Five Frugal Things | I'm $80 richer!
1. I sold two things on Facebook Marketplace
Two items are out of my house, they're now in homes where they're needed, and I have $80.
This is a nice little collection of benefits for the 10-15 minutes I spent making the listings and responding to messages.
Note: Every time I list something for sale, I think, "What if no one buys this and I wasted my time taking the photos and making a listing??" But 99% of the time, someone does end up buying what I list, and my fears turn out to be unwarranted.
2. I poured the last of the shampoo into a small container.
I had bought a huge pump-top bottle of Pantene at Costco a little while back. The pump works great until the last bit of shampoo is out of reach of the pump.
And since it's a pump-top, you can't really turn the bottle upside down like you would with a regular container.
When this happened a few days ago, I grabbed a little silicone travel toiletry container and poured the rest of the shampoo in there.
Now it'll be easy to use up; no pump necessary!
Incidentally, these silicone travel bottles are great. I got them in my Mighty Fix and I like them way better than the hard-sided containers I previously was using.
(Not that any of us are doing much traveling right now. Ha.)
3. I refilled the cornstarch container with store brand.
I really like the hard plastic container that Argo now sells their cornstarch in (so much less messy than those bags!)
But I'd rather not keep buying the containers because they're slightly more expensive, plus I prefer paper waste over plastic when possible.
So I've just been buying boxes of store brand cornstarch and refilling the Argo container.
Cornstarch is not terribly expensive, name-brand or not, and I don't buy it all that often, so this is quite a miniscule savings.
But hey, where will you share miniscule savings if not in a five frugal things post??
4. I planted some crocus bulbs from Aldi
Aldi usually has some pretty good deals on bulbs this time of year, so keep an eye out when you shop.
These, like most bulbs, are theoretically a good plant investment because they are supposed to come back year after year.
I have hit and miss luck with that (my little grape hyacinths all disappeared the second year!), but I planted these crocus bulbs with an optimistic heart.
Here's hoping they'll delight us for years to come.
5. I froze my used frying oil
When I finished making Japanese fried chicken, which called for a quart of oil, I cooled and strained the oil, poured it back into the container, and froze it.
That makes it easy to find and use when I make this recipe again. So far, the same quart has served me twice, and it's back in the freezer again, ready for a third round.
Your turn! What frugal things have you been up to lately?
Share in the comments and inspire us. 🙂
Glad to know I'm not the only one who reuses frying oil! Only I don't freeze it, maybe I should.
1. Boiled up some peanuts a friend gave us from her peanut field.
2. Made a meat-free meal of texmex pasta featuring beans from the garden.
3. I had some beef broth from cooking meat. I didn't want to waste it, so I whipped up some gravy with it to serve over potatoes.
4. I'm using my kid's old math notebook from last year that still has empty papers for keeping lists.
5. My husband and I will be receiving some money from a board we were on. This is unexpected money, but thanks to the fact that we have started keeping better track of what things we are saving for, we should be able to more wisely use it. Rather than just toss it in the general bank account where it gets used up (which is how we tended to do things before).
Your #5 we call "frittering". We know we will "fritter it away" if we throw it in our checking!
If your bank has the option (and if you don't already), you might try multiple savings accounts that are named according to their destiny. I find it immensely helping when sorting our everyday budget, financial goals, and any windfalls. It's also simplifies the random surprises of life. When we had to replace our windshield thanks to a fallen branch, it came out of the "Car Fund." (It still went on the card--if I have to pay for it, I want points!--but I paid it off immediately.) It really adds to my peace of mind to know that money is set aside for specific things vs. a nebulous amount of money just hanging out in our account without a purpose besides temptation!
YES. This is how we do it too, and it makes it so much easier for me to keep track of. If you are good with spreadsheets, then keeping track of it all in one account could work, but I am the worlds worst at spreadsheets.
I have a black accounting notebook ( the kind with columns) which I use to break up my savings account into subaccounts. A page for each subaccount. Works great!I
--Rather than replace our kitchen knives, we ordered an inexpensive knife sharpener. Why this hadn't occurred to us ages ago, especially given our daily cooking, I have no idea. Sharp knives are such a revelation! And yes, I already cut myself by accident (not badly). 😛
--Our dentist is VERY liberal with free samples. Since my husband and I both recently had checkups, we are stacked for toothpaste, floss, and brushes for a few months, at least! That's on top of what we already had in the bathroom storage drawer to compensate for the fact that, as a former braces wearer, I brush with a vengeance!
--My husband wanted a new nightstand with both a drawer and shelves. The perfect one finally turned up at Goodwill for $10. So many things are off the floor now (he’s a book stacker), and the previous nightstand proved just the thing for his rearranged study.
--Midwest winter grows nigh! My husband desperately needed a new winter coat, as I'd patched the last one within an inch of its life. Land's End had a 50% off coupon code that also applied to the sale section, so I was able to get a $150 new coat for $70 after shipping and tax. (The 50% off everything deal is over now, sadly! I checked before posting.) $100 was the threshold for free shipping, but I honestly couldn't find anything else we needed.
--Our old man cat (thirteen) now needs daily medication, which is thankfully inexpensive. While I know they make treats with pill pockets, I sneak him his pills using treats we already have, as it's easy enough to carve a tiny hole in them. This also helps allay his suspicions--he's just happy for 3 PM treat time! He's an easy-going boy who's happy with dry food--he turns his nose up at canned and most people food!--and cheapo treats, so any changes in routine instantly put him off.
Addendum: My one Prime day purchase was new hiking shoes for me, as I’ve had zero shoe luck thrifting lately. A brand my feet love was down to $20, so I went for it. My worn feet (too many years standing in customer service) are so much happier!
I know our kitchen knives need to be sharpened, but I am scared of what I will do to myself as I adjust to having sharp knives!
It is so much easier to use the knife once they are sharp. Use a cutting board. 🙂
I'm just scared that I have lost the proper respect for the blade of a knife because mine have been dull for so long. I know I need to bite the bullet and get them sharpened, and then I just have to be careful.
But there is a part of me that does not trust myself to be careful!
If I, Klutz Extraordinaire, still have all my digits, you will be fine. All the times I've truly hurt myself * have not been in the kitchen--there, I remember to be careful! 😛 Just baby the knife until you relearn the feel of it, as it is a night and day difference.
*Driving a stick-shift with a toilet paper mitten on the way to Urgent Care because I filleted my finger cutting mats? Been there! 😛
Two of my grandparents cut off half of their fingers accidentally, but neither were missing their digits because of knives-- one was a well drill and one was a compost shredder. You can do it! (Watch a video about how to sharpen knives-- don't pay somebody else to sharpen them.)
1. I redeemed some points on Survey Junkie for a $25 Target card. I'm saving it to use for holiday shopping.
2. I purchased two gift cards at Kroger to use for birthday gifts and earned enough fuel points to get a 30 cent per gallon discount. I filled my car yesterday for $19.12.
3. I traveled to a small town in New York for my daughter's greatly reduced wedding (only 11 guests at an outdoor ceremony with everyone wearing masks). I used my AARP discount to save a little at hotels and packed all meals and snacks.
4. One of my sisters gets a ton of magazines that she passes on to me. I gave my neighbor a huge stack that I finished. She was delighted so frugal for both of us.
5. I found 3 cents over the last week. Definitely not a huge frugal win, but I love finding money!
Mr. FG and I always pick up coins when we find them and we give them to Zoe, since she's the person in the house with the least current earning potential!
So, she has a lot of bruised coins in her bank. 😉
I pick up stray coins as well! I am a firm believer in intents and attitudes and when I see a coin laying on the ground, I look at it with the attitude of found money. Found money is good and feeling gratitude towards it isn't impacted by the amount.
1. Set up a sinking funds account. Need to stop removing from savings to pay those one a year bills.
2. Moved some money out of my 401K into other investments since I turned 59-1/2. This way I am not limited.
3. Moved the money left in my 401K out of stocks and into bonds as per my financial person. As I am older, I don’t need to be so aggressive with my money. And truth be told, I’m nervous to what will happen after the election.
4. Planned my meals for this week. Really working hard to eat at home and eat what we have.
5. A buck hit our car last week while we were in the Poconos. It’s mostly cosmetic work (we think) that needs to be fixed, but still waiting to hear what the body shop says. If the van is totaled, we are OK with 1 less payment and less insurance. But if they fix it, it will only cost $500. deductible.
Have a great day everyone!!
I'm so sorry about your car; here's hoping it can be fixed instead of totaled.
1. We are eating soup for lunch today which we froze so that we didn't have to eat it everyday for a week as leftovers and then, eventually, throw out the rest because we were just sick of it.
2. I guess this is frugal. Today we are butchering our extra roosters. This is not something we want to do, but they are really after the hens (who are not laying yet!). It is our first time butchering a live animal, so I'm dreading it.
3. I ordered books to pick up at our library.
4. Last night I baked some severely misshapen hoagie rolls for our supper tonight. (Misshapen still tastes fine.)
5. Frugal fail-- We had to go to town twice (while cooking suppers) because we were surprised that we didn't have ingredients we normally have stocked up. (Butter and refried beans) At least I was able to drop in at the library to pick up books waiting for us for one of those trips to make it a more useful drive.
I hope the butchering goes well; I'd be dreading it too!
Chickens can be a little, um, alarming to butcher. You know that expression "Running around like a chicken with its head cut off"? They really do that. Their muscles work a lot longer than you'd think, so that's something to be prepared for.
For what it's worth, my husband has killed a lot of roosters now, and his method is to wait until just at dark when they're calm because they're ready to roost, cut off the head with a cleaver or hatchet (you can't be squeamish or hesitant about this part or it won't be a clean and conplete cut), wait for it to stop flopping, then hang it up in a cool, shaded place by the feet overnight. In the morning, when it's cool, he guts it and just skins it. Both of us hate scalding and plucking, and I've never managed to get the feathers off cleanly enough to not be grossed out by bits of feathers and stuck-in shafts. Not as good for baking that way, but perfect for stock, which is the best part of a clean chicken.
And yay for you! Home chickens are SO SO much better than store ones (although older roosters can sometimes be a little gamy, but that's only happened to me once in many years of eating random roosters). Good luck!
what's the nest way to make chicken stock? Do you add anything extra to it?
Nope. Just the chicken, the root end of an onion, a carrot, and a stalk of celery. Pretty basic.
Thanks (everybody) for the encouragement. We did it. Would I call it fun? No. But it wasn't as bad as I was expecting. I'd heard that scalding produced a horrible smell, but I grew up in an area with multiple poultry processing plants. When I smelled it today, I thought, "Oh, that smell." It wasn't nearly as bad as the processing plants on a hot summer day.
And it's done.
Jody S, I've been in on the butchering, and no it isn't fun, but you can do this and it will be okay. I'll never forget my daughter's first grade teacher showing me that she posted my daughter's story on the classroom bulletin board for parents' night. In it, in her first grade spelling, my daughter had written that when mommy and daddy cut the chickens' heads off, she liked to pick up the heads and put them in the bucket. Which, she really did.
Don't worry, my daughter grew up to be a gentle soul, kind to animals and adoring of small children.
We scalded the carcasses to help make the feathers remove more easily. But I even find pin feathers on some store bought chickens, so don't stress if you aren't perfect.
My kids fight over the feet and wings to play with. It doesn't seem weird to them. They're in for a shock when they leave home . . .
We laughed over this. We didn't let the little kids outside this time since we didn't know what to expect. Next time. . .
That first grade story is priceless 🙂
When my husband and I got married, we bought a basic set of Wusthof knives and a Lodge cast iron pan. We have used these daily for over a quarter century, taking good care to sharpen the knives and keep the pan well tended. We cook from scratch daily, so it was a good investment 🙂
That said, we do spend a lot on groceries, no matter how simply we cook and eat a lot of vegetarian meals! I think we just love food and my husband loves cooking so much, it's more like a hobby rather than just sustenance. The one area where we have made a lot of improvements is food waste, especially now when we all eat at home daily.
A couple of frugal things.
My twins winter wardrobe is pretty complete without having to shop for clothes in store or online, using the network of my multiples club for second hand clothes.
My son and I got our annual flu shots at CVS, and received two $5 coupons in return. I quickly scanned my CVS app for other online discounts and coupons, and got all our purchases for 55% off.
I like the Argo containers and will do the same thing.
Straighten up the hall closet found a few things that wasn’t using stuck on eBay.
I love your cornstarch idea. I am going to use that same idea for baking powder! Thank you!
Funnily enough, I do this with baking powder too. Argo sells theirs in a hard plastic container, and I just keep refilling it with other baking powder brands.
I just did exactly the same thing with cornstarch, with the same brands.
Hood day everyone! Frugal continues...
1. Found $3 in my winter coat pocket
2. Hung 2 loads of laundry out yesterday, rainy now
3.lunch is leftover soup,chicken noodle
4. No spending planned today.
5. Weather man said we should keep our heat pump at the same temperature and not lower it at night. Electric bill was $71.00 makes me happy.
6. Think we might dry some apples today.
1. I pulled two chicken carcasses from the freezer and made a huge pot of bone broth. I poached two fresh chickens bought for $0.88/pound in the broth and added carrots, celery, onions and noodles to make homemade chicken noodle soup. I had enough to share with my neighbor and a family member that recently lost his wife and we still have plenty for lunches and several dinners this week.
2. My husband was able to pick up an enormous load of wood from someone giving it away on Facebook Marketplace. This will allow us to build much needed shelves in our garage & bathroom, benches for the backyard and deck and several other projects that needed wood with little to no out of pocket cost. One person's trash = another family's treasure. Yay!
3. Combined laundry to make sure we are running full loads to conserve water and power as much as possible.
4. Reserved the bouncy house for my son's birthday party from a business that will allow us to pick it up Saturday morning and return it Monday evening so we get 3 days use for the price of one.
5. Scored winter pansies for the front and back yard for $0.40/plant by purchasing in bulk. Bought 10 pounds for onions for $0.62/pound. All purpose flour - 25 pounds for $5.68. Gotta love the savings on bulk purchases.
Have a great week everyone!
Let's see ...
1.) For my daughter's birthday we had a family party that had a deli platter from BJ's. Looking around their app while waiting for the guy at the deli to find the order I found out there was a $3 off eCoupon. So I saved $3. Deli meat isn't particularly cheap but it's something most everyone eats.
2.) I made the sandwich rolls from scratch.
3.) I had to open a new package of yeast from the freezer to make the rolls and emptied it into the same pasta sauce jar I snagged from my parents' recycling bin about ten years ago! Yeah ... This jar has seen me through a couple of moves and countless loaves of bread!
4.) Cashed in all of my Microsoft Rewards points to go toward a bed frame for my daughter. The used market here has been really dry for a loft bed and well, the poor kid needed a bed.
5.) My wife has been trying to find a serger for her sewing. Well she found one on Craigslist for less than half the price of a new one. So hopefully this works out for her as honestly I don't know much about these things. 😛
Oh I forgot, I made two batches of stock in my Instant Pot. I can't say it's better or worse than the traditional method but it was faster.
1. Did not grocery shop last week.
2. Working from home four days a week, saving on gas.
3. Bought two large VERY LARGE bags of top soil for half price off of clearance price because they had small rips.
4. Did not buy 20 cute real pumpkins tho I was tempted. My porch is kind of bare but that’s okay.
5. Cooked and ate at home 6/7 days. Picked up Dominos once. Yummy
1. I found $60 cash in a book! Thanks "Past-self"!
2. Both cell phone and electricity bills were under what I had projected, so extra $ went into sinking funds account.
3. I made turkey broth.
4. Delayed a hair cut at the salon for another 6 weeks.
5.Came up with a no cost Halloween costume! (1970's bridesmaid) Already have everything I need!
Am trying to picture a 1970 bridesmaid outfit, actually I WAS a bridesmaid in 1970. Wish you could post a picture. Description, possibly?
I had no clue you could freeze oil. Ours just sits on the counter after we strain it in a bell glass jar. Thanks for the tip.
1. With the cooler and nicer fall weather, we haven't needed to turn the heat on yet. Our electric bill was amazingly low and I was able to use the money I budget for electricity for other things. I'll take this weather as long as we can get it!
2. My FIL and hubby cut down a dying pine tree in our yard. Not only did we save money from having it done professionally, but we are keeping the wood for camping trips. We have enough property to store wood for the future.
3. Still being blessed by acquaintances with clothing to sell on Ebay. I don't mind only making $3 off of a free item. My goal is to photograph 5 items a day and list 5 items a day. With the "death pile" i have in my work room, I should be able to make it through the winter without purchasing any inventory. While Ebay is a nice side hussel, I don't see it ever replacing my full time job.
4. Continuing to keep our budget a "game" in my mind, so that I work harder at keeping our spending in check. The competitive side of me wants to win! So far this payday its been working.
5. Received money back from our school district. They had originally asked for a "deductible" for the insurance on the electronics that kids use in school. The board decided to reverse this insurance and only require it for students doing virtual school. My kids don't ever bring their device home. I happily took that extra money and now have it stored for Christmas shopping.
Good luck with your bulbs! I love it when a perennial takes off, because after the first year, it means free flowers. Hopefully the voles don't like these?
Loose change is hard to find these days, now that most people swipe a card. I pick it up when I find it, but I can go months without seeing any.
1. I washed my car and cleaned the inside instead of taking it to get it cleaned. I just have vacuuming to go.
2. I recently drained a nearly empty bottle, too. It's amazing how much can be left in the bottoms of containers.
3. I hung out most of my laundry this weekend. I'm glad I got that umbrella clothesline years ago.
4. I put my cash back card's cash back dollars on my credit card balance for this month.
5. I found another sale and bought another Christmas gift.
plant tip: Contact your local extension about what natives are good for your area! They're sometimes a little more expensive to purchase initially, but when you buy what loves your climate and soil, it tends to take off much better, even in the face of things like voles or rabbits, clay or dry soil, etc.
I've learned there are native varieties that either resemble plants I love (black-eyed susans, daisies, coneflowers, and something called a blue flag that looks like a tiny bluish-purple iris), or are varieties of some of my favorites that are just better-adapted to our local climate (IL vs. other places I've lived like MN or OH).
I'm not sure I have five. I did have to buy firewood for the winter, which makes me sad that we're not physically able to cut and stack our own. Anyway. 1 - I dehydrated 10# of onions, which were on sale for cheap. 2 - My DH helped a fellow wine-maker move some large appliances. He emptied the 63 "empty" honey buckets he offered, and came home with 2 1/2 gallons of good honey for us. Our friend also gifted us with 100# of frozen blueberries, with which I'm making pie filling, jam, dehydrating, and canning. 3 - I found cranberries in the freezer, so I'm making apple cranberry sauce and maybe apple cranberry butter today. 4 - I brought in some outside plants, in hopes that I can cut them back to keep alive till next year. 5 - Well, it's only Tuesday...
Your post gave me a good giggle. Here in PA, Honey Wagons, are what we use in campgrounds to remove sewage from campers! I ready your post about 5 times til I realized you weren't talking about the same thing!!!
Same here! I finally exclaimed, out loud, "Oh, those are real buckets of actual honey!!"
Another person laughing at your honey buckets reference: we lived in several of the very remote villages that had no plumbing system and we all used honey buckets for toilets. When I saw 63 honey buckets my eyes bugged out, wondering how long it had been since they were emptied!!
Had no idea you could freeze cooking oil! We will definitely have to try that.
1) My son spotted bike maps on a "free" table at a neighbor's house. He got them home & wasn't interested in them, so I listed them on eBay & sold them for $96!
2) Sold a Halloween costume on Facebook for $7, and gave away a bunch for free to neighbors
3) Found an inexpensive whole chicken, apples, Halloween candy & cereal this week at the grocery store for great deals.
4) Made a huge pot of chicken & dumplings in the slow cooker for easy meals during a busy week.
5) It's our 15th anniversary this week, and we were supposed to be in Italy. Ironically, a reschedule of my 30th birthday, where we'd also planned to go to Italy, but were delighted & surprised to discover I was pregnant. So, no Italy again, but maybe our 20th? No matter what we do for our 15th anniversary, it will be ever so much less expensive than Italy. 😉 Current plans include taking a day off of work, going for a run together, a picnic lunch, and some other fun activities. Oh, and a really nice (non-frugal) bottle of champagne.
I hope you guys get to go to Italy ONE of these times!
Happy upcoming anniversary!
I like those Argo containers too. I grabbed their baking soda last time for the same reason.
5FT:
1. Monitor wouldn’t connect to new docking station. Bought $10 adapter instead of new monitor.
2. Returned some more items sitting around the house before the store deadline.
3. Made double portions of meatballs and Mexican stuffed shells as insurance against future laziness/busy times.
4. Researching cheaper housing options for my college daughter. There is a wide range and a need to balance price with security but I’m hopeful we have a good lead for next year.
5. Free to us flu shots are done!
I've been trying to be more mindful daily so I will have some items to post about saving....
1. My daughter works at an outdoors store and they were bought out by another company. They had training for the new company and she brought home some free koozies for us to share.
2. I've been trying to have a "no-spend" day each week and I've been accomplishing that.
3. Our neighbor across the street periodically sits items at the roadway for free. Last week it was a pretty red toaster that still works and needed a new home. I picked it up to use at our camp.
4. Within past 2 weeks, avoided takeout twice & found yummy things to eat at home instead when we were too tired to cook.
5. I received a coupon via email for a BOGO bag of dog food any size, so I redeemed it last night and saved $35!!
6. I won a free t-shirt from a door prize for our local fire department and got a free t-shirt for hubby to wear.
Okay, Gina........definition of koozies.
Not Gina, but . . . coozies (or koozies, looks like) are insulated sleeves that fit over cans--beer or soda--to keep them cold. Most often spotted at football games, particularly in Wisconsin . . . 🙂
I had a similar problem with my hyacinth bulbs in the past. However, we have a large yard and I've come to realize that sometimes the squirrels are better gardeners than I am. They show up in the coolest places 😉
Ooh, I have lots of little things I can share!
I do many, many things like you do with the Argo container. Soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, white vinegar, olive oil, peanut oil, sesame oil, veggie oil, all the spices - each has a small container that fits in the cabinet and the big, cheaper jug from which I decant what I need.
As usual, I got another 4-6 days of brushing by cutting open the toothpaste tube. I got the last of the conditioner by cutting open the container and scooping the remainder into another container. I put the last sliver of a bar of soap on top of the new bar.
Bigger: roommate fixed a broken faucet, meaning we didn't need to hire a plumber.
The tub tap failed fully and water was pouring out. He did a smart thing: he turned the tap all the way to hot, then turned off the hot water. So we had water to the house, yay. He then spent 90 min on the phone with the mngr's support line to turn off the tap (it was very nonobvious). He determine what parts were needed, ordered them, and replaced the faucet. He said that once he had the manual, it was obvious what needed to be done. I'm not entirely convinced that he did it right (most of his plumbing fixes are only mostly right, I'll need a plumber eventually) but we're in much better shape than we would have been without him.
Maybe frugal: I listed an exercise machine, a pressure canner, and several sets of canning jars with lids. Maybe I'll get a hit? I have a long, sad history of not listing things (I hate the process) so this would be a big win.
"I'm not entirely convinced he did it right." this made me laugh!
It's good enough for now. No costly emergency plumber visit is a win no matter what.
Kristen, I think I just got a fun idea for a post. I was reading through the frugal hacks and wondering for what reason people were saving money. Some, of course, because this is a difficult season, financially, in their life. But others might be saving for a home down payment, a fabulous vacation, to quite an oppressive job, to go back to school, to have another baby, etc.
It would be so nice to get an idea what everyone's dreams/goals are. What do you think?
Long Time Reader
This is a great idea! Let's do it tomorrow.
1. I ate leftover pulled pork for lunch (again) even though I didn't want to. It needs used up.
2. Since I had to go to Meijer and WalMart the other day, I made sure to check Ibotta before I went. I was able to use a $20 WalMart gift card from there, got a free box of cereal, combined a sale/mPerk coupon/Ibotta rebate to get a $6 box of cereal for 50 cents, and got money back from a number of items I was already planning to purchase.
3. Last year I bought some pie filling mix on clearance at the end of the season and yesterday I made and canned apple pie filling with it.
4. Canned more applesauce with my really cheap apples. Only one batch to go and I think I'll be done for the season.
5. I grew pie pumpkins this year for the first time ever. I got 4 pumpkins from my one mound of 25 cent seeds. I enjoyed them on my porch for a couple of weeks, then baked and pureed them. It made a LOT of puree and I'm so excited. Now I just need to batch it up and freeze it. I also roasted pumpkin seeds for the first time and really enjoyed them.
Same with the corn starch, but I took the label off (it was getting tattered) and just wrote neatly with sharpie on the lid.
I love reading all the frugalities of this group. I still need to grow in this area. Here are the few I came up with:
1.I bought two pairs of pants each almost 50% off using dividend funds I received from store where I purchased. My husband had spent money there on camping equipment for a weekend adventure, and the money he got back is what I used to pay for the pants. Bonus: the pants are sustainably made, which makes me feel better about buying new.
2. I started a second quilt from my fabric stash. I filled in the material with a few things from a store, but so far this is going to be far cheaper than the quilt I made using the same pattern a few years ago. Also, it's a gift, so I don't mind spending a bit of extra money on it. The recepient is a dear soul in my family's life.
3. I have kids craft from a scrap bin that contains junk mail and completed papers from school. Most of their crafts are for the experience of crafting rather than the final project. When we do a craft to make a finished product, we use a mix of recycled materials (egg cartons, scraps of paper) and fresh items. My kids spend every free minute crafting, so this has saved us a considerable amount.
4. I started incorporating more vegetarian meals into our diet--means less meat and less think ahead time.
FFT, More Chicken-ey Thoughts Edition:
Given the number of comments about chicken butchering, chicken poaching (boiling, not stealing!), etc., on this FFT, I thought I'd throw in a few feathers:
(1) I was recently given two small half-chickens in a Ziploc bag ("They were 40% off!", said the donor). I fished them out of the freezer yesterday and poached them for a chicken stock today, using Mark Bittman's "Quickest Chicken Stock" recipe in the 10th anniversary edition of How to Cook Everything. (I did cook it 2 hours instead of 1, since at 1 hour the chicken was still pink at the joints.) The carrots and onions I put into the stock were my own; I substituted carrot greens for the parsley in the recipe; and I added some of my own garlic bulblets (the little guys that form at the top of the garlic stalks).
(2) I will be using the chicken meat I removed from the bones in a stir-fry tonight, with whatever I can salvage from an ancient head of cauliflower, plus more carrots and more onions.
(3) And I'm planning a lentil soup with part of the stock tomorrow, to use up some leftover tomato paste. I find that tomato paste, cumin, and coriander do a lot to pep up lentils.
(4) On Sunday, I planted 15 cloves of this year's garlic for next year's garlic crop. Not many of us can say that we are genuinely self-sufficient for anything, but by gum, I'm self-sufficient for garlic and herbs.
(5) And it will soon be time to start digging my leeks. In the immortal words that Julia Child never spoke but should have, "First, take a leek."
A. Marie, always fun to read your contributions. I love to play with words, too. "First, take a leek." Priceless.
Your "first, take a leek" is actually a riff on M.F.K. Fisher's cookbook/memoir published in 1942, How to Cook a Wolf. The joke is: "first, catch a wolf" although the meaning is really about frugality - the cheapest wolf is one caught just outside one's door.
The "First, take a leek" thing is a happy memory from my grad school days, when I first met DH. One of our crazier colleagues did such a convincing imitation of Julia C saying this line that I went around for years thinking she actually said it. It's taken reading two biographies of her and a thorough Internet search to convince me otherwise--and I *still* wish she'd said it.
Okay, Gina........definition of koozies.
soft holder to stick a beer can or bottle in to hold so your hand isn't cold.
1. No longer go to the fitness do all exercises at home.
2. Shop all year for Christmas gifts, all wrapped and ready to go except for 2 grandkids who get special gifts
3.Made a small piece of ham using leftover in soup and ham casserole.
4.Painted all outside surfaces that needed it with paint we had left.
5. Cleaned out all old clothes and kitchenware to donate to vets.
Hi! I just want to add that Flip-It Caps are amazing for getting product out of the bottom of big pump containers. And they can be washed and used over and over again so it's a one time purchase. Of course, transferring product to a smaller bottle sounds like it works for you too!
I never would have thought of freezing oil! (I just keep my used oil on the pantry shelf -- I live in a cool, dry climate, so this hasn't been a problem, so far. But freezing is a good tip.)
I did the same thing last time I bought corn starch -- bought the cardboard box, but poured it in the old plastic container. (I guess I could have poured it into a canning jar, but I did already have the plastic container from cornstarch I purchased a while back.) It's much less messy, I find, to measure out of the plastic container.
Last week was crazy and went by so fast. I can't even remember half of what we did. My daughter's college has been vacillating back and forth between return, not return to campus...ugh. We don't know what we are doing from one day to the next! I've bought her school food, then we eat it. I buy more, then we eat it. I feel like any frugal savings have been negated by what she needs for food. She is a vegetarian and menu options are very limited - even more so during COVID. Here's what I remember doing frugally:
1. Still have tomatoes coming in and am planning meals around using them.
2. I need to purchase new tires before winter. I've was offered a deal with the dealership to order the new ones from them and they would cut the mounting/balancing cost in half.
3. I repurposed mismatched china salad plates (they belonged to my mother) to catch water under the plethora of plant pots my daughter has.
4. Purchased three pretty cross stitch kits at 20% off to make as 2021 Xmas gifts for my daughters. They will be nice to take on road trips and camping.
5. Purchased mohair fabric to make a jacket and organic cotton/linen pleated fabric to make a skirt from a place in NYC that collects scrap fabric from design houses and sells them for amazing prices.
We got a pumpkin each free with our admission to a local petting zoo, the kiddos got regular pumpkins but I picked out a pie pumpkin and turned it into pumpkin bread and pumpkin custards.
Chopped and froze a bunch of green peppers from our garden for later use.
Used leftover aquafaba from a can of chickpeas to make meringue cookies for the kiddos. A fun little treat from an ingredient that usually gets thrown out.
Used a discount code to order a personalized book for my mom from the kids for Christmas.
Used a discount code from Shutterfly to get a free photo Christmas ornament for my mom for Christmas.
My oldest daughter and her new Hubby closed on a house in Maryland. Hubby, myself and the puppy went to help them out for 4 days. I packed lunch and drinks for the drive. My daughter had thrown dinner in the crockpot so we ate when we got there. We stayed at their new house so no hotel expense. They used to live in a small apartment in Baltimore and now live in the suburbs so they have 2 extra bedrooms. We did treat to takeout one day. Otherwise we cooked everything. Hubby cleaned up our 2nd BBQ. We gave it to them. The previous owners left their lawn mower behind. It wouldn't start. Hubby got it working. We enjoyed some smore's on their firepit. I brought all of the supplies (even the wood) from home. My SIL works for an ice cream company and brought home a pint of my favorite ice cream for me. I enjoyed over the few days. We got a lot done on the house and we got to see our girl.
Anne,
Re:1970's bridesmaid costume...I have a long peach dress with a big ruffle on the bottom. Will part my hair down the middle and add a flower on the side and go extra heavy on the blue eyeshadow 🙂
1. Picked up 2 Hello Fresh meals someone was giving away on Buy Nothing. I also picked up some doll clothes on Buy Nothing. I will give them to my daughter for Christmas. Most of my Christmas shopping is done from free items I picked up from Buy Nothing over the year.
2. My husband and I wanted a new hiking backpack from Santa this year. Our other pack is just full of holes after so many years of use. We found a barely used North Face backpack on ebay for $13
3. I sold a lamp I found in someone's trash for $20 on Facebook Marketplace
4. Dried all of the peppermint and lemon balm from my garden. Made and froze banana muffins for my son's school snack.
5. Roasted all of the pumpkin seeds from the pumpkins we carved this weekend. I love them on salads or just as a snack at work.
First time poster, long time reader. Have learned so many great tips!
1. Hubby needs nice blazer for work so found two wool blazers with 50% discount in the H&M premium selection. Reedemed the points for taking online surveys to a $40 H&M giftcard, so fingers crossed they will fit.
2. He also needs new shoes and the local sporting goods store is out of his size. They don’t belive they will get restocked before the new year because of Covid-19. So I went online and found them with 70% discount since they were a returned item. Got them yesterday and they were new with tags so no idea why the heavy discount, but yay!
3. Got mushrooms from a neighbours daughter wich she had foraged. Made soysauce and finally found a use for the mini glasbottles I have been saving from flying with SAS. Will make superb Christmas gifts.
4. Finally started making our own bread again after getting a working stove a couple of months back.
5. Frugal fail: got takeaway when feeling tired and low. Silver lining: was so unhappy with the meal so won’t be tempted to ordering there again.
Kristen- My grape hyacinths only came up one year and not sure what happened. I did plant crocus and they do come up every year, however. So, you should have luck there. I had no idea that oil could be frozen. huh
Tracey- the schools here are also vacillating back and forth on if students should return full-time or do a hybrid or just e-learning.. Being vegan is very difficult at school.
A.Marie- I used to watch Julia Child as a kid. She kinda reminded me of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets as I didn't understand her sometimes. LOL...The leek comment reminds me of my SIL who would say, "Go scratch!" when Mom & Dad gave us lottery tickets for Christmas.
My 5:
1) DS1 has upgraded his computer and is giving us his old one for free. It is supposed to be better than the $400 one I'm using now, that was purchased 4 years ago....
2) I got 3 free magazine subscriptions- Cosmo, Health and Shape.
3) I earned another $10 Target GC.
4) The church bake sale is coming and I'll bake french breads and rolls. I have the ingredients.
5) I found a Betty Crocker chocochip muffin mix in a box for $1.39 so that will be made for the bake sale. The youngest can help make that one.
1.I asked for a free return label for a boots that were birthday gift for my daughter but were too small. The company kindly gave me one (normally $5.95)
2. I taught my weekly children's sewing class. They are making happy birthday banners, hand sewing each triangle. I did not need to buy any supplies for this project (2 banners, one for each sibling set taking the class), all of the fabric used was donated to me! One child from each sibling set has a birthday next week, they are both turning 8, and they are working very hard to get their banners done in time for their birthdays. It is very cute. I'm guessing these banners will be used a long time in their families.
3. I made my husband 8 new masks. He had some really ugly ones, and life's too short for ugly. I found a very simple pattern and had them done quickly. I removed the elastic ear loops from the ugly ones and used them on the new ones.
4. I looked under my salvia bushes and found some branches that had rooted. I cut those off and stuck them in a pot. We are doing some work in our back yard and free bushes are always welcome!
5. Our neighbors gave us a bowl of fresh green beans-they are a yellow variety! I guess they are still called green beans though?
Are those “wax beans”? Look like green beans except yellowish color? Funny story- when my daughter was very tiny, she thought they were the same as French fries (potatoes). She asked for them all the time, calling them “fry fries”. Good finger food for a tiny child.
Earlier this week I bought a dress to wear to my daughter's wedding. Long story short we had been overcharged by 20%. Since one of the items was expensive that 20% amounted too $58 (AUS). It was returned.
Then some items were returned to Aldi. $70 back there.
Fuel has been around $1.40 a litre. My son is working outside of our city and the fuel there was/is $1. He filled a 20 litre jerry can and pure that fuel into the car for me. That saved around $8.
I am constantly telling my mother that we need to consume the stuff at home first. That saves a little off very shop.
I ordered something off the internet and what I received was far from what I ordered. I have launched a report through eBay. I hope I can get something back as I paid over $100 for this stuff.
1 We have passed on some non-used household items to our youngest, which is frugal for him and frees up space for us. It always makes me happy to see "things" ending up in a place where they are used with pleasure!
2 I've bought some beautiful yarn at clearance to knit a wrap for myself. Hopefully many hours in enjoyment creating, and then wearing.
3 I will get down finally to sew some mouthmasks. I am not a great seamstress so made excuses for not getting started. However, we try to use reusable over disposable in every other area (toiletpaper excepted) so I cannot in all conscience use disposable masks on a regular basis. Plus I will make them from closely woven worn shirts, which means they will be in colours that suit us. Safety first, style immediately after! I intend to gift some also to my brother in law who cannot work from home and needs to change/wash masks quite often.
4 Cleaning out the larder and freezer to prepare for winter stocking, and found several foods of which I have stocked up too many in past months, so can take them off the shopping list for a while
5 We got a voucher that can be used for items that save energy around the house. Our house is well insulated, but again I can help our youngest here. It will be good to have him set up snugly in an environmentally friendly way, at no cost to ourselves too!
1. Did I mention I bought a pie maker? in my last two comments I know but this thing has brought back my cookin' mojo; so far have made french toast, poached eggs & bacon, chocolate cupcakes, hash browns, banana muffins, and scones.
2. Buying less food more often, I find I waste a lot less as I know what I've got & it feels MUCH easier for me to plan, when I look at a full to overflowing fridge it just makes me feel exhausted & I forget what's there while it rots quietly in the bottom of the crisper...
3. I paid my gas bill immediately. keeps my budget up to date & avoids a late fee
4. Changed to a much better phone plan, my needs had changed so the new one is way cheaper
5. Reading a favorite old book
I had no idea that a "pie maker" was a thing! I had to look it up.
I love pies, I have cookbooks & mags I bought b/c there was a awesome pie on the cover but when the pie maker was invented I didn't buy one as I thought I really shouldn't eat pie that often but there is an ongoing craze in Aus on all the things you can make in one, stores can't keep up with demand lol. I mostly cook just for me & although I love leftovers this thing enables me to make some things in much smaller quantities without using an oven
Ditto on the buying less food -- much easier to plan with a few items
I wish I had thought of refilling my cornstarch container! I always buy that brand because of the container. What a good idea
- I had a big bottle of hair condition with a pump and put the last of it in another container.
- I was making a big batch of Venison burger with peas and carrots for a casserole. Unfortunately, the top to my seasoning salt came off and my casserole got over salted. I did a Google search and found an idea to freeze small portions and use them in future casseroles with out salting the dish.
- My son shot a doe this morning with his bow. We process, weigh and vacuum seal all the meat ourselves.
- I needed new slippers. Aldi has bootie slippers for $8.99. I did a Google search on the other stores and the same type of slippers at Target are $20.
- My husband and I were looking for the catch trays you put under indoor plants but I came up with the idea of going to the Dollar Tree and buying two $1.00 glass plates. I looked on Home Depot's site and one tray is $2.97.
- I had a bunch of pasta that had gluten in them. I can't eat gluten so I gave the whole bag I had filled up to my daughter. No waste and cleared out my pantry and helped my daughter.
- Very minimal food waste the last four weeks. Whoot!
Tina what a great idea for the over-salted meat
I feel the same about my metal Davis Baking Powder container. I love the lip that helps you scrape the excess off the measuring spoon. I found a cheaper store brand to refill it with.
1. Cut open two tubes of cosmetic creams to get out the last dabs that won't seem to squeeze out even with a tub squeezer tool. It's amazing how many days worth of product is left in them!
2. Cut open all the salt and pepper packets we have been collecting from takeout for a while and managed to refill my salt and pepper shakers. The ketchup packets will be used for meatloaf at some point.
3. Darned yet another pair of socks. Haven't bought new socks in three years!
4. Finally went to my office at the library to pack my stuff before we move to another floor. Found some giveaway books I had left on my desk and was able to take them home to read on my vacation.
5. Used a coupon to score free bourbon pecans when we needed to buy other stuff from a website. They are sooooo good but a bit pricey so we don't buy them that often.
We used 8 small urns up and down the aisle at our daughter's wedding. To celebrate Christmas, I'm going to plant them with red cyclamen and give them as gifts to friends in early December.
So excellent -- your rate of pay for the marketplace sale was $320 - $400 dollars per hour :)!
It ahs been a crazy couple of weeks and we are going back into school Monday. So -- here are my tiny frugalities for the week . . .
1. Ate every breakfast, lunch and dinner in this week except Pollo Loco Tuesday night and Del Taco lunch with a ex-coworker who is lovely and generous -- my pleasure to treat.
2. I, also, squooze as much shampoo and toothpaste out of their respective containers as possible. Kept adding water to the "empty" shampoo bottle and got 3 - 4 extra washes. Also doing this with the dish soap and schooling husband that these soaps are super-formulated so you only need a bit.
3. At school, trying to use what I have already and buy as little as I can new. Student boxes, decorations, etc. -- there is plenty of stuff here already and the district supplies most essentials.
4. Not sure if this counts but making big effort to get and stay healthy, walking every day and eating carefully -- I think we actually save money when eating mindfully 🙂
5. Well, all the usual stuff -- library books, buying chicken breasts on sale and freezing for later, eating my oatmeal and brewing iced tea every morning. (1.5 cents per glass 🙂
I do the cornstarch thing too, not so much for savings, but those boxes always leak.
For radio show sound effects, squeezing a box of cornstarch is the squishy-squeaky noise of someone walking in the snow. Just a comment in case anyone is doing home theatre now.
Kristin, I saw very similar bottles recently at Dollar Tree. They were being promoted as containers for condiments for socially distant picnics, but I immediately saw they'd also work for shampoo, face cream, hand soap, etc. Much easier to use than hard-sided containers. And you can't beat the price of $1!
Ooh, nice! That's a great price.