@jnw Sweet - always feels good when you realize all the small things really do add up.
Bought a $110 Amazon gift card today from Raise.com w/ a $0.51 discount. I also used the LUCKY10 promo code for an extra $10 off. So the $110 gift card came to $99.49. But it gets better, Discover It Cashback Q3 rotating category is Apple Pay (along with gas stations). I paid Raise.com w/ Apple Pay so I will be getting %10 cashback (first year with Discover It Cashback -- double cashback) on the $99.49 for $9.49. So I essentially paid $90 for a $110 gift card, which results in a 18.2% discount.
Food and time savings
Since I had one fresh batch of homemade sauce left - (from the garden) Italian tomato/basil/pepper/garlic chives -
I heated up freshly made (pasta from scratch-manicotti) with a topping of fresh spinach - from the local Italian Deli -
$7.98 for five manicotti - that gave us two dinners for two at two dollars per plate.
Of course while there I had to pick up two giant cinnamon rolls from their bakery at $3.50 each. Took us three breakfasts to eat it all plus I got one afternoon tea treat out of it. There is a reason that Deli is literally elbow to elbow every time I go no matter what time or day.
Garden - Who knew that
1. some sunflowers are strictly ornamental, others are excellent for harvesting for human consumption and some are better suited for wildlife.
You know that famous sunflower still life by Van Gogh? Couldn't resist when I spotted seeds for those multi-flower branches. Definitely ornamental and an excellent reason to hunt down a similar vase at the thrift store to mimic that look - just for fun.
The Van Gogh sunflowers have already begun setting multiple flowers... Yay!
My original intent was to grow sunflowers for the birds.
Five hours online and ten seed packets later ... I'm now obsessed with the world of sunflowers.
I had only partial success since I only tried three seed packets but I now have four giant edible sunflowers, looking good at 4-5 ft tall and growing well.
Go figure - none of the sunflower seeds for the birds came up - maybe they found and ate the seeds?:)
2. Surprise - on a whim, I ordered a Chinese Lemon Basil seed packet.
I had zero expectations of it doing well in my zone 10 garden (hot and humid). Ha! That taste is outstanding. A lot like Lemon Verbena - can't wait to use its fresh leaves for a summer drink maybe mix it with orange mint or lemon grass.
It doesn't look very robust yet, (thin, light green leaves) so I think I may try it in salads next and then try it in a marinade.
So much better in flavor and intensity than any lemon basil that I've ever found in the garden centers.
3. So essentially,
1. organic heirloom (meaning I paid through the nose) sunflower seeds - that I can now save my own seeds from - forever. Awesome!
2. The ornamental Van Gogh - a joyful garden moment. Free cutting flowers for the season. Nice savings.
3. Fantastic lemon basil, full of flavor for summer drinks and salads. It seems to handle our extreme heat and humidity well, we'll see how it does by Aug.
I got five good-looking plants - so definitely a win - I gotta remember to add some leaves to the ice cube tray.
Books
Enjoying the perks of Kindle Unlimited - spending way too much time reading entertaining series by new to me Fantasy and Sci-Fi authors.
Totally taking my time reading a new Interior Design book I found at the discount store and slowly re-reading my favorite garden
books tomes.
Freebies
1. My neighbor made a great all-natural Mosquito repellant! A must-have in Florida and I refuse to use the chemical stuff.
2. Same neighbor gifted me with jars of papaya lime jam - which I promptly used for ribs on the 4th of July holiday.
3. Amazon - a dress lost in transit - got a full refund and then the dress arrived a week later (which I'm allowed to keep for free:)
Deep discount Shopping
1. Discovered that one vendor at Temu online has nice quality summer dresses that fit me for $8 to $12 dollars and tops for $6 to $8. Free shipping. TBH however, I ended up with five dresses from other vendors that were way too large or I didn't like - $40 blown, but I'll donate them instead of returning them. Overall still a huge win since I'm keeping six dresses.
2. Temu also had an impressive selection of curtains - I bought eight panels at $3.97 each for our outdoor gazebo, but if I'd come across their curtain section sooner I would have gladly spent $25 to $30 per panel for some fancy living room curtains. Not to be found here in the States for under $100 ea panel.
Project
3. Their art supply section is massive but so far I've only picked up a few stencils, excellent quality, incl. larger sizes for beyond dirt cheap.
Now I own a good variety of stencils suitable for my next DIY project(s) incl. stenciling the tiles on the bathroom floor.
An easy, cheap and construction mess-free solution.