Three Thrifty Things 2-20-12

Welcome to Three Thrifty Things, a new feature here at Frugal Follies!

I've noticed that sometimes I get so busy with blogging about frugality that I'm not doing the frugal things that got me to start this blog in the first place!  So each week I'll be listing three things I'll do that week, beyond the typical day-to-day tasks I already do, to either help save money or to bring in extra income.  That way, I'll be practicing what I preach, so to speak.

Last week, my Three Thrifty Things were:

1. Cooking pinto beans in the crockpot and making salt-free refried beans out of them.  Completed! I soaked the beans for several hours, then cooked them in the crockpot for over 12 hours.  Then I mashed them, added lots of seasonings, and packaged them in quart-sized square containers.  Now I have lots of pinto beans for my Veggie Burritos, among other dishes.
2. Check out prices and deals for a new dishwasher. I did some work on this but still have some research to do.  I read about dishwasher buying tips (here's one article), looked at the websites for the major manufacturers, reviewed the Sunday newspaper ads, and found addresses of new and used appliance stores in my area.  I still need to check out the stores in person.
3. List some used designer children's clothes on eBay.  I did a lot of work on this one, but it isn't complete.  I sorted through the clothes, took photos of each item, typed up detailed descriptions of each item, and uploaded the photos to a filesharing site.  I still need to resize the photos and create the eBay listing.

This week, besides completing the above two unfinished items, my Three Thrifty Things are:

1. Organize my pantry stockpile.  Having bought lots of great deals at Publix Running Out? Run In, Italian Days, and Kellogg's 50% off promotions, my pantry is overflowing.  And if I can't find things, all those sales do me no good.  So I'll be organizing the pantry.
2. Clean up my inserts file drawer.   I file away whole coupon inserts and pull them out when I need to cut out a coupon.  But I don't always put them back neatly, so the drawer is messy.  Also, I have a file folder for coupon books, and in many of them, all the coupons have expired.  So I'm going to clean up this drawer and make it easier to find my coupons when I need them.
3. List some used children's books on eBay.  I used to regularly find used children's books in thrift shops and yard sales, and I sold them in lots on eBay.  (See my guide to Selling Used Books Online.)  I have a large pile of them that I bought when I was considering starting this line of business again.  I want to get them out of my house, so I'll list them on eBay.

What are your Three Thrifty Things?  Leave a comment below!

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