Frugal or just being smug...have you scored a real deal recently?

John F Dean wrote:I have been on a search for a couple of years to replace a couple of broken plates …”Franciscan Desert Rose”.   Online they were running around $25 each.  I walked into a junk shop near me and picked up a handful for $5.00.  I have no idea why the price was so low. Yes, they were the same vintage.

Online prices are sometimes more speculative than realistic. There are lots of "we buy junk and sell antiques" operators trying to make money from what they scrounge from thrift shops.

Hi Douglas,

Which is why I did not bite at the higher price.  I was certain I had seen the plates for $10.00 each.  I have to admit, I was shocked at the $5.00 grab bag approach I ran into.  

In my area, this is the time of year where the tax man sends out the property tax bills, and my latest "score" is my bill. Thanks to using my acreage as an orchard -- and a year long appeal process -- my payments to the  government will be about $5,400 less per year. Not too shabby.

John Wolfram wrote: Thanks to using my acreage as an orchard -- and a year long appeal process -- my payments to the  government will be about $5,400 less per year. Not too shabby.

Nicely done!

Well, I'm not even sure just yet if this qualifies as a "deal" - or frugality, for that matter.  But, when I took a wheelbarrow load of stuff* (maple leaves, full of maple seeds) down the block to the brush dump, I noticed someone had dropped 7 boulders on the side of the 2-track trail.  So, back I came with my trailer, backed up the little lane into the brush dump, and collected them.  One is cracked, but all of them have at least one decent flat side, even if they are generally convex elsewhere.  My thought is that I could use one of these as a plinth or base for each post of a pole structure (less the cracked one) to protect our camper from winter snows.  I don't really know if they are quite big enough.  I was able to carry all of them into and out of the trailer, and lift them bodily onto the flat bed of my one-ton.  So, I don't know if they have enough heft to do the Asian style foundation, as propounded by Josh on his Mr. Chickadee YT channel.  But, if not, they were free rocks, and I rectified someone else's misdeed, since the only things which are supposed to be dropped off there are leaves and small brush.



Woohoo!  Got some rocks!

*Yes, I know, properly composting these leaves might take care of the majority of the seeds.  These leaves also have black tar spot, a fungal infection which afflicts soft maples, which causes early leaf drop.  I'm trying to figure out the best way of breaking the fungal infection cycle, though that may be a losing battle, since none of the neighbors are likely to do anything to mitigate the black tar spot, at least on the short term - and maybe never.  I do have a very small (Kemp brand) PTO chipper/shredder waiting for me to collect it outside Baraboo, WI.  But that's a long enough trip that I need to be intentional about it, and I'm not so sure my little truck will make the trip - though it has rarely let me down.  In any case, running the leaves through the chipper/shredder with a fine screen would probably chew up the seeds, and maybe composting would cure the black tar spot problem (?).  As of this moment, I have a literal truckload of maple chips, since we had our big maple professionally trimmed, and the tree guy quite happily gave us the chips from not only our maple, but another in the neighborhood.  So, I have no shortage of mulch, and have bought some time to figure out what to do about the maple leaves.

Kevin Olson wrote:Well, I'm not even sure just yet if this qualifies as a "deal" - or frugality, for that matter.  But, when I took a wheelbarrow load of stuff* (maple leaves, full of maple seeds) down the block to the brush dump, I noticed someone had dropped 7 boulders on the side of the 2-track trail.  So, back I came with my trailer, backed up the little lane into the brush dump, and collected them.  

Kevin, in my opinion when a switched-on mind collects materials that others have abandoned, and has a plan to use them, that absolutely qualifies as a "score." Well done!

From a yard sale, 25 to 30 Water Hyacinth plants for $7. This is half, in a 10 gallon bucket.Greene Dean's article is here.

Wow!! That's a fantastic deal, Joylynn!! That $7 would only get me 1 or 2 of them!

Just got back from an auction.  Got a good chop saw for $10, two hydraulic floor jacks for $1, two strong plastic shelving units, two coolers, a stadium chair and two huge greenhouse fans for another $1.

Someone else got a 1923 sedan with great paint/body, a V6 and it ran, for $2000

Mike Haasl wrote:Just got back from an auction.  Got a good chop saw for $10, two hydraulic floor jacks for $1, two strong plastic shelving units, two coolers, a stadium chair and two huge greenhouse fans for another $1.

Someone else got a 1923 sedan with great paint/body, a V6 and it ran, for $2000

Nice. Yeah, the world is awash in good stuff these days. We're kinda lucky. A lot of good stuff is completely free -- the kids are cleaning out Mom's house and don't want it to go to the landfill.

Free from the local take-it-or-leave it: a classic Coleman 2-burner camp stove in perfect working order with a coffee pot, grill, and a gallon of Coleman fuel. And a 3-legged end table that it fits on perfectly.

Now that's a score for sure !!!

I have been looking well over 2 years for an electric bike....        well about a week ago   I found what I was looking for,     a walmart bike, combined with a hill topper  bike kit all just about brand new for $100.00

They paid 700$ for the kit, and $100.00 for the bike...    

These deals are rare, but when you find them you jump :-)

Bill Anderson wrote:Now that's a score for sure !!!

Re the Coleman stove -- actually it's my second free one. These are 40+ years old. People don't know how to use these any more (or light their table on fire if they try). But they are both rebuildable and pretty much indestructible.

The other bonus is they are tolerant of outdated car gasoline, within reason. I have 6 gallons on site that I don't know what to do with but I'm not putting them in a vehicle or mower. Why waste that energy? Put it to work!

Mart Hale wrote:I have been looking well over 2 years for an electric bike....        well about a week ago   I found what I was looking for,     a walmart bike, combined with a hill topper  bike kit all just about brand new for $100.00

They paid 700$ for the kit, and $100.00 for the bike...    

These deals are rare, but when you find them you jump :-)

Absolutely. And often you find children who are clearing out their parents' garage and are happy with a few dollars and a good home for the "stuff."