Our Non-Frugal Fabulous Day Out

From Spring right through early Autumn…Saturday mornings are my time with my husband. We spend the morning driving around, looking for yard sales and stopping at the farmer’s market to see if we can grab any goodies that our own garden hasn’t gifted to us.

I miss my Saturday mornings during the winter. We’re still hanging out together, but there are no yard sales, no farmer’s markets and no hanging outside due to the cold weather. Well, this morning, at the promise of mild weather we decided to head out.

We initially planned on driving to the local ( 20 miles away) Ollie’s to get THREE things. A set of casters, a mallet and a pry bar. Well, we did get the mallet there…along with a shelving unit, a bath mat, some Command hooks, a sprayer, work gloves, a sink drain and some other things I can’t recall right now. Total about $80.

Tractor Supply is right next door. Six blueberry bushes and $30 later, we emerge from THAT store and decide that we’re hungry. I had never been to one of the local BBQ joints, so my husband took me there. He had dined there a few times while at work and really enjoyed it. The view is awesome. The restaurant sits about half way up a mountain and you can dine overlooking the Susquehanna River. The food is pretty good too. The coleslaw was amazing.  But what I really enjoyed was just spending time with my husband, hanging out, talking and planning some spring projects.

 

 

 

 

Side note: This restaurant has some cool features beyond the view. The first was the no smoking sign when you entered:

 Then there were the doors on the stalls in the restroom. I know, I probably shouldn’t be taking pictures in the restroom, but don’t worry…there was no one else in there and the restaurant was practically empty. I took my chances. Anyway, they were made from this heavy, aged corrugated metal with big sliding devices to keep them closed. Of course, my initial thought was “these would be so cool to make”. Now, I have no place in my home to put such a door, but I admit that hasn’t stopped me in the past.

 When we were finished with lunch, we paid the $23 bill and off to Giant supermarket we went. That’s the only store anywhere near us that sells organic blueberries. We left with organic apples and organic blueberries. Add another $9 to our tally. If I have a chance to buy any of the “dirty dozen” fruits or veggies organically, I try to jump on it. The amount of pesticides used scare the you-know-what out of me! I’ll save that rant for another day…

Next stop: Lowe’s. I feel I need to put it out there. I detest going to Lowe’s. I have not had good experiences there and I don’t enjoy feeling like just another number. Regardless, we left with two bags of hardware essentials for a project (including the casters), paid $37 and will probably return to buy a new riding mower.

It was time to come home. Was I upset about the money spent? Absolutely not. Here’s how I see it. If you live within your means the majority of the time, you can completely afford days like today. Isn’t that the purpose of living frugally? To have the money when you need it for other things? To be able to vacation without debt? To not worry about where the money will come from for certain things? We charged nothing, we had a great time, we have supplies for a new project and we didn’t purchase anything that we won’t use. We DID however forget to buy something that I DID need. Anyone have a pry bar I can borrow?