Back-to-the-Boat Frugality

We finally got back up to the boat &  drove up thru Sta. Paula, the site of one of my favorite Goodwill's - As per usual we found lots of great stuff - Hubby found 2 more brand new cotton sweaters for work at $3.99 - & I found some hippy/peasant skirts on the dollar rack + a peasant blouse- [wear them when I play music ]- and $1 top -

Then on to Ojai - where I visited the main st. St. Thos. thrift shop - [quality stuff] & got some brand name tops...Somewhere along the line I also got a nice mini-striped knit cotton sweater - but don't know where??

When in Ojai I almost always stop in a the  wonderful local health-food store - Rainbow Bridge - & I picked up some of my homeopathic allergy meds - A. Vogel's Pollinosan - and even scored some hi-potency multi vitamins at 1/2 off for the boat or when I am on the go [I usually take multiple supplements, as that is usually cheaper, but it can be a hassle....] Look for sales even at places like health-food stores.  They generally have a sale area somewhere. You would be surprised what you can pick up.

Also visited the Dollar Tree in Oxnard & got some calcium, as I was running out [that's something you can get inexpensively]  I have been taking calcium supplements ever since I went on a milk-free diet when I was in college & as a result my bones are like ROCKS. There was also some sleep formula, the contents of which looked good & which I am going to try out.  [With such things, always buy 1 or 2 to try out & then go back for more if you like it.]

Also treated myself to some headbands & 2 nylon camisoles. (I had bought a see-thru top at Goodwill for $1 with a sort of Chinese pattern - which I would have to wear with something underneath ...goes with some long skirts I already have....)

I enjoyed wearing my new hand-knit [by me] peachy scarf.  I made it out of some eyelash yarn I got from the dollar store + some yarn I got an an old ladies' thrift shop! [See, you can even save $ here - one skein had a price tag for $7.99 still on it and at a yarn store eyelash yarn costs $7-8 a ball!] And since it's acrylic, it's not too heavy for S. Cal.

The scarf was successful experiment in using combined eyelash + yarn - So I am now embarking on a shawl - It goes quickly with big needles, so maybe it will be ready for NEXT weekend. The shawl will also be with discount/bargain yarn - so it won't cost me anything, really, but my labor. and big needles + eyelash yarn is very forgiving....It has a nice fluffy effect in the end. [I have also gotten needles at thrift shops - and picked up some round needles + some little balls of yarn at the Ojai thrift shop...always take a look around, especially if you think the shop's donors are the knitting type...)

Making up the pattern more or less from a combo of a free pattern I found at the Lion Brand yarn website (they have lots there) & one from the JoEllen's website (patterns there, too) & some info I got from leafing through the knitting books at Barnes & Noble last week....But it's easy, really - I make a lot of progress knitting in front of TV.

We jammed with our buddy George as "George Le Mire & Friends" at the Deer Lodge in Ojai again Fri. & Sat. singing and playing.  Hubby recorded it on our little digital recorder - it's amazing the quality of sound you can get from the little thing...This is becoming a regular thing...

Taking pix with my camera phone, which look nice, except I am still stumped as to how to upload them anywhere....Reading the manual AGAIN....it's really not very clear...

Sat. we actually used our boat as it was intended and took a sail - Lovely. 

Then Sun. we made our regular stop at the Farmer's Mkt up here & bought some organic fruit, as I have a hard time eating regular ones if I can't peel them like bananas to get rid of the pesticide residue.  I am a canary in a coal mine - my sensitivities get me far before a normie...

Sunday while I did my regular gig, hubby visited another of his favorite thrift shops & snagged a beautiful Land's End blue blazer for $7 - a steal!  Perfect for his biz semi-casual work look.  [And a t-shirt 4 me.]

It may sound peculiar - but I think we actually get BETTER quality clothing by shopping for bargains in expensive clothes at thrift shops!  The blazer, for ex. - it would cost at least $100-$150 if not more at a regular store, even on sale.  I can't say we are the model of thrift, because we then turn around and go out to eat - but the bargains enable us to have $ to do so.  I probably have said so before, but I rarely go shopping at regular stores anymore, and when I do, the regular prices astound me.

Oh - also picked up some Bonne Belle lip gloss & 2 Maybelline lipsticks - for $1 each.  I always stock up when I see makeup at such great prices, as eventually I will get thru all of it - and I do have  lip stuff all over the house.  It is so DRY here. It's surprising what brands actually turn up at the dollar stores from time to time - Revlon, Maybelline, L'Oreal and so on.  But grab it while it lasts because it will disappear asap. 

Otherwise I use Wet N Wild lipsticks - really.  I have one or 2 colors I like very much & when they are on sale, I buy several. (You have to match the color #'s to make sure you get a match.) It's an ongoing process - if you keep up with the stocking via bargain finds, you won't find yourself having to run out & pay full price for a lipstick or other makeup - & today, even drug store lipsticks can run $7 each. [Do you know that with the higher prices we are forking out for their ad budgets??? Fewer ads = lower price for you.]

But, alas, I woke up this Mon. AM to my allergies full blown, despite the fact that I had taken a Zyrtec last night. According to Claritin's pollen count chart, which I get via email - it's the TREES.  So I scrambled to take my supplemental nostrums - Allertonic - the A. Vogel Pollisan homeopathic tablets - nettle tincture & so on.  Can't find my TREE tincture, tho.  Darn.  Just when I need it....

Have to get some more.  Ditto Nasalcrom. As with the makeup, I try to keep everything stocked more or less, so I have it asap when allergies strike, and it doesn't  spoil or anything...

Also have the air cleaners blowing cleaned air around - Hubby actually can WASH the filters of those in the bathtub rather than replacing them.  You can do that several times before the cardboard structure goes, and at $30 or so a pop, that adds up. [not me, I can't TOUCH the dirt & dust it catches.) One air cleaner was a gift, the other a thrift shop find.

There you have it - my wkend excursion + shopping trip. We do enjoy all of it.  I know the sailboat outlay constitutes what otherwise would be a travel budget - but on the other hand,we get to go away A LOT - and it's so refreshing, as wkends are supposed to be.  "Re-creation" - [think of the origins of that word].  And get some.  You all deserve it, I am sure.

P.S. A posting at ThirdAge.com saying that getting a hotel/motel for an extended stay (w/senior discounts) might cost LESS than an assisted living home, with lots of the same perks in the price - pool, laundry, maid service, security and so on ( & sometimes coffee and breakfast bars, etc.).  And that the managers could take care of other needs for you, the privileged GUEST, as in calling for taxis...

That's a thought. I read an article about a couple spending most of their soc. security & disability income on RENT.  [And they were eating hot dogs instead of more nutritional choices...] You could probably get a nice suite at a Holiday Inn for less than assisted living. I will remember that for years to come, if the need arises. But I have my rent-controlled apt., so I/we are cool for the time being. 

It might very well turn out that hubby's education profession, altho financially an underdog in the 80's & 90's, with its security will turn out to be a comfortable place for someone with experience during the hard times we face, while other, "sexier" jobs  are getting shaky.  Who would have thought?

As a lifelong thrifty, I haven't much changed my shopping routine - but it was bargain-oriented to begin with.  How are these times treating YOU all?

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How we stretch our greenbacks

Wknd shopping lands bargains for hubby & me.

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