bundle.  Who can afford this stuff? (I have a silver cuff I bought at a thrift store for $1 because it was black with tarnish!)

I don't want to pay more than $20 for a dress!  (And just got one on sale at overstock.com - Their shopping is $2.95, very cheap as those things go.)

A lady at one of those freestanding kiosks at the mall tried to sell me $35 handcream - but in the process buffed up one of my nails with one of those modern 4-sided buffers.  And yes, my nails did look shiny - (I can't wear nail polish due to allergies!) I dropped into the drugstore later

that same day and found I could buy a buffer for $4!  So I did learn something....And saved $, as I have all sorts of handcream which works just fine.  Just got a new big tube that's scented lavender from hubby for my birthday...And there is some free cuticle cream I got from a promotion around here somewhere...

We also went to the Hollywood Bowl last week.  They used to have $1 seats way up in the back - but I paid $8 for ours & ended up way up there anyway.  The place is never full for the classical concerts, though - so we just moved down to an empty section.  We brought a picnick dinner & and only extra was PARKING.  Still an inexpensive evening for an orchestral concert!

Otherwise knitting like mad - only scarves for Xmas, tho - I find the simple knitting very relaxing in front of the tube (while I hopefully am watching old classic movies on Turner Classic Movies)....Using up yarn from my thrift shop stash & I have found that I can even use little extra bits for accents.  I like coordinating the yarn colors to produce a tweedy effect, and I can use big needles to make them FAST by combining several yarns together into one strand to knit....I think it's an interesting "wabi-sabi" look - sort of  rough but pleasing.  Machines can knit very regularly - so I think handwork should look, well, made by hand...

SO grateful for our thriftshop portable AC we got a few weeks ago, as it is VERY hot here....With the 2 units going in the windows & some fans, at least the living room area is nice and cool., I also have a bowl of water in front of one of the fans on the desk & I do believe it helps, too... We have a pocket door, so we can isolate the main area from the bathroom/hall/bedroom.  And at night we put on the bedroom AC & I put on the window fans to cool off the rest of the apartment - Luckily in S. California we have cool nights, unlike the East where I grew up.

 UPS just delivered a set of 6 steak knives I ordered on line from Oneida - (the ones we have are cheap ones) - They were about $4 & the shipping was more than the knives - really nice ones,

I see how one could get hooked on ordering online - but I only go for rockbottom bargains.  AS I do elsewhere, too! But it seems a bit silly when the shipping is more than the items??!!

How are you doing?  Any great deals lately??  Remember that there are all sorts of goodies for one's birthday out there....

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