SCORE for you Debby. I LOVE the Dollar store.

I hope what I ordered last night or maybe the night before I forget will be as good as the reviews said they were. I ordered 5 yes Five 128GB thumb drives for 10.00 shipped. I really do not need 5 of them but they came as a bundle. A lot easier to use for back up than an external drive. I was looking for one of those tiny thumb drives that can just live in the USB out of the way. I keep photos on one from all my old computers. I think the one I did find is 8GB and it holds all my photos from 6 computers over the last 16 years. I have them all on two 4GB right now. Better to have them all on one tiny one.

Where did you find the thumb drive bundle? I keep threatening but I don't DO it.

It is on a sight called Wish. I think I signed up for it on an add on Facebook. I have bought several things and been happy with all but one and I was quickly refunded my money and did not have to send the item back. Stuff comes from China. That part not so good but it has all been fine. Shipping is cheep. I think you have to sign up to get to see their products . I have not had anyt spam from doing so.

Wish

oh, I guess I'll pass. Probably the same deals as on ebay. I've done a couple. they were OK.
My newest deal was an older washer, old wooden drop leaf table, set of plastic shelves, and a fan on a stand. Our church sold the parsonage and there was "stuff" left inside. I'll donate to the church.

The washer is old enough that it will FILL with water, agitate, drain, fill before it agitates again. The new washers agitate before the clothes float. Hard on everything. I have holy t-shirts.

OH really on the new washers. I had no idea that would happen. Does your washer have the agitator in the center or is it one of those with out it? Guess I better hope my washer does not give up. It does fill before agitating.

I have two that I will share. The first one was that I was invited to a bridal shower (I first spelled it "bridle" - too much horsing around LOL) for a great niece. This girl registered at the most expensive stores for the most expensive things. I don't have a lot of spare money, so I went on line, saw what kind of items she wanted and what colors and then went to Target and got a lot of things for not much money! And she loved it all!

My other good deal was something I got at a neighbor's yard sale. It's a metal shelving unit, probably for the bathroom. I think it's maybe 12"x12". It came with six colored glass hurricane type jars. I paid $5 for the whole shebang!! Not long after I got it, I saw the shelving unit at Bed, Bath and Beyond for almost $30. Here it is. I also got some flameless candles to put in the jars. I love sitting out on the porch at night with the lights.

Ooooh murraysmom--that little shelf with the jars is really pretty! Score!

Some years ago I saw this thing at Michael's--it was a large vase, more than 2' tall, and it had dried sticks and reeds and so forth--$125!! Too rich for my blood! Later, I was at Fred Meyer and saw almost the exact same vase on clearance for $6! I also picked up some dried sticks & reeds, around $9. So I got the same thing as Michael's $125 decorative item for $15!

I hear you about the wedding shower! Some young women these days seem to think they can register for the most expensive china, towels, linens, silverware, etc., and nothing else, and somehow we'll buy it all for them. When my daughter got married, she and her fiancé registered at Nordstrom, JC Penney, and Target! Something for every budget. His family is very wealthy, and mine...not so much, lol. I thought it was a really nice touch, to give people options. Way to go with your niece's shower! I'm sure she'll use everything you got at Target! (One of my friends always says, "If Target doesn't have it, I don't need it!")

I'mhappy, of course you know why the newer washers don't fill twice--that's a lot of water. A lot of the really new washers don't even fill all the way up once; it's not necessary to get the clothes clean. Soapy water that gets dumped back into rivers, like in some third world countries, kills the fishies and everything else, so that's how we know how bad it is for the environment. And we know we should be way more concerned about the finite amount of fresh water we have than about the finite amount of oil we have. They say that the last century we fought wars over oil. This century we'll fight wars over water.

I don't mean to preach. And I'm not judging you. Some of the first washers that came out that used less water really weren't very good at cleaning clothes. Lots of wholly t-shirts, as you said. And dingy looking clothes.

But the ones out now are really fantastic! If I could buy a new washer right now, I'd definitely get one without an agitator--that's what's so hard on the clothes. And the key is to use the right detergent that's made specifically for that washer.

My problem is the HARD water here (I'm on a well.)! Its terrible on my clothes and dishes. I can't afford a water softener, so I live with it.

You got some good deals! Was that stuff from the parsonage? I love drop leaf tables, so versatile! :-)

Murraysmom your shelf and lanterns are wonderful. Great score.

Also the wedding shower gifts. Never had a wedding other them court house and chapel in Reno. Was a good thing. I do not need more stuff. Fortunately at my age not many getting married except both my nieces did get married June and July. I am not sending gifts. The family is too large to get into that. And far away.

I hear that! I used to get Christmas presents for everyone in the family. But as we kids got married, had kids, they got married, had kids...well, you know how it goes. Now I only get birthday and Christmas presents for my kids Joy and Joe.

And of course Jay you would be buying amazing useful things. It sure was fun watching you design and build your home. Totally marveled on the treasures you came up with and how cool they all are. Your house is amazing.

Whooo, my favorite kind of thread. Here's mine: Fossil sells their returns from major retailers to Goodwill. Goodwill sells the small bags for $9, the medium for $15 and the large $35.

Here are just a few that I got last month, original value from $138-$368! Fossil cuts the bottom of the bags with about a 2" slash. Some are not even slashed all the way through. I took them to a shoe repair shop and for $10 to $15 they look wonderful.

The very best one is #2 (valued at $368) I gave to my nephew that recently got his master's degree. He loves it. #1 I gave to my brother who is a marketer. Loves it! The last one is the Preston Crossbody I got in 2 different colors for my nieces. Most are still being sold, (check out Macy's, Nordstrom and Fossil's sites). I think a couple of the other ladies' bags might be last year's model, but who cares.

Most of the bags are brand new with the paper and tags. I have brought about 10 of them and give some of them away. I LOVE a good deal. And no, I have no need for another bag. And yes, I will be buying more. And yes I can afford to pay full price, but why. Its the fun of the hunt.

OHHhhh Nice bags. I love Fossil. I have a couple purses made by Fossil. Yes from thrift store finds. Mine were not cut on the bottom though. Mine were not cut so mush have just been turned in b the consumer so not new. But looked new enough for me.

Jay/mushcreek, leave it to you to get those great bargains! I'm hoping to use a lot of reclaimed/repurposed items in my project, but I'm not as sophisticated as you in bargain hunting! I may turn to you for advice in the coming months (years), if you would be so kind. I love your house, and those pulls in your kitchen are da bomb! :-)

I want to use reclaimed stuff because I'm on a very tight budget. But even more so, I'm trying really hard to reduce my environmental footprint. I'm concerned about the Earth, and about the world I'm leaving to my grandchildren. We waste so much stuff! (And I apologize for preaching from time to time. I try very hard not to, but sometimes I can't control myself, lol. But I'll try to be better.)

There is so much perfectly good stuff sitting in landfills. So rather than chopping down another tree, I'd love to find cabinets, floors, siding, etc., that I can reuse. I would LOVE to find Hardiplank on a deal like yours, Jay!

One thing I have figured out. I'm going to do my yard with rock and then put in some low maintenance, drought resistant, perennials and succulents, and a veggie garden. Other than transporting from point A to point B, I will not pay a penny for rocks, topsoil, or manure. At least in my area, people on CL are begging people to come get this stuff! My yard is currently just weeds. So I need to figure out a low cost way to get them out, and someone with a pickup who can load, transport, and unload at a reasonable cost. Then I'm going on CL every night and arrange to get rocks, soil, and fertilizer that are being given away. There's so much of this stuff being given away free that I can even be picky about what kind/color/size rocks I get for various parts of the yard!

I'd like a few big big rocks/boulders and those are harder to come by. But I've seen them pop up every now and then, so I just need to be patient and I'll eventually get them. :-)

I'll be looking for railroad ties, or something similar, to outline the garden and perhaps other areas. Also for pavers. They are very expensive new!! I'm willing to shell out a little if I can't get them free. I'm even going to try to get wood free or super cheap for the deck I want to build!

FinallyHome, welcome! I never heard of Fossil until 5 minutes ago, haha, but wow did you get some bargains!! Score!

Habitat REstores are great too, if you have one near you. We're lucky to have one in Spokane. It's hit and miss, of course, depending upon what gets donated. But there are people who remodel their kitchens every few years, or other things, and you can get perfectly good, very very nice things if you go often and wait for the right thing to come in. Plus, the money goes to a really good cause. Someone here--was it funkycamper?--got a whole set of gorgeous kitchen cabs for pennies on the dollar.

Debby, I'm not in a 3rd world country and my used water doesn't empty into any river. My gray water is beneficial to me and if I save a gallon of water it's not going to help anyone in California. I prefer to have clean clothes and since I don't work in an office I need to wash them in the most efficient way I can to get them clean. Washing dirty jeans in a gallon of water is not the way to do it. "Rinse until the water runs clear." Why bother washing anything if the goal isn't to get it clean? Leaving dirt in fabrics just wears the fibers out quicker. Should I have let that used washer go to the landfill?

Don't preach to me. I don't need it.

Fun thread. I'm Happy I just switched back to a top load machine once my front load died and one of the things I like about it is that I can fill it with water in case of hurricanes. That was always one of my go to preparations. Thank goodness I've not had to use tub water but just in case! MurraysMom those colored jars are very pretty; I can see why you enjoy sitting on that lovely front porch watching the world walk by. I thought I had some good buys but Mushcreek sounds like he's developed it into an art form! Finally Home what cool finds. I've seen where stores will snip the label or mark it with a colorful marker to denote donations or even final sale items. Not slicing the bottom of a bag.... makes it hard to use but perhaps I overestimate damage.

In the past I've snagged a lovely old maple table that a landlord had in their basement and said I could take. Refinished the maple and DH made drawers for it. Love it's simple lines. I think it may originally have been a school lab table. From Restore we've purchased s/s hood, double oven and glass cook top for $500. All worked and were very clean! DH recently replaced the fan assembly on the upper oven (it's conventional and convection oven) so that was a little adventure with the whole family pitching in to assist! A long time ago we passed a neighbor on trash night and saw a rocking chair that was missing a bit of the rocker foot. I asked DH to go back and get it and he just beat out another neighbor who also wanted to claim it! Guess who has it with a new rocker foot!

Wordie, you've gotten some great deals! WOW on the hood, double ovens, and cooktop! And how fun to make that repair a family project! How do you like the conventional/convection combo? I'm thinking of a range with a combo when the time comes to replace the regular one that's here now. Do you like cooking with convection? I was also thinking of getting one with an induction cooktop, but not sure. I'm not sure I can learn to cook on it! I'm giving away a nice wok because I just couldn't master stir-frying. Everything was either burned or warm on the outside/cold in the middle. I'm a little scared that could happen with an induction cooktop. I have gotten good again at cooking with stainless steel rather than Teflon pots and pans. It's been a lot of years since I had SS, and I like it so much better! I just read a study showing the faster you can cook the food the more nutrients you preserve. Anyway, kudos on your score!

LOVE the story about the rocker! Amazing what people throw away. My SIL got a deal similar to that some years ago. Neighbor was going to take a very nice panel bed frame to the dump because, while moving it, apparently DH and his helpers banged the leg of the footboard and broke a piece off. My SIL offered her $50 for it. She took it home, glued the broken piece back on with wood glue, drove a long screw into it from the bottom side, painted over the crack line with some brown nail polish (!), and voilà! Good as new. It's a gorgeous bed.

murraysmom, forgot to mention--I'm insanely jealous of your porch!!! :-) I've wanted a front porch I could sit out on, maybe a rocking chair out there...for as long as I can remember. Someday! :-)

Hi I'mhappy!

I owe you an apology. I read back over my post last night. I had thought it was "a little" preachy, but I was horrified when I read it again. Water conservation happens to be my "thing," but this wasn't the appropriate venue for that discussion. I truly did not intend to offend you, but after I read it again, I saw how offensive it was. You were right to call me out on that one. It's not my business what washer you have, or want. I'm sure if you came to my house you could find plenty of things to criticize! I'm far from perfect, and I know it, but that post came off as self-righteous and smug. I was completely in the wrong. I'm sorry, and I hope you'll find it in your heart to forgive me. I think you're a pretty amazing lady and I hope we can start with a fresh slate.

Sincerely,

Debbie

Wordie, interesting to read about water in the washer for emergency situations! I never thought of that! I once saw some disaster management specialist on some show on TV years ago. He was saying we should never put those blue things with bleach or anything in our toilet tanks, because that is a source of drinking water in a crisis. I went and looked in my toilet tank and said, "Not in a million years!" Haha! :-)

My score is getting the two trees side by side cut down today for 25 dollars. He was here an hour cutting on them. I have to do the clean up. He cut the bigger logs to the size I can handle them. Very happy. I have the first load of clippings to go to the dump loaded on the Ranger. I need to rest and cool down and get lunch for Joe then I will take it. Hoping to get a second load today but if I do not, the dump closes at 5, I will stack the clipped lengths onto a tarp in the driveway to go away next Wednesday. Or when I get to it.

Then I have to put the fence back up I took down to get out of the way and everything will be back as it was less two trees. And then I will be vicious with hand spraying any shoots that come off the roots and I will drill and pour tree killer into the stump. I got this. It is 92 degrees out there in the shade. UGH

Adding to my bargain of the trees being cut down. I just checked with the neighbor across the street and he said they will be happy to take all the burnable wood from the trees. These are crap wood trees but they burn a lot of wood in a year so everything helps some. Some of the trunks are over 12 inches in diameter. He even wants the small stuff. AND he will come get it when I get it sorted out. Such a relief because I am not sure I can lift the bigger trunk pieces nor should I be lifting them. This has turned out to be a really good day. It has cooled down to 93 degrees and soon the sun will go down and I can work in the yard a little bit more. I do not like the fence being down so hoping to get it cleared enough to be able to put the fence back up and then just open the gate to drag the rest of the stuff out.

HAhahah my out door shower was cold but wonderful. I love my private little patio.

SCORE!! Two trees, $25??? How did you manage that? He sounds like a nice guy, and that was considerate of him to cut it up into manageable pieces for you.

We ended up having a pretty warm day today, but not compared to any of y'all. I think it hit close to 80, but out here in Cheney there is always that breeze blowing. I love it because I keep my windows open and the cross breeze really keeps the house much cooler. We're still cooling down to 57 or so at night. I do have the fan on here in the living room and it's actually pretty pleasant.

The home of my new neighbors four houses down is like a sauna! She won't open the windows at night because she's afraid of burglars or kidnappers breaking in. I tried to reassure her that it's a safe neighborhood...the worst crime I'm aware of out here is some kids robbed some mailboxes five or six years ago. I think I convinced her that she can open the windows around 8:00 PM and then close them when they go to bed around 11:00 PM. That would help a lot. And they have a couple of box fans. I told her that if she opens windows during the day when they're home, she'll get that nice cross breeze and if she sets the box fans in the windows opposite each other, that should help too.

The powers that be say it will be in the 90's next week. Chris, I can't imagine loading up the Ranger with wood in that heat! You are one strong woman! Is it hard for Joe to not be able to do those kinds of things anymore? I can tell that for Frank, my neighbor (the one in the "sauna" house) that his not being able to work and support his family is almost worse than the cancer itself. Although my arthritis is not life threatening, I hate having to ask for help for things I used to be able to do.

Anyway, I guess my "bargain of the day" was that I got rid of 97% of everything I was trying to give away! YAY!! AND, my friend Lori brought over a fabulous chicken pasta salad and made me keep the leftovers. I'm so blessed to have such amazing friends! AND my friends Joy and Cayden (the "other" Joy) showed up at 7:30 AM to help me organize all my stuff. They are NOT morning people, so that was doubly special.

I guess friendship is the greatest "score" of all. I'm just incredibly grateful and humbled to have amazing friends that I totally don't deserve.

I need to go do some cleanup. I'll write more later about the "garden party" that went so wonderfully well. :-) Since I host a get-together about once every 4-5 years, I had no expectations about how it would turn out. :-)

A vintage clawfoot tub was a non-negotiable item for The Cabbage, even though the builder couldn't understand why we'd put an old tub in a new house, especially when he could put in a shiny new fiberglass molded tub and shower (lol).

In the northwest, old tubs in good condition (or even fair condition() sell for a high price, so I scoured Craigslist every day, looking for something that would not need refinishing and hopefully had its original plumbing. I expected to pay at least $500, although that would be a lucky find, indeed. After weeks of searching, I finally found my tub. We had to drive over two hours to get it, but it was in pristine condition, came complete with original bulb-style faucet and porcelain hot/cold/shower lever-style handles, all for $250. I reap the rewards of my persistence with every bath!

In a different aspect of my life, one of my miniature horses and I participate in the sport of competitive carriage driving. Part of Combined Driving is a cones obstacle, which obviously requires cones. The official kind that are used in an event cost about $40 apiece -- you need eight, and while you are practicing it is common to drive over a cone or two, often bending or breaking them. I found orange cones intended or swimming pools at the Dollar Store for $1 apiece.

"the builder couldn't understand why we'd put an old tub in a new house,"

we did that back in '70-71. my now X worked in the upstairs of an older 2 story house (converted into a print shop) and his window overlooked a side street with another old house on the corner across from him. They were remodeling and hauled an old claw foot tub out of it. he asked them how much they wanted for it and he got it for 50.00! the old plumbing wasn't usable tho. Still, we were building a large addition onto our small house and the old tub got cleaned up (no damage or rust on the inside) and the outside painted. loved that tub! our builder didn't blink an eye. of course, he'd been in the already existing house so nothing surprised him. the guys doing the work were Amish. they might have wondered why we didn't want a new fangled tub. We did have a regular tub/shower in the existing bathroom.

great buy on the cones!

Debbie I do think the guy that cut the trees is nice. At one time he hated me but we got past that as a total misunderstanding and his hate directed towards the wrong person. Besides he likes to cut down trees. He used to sell fire wood. No longer. And no Joe is too weak to be able to do much. It was all he could do to walk out there and speak to the tree guy for a few minutes then was right back into the house and asleep. So sad to see him feeling this way.

I would love a claw foot tub. My grandmother used to have one and it was so special to bathe in it.

We thought about a claw foot tub for our future basement bathroom. It all depends upon what I happen across. A builder would surely think we were crazy; our new house features antique flooring, lighting fixtures, doors, and knobs. Our powder room has a funky old corner sink that I found on craigslist. The sink was a bargain; the adjustable bridge faucet to make it usable was NOT. You win some, you lose some.

Debbie...hardiplank. My contractor collected leftover pre-painted plank from his other jobs and passed it on to me, some of it just for the hauling away of it, some up to half price. People who buy it prepainted usually buy at least 10% extra and can't return it. I repainted it and it's gorgeous. BTW, my entire house, two coats, less than one 5 gallon bucket of paint, another bonus for us smaller home dwellers.

mushcreek, I know what you mean as far as win a few, lose a few. The downside of our tub story is that the seller advertised it as a 5 foot tub, which would fit perfectly. I didn't even think to measure until we had driven back halfway across the state. Something made me think to measure it, and lo and behold, it was 5-1/2 feet. Fortunately, they had not yet framed the interior walls and we were able to move the bathroom/bedroom wall to accommodate it. Since I'm only 5'4", I can practically swim laps in it!

We've done like you, using antique light fixtures, door knobs, etc., and will be replacing the cheap hollow core doors with old 5 panel craftsman doors. I have to admit -- I saw a photo of your bathroom with the corner sink and I am jealous!

I think everyone who's seen Jay's (mushcreek) powder room is jealous!! Haha! Or the rest of his house, for that matter. I think about that peninsula all the time. I have a tiny powder room, a wee bit smaller than Jay's, and I'm not too proud to admit I'm stealing a lot of his ideas, haha, including the plate rail and the barn door!

bluesanne, SCORE on the claw foot tub! :-). I've found, in life, that persistence gets people farther than intelligence, looks, social standing, etc. Good on you!! :-)

I too have "claw foot tub envy," haha! Funny thing is, from ages 1-13, I grew up in a house with a huge claw foot tub. That thing was so deep! I hated it, lol! I was embarrassed by it--oy, kids! All my friends had "normal" tubs AND showers. We didn't have a shower. LOL When I think of what that tub would sell for today... Bluesanne, wow, so fortunate you're still able to use the tub!!! :-)

Bluesanne, how interesting! I've never heard of competitive horse carriage driving! That is fascinating! (Score on the cones, btw. I'm kind of addicted to the dollar store, lol.) My pastor is competitive in dressage, which I wasn't very familiar with. Everyone in our church knows not to try the church first if we want to talk to her, you just head out to the horse barn. (Although she's almost always reachable on her cell.)

btw Bluesanne, you mentioned northwest--where are you? I'm in eastern Washington.

Chris (Shades), I can't imagine anyone hating you! But sometimes friendships really grow from relationships that began with a misunderstanding. I'm so sorry that Joe can't get outside for a chat for more than a few moments.

My claw foot envy is actually ridiculous considering I can't use a tub anymore due to the arthritis. But my daughter Joy loves them too. She takes a bath every night, almost never showers. So when I get to the bathroom remodel, I would like to put in a cool claw foot for her and a walk-in shower for moi. Being in a 37 yr old manufactured home, obviously I will have to reinforce the floor in there big time to support the weight of a claw foot.

Steph, wow, how cool your ex happened to see that tub being removed from the building and got it for $50!!

Jay, it's no secret I'm in love with your house!! Lol! I love, love, love all the antique and reclaimed materials you've used!

I'm really going to try to use as many used, reclaimed, thrown away, donated, however you want to phrase it, materials for my house project. Not just to save money, which is definitely a big consideration, but because I think we throw so much good stuff into our landfills, and I want to do my part by not adding to the pile.

You have shown that a variety of "finds" can go together in a house in a tasteful, nay stunning way! In fact, I'd go so far as to say, had you just bought brand new and prefabricated everything, your home would not have nearly the charm and beauty it has now. I know for a fact your house could be in a magazine spread, and I'll be first in line to buy that issue!

Which brings me to...STRINGWEAVER!!! We've been missing you!! So so happy to "see" you! :-) And I agree 100% with you--one of the many advantages of a smaller home is that you can potentially put nicer, higher quality materials into it. Small is beautiful! :-)

PLUS...less to clean! :-)

Stringweaver, thanks for sharing your story about the hardiplank! Between your and Jay's hardiplank scores, I'm starting to think my dream of hardiplank siding might come true!! :-)

Steph, how are you these (hot) days? And Jed? And...doggie (can't remember doggie's name, sorry!) I think of you often, hoping you're OK and making progress on your home. :-)