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The Minimal-ish Mama

Thrifty Thursday’s Fun Finds

in DIY, Home on 08/28/10

You know, there was once a time when I didn’t enjoy shopping. I found it tedious, frustrating, and time consuming. And then I discovered the adrenaline rush that accompanies getting a good deal. The thrill of thriftiness, the excitement of the hunt, the serotonin burst from a steal of a deal…it’s addicting, and I’m a total junkie.

Thursday night after Brian got off work we did a little “toy” shopping. We went to Harbor Freight Tools for Brian’s, and Michael’s for mine. We each had some spending money and coupons. Harbor Freight sells all kinds of tools and other manly things at discounted prices, and when you bring in the coupon insert from the paper, it’s almost ridiculous how much you save. We may have Michael’s in Iowa, but all I remember is Hobby Lobby and Joanne’s Fabrics, so for those of you who don’t know, Michael’s is right along those lines. This week all my favorite things were on sale: scrapbooking paper, albums, picture frames, canvas, and acrylic paints.

We went to Harbor Freight first, and Brian picked out a cordless drill and flashlight set for $18.99, a multimeter for $2.50, an angle grinder for $14.99, a drill bit set for $7.99, and a screw driver set for $7.99.

Then we went to Michaels. My goal was to get some wedding themed scrapbooking supplies, so we looked through the on sale paper and picked out whatever seemed to be kind of romantic, mostly Valentine’s Day themed stuff, and a lot of other paper I can use in my other scrapbooks. In the clearance bins, I found a scrapbook paper box for $5. I’ve been needing one for a long long time! 

 
Here’s the screwdriver set, Brian got it for me 🙂 And we also bought sandpaper for my future painting projects. 
Then we looked through the stickers- my favorite thing about scrapbooking! Unfortunately, scrapbooking stickers are really expensive! We picked out the best priced ones we could find, when Brian saw a wedding scrapbook kit, album and all! We used the 40% off coupon and got it for $30! And we put back all the Valentine’s Day paper and wedding stickers. 

I can’t wait to get started! If I make any really good layouts, I’ll be sure to share them with you. 
What projects are you looking forward to tackling? Did you have any thrifty finds this week? 

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Comments

  1. HonorMommy says

    August 29, 2010 at 4:41 am

    So…um…perhaps Brian shouldn't mention his good Harbor Freight deal to Paul… he's kind of a tool snob :-D.

    As for Michaels, they have them in Iowa…or at least they have them in Des Moines.

    And yay for the great scrapbooking stuff! I want a paper box…I didn't know they made such things. It would be much nicer than having them sitting on my shelf.

  2. Emily Joyce says

    August 30, 2010 at 5:31 am

    These are pretty nice tools, the multimeter and the drill were kind of cheap, but the other stuff is pretty nice, and I don't even know much about tools 🙂 But Brian used to be a craftsman only guy.

    I thought there was one in DM, but I couldn't remember.

    I used to keep all my stuff in a cardboard box, it was the perfect size for paper, but this is much much nicer 🙂

  3. Audra says

    August 31, 2010 at 1:18 am

    Great deals! I especially love the wedding album!

    I'm currently on the hunt for either ready made drapes (preferably since crafty time is at a minimum here) or fabric to make drapes for my newly painted living room.

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