It became frugal

**britbunny** · 10-04-2005, 08:44 AM

Have you ever had something, either bought by you or for you, that at the time was not frugal/was useless but has become an aid to your frugal ways?

I realised this week that I have 3 examples off the top of my head. 2 were gifts, 1 I bought myself.

1. I bought a shawl about 3 years ago when we still lived in York and were spending like crazy. it wasn't overly expensive at Â£24.99 but it was expensive to just be in my wardrobe unused.

I remebered last winter that I had this shawl and no I use it all the time in cold weather either on the sofa as a blanket (it's burgundy and purple shades so goes perfectly with our lounge decor). Or I wear it around the house and outside. It means when I'm in the house I can look stylish and still wear my old scruffy-yet-warm clothes. It's better than a blanket as I can wear it around the house and still get things done!

2. A pair of black beaded slippers bought for me by my mum. they're gorgeous but when I was just round the house in jeans and a sweater they just didn't look right. Now I wear them when I wear my shawl! I can still wear my bis socks to keep warm but the slippers just stick their glitzy toes out from my jeans! I would never have worn them otherwise, but I wanted to keep them as I did love them and they were a gift.

3. A gift from Scott's Grandparents about 4 years ago. A flanelette bed set, 2 flat sheets and 4 pillowcases. at the time we thought they were just old fashionned etc. After reading how great they were I got the out last year. Well, we LOVE them now. So from being stuck at the back of the linen cupboard they are always near the front for a bit of warmth. We even went out and bought another set this weekend!

I'm sure there must be other things that would come to me if I thought more about it... how about you?

**jlxian** · 10-04-2005, 09:17 AM

Well, yes. Let me think about this.

The first thing I can think of is our Troy Bilt tiller --- an expensive model we bought when we had NO money and had to finance it on monthly payments. But it was a wonderful machine and tilled our gardens for years. Sadly it was in our garage when it burned and so was lost, but we replaced it with a similar Troy Bilt model as soon as we were able and had insurance money. Having a good tiller is important if you don't want the garden to be a hideous chore from the very beginning. And we all know that gardens are wonderfully frugal!

Like you, Sam, I'm sure there are others but I can't think of them right now. Good question!

**staceyy** · 10-04-2005, 03:51 PM

My sister bought me a little heating pad that is heated in the microwave and filled with fragrant herbs. I use to keep my feet warm on winter nights. I know it will come in handy this winter when I'm forced to lower the thermostat at night.

**KatieInLa2** · 10-04-2005, 07:09 PM

I have a Henkels chef knife that was alittle more expensive that most kitchen knives but I use it everyday. It is easy to keep sharp so I save alot buying meats and cutting them into portions at home.

**KatieInLa2** · 10-04-2005, 07:11 PM

I have a Henkels chef knife that was alittle more expensive that most kitchen knives but I use it everyday. It is easy to keep sharp so I save alot buying meats and cutting them into portions at home.

My sewing machine also saves me money too by mending clothing instead of buying new.

**britbunny** · 10-05-2005, 07:20 AM

I knew I'd think of something else.

My Le Creuset pans. I bought a set of shiny black Le Creuset about 4 years ago when DH and I first moved in together. I bought them because I thought it represented a move away from just getting everything cheap, from Ikea etc. And also that it looked like we had loads of cash if we could buy all these expensive things and still go out all the time etc.

Well, for a fair while I didn't use them at all even though we'd paid over Â£200 for the set, various pans, casserole dish, skillet, the full shebang.

About 18 months ago I broke one of our other pans and either had to starve or use the le creuset, so I used it and now I love it. I think I've used all the pieces I have in the past week. It's excellent for cooking up big vats of stuff and for reheating things slowly.

Oh, and a steamer too, bought that to look fancy in front of the couple we shared our house with, we only ever got it out when they were around but didn't get the benefit from it. I love it now, best way to cook rice ever!

I guess in my spendy days the inner frugalite was waiting to get out...

**peanut** · 10-05-2005, 07:13 PM

Yes, my Cuisinart food processor. We went through two food processors in about as many years. I use them a lot. The Cuisinart was a gift from my mom. It was her old one. It's a big old one. I didn't think I'd use it as much as the smaller ones. But I've used it to make tons of things, including my own mayonnaise, hummus, cookies, etc. I use it just about every day! It's saved me a lot over the years. Especially now I'm allergic to some things and have to make everything from scratch.

Our old fence. We bought the house with this old fence and never thought the fence would save us any money! But when we took it apart we decided to keep the lumber. It's since been turned into a 4' long 3 shelf plant stand, a computer desk, a bookcase, shelving in our cold room, a low plant shelf on the kitchen counter, and a cd tower stand. It's certainly saved us some money!