Five Frugal Things | sun = free bleach
All of my things are tiny this week. 🙂
1. I put my white shirt in the sunshine
My white American Giant tee had a few faint stains on the front that I figured were probably food-based.
So, I put the shirt in the sun for a few hours, and now all is well.
Sunshine is great for getting rid of stains on white fabric because you don't have to worry about the sun fading the rest of the garment; it's all white anyway!
2. I doctored up my sparkling water
I saved the syrup from some passion fruit canned peaches (from Aldi), and added a bit of it to my glasses of sparkling water.
It's kinda like a no-extra-effort simple syrup; perfect for when you want a very slightly sweet drink. 🙂
3. I watered my plants with my dehumidifier water
It's been pretty dry here lately, but of course, with it being summer, the air has not been dry.
So, my basement dehumidifier is still pulling out plenty of water from the air, and I have been using it to water my non-edible plants outside.
(Dehumidifier water tends to have bacteria in it that might make it unsafe to use on edible plants.)
But for the edible ones, I've been using the water from my salad spinner.
4. I swapped out my A/C filter
A dirty air conditioning filter makes the unit work harder to cool the house. So, I try to be good about replacing them during the summer months.
I have baseboard hot water heat, so this is only a warm-weather task for me!
5. I walked to my mammogram
I had a 7:05 am appointment, and as I was trying to figure out when I'd fit in my exercise for the day, I realized...I could just walk there, since it's near the college.
So, that's what I did. This obviously did not save me very much gas, especially since I have a hybrid car now, but hey, it's fitting with the tiny frugal things concept. 😉
I do not love getting mammograms, but hey, a few minutes of discomfort once a year is not a huge ask, especially since early detection is so important.
Nothing dramatic, just household frugality:
* Husband helping sons build a new andirondak chair for the yard. Much cheaper than buying a new one and the sons learn something new.
*Cleaning out parts of the basement and disposing of broken things. Also donated some useful things to the thrift store. The little table and chairs my kids loved when they were little pulled at my heartstrings, but we haven't used them in a few years, so off they go to be a blessing to some other family.
*In the "time is money" category, husband bought a paint sprayer. He tried painting the basement wall and it took way too much time for one small section. Paint sprayer covered the scabrous walls in no time flat. We'll have many uses for this tool, so long term investment.
* Husband built a quick headboard for bed in basement using miscellaneous pieces of wood that he found while cleaning out basement. It doesn't need to be pretty, just functional.
* in one box of old letters and cards, we found about $3 in unused stamps from 25+ years ago. So I'll use those to send out snail mail this week.
* short term cost but long term frugal- new tires for our minivan. We were going to replace only two, but the shop called and said the other two were a lot older than we thought and not in great condition. Safety is important, and we want to drive this car another 50k miles if we can, so we replaced then all.
I spend much of my time here in New Mexico hiding from the incredibly strong sun, but it is very useful in many ways. Last week I found that a baby mouse had died in my small cooler stored on the porch. Which had been closed. Which meant the mouse was decomposing in my closed cooler, and it absolutely reeked of death. This is the cooler I use to incubate my yogurt, which was obviously not happening in its current condition.
I scrubbed it out with dish soap and boiling water. Still smelled. Rinsed it with bleach. Still smelled. I coated the inside with baking soda and let that sit for awhile before rinsing with vinegar. Still smelled. I tried straight bleach. Still smelled. Finally, not knowing what else to do, I just left it open in the sun for a few days. No more smell! Hooray for UV disinfectant.
1&2) We had decided to get an exercise bike, and my husband first posted in an exercise group that he is part of to see if anyone was selling a used one. Someone responded that he had an industrial one from a gym in his basement that he needed to rehome. We went to get it and ended up hanging out with the guy getting rid of the bike and his wife. Turns out their daughter goes to the same high school where our son will start in the fall. She gave us a lot of helpful tips for him and invited him to be part of a mentoring group. Networking is the most frugal activity, plus the bike was free!
3) I went to an eye appointment yesterday and found out that yes, I do need reading glasses on top of my astigmatism rx. The eye doctor wanted to sell me progressives, which were over $600 for just the lenses.
His big pitch for progressives was because no one can tell you’re wearing them, whereas the bifocal line makes you look “old.” Since I am doing zero things to look “young,” this doesn’t bother me. You have to buy their frames, which start at $300. I politely said I would need to think it over and took the rx and went home and ordered bifocals on Zenni for $60 to try out.
4) Still working my way through my library cookbook instead of going out to eat!
5) NOT frugal- I also had an appointment at the hospital yesterday and didn’t get there until just before my appointment time, so I used the hospital valet, which is both expensive and silly when you’re completely capable of walking. I rushed to the appointment, got there on time, then waited half an hour to see the doctor :/ But while I waited, I read a library book from the Libby app on my phone (free!) so at least there is that.
--After over a decade of loyal service, our French press' glass carafe shattered on the edge of the sink when I dropped it doing dishes. Thankfully, I'd kept the glass from our previous French press (the plastic frame of which had cracked), and it fit the metal frame of the "new" press perfectly. Both were/are Bodum brand and like-new Goodwill finds, so this was a (clumsily) frugal transplant.
--I am on a streak of breaking things, as I also managed to shatter a ceramic plate last night. I placed the plate on the counter and opened the spice cupboard, whereupon a jar of black garlic fell onto the plate just right. The black garlic is fine, and the plate was a $1 Goodwill find years ago. Thank you for your service, plate!
--I've been keeping an eye out for metal curtain tie back hooks, and Habitat Restore delivered a pair for $1. The white color was easily fixed with gold spray paint I already had.
--This morning will be spent harvesting beans and greens from the garden. I had the joy of harvesting my first potatoes ever (never planted them before) last week and prepped all of them for the freezer. The front garden of lilies and wildflowers looks AMAZING. My early 40s/midlife crisis flavor is apparently "Garden Witch," and I'm good with that. ;P
--Along those lines, a friend gifted me 300+ lbs of fancy pavers and landscaping rock. She had gotten them for free and had already used what she wanted. We loaded them into the (covered with a free blanket!) backseat of my 37-year-old car,* and I'll be unloading them this morning after I harvest.
*My rule for hauling random things in my loyal steed is that the total weight must be no more than a full load of passengers. That car has transported so much STUFF!!! It will be getting its traditional "Thank you" wash and vacuum once the rocks are out.