Thrifty Thursday-My Favorite Garage Sale Find

I

am so pleased with a couple of my Thrifty Thursday wins this week. Between  wins for DD2 and for the house, we kept our spending sort of in check-well as much as possible with preparing to send a kid away to her home away form home. DD1 and I did the tiny farmers market  in town, a garage sale, Good Will, Target and Aldi on Saturday morning. My biggest win was not buying stuff I did not need, with the exception of item number one, which I think actually could be described as a need.

• I bought a Red Thermos, the brand and all, for $ .50 at a garage sale. It was actually marked at $1.00, but it was clear she just wanted stuff gone so as I was about to take a $1.00 out, she said, "Half price." I have been looking for a low cost thermos to take for fall weekends apple picking or just out to parks or sporting events for ages. I even almost broke down and bought one new a few times. I saw a similar one, retro style, on E-bay for $19.99. A Stanley thermos new in Walmart and other places range from $20- $32, but probably nicer than this, but my new to me will do the trick. We did see the Stanley version at Good Will for $5. I probably would have bought it had I not found the garage sale version first. I love my coffee and hot chocolate out and about in the fall and winter.
• DD2 loves pasta prima vera. I made home version with 1/2 each of a zucchini and yellow squash, diced tomatoes, and 1/2 box of pasta. I was happy to find a stall at the Farmers market who would sell individual  vegetables for $ .50 instead of a larger tray that the others were selling. $1.59 for three large portions, as she had for supper Saturday, and a couple lunches this week. 
• I included this win in an earlier post this week, but I'll mention the guitar restringing for $19. Sometimes you just need to have someone do things for you and this was one of those times. It would have been a struggle for DH and DD2 to do on their own, and this was for the supplies and labor and she has a new to her guitar. 
• Kohl's had the generic Big One pillows on sale for $3.99 and with my 30% off, I got them for $2.80. Same price for a couple extra bath towels and wash cloths, as we second guessed ourselves that only two would be enough. We also layered sale with discount for her mattress topper-an essential for a decent sleep on a dorm room mattress. 
• For less than $4.00 of thick twine and mini clothes pins, DD2 has a photo display system for her room. We had bought a memo board at IKEA and this and that to hold pens, clips etc. and she can string the twine across, or if we find a cheap, or I can scrounge a free frame and some spray paint, something like this. Credit to Crafting Up My World. 

I'm in awe of one of my reader, Meg B. who described in a comment about doing massive landscape work herself for her family's new home. Equally impressive on a whole different life event, shout out to Kim at Out My Window for putting together, complete with all catering and bar, her daughters wedding by herself, with some help from family and friends! She has a posts leading up to and following the big day.  Doing things for ourselves-the ultimate thrift, and neither of these feats will I ever attempt to do. One last thought. I want to try my hand again at passive ways to earn some freebies or cash. Belinda at Frugal Workshop shared a link about the Microsoft rewards program. It seems like an easy thing I can do when I play around on the computer anyway while earning some gift cards. How did you do this week? Would you get as much of a thrill over a red Thermos as I have?  Please share your wins and or link to your recent posts.