It all started because J wanted a CD rack...

...and I had magazines to drop off at Lifeline in Mitchell.

First stop, Salvos Mitchell where J donated a new in plastic roll of engagement wrapping paper and, in return, The Frugalling Fairy smiled upon us.

I know it's almost too late, but if you need Christmas cards, tasteless decorations or gift cards, head ye to Salvos Mitchell and check out the very large carton of vintage goodies. At one stage I pulled out a set of gift cards with Strawberry Shortcake on one side and, on the other, a cartoon character which looked vaguely familiar. It took about 20 minutes until I exclaimed, as we drove away: "Ziggy"!

See this pile of loveliness? $1 for the lot. I have evil plans for next year.

But first I may pull out and keep the grey and black cards for myself....J had no luck with CD racks that she'd actually want in her home so we headed up to Aussie Junk. Where we found a suitable CD rack, visited the Yarn Barns and then wandered into the Better Bits corner where I spotted these:which are identical to the lights J has in her kitchen. One of which has a shade which has gone a bit dodgy to which the seller of the original set declared there was no such thing as a spare part and she'd have to buy a whole new set of lights (around $100) to replace one dodgy shade.

Or, as became obvious today, spend $15 for both sets (brand new with tags attached) and the wooden CD rack and have spare shades and bulbs to last a lifetime. Thank you, Frugalling Fairy!

At Vinnies Gungahlin (which we had to visit to check the opening hours for the Google Doc spreadsheet on I op - ACT) I rounded my spend for the day to $10 with the purchase of this for $9:Hopefully for a blog reader who wanted to buy my Little Singer for her daughter for Christmas. So really, my spend was $1.