Five Frugal Things | I did two appliance repairs
The other day I was thinking, "Wow, I'm really thankful that all my appliances have been working well."
And then two of them needed help within 24 hours.
Good thing I don't think this was causation, because otherwise I could make quite a strong argument for not being grateful about working appliances.
1. I fixed my dishwasher by myself
Our 2005 Kitchen-Aid dishwasher was leaving some standing water in the bottom of the dishwasher after the cycle completed.
I chatted with my appliance repair guy, and he suggested the drainage problem could possibly be caused by a chopper issue.
Which made sense; I have routinely needed to clean out the chopper area when someone accidentally lets a popcorn seed or some other rock-like item into the dishwasher.
However, usually the dishwasher lets me know about this by making a grinding noise during the cycle, and no such thing had happened.
But I figured this was worth a try before paying for an appliance visit, so I took apart the inside of the dishwasher and my word. There was a LOT of junk down there (including many hard seeds.)
I cleaned it out, wiped out all the accumulated funk, thoroughly cleaned the filter screen, put it back together, and voila! It's draining perfectly now.
I totally do not mind paying for appliance repairs when I'm in over my head, but I am very delighted I saved myself the cost of a visit this time.
2. I also fixed my kitchen freezer
One night after dinner, I noticed that the fridge (a 2006 Kenmore) was getting a little warm, and that the bottom freezer contents had a thin layer of frost on them.
I recognized the symptoms because this has happened twice before when someone left the freezer door cracked overnight. The first time we called the appliance guy to help, but the second time and this time, we managed to avoid a call!
Anyway, if the door is left cracked open, the coils get all frozen up in the back of the freezer, and while the freezer stays cold, the fridge does not cool properly until you defrost the coils.
(Basically you have to turn off the freezer, take it apart enough to access the coils, use a blow dryer to gently melt all the ice, put it back together, and turn it on again.)
Mr. FG was working late, so I mostly did this one myself, although I did call him up to help for a bit because I could not remember exactly how we got the back panel off. Between the two of us, we did it!
I'm happy to say that the freezer and fridge are both working fine now. And the offspring have been reminded to please make sure the freezer is completely shut.
One day, maybe we will get one of those fancy models that sounds an alarm when a door is left open, but for now, we're just going to have to be mindful!
3. I ate all of the leftover gnocchi soup.
It was not my favorite soup ever, but the recipe used a lot of my homemade chicken broth, so I was loath to throw it out.
So, I persevered and ate it for lunch for several days.
(Recipe was from the New York Times.)
4. I sold a pair of Converse that were the wrong size
I thought I knew my size, because I already had a pair from years ago.
But my former Converse were women's, not unisex. And an 8.5 unisex (which is 6.5 mens) does not fit like an 8.5 women's.
So, they were a little too big.
However, they were in brand new condition, so I took nice photos, listed them, and sold them for slightly more than I paid.
(I paid $23.50 total and sold them for $27 total.)
And now I know I wear 8.5 women's and 8 in the unisex shoes.
Incidentally, returning things on eBay is often an option, but when you factor in shipping, it doesn't make a lot of sense. It's usually better to list the item for sale and then have the new buyer pay shipping.
(In case you were wondering how I'd already posted a picture of me wearing white Converse: I ordered a pair in the appropriate size from eBay as soon as I discovered the first pair was too big.)
5. I didn't need to buy any supplies to caulk/paint around the windows
My dad came over to change the trim around the old window pair to match the new ones (yay!), and of course, there was spackling/sanding/caulking/painting to do afterward.
I try to carefully store my supplies when I finish a project, and most of the time it pays off.
For instance, when I finish caulking, I wrap a small piece of plastic around the top of the caulk tube and secure it with a rubber band. Then it's fresh and ready to go next time I need to caulk, even if that's a year down the road.
So! My previously-used caulk, spackle, and paint were all in good shape for this project.
What frugal things have you been up to lately? Share in the comments!
P.S. A two-appliance repair week seems like a good time to link to my, "You don't need whiskers to do that." post.
Oh, how I hate that dishwasher funk. Kudos to you!
Winter is already teasing around here, so this is a cold weather-themed FFT!
—Thanks to a sweet sale code that combined with clearance, I scored a $100 Lands’ End coat for $30 with free shipping. I needed a new “in between” coat, my previous one having disintegrated last year. My heavy coat is a champ but absurdly warm if it’s above 20, and my hoodie is too light for hiking below 40 even with layers. (Insert jokes about Midwest fall and winter here!) I hike for an hour every weekday morning, so much as I wanted to avoid it, a new “in between” coat proved necessary!
—On the flip-side, rather than buy thermal underwear or snow pants, I just wear old leggings under my walking pants when the temperature drops. When it gets REALLY cold (single digits), out come the knee high wool socks to wear over the leggings! Below that, I stay home and use the exercise bike I traded a friend for.
--"Walking pants," here defined as a pair of jeans that’s too worn for noble tasks (i.e. being in public) but is not yet fully embarrassing. When I can no longer patch the inner thighs, it’s off to the rag bin in the kitchen.
—The “What do you want for Christmas?” questions are starting to go around my family. I asked my (recently graduated!) little sister to knit me a new scarf, which will make both of us quite happy for very little money. I still need to think of ideas for everyone else. My family is very into gifts, so specific suggestions are wisest. “Good socks and good coffee” are not an unusual answer from us!
--Our first snow means the seasonal tradition of lovingly arguing with our landlord about NOT paying me to shovel the walk is officially underway. I'm a weirdo that enjoys shoveling snow and would do it anyway, but he appreciates the help (we have the corner of the block, so it *is* a lot of sidewalk) and insists it's worth $50 every time. He's such a surrogate grandpa, it's ridiculous. Unbeknownst to him, we reinvest shoveling monies into the house (repainting indoors, replacing/repairing small things like cabinet hinges, caulk, etc.), so it should all come out even in the end.
Just one of note this week, but it's a big one: We helped our elderly neighbors do an emergency butchering of one of their bulls that broke its leg, and they gave us half the meat. So we brought home a bit over 200 pounds of grass-fed beef for the cost of the labor of butchering. That cost is significant for an animal that size, but my husband thought it was kind of fun, because he's that kind of guy.
Of course, we haven't actually eaten any of it, and I fully expect it to be pretty tough and more strongly-flavored than your average cow or steer, but it can't possibly be worse than the 200 pounds of testosterone-laden elk I just finished cooking. Actually, I know the bull will be better than the elk, because I couldn't smell the musky smell from the meat when we were butchering the bull, and I could with the elk.
Anyway. As my husband says, if you want to eat as much meat as we do, you'd better be willing to do the work of butchering. So we did, and now we have a lot of beef. Hooray.
Looking forward to posts about your weekly meals which involve eating up your bull ....
But she may have to put strict limits on the "eating bull" jokes!
I never limit jokes. For myself or anyone else. 🙂
Well, the fact that it promises to be better than the elk is encouraging!
I am also looking forward to your report on how the bull tasted! We finished the antelope in the freezer and although the hub said it tasted fine the gamey smell while it was cooking was slightly off putting...lolol
I can't remember the brand of our last dishwasher--I think I've mentally blocked it--but I frequently (every 2 weeks or so) had to dig into the guts of the stupid thing to clean it out so it would operate properly. It extended the use for several years, so I count that as a win. We have had a Bosch for a few years now and I'm in love with it. Anyway, yay Kristen for puttin' on your whiskers! 😉
I'm in more of a spending mode right now--I'm trying to get a move on with my Christmas shopping. There are too many iffy variables for me to feel comfortable with waiting to do my shopping. Offhand, I can't think of ways beyond the normal (eating at home, shopping at Aldi) that I've saved money this week.
1. I got my grandson a subscription to Lego magazine for FREE and he LOVES it.
2. Switched our Verizon plan to PREpay instead of POSTpay.
3. Got some checks from USAA for a house that we had sold through their Real Estate Rewards program and put those directly on our mortgage.
4. Got my daughter EXACTLY what she wanted for her birthday and found promo codes and free shipping. (Her apartment is only 350 s.f. so she doesn't have room for anything unnecessary!)
5. FINALLY turned off the A/C here in Central Florida....so nice to have cooler weather. I love it!
Oh the dishwasher repair. Our old one finally kicked the bucket after many rounds of cleaning the trap, and I got a Bosch. I cannot begin to sing you the love song I have for that machine. The 13 year old builder grade dishwasher always left me underwhelmed. Now my dishes are sparkling clean, dried and in utter silence. I did think of you before I bought it and did all the reviews and tried to spend a little more for one that would last. Oh and the watermelon cover fits perfectly in the third rack 😉
May I ask what model you purchased?
1. I received a coupon for a free Chosen Foods brand guacamole (max value $5.99). I signed up for this several weeks ago.
2. I found 3 quarters, 2 dimes, a nickel and 4 pennies in the Coin Star tray. Woohoo! A lot of hand sanitizer was used immediately.
3. I redeemed Swagbucks points for a $10 Target gift card.
4. My daughter mentioned she needed her favorite Kiehl's moisturizer. A couple of days later, I got an email from them with a buy one, get one free offer. I promptly ordered it for part of her Christmas. This stuff is crazy expensive in my opinion, but it lasts her a very long time.
5. I took advantage of a weekend only sale at Sprouts that included $1.25 strawberries and $2 pineapple. These are fantastic prices for October 31!
1. My basement has the smaller "easement" windows and while my brother was visiting in Aug. he broke the privacy plastic that was covering it. Totally was not his fault as this stuff is about 40 years old and it just crumbled...anyways, I was looking for something to replace it with and found my answer in the drive thru of Arby's. One of the workers was throwing away a plastic piece that covers their ceiling lights. I kindly asked for it and with no issues it was in the back of my van ready to go home. This past weekend I cut it to the correct size and installed it. Free!!! (I really felt like my dad!)
2. Attempted to do some Christmas shopping last week but realized that everything I was looking at was junky OR they did not need. I need to come up with something more intentional this year.
3. I'm expanding my Ebay store to a larger size, while NOT up front frugal, it will allow me to post more items per day and in the hopes that more items sell per day. Keep your fingers crossed for me.
4. As I packed away my summer clothes and brought out the winter clothing, I did a deep purge. It felt really good to "get rid of" stuff I don't wear. Half went into my Ebay pile (plus size clothing sells pretty well) and half was donated.
5. We normally waste a lot of leftovers in our house. In the past two weeks we have been great about not having so many...what that does mean though is that I don't have anything for my lunches. Frugal in one way, but not in the other.
CDN TA20 Audio Visual Refrigerator Freezer Alarm
https://www.amazon.com/CDN-TA20-Visual-Refrigerator-Freezer/dp/B000I62FQI/ref=sr_1_10?crid=OTC0PMW1B3F3&dchild=1&keywords=freezer+thermometer+with+probe&qid=1604414061&sprefix=freezer+thermometer%2Caps%2C206&sr=8-10
I bought one of these last year. It's such a relief to not always check or worry about the freezer door!
My LG 2 year old fridge/freezer died ! Had to throw everything away ! The melted freezer was a disaster as it has been dealing with LG! It would take 9 days before a serviceman would come & I’m still waiting ! They have been a miserable time for me dealing with them !! I found out LG appliances are made in Korea or Mexico ! Not even my own country of the USA ! When I spoke to customer service many times he told me he was working in Panama for LG. And we wonder why America is messed up can’t even get appliance made in America ! Everything I buy I will with great effort try to buy Made in the USA! We should ALL demand this ! 9 days no fridge/freezer and at 10:00 today no call from service person as I was told he’d be here between 8:00-12:00. My saga continues
I am so sorry to hear that you've been without a fridge and freezer for so long. I hope you can get some help today!
Great job fixing the dishwasher! Thank you for linking the "You don't need whiskers to do that" post. Last year my oven stopped working and my dryer was making a horrendous noise at the same time. I really couldn't afford to replace both at once. I remembered your post and decided if I could repair at least one myself it would really help. I ended up repairing them both for a total of about $100 in parts and they are still working great. I am not at all handy and doubt I would have tried without your encouragement.
YESSS! Look at you go, girl!
It's been a no-food-waste week around here!
- I roasted some tomatoes a friend gave me before they went bad
- We ate leftovers and some Asian leftovers we'd frozen a while back this week
- Though tempted, we took sandwiches for a picnic after biking instead of going to a local restaurant for lunch
- I was finally able to use my coupon for bonus fuel points yesterday at City Market. You had to spend $100 on groceries and I hadn't done that the past few times, but yesterday's total was $106 so we now have 300 fuel points (.30/cents off per gallon of gas!)
Good job on the appliances, especially the freezer fix.
By the way, if your icemaker quits at a time such as after a power outage, it could be the water froze in the line when the power came back on. Point a hair dryer on it to melt any ice, and you probably have solved your problem. It's worked for us more than once after hurricanes. The receptionist at an appliance store gave us that tip!
1. My windshield washer pump is coming on, but not squirting. I looked up a You Tube video that showed me where to look for clogs or kinks, and how to clean the nozzles. That is on my list for this weekend.
2. I made up a new quart of sugar syrup for the hummingbirds that don't migrate. It's just sugar and water, no red food coloring please. I keep it in the fridge to keep it fresh.
3. I finished dry-brining the ripe olives off of my olive tree and stored them in a little olive oil. Since I love olives, growing them is definitely frugal for me, and I hope my little crop will keep increasing. Olive leaves can also be used medicinally.
4. It's time to cut back the lemon grass plant in my yard. I found out the white stalk portion that is used in cooking can be frozen, yay! I like to plant for decoration AND consumption, when I can.
5. I answered a short survey from a service I deal with, and got a $5 Amazon gift card.
Ooh, good tip about the ice maker line!
1. Made a large pot of taco soup this past week using dried black beans, kidney beans, leftover corn and an assortment of fresh frozen peppers grown in our garden this past spring. This fed us several lunches and dinners over the week & we had plenty to share with our neighbors.
2. Used up a can of pumpkin and some leftover buttermilk to make a pumpkin snacking cake to have on hand this week.
3. Harvested mustard greens from our garden and cooked up a large batch. I know many don't care for these but my oh my we love them and the homegrown variety is fantastic plus super healthy for us. Bonus that they are growing very well and I will harvest another large bunch this week.
4. Finally have hit cooler temps here and have had my AC turned off since Friday. I know this is not a big deal to many living north of us, but turning off the AC in GA is a major event for me each season and it means a drop in our electric bill of anywhere from $100-$150 per month. Yay.
5. Hurricane Zeta blasted through GA and although many had damage we just had loads of rain & wind which has been great as we have not had the need to water and our water bill dropped another $25. We will be picking up leaves and helping friends who had damage.
Hope everyone has a great week!
Yay for turning off the AC -- we hear you! It is still in the 90s here in SoCal but it is supposed to go down after tomorrow. Can't wait to turn it OFF!
*I opened a Target card to save 5% on my son's clothes (although I'm not sure how frugal Target ends up being for me because I tend to overspend)
*I hit up discount day at Label Shopper and saved $60 on work clothes for my SO
*I roasted the pumpkin seeds from our carvings for a snack
*I'm price comparing for some new furniture we need
*Eating all meals at home, using leftovers for lunch
1. Processed a ton of fresh herbs before hard frost.
2. Made stock with bag of frozen veggie scraps and fresh herb discards! Got 10 cups!!
3. Husband watched MANY YouTube videos and fixed our furnace. BIG YAY
Ooh, your number three is an enormous win. Hooray, husband!
All day Sunday! Woukd watch a video and head down. Repeat. ( We especially love to watch how to videos of persons with a strong BOSTON accent). Informative and funny!love it
I started painting my fireplace!
I'm really excited about this project, because even just getting a coat of primer on has made a HUGE difference in how the fireplace fits into the room. It no longer looks like a throwback to the 1980s (all textured muddy-toned brick) in the middle of our fairly modern Scandinavian asthetic (gray walls, white trim, simple clean-lined furniture in grays, white, and wood tones).
Unfortunately, we can't actually use the fireplace. We had it inspected, and it's in really, really terrible shape (like, falling-apart, if-you-light-a-fire-in-here-you-may-burn-down-the-house). Eventually we're going to have to replace the entire thing, firebox, chimney, brick, etc. A quote for that was up around $10,000, which is not where we want to spend that money right now.
So!
I bought primer, white flat paint, a simple candelabra, some battery-powered remote-operated candles, and a WoodWick Frasier Fir candle (for aroma and crackling-sound ambiance) and for a tiny fraction of that $10,000, we will have a beautiful fireplace, and I will get to fulfill my Christmas dream of sitting in the glow from the fireplace, listening to that crackling sound, while drinking my coffee on Christmas morning.
When we bought this house in May, sitting by the fireplace at Christmas something we were both really looking forward to as we'd never had a fireplace, and it was pretty frustrating to know that getting the fireplace operational would be so very expensive, so this feels very much like a frugal solution.
What a great solution to your useless fireplace!
Also, how much easier it will be to clean up by putting away candles than it is to move ashes and charred logs. I certainly understand wanting the real thing, yet count every small positive.
Engineer Mom- another thought might be to use "electric" logs for ambiance to put in the fireplace's log space. We had the same issue, so i bought the logs off of Walmart.com and it threw out a bit of heat along with some glowing "embers." Just a thought. Enjoy your fireplace!
This sounds so beautiful! I really want to see it, so when you are done, will you post a photo in the Frugal Girl Facebook group? (I think I remember that you are a member there.)
Or you can send me one and I can post it there.
You were smart to get it checked! We lived in an old (1800's old) farmhouse for several years, and my dad wouldn't let us use the fireplace because he said it wasn't safe. We had to sell when a large industrial facility bought all the farmland in our area, including ours, and we were open to them about the house's condition. The company rented our old house to one of its employees, and that employee lit a fire in the fireplace and burned down the house. Luckily, the employee and family survived it. Candles or electric logs are the way to go until you can rebuild it.
If you have natural gas service in your neighborhood, natural gas logs might be an option. It took less extensive repairs to make our chimney safe for gas logs than it would have to put it back into service burning wood. There's no mess and it does a good job helping keep the house warm.
1.) Picked out a bunch of stuff to get the wife during a big sale and was too lazy to get my wallet to input my debit card (still waiting on my new credit card after my last one was compromised) and ended up missing the sale. So frugality out of laziness.
I should add she didn't need the items and I was just more window shopping for her. 😛
2.) Worked overtime again. Ended up with 6 hours of OT in two days!
3.) There was a show I wanted to see but was waiting for a deal on the Blu-ray. Turns out it was on Tubi so I can watch it for free!
P.S. Tubi is one of my favorite Frugal Pro-Tips in terms of watching shows without cable or a subscription. There are ads but there's plenty to watch on there.
4.) My insurance costs are changing and if I did the math right, it's better for get a 30 day refill on my inhaler and wait until the first of the year to get a 90 day supply vs. buying a 90 day supply now.
5.) Made a list for Christmas and will be sticking to it.
1.) Picked out a bunch of stuff to get the wife during a big sale and was too lazy to get my wallet to input my debit card (still waiting on my new credit card after my last one was compromised) and ended up missing the sale. So frugality out of laziness.
I should add she didn't need the items and I was just more window shopping for her. 😛
2.) Worked overtime again. Ended up with 6 hours of OT in two days!
3.) There was a show I wanted to see but was waiting for a deal on the Blu-ray. Turns out it was on Tubi so I can watch it for free!
P.S. Tubi is one of my favorite Frugal Pro-Tips in terms of watching shows without cable or a subscription. There are ads but there's plenty to watch on there.
4.) My insurance costs are changing and if I did the math right, it's better for get a 30 day refill on my inhaler and wait until the first of the year to get a 90 day supply vs. buying a 90 day supply now.
5.) Made a list for Christmas and will be sticking to it (at least I'm telling myself that now.) Actually I already have some nice things for people already and quite frankly everyone is older and doesn't need as much this year.
Ooh! It's nice to see the inside of your dishwasher. We got a KitchenAid dishwasher about 3 years (marked way down as a special-order return at Lowe's) and it's good to know that the bottom has things that need cleaned out.
My FFT:
1. My yogurts fell out of my van yesterday when I opened the back door to unload groceries. Three of them broke open, but I was able to salvage most of 2 of them and put them in our silicone reusable squeeze pouches for the kids.
2. I pulled a ham out of the freezer the other day and we used up the whole thing! I made a delicious new soup last night to use up the rest of it.
3. I also made 2 loaves of FG french bread and put the second loaf in an empty bread bag instead of wrapping it in plastic wrap.
4. We went to a friend's house on Sunday (our first indoor playdate in months) and I took 2 pumpkin pies and whipped cream that I made all from scratch. The pumpkin was from the ones we grew over the summer. Much cheaper than buying 2 pies and 2 containers of Cool-Whip.
5. I've been on a library book/CD ordering spree. I think we have 54 items checked out from the library right now and I have a few more waiting for me to pick them up.
Inspired by your blog, I sold 3 books on Ebay that I no longer wanted. Your post had many good tips which I used: Checked what the books were listing for on Ebay, had the buyer pay the shipping, and no returns. I netted $36!
Chase Sapphire Reserve is allowing you to use travel rewards to purchase things on Amazon. I got a family member a $200 Amazon gift card as a birthday present using my rewards points only, so no out-of-pocket expense.
I love using rewards to get gifts for other people!!!!! Good job.
FFT, Fire and Frugality Edition:
With apologies to EngineerMom and others with fireplace/woodstove yearnings, this is a hymn in praise of the wood-burning insert we installed in our fireplace about 12 years ago (back when DH was at the height of his powers). With winter coming on, I've started cranking up the burner on especially cold/damp days. In addition to being cozy in general, and a great comfort to DH and our cat Betty in particular, it permits creative disposal of various things:
(1) The hardwood DH used to collect off curbs in his capacity as Urban Logger. I'd come home from my a.m. walks with "Urban Logger reports" of cut-up trees available for the taking, and he'd hitch the trailer to the Honda Element and go get 'em. Although, sadly, he can no longer do this, I think we've got at least a 2-3 year supply of beautifully dried hardwood logs left.
(2) The pine/spruce cones that DH started collecting on our walks once his powers began to fail. These too are now beautifully dry, and it doesn't take more than a few to pep up a sluggish fire.
(3) Assorted paperboard egg cartons that are past their original use, TP rolls/paper wrappers, and other flammables best disposed of as kindling.
(4) The cedar shake remnants left over from a job a neighbor was having done on his house this fall. DH and I scarfed up all of those we could get, and they burn like magic too.
(5) Finally, the staves from the ancient oak whisky barrel planter that collapsed on us this fall, as I think I mentioned in a previous FFT. And the three iron rings from the barrel got collected by a metals picker on last week's trash day. So the barrel has been completely returned to the universe.
1. A friend wanted to upgrade her food saver and gave us her old one for free. I don't use it every day but it comes in handy when we get a lot of moose or salmon at once, or for storing turkey leftovers after Thanksgiving. Well, it stopped sucking out the air. You tube to the rescue! It is working perfectly now.
2. Made homemade spaghetti sauce that was barely edible. Ate it for three meals anyway. Years ago I would have thrown it away.
3. Had some yogurt that was coming perilously close to going bad so thinned it out and used it instead of buttermilk to make pancakes. Ate them for dinner one night and put the rest (42 of them!) in the freezer---they heat up nicely in the toaster.
4. Took a bunch of clothing to Salvation Army and got a tax receipt.
5. It was 26 below last night. I have insomnia and was up at 3 am...so I made several loaves of bread. Warmed the house and husband woke up to warm bread and butter for breakfast. Food is his love language and his mother never baked so he acts like I am an angel from heaven every time I feed him fresh baked goods.
We are renters right now, so we have had a refrigerator with door alarms. It *can* be helpful for qhen accidentally left open or not shut properly. But it is a pain when late night snack cravings hit!
1. Even though I was heartily sick of my own cooking, I persevered and ate the last of the frozen shepherd's pie for my work lunches. That will not go back on the menu for a very long time.
2. My husband pitched in and helped me turn many pounds of free apples into a gallon of homemade applesauce. The apples were Red Delicious, which tend to be dry when cooked, so I added a container of apple juice concentrate to the stockpot of chopped apples and it came out great.
3. Used a $3 store coupon to buy a bag of my old kitty's favorite Purina Beyond kibble, thus saving a little over 25 percent.
4. My husband gets the coupon king award for scoring a 4-roll pack of toilet paper for 25 cents.
5. I noticed that our grocery store has Yardley bath soap for a penny a bar less than Dollar Tree and bought three bars. The oatmeal and almond version agrees with everyone's skin and we like that there's no plastic to deal with. I will buy a few bars every week until we are stocked up.
Great work in fixing things up!
1) Bought cheap, good sized rolls of Christmas wrapping paper from a dollar store. One design looks very high end, and 2 are perfect for kids. I didn't buy all the cute decorations too.
2) Rescued the about to go bad peppers from the veggie drawer last night:)
3) Have been dressing warmer in house, to save money with lower heat temps.
4) Used a Grove offer on free cleaning supplies, and then only bought things I would have bought at Kroger. For a one-time purchase, it was good value. Cancelled Grove membership.
5) Use vinegar and baking soda for a lot of cleaning/deodorizing tasks in day to day life.
1. Received free corn from a church friend. The corn stand was closing this week and they gave her so much.
2. Using gift perfume that I don't want to use on my body to freshen the bathroom air.
3. Layering a tshirt under my sweater to stay comfortable with a lower thermostat setting.
4. Attaching a barrel pillow with elastic to my desk chair to make a comfy headrest.
5. Stopping political discussions to keep peace in the household. Peace is priceless.
oo I never thought about using perfume I have received as room deoderizer -- excellent idea
I need those instructions on how to fix the freezer. My ice line actually froze and needs to be defrosted. And I have the same model. I’ve been using ice trays from the Dollar Store and it’s getting tiring. Did you find the instructions on You Tube?
We had the same problem with our refrigerator! The coils and back wall of the refrigerator were so iced that we couldn't even remove the back panel. Had to do a full day defrost, even with the help of a hairdryer. It was a pain in the neck and we ended up having to throw some food out but it was satisfying to know we did it ourselves and we saved $ by not having to call the appliance repair guy. We have not been doing great with food waste so I'm hoping to get back on track with that.
We sold a set of plush toys that my kids don't even touch for significantly more than I thought we would.
Changed my insurance coverage during open enrollment - we'll be saving quite a bit!
Ate simple meals at home.
Picked up some puzzles posted for free from nextdoor. These have been surprisingly challenging, relaxing, satisfying and have provided hours of entertainment.
Made homemade bathroom cleaner. Actually, I don't know how much cheaper it is than just buying it from the store but I like how it works and it's less toxic to us and the environment...
Made costumes out of materials we had around the house. They just kept getting more elaborate as the day went on (I'm a witch! Now I'm a witch with a black cat. Now I'm a witch with a black cat and spooky broom! Now I'm a witch with a black cat, spooky broom, and a cauldron (with a MASK)!). I liked the costumes significantly more than the Disney costumes we bought last year.
1. Gave away a bunch of stuff on Buy Nothing this weekend. This is not directly frugal, but it helps keep our costs down by knowing exactly what we have. I also spend less time cleaning and organizing, which indirectly saves money.
2. I picked up some fresh herbs off Buy Nothing and dehydrated them. We unfortunately did not get a big enough yield from our herbs this year.
3. Used the rest of our garden tomatoes to make puree. I also made a large pot of vegetable stock using our veggie scraps. I used the puree and stock to make a delicious soup (sausage, black bean, and sweet potato) that fed us for us for 3 dinners. And froze the stock I did not use.
4. Found an air compressor in someone's garbage and sold it for $30 on Marketplace the next day.
5. My son wanted the Harry Potter movies for Christmas. I found the whole set at Goodwill for $15.
We try to fix things ourselves as well...Our dishwasher well (covered up by the spinner) has been housing too much water as well. I'm no plumber but we use a particular setting 100% of the time. To try to get the water out, I chose the rinse setting and it started to drain before it started to rinse...Hmmmm...
My frugal five:
- My skin is very dry in general but I found a large bottle of Fiji lotion and facial cream on clearance.
- I have been craving manhattan clam chowder for a long time. Like 20+ years. The stores don't sell it in a can or fresh. I found a recipe and gave it a try. It was so close to the canned flavor, which was fine. The family enjoyed it too.
- I sold an ornament on ebay.
- Earned a $5 Ebay gift card.
- The doctor called in a prescription and this particular item is pricey, no matter what the quantity is..I got home and noticed that whoever called it in only gave me half of what I usually get. Since I pay the same price, whether I pick up one or one hundred, I called the office to let them know. I will pick up the rest tomorrow.
Our air conditioner has started to act most strangely. Since it is the beginning of our summer season it needs to be addressed. Our simple efforts have failed.
When I read the first bit about the wrong sized white converse, my first thought was -'now you can buy the green ones!' lol; ehh but I guess not if you already sorted the size issue...
1. I had a scathingly brilliant idea for a work lunch option today; I want to eat more veg & it occurred to me I could chop up some raw mixed veg & take in a container to nuke in the microwave at work for fresh steamed vegies. Now I'm thinking I could even trial different flavourings to add like plain oyster sauce or a tumeric spice blend; we'll see. Anyhoo it will be healthy & help me prevent zucchini slushies & brown spotted broccoli in the fridge 🙂
2. Lovin' the duolingo, doing the free version for language learning
3. Got really nice tomatoes yesterday & had some sliced with salt & pepper on toasted jalapeno sourdough bread for supper as I had a very early tea & got hungry; the bread loaf I got on special for $2.16; very cheap here
4. Have a rewards card at the local bakery & get a stamp if I spend over $6, I buy over this & freeze so every 5 purchases I get a free loaf. Bakery bread is more expensive but not bad & it's baked on site on the day & as it forms a good chunk of my diet I want good quality wholemeal with grains & no preservatives. It keeps me going longer too than cheaper bread.
5. You all may know this already but I just learnt you can freeze raw chopped onion. Often here bags of onions are firm & fresh while the loose ones look sad. I bought a bag & chopped them up & froze them flat & they break up easy & go in the pan frozen.
I love everything bagel spice mix on steamed vegetables
thanks for the idea; I'll check it out
I just googled it - looks delicious, I will give it a go 🙂
I freeze all the peelings and cut off ends of onions and use them when I make chicken stock.
I did not know you could do that, thanks
You can! I save most veggie cuttings (celery, carrots, etc) along with meat trimmings in a freezer container then use for stock base. (Keeping chicken & beef trimmings in separate containers of course)
Thanks Deborah, I'll give it a go 🙂
Our Five Frugal things for the week:
1. A friend decorated her house (by accident) with pumpkin pie pumpkins. Instead of discarding them (they were not carved), she offered them to me. Yes, please! I will steam and freeze them later this week. I'll also roast the seeds, as the ones from our Jack O' Lanterns have already been eaten.
2. Received two dozen fresh eggs after the hubby helped the neighbor rake leaves.
3. Used a Cheesecake Factory gift card for Halloween dinner; which we ate in front of the television while watching creepy movies!
4. A friend is working on a holiday project and needed some navy and black tulle or netting. Of course I just happened to have some in my stash that I gave her. Because I wouldn't take any money for it, she brought over a pan of peanut butter brownies and fresh cider.
5. I need new tires before winter and received five quotes from the dealership when I took my car in for inspection in September. Someone suggested an alternative tire brand and where to price check them. They did not have any of those in stock, but recommended the tires I was leaning toward at the dealership...for $135 less!! I'm getting them put on the car Friday.
1. Reused painting supplies for our new home office. We had to buy new paint.
2. I bought a beautiful old fashion wood desk for $25.00 and my husband's for $60. His was more expensive as it is a heavier wood.
3. I have an antique buffet in my garage. I am using that put in the new home office for a credenza.
4. I used Venison from our freezer and the vegetables on hand to make a big batch of stew.
5. I have been using Ball/Kerr jars that I have to store food instead of using plastic.
Kudos on your fix-its !
1. The usual -- eat in, bring lunch, use up all the things for random lunches and snacks.
2. Had to do an unusual mid-week run for groceries last week and stuck with the list. Period.
3. Our school provides free breakfasts and lunches for every child, during COVID. These are generous brown bags filled with drinks, chix nuggests, yogurt, cookies, apple slices, etc. -- all ind. wrapped. Of course we have a huge pile of stuff that doesn't get eaten(they are little guys) so we pack it in our cube refrigerator and everyone can help themselves, instead of throwing it out. Really trying not to waste it! So I have taken some bananas and corn to toss on my salad. Others have taken sandwiches and milks. We also send a lot of it home in the backpacks, since it is individually wrapped. Not great for the environment 🙁 But temporary, hopefully, during COVID.
4. Finally fitting back into a slightly less huge pair of capris than the really raggedy ones I mended and re-mended. So am planning to take the nice button from the waistband and switch it to the slightly smaller pair. I got so much use out of these darn things but they are truly on their last legs. No pun intended!