Tonight I’m reflecting on the simple, frugal joys that make me glad I’m alive and cheap:
1. The Library. I’ve spoke long and oft about my love for the library. But it bears repeating, hell, it bears shouting from the roof. Tonight I love my library for carrying a copy of Ocean’s Thirteen on DVD (SO MUCH BETTER than Ocean’s Twelve, which sucked and had Julia Roberts), plus a cheesy Nora Robert’s novel to melt my remaining brain cells. All that entertain-y goodness for the price of free.
2. Costume/Dress Diary Blogs. As long time denizens of the Cheap Chick Empire know, my hobby of choice is costuming. I seek out inspiration, not to mention free tips and how-tos, online at places like Parliament and Wake or Steampunk Fashion. Be sure to visit my two favorite costumers’ sites – Dress Diary and Dragonfly Designs.
3. Totino’s Party Pizzas. Even though they’ve raised the price of my favorite junk food, you can still pick up a Cheese Pizza for under $1.50. Sure, they’re fattening and contain no nutritional value, but hey! They taste good and… yeah. I have no other rationale for eating them all the time.
4. Internet Window Shopping. No driving, no parking, no sales people to make you feel guilty for just looking – as well as no unnecessary movement AND easy access to snacks. Do you need further explanation of why I lurve (with a Celine Dion kind of lurve) online window shopping. Browsing your favorite store sites is utterly free – as long as you don’t succumb to the siren calls of no tax or reduced shipping fees.
Let’s turn it over to you. What simple and frugal gifts do you love tonight?
8 Comments
I’m a library fan too. I *love* the feature, MN Link. It’s an inter-MN library loan system. Sometimes ya gotta wait a while on a list to get your requested item, but it’s worth it.
My dog.
While his care isn’t free, his companionship and love are. Plus, he can be so darned *funny*.
FYI, Cub Foods has Totino’s Party Pizzas on sale this week for $1.29! I plan on hunting down a supreme myself. Also, I love reading your blog, thanks for sharing all of your frugal fabulousness!
I love knowing various folks who do home improvement when I suddenly get a leak in my sewing room! I love knowing folks who run wires and cables and can set up my DVD player! And sometimes these folks are the same person!
I loved staying home last night and watching a pre-owned movie (Hot Fuzz) and eating popcorn made with the air popper.
And I also loved that when my dog was missing everyone dropped everything and went out of their way to find her. Truly great folks.
I love browing the interwebs. It is an addiction, but an educational addiction. Doesn’t get better than that, does it?
Thanks for linking me! And for praising the library! Libraries rock!
I love como zoo! Its free and open EVERY DAY!
Libraries are great! DVD movies, books and downloadable to my MP3 as well. My hobby of obsession is needlework and while I do spend a bit on enhancing my stash, there are all kinds of freebie patterns out there. And I love surfing and getting new recipes and decorating ideas galore. Plus I’ve met some wonderful people. I had been following a blogger in my area and emailed her about my garage sale and invited her to an ‘invitation only’ preview. She swapped me some wonderful decorating ideas, paint color picking and furniture moving for an old set of dishes I was wanting to sell. And from where I sit, a swap is pretty close to free! Oh, and I love having friends who are working on their house and getting rid of things because then I can get some wonderful free stuff and help them out at the same time. I got some great wood to make frames for my needlework from a friend who was building a barn. She gave me all kinds of short pieces of wood that I was able to use to create the frames.
While I have shared your love of Totino’s pizzas for a few years, I have now discovered a very cheap, not too difficult, and much healthier alternative…homemade pizza!! I found a super easy recipe to make the dough in my breadmaker. I brown up 3 pounds of hamburger meat with one onion at a time…which gives me enough for 4 big pizzas, so I freeze three batches and the next three pizzas take even less time!! I mix a can of tomato sauce with one of tomato paste…which gives me enough for 2 big pizzas (so I again have stuff prepped for the next pizza). I also buy the super-sized bag of Great Value shredded mozzarella…which is enough for 3-4 big pizzas. I pre-cook the crust while the oven heats up, then top with the sauce, sprinkle Italian seasoning all over, then top with hamburger/onion mixture and mozzarella. Twenty minutes later (just enough time to set the table, make a lettuce and tomato salad, and pour the drinks) the pizza is done!! Yummy!! I don’t know why I never tried making my own pizza before!!