Frugal Friday

Second hand living.  People are constantly buying things and replacing them.  Stuff is not getting worn out.  Literally.  By living a second hand life, you can live better, on less dollars out of your pocket.  And if you don't like what you have, you can release it back into the wild and get other stuff.

I tend to like things forever.  I have a 16 year old car with 180,000 miles.  So far I replace things that wear out, and do maintenance.  And that is 12years of no car payments, I bought it used.  If I had been better about putting car payments away I would be rich.

Antiques are used, no one cares about that.  My china is used as soon as open the box.  As is my silverware.  Both are simple classic styles that will make me happy. I initially found a couple of place settings of my china in Tuesday Morning on the clearance section, I completed a set of  6 place settings on Amazon when the prices were very good.  Although it is poorly wrapped and I have had some breakage in shipment, the price was so good, I didn't get a refund.  I was buying it for next to nothing while it was still in stores for $150 for one setting.

You don't have to be like me.  You can change out your decor constantly.  Enjoy it and when you feel bored or stifled, get something else.  The choice is yours.  My soft goods change, I get different rugs or pillows.  I make my own quilts, but the one I choose to use is from my sister.

My dining room table is Danish modern style found at an antique store with four chairs, I will be keeping it. I have lots of small table that flow in and out.  After finding a black chest of drawers in the dumpster, I replaced it's fugly nobs and gave the previous table to one of my friends.  The nobs were $3 at a thrift store for 12 of them.

I also have been refreshing my clothing from the thrift store.  I follow Viviennefiles blog because I like the way she puts together the wardrobes.  What I take away from it is multiple ways to use the clothing I have.  I have been known to buy some of her choices new, mostly in the accessory choices as I have been steadily losing weight.  This means my wardrobe this month is different than two months ago except if an item is easy for me to tailor it to my size.  I also look for clothing that I can easily take in or adapt as my weight goes down.  Because I buy thrift store clothing, if I mess this up, I am not out a lot of money.  Also, some things are just easier to replace than attempt to hem, alter or otherwise adapt.  Clothing needs to fit well to look good.

My loveseat was new, a survivor of a divorce.  The rug on my floor was a hand me down from a coworker, it warms up the room.  My two modern style upholstery chairs were $60 apiece after renting a U-haul to get them home.   They will fit any style of my choosing, are a beige color with walnut legs, and look awesome.

My sleigh bed headboard was a gift from a friend, trashpicked, it's Ethan Allen.  The mattress came from Overstock.com, new, great buy.  

My library of 600 plus volumes is over 3/4 used.  The fancy bookshelves were used.  I didn't have to put those together!

Buying used, I can get things for 10-25% of the cost, sometimes even less.  Except for cars of course.  2021 is not the year to buy used or new vehicles.  Wait on that!

This laptop?  New.  From a computer store that puts together your Dell computer from components, half the price of most other stores.  Gotta love it.