Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds

It’s been awhile seen my last post, mostly because my finds just haven’t been fun enough to show off!

Last week, I went to the flea market (nothing again! I must have dried up that location or someone is getting there before me), the local thrift shop, the Salvation Army, and Value Village (did I mention Panera, too?)

At Salvation Army, I found a Pyrex canister for $1.99, the pattern is called Spice of Life. I hate it the pattern, but love those canisters. Michael gave me the idea to start buying the Spice of Life ones, since they’re most popular, and to repaint the lids to match my future kitchen! Good idea, right? I also picked up a bacon microwave plate (what are they really called?) for $0.99. The one we have at home is cracked so the grease leaks out, making it pointless. We use it all the time! If you’ve never microwaved bacon, give it a try! It’s super quick, makes it crispy, and so much less grease.

At Value Village, I found yet another 401-sized Pyrex bowl (that’s my 4th in a few weeks!). As I’ve said again and again, the size is awesome for everyday cereal/soup bowls. I’m collecting the extras to stack up in the cupboard. This pattern is called Spring Blossoms, and I actually already have a whole set of this pattern, and this new bowl is an extra. I got it for $1.12 after my 25% discount and tax.

So what about you… have you thrifted recently? Have any questions? Love Pyrex too?!

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Bartering with the Savvy Student Shopper

Bartering is one of those things people did back in the olden days, remember? I’d trade my family’s goods (say ears of corn and some wheat) for your family’s good (maybe a cow). It worked really well! I don’t know why bartering died down. It saves money and it’s fun!

Over the month of October, I did some bartering with friends and family and I’m here to share!

First, way back in the end of August I picked up this Zodiac Pyrex dish at Value Village. It’s a fancy promo, though not one of my favorites, but my Pyrex pal wanted it! I picked it up for her to enjoy, even though it’s not in the best condition. I also threw in this yellow Pyrex bowl. The yellow bowl is a “newer” Pyrex bowl; I think this set came out in the 80s. Pyrex gal already has this complete set, but having an extra is always handy in my opinion. I surely feel safer having a double of a piece I use often! While Pyrex pal was at the thrifts one day she picked up a case of jelly jars. I traded my 2 Pyrex bowls for a case of jelly jars 🙂 The ones pictured aren’t the ones she gave me – it’s just for reference… because they are already filled with apple butter.

Also this month, I met up with another Pyrex collector! This was the first time we met up. I brought along a lid for her divided dish and a jar of apple butter, along with money to pay for the fridgie! She brought me a Halloween Pyrex container (from Target, but the one near me was sold out!) and a Butterprint fridgie to go with my set I’m trying to complete. You guys know how much I love those little refrigerator dishes! I have the hardest time finding them, especially with lids. And I’m a fan of the Amish print. I’m not really a city kind of gal…

Another “barter” was with my grandparents. I don’t know how much of a barter it really is, but I’ll still post it! Every week, my grandparents save their coupon inserts for me, plus they do everything and more grandparents are supposed to do -they are super! Every month or so, I bring them over bags of every day items that we as couponers get for cheap or free (minus the pizza kit, which my dad gets free from guys at work). It’s good for me to get to go through the stockpile and my grandparents love their “goodie bags”!

Here’s all the stuff I added to their bags, easily $50+ worth of stuff:

So what do you think? Should we all start bartering again? I’m sure you guys have a decent stockpile! Start trading for produce, meat, or coupons! Or Pyrex 😉

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Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds

It was a slow week around here, but I bought something so I ought to share!

I went to the flea market last weekend, but there was nothing good. We left with nada!

I went to Value Village on Monday (25% off day) and found some Pyrex to buy! Unfortunately, it is the Early American pattern, which is one of my least favorites. I bough the 401 (the tiny bowl) because as I mentioned last week when I bought the other ugly brown 401, they are great for cereal/soup bowls! I collect cheap extras because one day I’ll have enough to stack them up in my cabinet and use them every single day. Maybe I’ll even have one 401 from every pattern 🙂 I felt really bad leaving the other bowl behind… after all, I was taking its “baby”! Luckily, my Pyrex pal said she wanted it via text so I bought it. The two bowls set me back $4.40 after discount and tax. Not shabby!

Nerdboy found these mini coke classes and thought they were pretty neat! (The apple is for size comparison, we didn’t buy an apple at Value Village). They aren’t antiques, but they are cute little things. Michael NEVER buys, let alone looks, while we go thrifting so I have to support his buys! The were $0.49 each + 25% off, plus still had the original stickers on the bottom.

I’m sure some of you wonder if I actually use all this Pyrex I buy, right? Well, we do use Pyrex almost every day! I love the 401 bowls, they are probably my favorite size dish. We use the refrigerator dishes for leftovers and just last night, we each cooked and ate our own baked ziti in cute 472-sized casseroles.

Did you have a better thrifting week than I did? Have any questions? Don’t be shy!

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Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds 10/19

Welcome back to another Thrifty Finds post! I hope you’re enjoying these as much as I am 🙂

This week was great for thrifing! We started off last weekend at the flea market. I didn’t buy anything, but my mom picked up a few odds and ends (like a Home & Garden’s curtain set) for $0.25 each. Michael and I then drove around town (and then got Panera) to hit some more shops. No luck at the pricey Goodwill. They wanted $8 for this lid!

I’m still shocked! The Salvation Army was quite the place to be though! I spotted 5 different pieces of Butterfly Gold all in separate places! I was able to piece together this 4 piece Cinderella bowl set, one by one. I also grabbed the small (okay, and ugly) Old Orchard 401 bowl because I hope to have a cupboard full of spare 401 size bowls in my future house to use as cereal/soup bowls. I went up to the register expecting to pay $11.50. The small bowl was $0.50 (half off today) and the bowl set totaled up to $11. When the cashier was counting up my total, he asks “how’s $6 for everything?” GREAT! I paid $5.99 and walked out of there a very happy camper. I’m not a fan of either of those patterns, but I could not leave an entire bowl set behind -it was fate! Plus, that price was unbelievable. If I ever decide to sell it one day, I’ll be glad I only paid about $5.50 for the whole set.

The following day, I went back to the flea market and didn’t find any Pyrex. Either someone is buying it or people just aren’t selling it there lately! I did manage to snag 2 cases of pint sized canning jars (minus 1 jar, so technically 23 of them) for $2! Woohoo! Of course, that was after Michael and I had just canned over 52 jars of apple butter, jelly, pie filling, and strawberry jam.

On Monday, we ventured to Value Village for 25% off day! I always walk right to the glassware section. No luck. I walked around my other favorite aisles hoping to find some misplaced Pyrex or something else that I can’t live without. I found a really nice glass hummingbird feeder! I don’t think it was ever used. After the discount + tax, it was about $3! I’ll probably give it to my mom for Christmas, hopefully she’s not reading. After walking past the glassware aisle 3 more times (Michael hates how I do that!), I gave it one last go around before leaving. Guess what I spotted on the bottom of the mug shelf? A complete Woodland Mixing Bowl set in great condition! I wasn’t leaving it behind – no way! After discount + tax, it was about $10 for the whole set! Again, it’s not one of my favorite patterns, but I could not leave it behind!

I passed up this smaller sized dutch oven for around $6. I really, really, really wanted to take it home with me. The price was great (high for thrift pricing, but cheap for an orange, cast iron dutch oven). The outside was in really good shape, but the paint on the inside had chipped off too much, which is one of the big problems with dutch ovens.. I decided not to buy it. I surely miss it though! I love them!

So that wraps up another thrifting adventure for me! Any questions or comments? Any great thrifting stories? Let’s chat!

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Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds 10/10

Welcome to another thrifty finds post -the most popular section of my blog!

There’s not too much to report this week, but I know some of you have been waiting. I went to Value Village last Monday when they had 25% off. I got a Spring Blossoms Pyrex casserole dish for $1.21. It’s cute, in great shape, and matches the bowl set I already have. The white one pictured is the new one. I also got a new winter coat for $3.75! How great is that?! The coat is in awesome shape and it’s H&M brand. The sleeves are a tad too short, but I will make do, especially at that price. I love the color too 🙂

I went to the flea market on Sunday, but it was raining so everyone was closing up and there was nothing to buy. I went back to Value Village this Monday for their Columbus Day sale (50% off!). Unfortunately I didn’t bring home any new Pyrex. I had to leave behind a yellow 503 refridgerator dish because it was too beat up. I ended up buying a tiny canning jar for $0.25, a full-size American flag for $0.99, and a sunflower garden flag for $0.49.

It wasn’t a bad week, but not the best. I hope I score some more deals this weekend!

How about you? Did you have better thrifting luck this week? Any questions or comments? Share!

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Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds 9/30

Welcome to another week of the Savvy Student Shopper’s thrifty finds! I “took off” this weekend from blogging to get some things accomplished. I think I was on my laptop twice the entire weekend (which is a huge for me!). Nerdboy and I conquered about 35lbs of apples (we’ll have a post on that later) and I hit the thrifts!

Monday’s are 25% off day at Value Village, so we went! I found a Pyrex Gooseberry refrigerator dish for $1.06 (after discount). As I’ve mentioned before, Gooseberry is one of my favorite patterns and is very popular/expensive in the Pyrex collecting world. It’s in great shape and a super price! Too bad it didn’t have a lid. I also found a Pyrex See ‘n Store canister! I’ve been looking for these for months, so I was ecstatic to finally find one. They have a glass bottom, with a plastic, decorated lid. They are great for holding dry baking ingredients, nuts, dried fruit, etc. It was $1.06 as well. Also at Value Village, I found a boy’s flannel shirt. I love flannel, especially when it’s already soft and worn, you know? Boy’s sizes still fit me and it’s cheaper. I got the blue flannel shirt for $2.24, after discount. There’s just something warm and fuzzy about a nice flannel shirt, leggings, and Crocs. I already have a boyfriend, so I’m not trying to impress anyone 😉 My fellow couponers will get a kick out of this like I did: Value Village used a coupon insert (not even expired!) to wrap up my Pyrex!

I headed out to the flea market Saturday (2 of them) and found 4 Pyrex lids -no dishes! I got all the lids for $2.50 (plus I found $0.25 on the ground!). We often find dishes without lids, so I’m always looking out for cheap lids. Because of all the canning we’ve been doing, jars are always a must. I bought the 2 pint size jars for $0.50 each. I found out when I got home that the one says “Not for home canning” – Oops! I also got the jelly jars for FREE! They were in a box sitting next to the trashcan 🙂

My mom and I had a great time at the flea market this morning! I just noticed that I forgot to take a picture of the mums we bought. We got two purple mums for $2.50 each. Great for fall! I also bought a pack of 5 garlics for $1. All the onions were $2. The baskets, which will be used for Christmas gifts, were 3 for $1. A lady had 3 boxes of quart sized jars and they were just 10 cents a piece! I bought 10… but really should have bought more! The strawberries were $1/pack of 8 for $6. I had to pick through and get rid of the bad ones, but for less that $1/lb for strawberries, it was worth it! I washed, chopped and froze 12 cups for jam (a post on that later as well!). Overall, it was a great morning! Beautiful weather, great deals, multiple trips to the car because our arms were full, and got some Christmas presents and Fall decorating done!

I hope these posts inspire you to start thrifiting. It’s one of my favorite things to do! I believe in getting things for cheap and buying old, instead of buying new. It’s important to me to reuse/recycle things and putting money back in the pocket of the average person.

So, how about you? Any thrifting stories, comments, or questions to share?

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Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds 9/18

It was another good thrifting week for the Savvy Student Shopper! I went to the flea market on Sunday, a few yard sales, a thrift store, and an antique shop. I never, ever had luck at yard sales. I haven’t bought anything from a yard sale in years, so I’m jealous of everyone else that has yard sale luck! Maybe this area isn’t good with yard sales.. I don’t know!

At the flea market on Saturday, I did not purchase any Pyrex. This guy had 6-8 tubs of clothes that were 3 for $1. I honestly cannot pass up looking through 3 for $1 boxes. Mom and I found the 6 pieces pictured about, totaling $2. We got the Raven’s T-Shirt for my dad, the snowman scarf for Christmas decorating, the blue sweater for my mom, and the scarf, black cardigan and gray sweater were all bought for wool/cashmere upcycling.

On Sunday, I went back to the flea market -good thing I did! I found this cute Pyrex Daisy Divided Dish with lid for $3. It’s in great condition! It’s one of my only pink pieces (pink’s my favorite color!) and my first from the Daisy pattern. I also bought the book, Dear John, for 10 cents.

While at the thrift store on Saturday, I was able to stock up on more canning jars! I spotted the 2 pints first for $0.50 and then walked towards to back of the store once before leaving and spotted a whole container of quarts! They didn’t have a price, so the guy said I could have them all for $3! With tax and my 10% discount, I paid just $3.81 for 9 new jars 🙂 We’ll be apple picking soon!

Did you go thrifting recently?! Score any deals? Want to chat? Leave me a comment!

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Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds

Welcome back to another Thrifty Finds post! These deals are all from the past 2 weeks.

My biggest find from this week was this grill! My family uses our grill at least 4 days a week, so it’s an extremely valuable item for us. Our old grill was on its last leg and we needed a “new” one to get us through winter, at least. I found this one on an online yard sale site for $20! It looks like it was only used once and came with a filled propane tank. I gave it to my mom as a Birthday present since she’s the griller in the family.

 

I apologize for the Pyrex pictures above, they were the ones sent to me from the seller and I never got a chance to take new pictures when I was home last weekend! I found these 3 bowls (and a box of other glasses/bowls) for just $5! It was a lady that works near my mom. I love the Turquoise Butterprint and I’m already halfway done the cinderella bowl set! All I need is the baby bowl and biggest bowl. The orange Autumn Harvest has Thanksgiving written all over it!

I scored these two Pyrex bowls from the flea market last weekend for $3 each! It’s more than I like to spend on a bowl, but these are to the Primary set which every Pyrex collector NEEDS to have. I’m hoping I can finish the set (the red and blue bowl) at a thrifty price as well. I could not believe my eyes when I came across this seller’s lot at the flea market. It was ALL Pyrex. He had a blanket with Pyrex all over it and a box full as well. Everything was $3 a piece, but unfortunately all the pieces were common, lidless, and/or not in great condition. I was happy finding half of my Primary set though; they are common, but I’ve had the hardest time finding them. The man said he was clearing out one of his rental houses. Apparently the people were Pyrex hoarders :0

Lastly, Michael and I went to Value Village on 25% off day. Unfortunately, all the Pyrex was gone. I did score a jelly jar for $0.37. While browsing the craft section, I found this ENORMOUS roll of yarn sitting on top the shelf. I figured it would be really expensive, but Michael checked anyway. It was $7.99, so just $6 after my 25% off! If you buy yarn regularly, you know that $6 for a million pounds of yarn (well, it felt like a million pounds as I carried it home) is a great price. I took the chance and bought it, hoping it was 100% wool for Wool Dryer Balls.

Have any questions or comments? Did you thrift anything this week? Let’s chat 😀

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Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds

It’s been awhile since our last thrifty post! If you’ve been following along, you know that we moved into a new apartment this week and the first day of classes was today! I’ve been very busy but hopefully I’ll be settled and on a schedule soon. Here are my thrifty finds from the last 2 or 3 weeks!

My mom has told some of her friends that I collect Pyrex and I’ve been receiving a few pieces from them! It’s nice to have other flea market-go’ers and yardsaler’s looking out for you. The Shenandoah casserole dish (the yellow one) and the Opal pie plate were from my mom’s friend. They were only $1 or $2 each! That same week, I went to the flea market and found those two cinderella bowls in the picture above. I saw the White Spring Blossoms bowl first and then Pink Gooseberry bowl sitting next to it. I got SO excited to see that pink one -it’s big and gorgeous! Trying to hide my excitement, I asked the man his prices and he said $1 for the white and $2 for the pink -SCORE! That same week I saw that same pink one for $10 and had a hard time passing it up -good thing I did! Pink Gooseberry is extremely popular.

My love for this bowl cannot be described! It’s prettier in person… with fruit in it! 🙂

The next morning at the flea market, I found these 2 lovelies! I think I got the green casserole dish for $1.50. it came with a lid, so that’s always a plus for me! I’ll spend $1 on spare lids, so $1.50 for the dish and lid was great with me. To the right you’ll see when of my latest and most favorite finds -a refrigerator dish with lid! I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw the Butterprint dish laying all out in the open on the table. I immediately scooped it into my arms and asked the price before even looking at its condition (it didn’t matter to me!). The lady said $1 -Yipee!!! My first refrigerator dish with a lid for $1 -amazing 🙂 After further investigation, I noticed the lid is chipped, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m slowly adding to my turquoise Butterprint collection (all at amazing prices!).

Look at how well that fridgie holds a half dozen chocolate cupcakes with raspberry frosting! 😉

I complained for months because I couldn’t find a single fridgie, but just in 2 weeks, I found 4! Imagine my surprise when I found both of these this week in my own cupboard (on different days)! I must have bought the red one at the Goodwill years ago when I was still eyeing Pyrex up. My mom said the Early American (the white one) was probably from my great aunt. Not necessarily thrifts since I found them in my cupboard, but lovely nonetheless!

That following week, my mom’s friend brought another batch of his Pyrex finds. All pieces were $1-$2. The blue one up front makes fridgie #4! I’ll hopefully be trading the Forest Fancies casserole (mushroom pattern) with a fellow Pyrex collecting friend as it is not one of my favorite patterns. The black snowflake is awesome and definitely a great find! The orange casserole dish is lovely as well, but is unfortunately missing its original lid. At least it has a lid!

To end the summer of right, my fellow thrifting buddies and I went to 3 Goodwills, Value Village, and our local thrift shop to hunt out some deals. While none of us walked away with any Pyrex, I scored a few goodies! The canning jars were bought for $0.25 and $0.50 each. The Pampered Chef steamer was a steal at $0.69! I wanted one for the apartment anyway so paying less than $1 made me smile. That thing cooks broccoli perfectly! In the baggy are the shower hooks I got for $0.99. We needed shower hooks and these were exactly the kind I was looking for!

The shower hooks are perfect!

The day after moving in, Nerdboy was nice enough to take me to our local Value Village. They had quite a few pieces of Pyrex but they were a bit overpriced and not my patterns. I did find this promotional piece called Zodiac for my friend, Glenda who has been wanting it! It was $3. The little flower bowl is my cereal bowl that I got early this summer.

Whew -I think that’s everything! I’ve had a great few weeks of thrifting. How about you? Any deals?!

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Savvy Student Shopper’s Thrifty Finds 8/6

I went out of town this weekend, but that didn’t stop us from thrifting! We stopped at that indoor flea market I’ve bought from before and the Goodwill. I found a lot of vintage Corelle at the Goodwill; the tableware pieces that match some of the Pyrex patterns. I don’t collect Corelle, but I’m sure one of these days I’ll come across some of the pieces at such a low price (or maybe even free) that I won’t be able to pass up. The Goodwill also had an entire shelf of Ball and Atlas canning jars -which I love to find!… Except, they were all priced at $0.79! You can easily buy a brand new case at Walmart for $10-$12 (that’s for 12 jars) and that includes the bands and lids! Sometimes I wonder who prices the stuff at Goodwill.

Anyway, on to the indoor flea market, which is similar to a antique shop. I found quite a few Pyrex turquoise butterprint and pink gooseberry casseroles, but they were so badly dishwashed. The lady saw me checking them out and offered to make a deal, but I told her that they were just too ruined for me to buy… especially at her prices! Newsflash to all vintage sellers: condition matters! Just because you have nice pieces doesn’t necessarily mean they are valuable, especially after you treated the pieces so badly for all those years.

On to what I did buy… the same lady also had a pink on white Pyrex gooseberry casserole that is slightly washed out, but it’s more difficult to tell since the dish is white anyway. It had no lid and she wanted $4 for it. I got her down to $3 and I bought it because it’s my first decent pink piece and first of the gooseberry pattern.

Another vendor has had these 3 Pyrex casserole lids sitting on the floor in front of his display for the past few months. Now that I have many of my own lidless pieces, I bought their 3 lids (2 different sizes) for $1 each. The one size fits the gooseberry casserole I also bought that day.

And lastly, I spotted that salt/pepper shaker on a table and picked it up to admire its cuteness. It’s so tiny and adorable, isn’t it? Well, I bought it because it was only $0.05! 🙂 I love vendors like that! I’m not familiar with salt and pepper shakers at all. Mike suggested we use this little guy for cinnamon sugar. The shaker is all clear and completed solid, usually you’ll see ones with gold bands or flowers, but not here. The lid says Pyrex, but that’s all I know about it!

I apologize for the blurry picture. I need to get a new battery in my camera, so this was taken with my phone. Also, all of my thrifty goodies are sitting on top of a box. Do you know what’s in that box? 25 pounds of peaches! 😀 We also stopped at a farmer’s market that day and the box of local peaches was $21.50, just $0.86/lb! I’ll be canning them all up tomorrow or the next day. If you’d like to help, feel free to stop by, but please bring some jars.

Now it’s your turn… share with me your comments, thrifty finds, or anything!

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