Game Thread Cheap treats - a thread for thrifty pleasures

[Further]

only rule is the treat has to cost less that $20.

What small things do you treat yourself to that bring you lots of joy?

A few for me.

Dolin Blanc Vermouth, bitters and club soda. On a hot day, this beverage is refreshing and helps me catch a light daytime buzz. Bottle cost ~ $16 and makes 6+ beverages.

A good magazine. Love Nat. Geo, Scientific America and almost any farmstead magazine. Cost ~ $8 and brings hours of joy.

A great carne asada taco from my fave local cart. Cost <$2 and brings me 3 minutes of joy and possibly hours of regret.

List yours.

 

[Strenuus]

Mrs. HCP


Oh, like you all weren't wishing you said it.

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I buy online classes for things that just look interesting and spend hours learning them, just because it’s fun. Usually I do this on Edx.org or Udemy when they go on sale, I’ve never spent more than 20. I just love learning new things.

 

[Boob-No-More]

Mrs. HCP


Oh, like you all weren't wishing you said it.

/thread

BNM

 

[Boob-No-More]

Vinyl record albums. I get a lot at Goodwill for $2.99 a pop, but also hit the record stores for better selection at higher prices. Most new albums are over $20, but there are a few you can get for less. The Frye's in Wilsonville recently added a section just for vinyl, complete with overpriced crappy turntables, but they have stuff like The Jimmy Hendrix Experience - Are you Experienced for $12.99.

My big find last weekend was a sealed 2008 remaster of Metallica's Black Album for $2.99 at my local Goodwill. This particular pressing is out of print and sealed copies usually sell for $80 and up:

BTW, the receiver ($9.99) and turntable ($14.99) also came from Goodwill.

BNM

 

[riverman]

Vinyl record albums. I get a lot at Goodwill for $2.99 a pop, but also hit the record stores for better selection at higher prices. Most new albums are over $20, but there are a few you can get for less. The Frye's in Wilsonville recently added a section just for vinyl, complete with overpriced crappy turntables, but they have stuff like The Jimmy Hendrix Experience - Are you Experienced for $12.99.

My big find last weekend was a sealed 2008 remaster of Metallica's Black Album for $2.99 at my local Goodwill. This particular pressing is out of print and sealed copies usually sell for $80 and up:

BTW, the receiver ($9.99) and turntable ($14.99) also came from Goodwill.

BNM

awesome!

 

[riverman]

new guitar strings or bargain CDs....I'll usually go for the old stuff like the Drifters or Ray Charles...etc...I'll also buy blank CDs to make compilation discs for the car. My booze preference is just over the 20 dollar limit....about 26 bucks for decent brandy. I'll go by the Asian market and buy some snacks from Taiwan I love to have around on occasion....I'll go see a concert at the wow hall or the U of O student jazz concerts for under 20 bucks.

 

[riverman]

Mrs. HCP


Oh, like you all weren't wishing you said it.

At 20 bucks a minute ....you still have time for a cigarette after

 

[BonesJones]

1 Moda Center Bottled Water.

 

[Further]

I buy online classes for things that just look interesting and spend hours learning them, just because it’s fun. Usually I do this on Edx.org or Udemy when they go on sale, I’ve never spent more than 20. I just love learning new things.

Great suggestion. If only I wasn’t a dummy.

 

[Further]

Please switch to OT section. My bad.

 

[Chris Craig]

1 Moda Center Bottled Water.

He said less than 20 dollars

 

[Chris Craig]

VHS movies...I have an 800 + collection

Vinyl Records

Magic the Gathering Cards

 

[Mediocre Man]

Pedicure. Its. More than 20 with a tip, but the pedicure itself is 20

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

Vinyl record albums. I get a lot at Goodwill for $2.99 a pop, but also hit the record stores for better selection at higher prices. Most new albums are over $20, but there are a few you can get for less. The Frye's in Wilsonville recently added a section just for vinyl, complete with overpriced crappy turntables, but they have stuff like The Jimmy Hendrix Experience - Are you Experienced for $12.99.

My big find last weekend was a sealed 2008 remaster of Metallica's Black Album for $2.99 at my local Goodwill. This particular pressing is out of print and sealed copies usually sell for $80 and up:

BTW, the receiver ($9.99) and turntable ($14.99) also came from Goodwill.

BNM

This is awesome.

 

[Mediocre Man]

Vinyl record albums. I get a lot at Goodwill for $2.99 a pop, but also hit the record stores for better selection at higher prices. Most new albums are over $20, but there are a few you can get for less. The Frye's in Wilsonville recently added a section just for vinyl, complete with overpriced crappy turntables, but they have stuff like The Jimmy Hendrix Experience - Are you Experienced for $12.99.

My big find last weekend was a sealed 2008 remaster of Metallica's Black Album for $2.99 at my local Goodwill. This particular pressing is out of print and sealed copies usually sell for $80 and up:

BTW, the receiver ($9.99) and turntable ($14.99) also came from Goodwill.

BNM

This is great. There is a cool store here in Houston called Sig's Lagoon. Love going there with my boys. One of them is really into vinyl.

 

[riverman]

This is great. There is a cool store here in Houston called Sig's Lagoon. Love going there with my boys. One of them is really into vinyl.

I transferred my vinyl collection to CDs with Cool Edit Pro software and there's no comparison to the commercial CD versions....especially Hendrix or the Beatles..when they remixed a lot of vinyl for CDs they cranked the bass and drums and buried the vocals...George Harrison hated the mixes...the commercial CDs of Hendrix you could barely hear him sing

 

[Boob-No-More]

This is great. There is a cool store here in Houston called Sig's Lagoon. Love going there with my boys. One of them is really into vinyl.

I still have every album I ever purchased. Most are from the 70s and early 80s, all properly stored and cared for over the years. I was an early adopter of CD technology. So, I had a huge gap in my vinyl collection starting around 1983. Fortunately, about a month and a half ago, someone dropped of fairly large collection at my local Goodwill. Like me, they had a lot from the 70s, but most of it was in pretty bad shape (I already have most of it anyway), but their stuff from the 80s was mostly in like new condition. I was able to snag a couple dozen more titles at $2.99 each.

Here's a few of them:

Here's a couple scores from Record Day 2017:

When I recently downsized, I revamped my vinyl system to better match my new smaller living quarters. Basically, gone are the huge speakers and the big amp to drive them. The new system is much more modest, but in some ways I like it even better:

That's a little Sherwood S-7100A (14 watts per channel) from the early 70s, driving a pair of JBL 4301B Control Monitors from 1980. I'm truly amazed how great this modest system sounds. Those little JBLs blow me away with how much good, tight bass they put out. Not as much s the Electro Voice Interface Ds they replaced, but those speakers were capable of reproducing bass down to 18Hz at live performance levels. Much more than I (or my neighbors) need for my new place.

BNM

 

[BonesJones]

He said less than 20 dollars

Oh, whoops...

 

[EL PRESIDENTE]

Steak bites at Acrop

 

[CupWizier]

I still have every album I ever purchased. Most are from the 70s and early 80s, all properly stored and cared for over the years. I was an early adopter of CD technology. So, I had a huge gap in my vinyl collection starting around 1983. Fortunately, about a month and a half ago, someone dropped of fairly large collection at my local Goodwill. Like me, they had a lot from the 70s, but most of it was in pretty bad shape (I already have most of it anyway), but their stuff from the 80s was mostly in like new condition. I was able to snag a couple dozen more titles at $2.99 each.

Here's a few of them:

Here's a couple scores from Record Day 2017:

When I recently downsized, I revamped my vinyl system to better match my new smaller living quarters. Basically, gone are the huge speakers and the big amp to drive them. The new system is much more modest, but in some ways I like it even better:

That's a little Sherwood S-7100A (14 watts per channel) from the early 70s, driving a pair of JBL 4301B Control Monitors from 1980. I'm truly amazed how great this modest system sounds. Those little JBLs blow me away with how much good, tight bass they put out. Not as much s the Electro Voice Interface Ds they replaced, but those speakers were capable of reproducing bass down to 18Hz at live performance levels. Much more than I (or my neighbors) need for my new place.

BNM

Early JBL's are killer speakers. I had a pair of JBL L150's that were big towers and sounded awesome and got extremely loud with my 250 watt power amp. My roommate also had a pair of JBL L65 Jubals that also rocked and he ran his through a 150 watt amp. We frequently had a knock at the door for playing our music a bit on the loud side, lol. I use to have an awesome collection of vinyl of well over 300 albums but kids and dogs came along and they didn;t mix so well so sold them all off. Music Millenium was my haven in the day. Now days it's full surround sound with 7.1 full theater sound for a great movie experience.

 

[Further]

Steak bites at Acrop

That’s steak bites +1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1+1......... till you’re broke.

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

A couple of filet mignon skewers and some salmon jerky from The Butcher Block on Horizon Ridge in Henderson. Almost like a real old fashioned butcher shop. Mmmmmm

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

Mrs. HCP


Oh, like you all weren't wishing you said it.

Mrs HCP.

I'm still saying it. Buy 3 get one free, she's like tires at Costco but she never wears out

 

[jlprk]

I buy online classes for things that just look interesting and spend hours learning them, just because it’s fun. Usually I do this on Edx.org or Udemy when they go on sale, I’ve never spent more than 20. I just love learning new things.

I just spent over an hour on this. Edx looks good. Udemy looks like they want my money. Thanks. I'll try Edx.

https://www.edx.org/
https://www.udemy.com/

samples I like
https://www.edx.org/course/islamic-finance-and-banking
https://www.edx.org/course/the-conquest-of-space-space-exploration-and-rocket-science
https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-aeronautical-engineering
https://www.edx.org/course/dynamics-and-control
https://www.edx.org/course/electric-cars-introduction

 

[TorturedBlazerFan]

I just spent over an hour on this. Edx looks good. Udemy looks like they want my money. Thanks. I'll try Edx.

https://www.edx.org/
https://www.udemy.com/

samples I like
https://www.edx.org/course/islamic-finance-and-banking
https://www.edx.org/course/the-conquest-of-space-space-exploration-and-rocket-science
https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-aeronautical-engineering
https://www.edx.org/course/dynamics-and-control
https://www.edx.org/course/electric-cars-introduction

I’d say Udemy is more hit or miss, edX panders a lot more to Microsoft but it’s usually more like “formal” education. I’ve had good and bad experiences with both.
Coursera is the one that feels the most like just wants my money, which is why I don’t include them.

 

[jlprk]

I’d say Udemy is more hit or miss...I’ve had good and bad experiences with both.

Where are the cheap Udemy courses? It says you get one course for $10, and the rest are at least $100.

https://www.udemy.com/collection/tagged-trending/all-courses/

 

[BonesJones]

Mrs HCP.

I'm still saying it. Buy 3 get one free, she's like tires at Costco but she never wears out

Then you're not doing it right.

 

[bodyman5000 and 1]

Then you're not doing it right.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ehlers–Danlos_syndromes

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

Beefy frito burrito at Taco Bell for $1, along with the free senior drink.