Five Frugal Things | a Starbucks Groupon!
1. I got a $10 Starbucks voucher for $5
I haven't bought a Groupon in eons, but they sent me an email with a user-specific offer for a 50% off Starbucks voucher.
(If it wasn't user-specific, I'd have shared it with all of you!)
So, I immediately bought one and added it to my app. Here's to a cheap treat one day in the future.
2. I ate the crumbs at the bottom of a shredded wheat bag
I often eat plain shredded wheat + fruit + milk for breakfast in the summer, and there are always a LOT of shredded wheat bits at the bottom of the cereal bag.
I've thrown them out in the past, but now when I get to the end of a box, I just pour the bits into a bowl, top them with fruit, and eat them.
The experience reminds me a little of eating those huge shredded wheat biscuits from my childhood; do you remember those? They came in paper packages inside of the cereal box, and we crushed them into the cereal bowl before adding milk.
Anyway, it's like that except slightly worse. Ha.
Is this something anyone else in my family would ever consider doing? Oh, heck no.
But since I am the resident frugal weirdo, I don't think any of them batted an eye at my cereal bowl. I have done worse in the name of preventing food waste!
3. I mended a reusable bag
This is one of those handy ones that folds in on itself, and it's always in my purse.
I fixed the handles in the past, which you can read about in this other Five Frugal Things post.
It sprang a hole at the bottom:
(Can a bag spring a hole? Or can something only spring a leak? Hmm.)
Anyway, I sewed up the hole and while I had the machine out, I reinforced the bottom and side seams, which had other spots that were fraying.
And now it's back in my purse.
4. I made croutons from some super dry bread
Last time Mr. FG and I volunteered with the food pantry, they had some extremely dry garlic ciabatta sticks left at the end of the day.
They threw them in a bag for us to take home with us, and while one of them was too dry to rescue (seriously, it was like a rock. I couldn't even have turned it into bread crumbs!), I did manage to cut the other ones into cubes.
I tossed them with melted butter and baked them to make croutons to go on top of a salad.
5. I did another $10 Venmo offer
Remember how I used Venmo to pay at CVS last week, since they'd sent me a $10 off of $20 offer?
Well, I'm happy to say that after a few days, the $10 did indeed get deposited into my Venmo account. Yay! So, then I was emboldened to redeem a second offer, which was $10 off a $10 purchase at Panda Express.
I'm sure that once Venmo is a commonly accepted form of payment at stores, these offers will cease to be, well, offered.
When online shopping first started, companies routinely offered things for free or almost free to help encourage people to try online shopping. And I think these offers with Venmo are the same type of thing.
Might as well take advantage of the offers while they're here!
Kristen I love your upbeat view on frugality. It is refreshing. If I were to give my mother the last of pack there would be complaints. Onto my efforts.
1. A number of times this week I have reminded us that there is plenty of food at home.
2. Minestrone soup made good use of those items that were needing to be used.
3. Another save was to make vegetable fritters out of the veg that was raging again.
4. I made a fruit cake and used up some older dried fruits. Now to get more dried fruit for Christmas.
5. I have been holding off on using the air conditioning but yesterday the temperature went close to 100 so it went on for a few hours. Not looking forward to summer. South east Queensland summers are brutal in my eyes.
6. I am constantly trying to keep our fuel bill down as the price can rise over 30 cents a litre. I managed to make my fuel last and was able to buy petrol at the $1.40 mark.
Like you, I had a reusable bag that was coming apart and I mended it. Also I repaired a musquito screen. They will have small holes sometimes because the birds will be pecking at insects. I can stich them closed if I am in time but I have also reinforced larger holes and tears with some spare screen fabric.
Next, I borrowed a book, bought a gift at a discount, and finished some odds and ends that my family members did not want to eat any longer. My sense of smell and taste is good so even when foods are a bit older I can smell and taste if I can still eat them. Finally I bought a leather handbag in a colour I was totally smitten with. However one of the handles came loose due to a metal part on it and our local shoemaker could not repair it. So sadly I will be returning that one and the money will be returned.
1. My husband and I each redeemed a reward from our cell phone company for a free personal pizza from California Pizza Kitchen. Cheap date night!
2. While at the mall for our free pizzas, we got our flu shots at Target. Super fun date night, right? We each received a coupon $5 off a $20 purchase for getting our flu shots there. We used one for a handful of groceries and will use the second for some necessities when we head out of town for the weekend.
3. I've been bringing all my meals and snacks from home now that I'm commuting to office again.
4. I'm using my train ride each morning to listen to my free meditation app.
5. My kiddo's laptop stopped working within a few weeks of getting it. Amazon refunded us what we paid for it and didn't ask for it to be returned. My husband is going to see if it can be repaired for less than it cost.
I agree with Suzan here. I find your upbeat view on frugality real inspiring Kirsten!
1. I got a offer for a new job. While I don’t know yet what they offer in salary, if I take it I would save money on buying work clothes as there is a uniform provided by them. I might take it just for the difference it will make for my mental health to get another boss.
2. The local grocery store is now offering Too Good To Go and I managed to snag some bags. It was SO good! Milk, bread, eggs, cereal and so much produce and fruit.
3. Made some glasses with jam to have with cheese with the nectarines and pears I got in the TGTG bags.
4. The hunting team my partner is on shot their first moose. So that’s at least 20 kg with meat for us that have lived a happy life before.
5. Tried another TGTG and here they made a fresh pizza for us. Belive they use it to get people to try their restaurant as they are fairly new open. Since it was Sunday and we was traveling we saved about $20 for dinner then.
@Gunn S, mental health is something that is often overlooked when it comes to cost comparison. Health is just as important as income! Good luck as you ponder your decision.
@Gunn S, I have the too good to go app but nothing has been quite close enough yet to make it worth it, that sounds like a good amount you got though, can’t wait to finally try it!
We FINALLY got our van back after it sat at the mechanic for almost two months, because apparently transmissions are yet another thing that are hard to get now. It was most assuredly not cheap to replace the transmission, but cheaper than getting a new car, which are also hard to get now. We had a few other things fixed, too, so now we see if we can run our 12-seater van until our children are mostly grown and we don't need it anymore. So about ten more years.
While the van was in the shop, we drove our other car, which is a 2003 Honda Pilot with 163,000 miles on it. It has no air conditioning, one of the back windows is broken and had to be glued shut, and it makes this alarming roaring sound when we try to turn the heat on too high, but it will probably run another ten years, too. We definitely don't prioritize vehicular transport when it comes to allocating money. 🙂
I got the purchased parts for my children's Halloween costumes already. I only had to buy two things, and they were "real" things (like a hardhat with a visor and ear protection that my son will wear to be a steel worker, but that my husband can use thereafter when he's using his chainsaw). I hate buying cheap purpose-made costumes--even though, with four children, they definitely get passed down and used again--so it was nice my children chose costumes that could mostly be done with things we already had or with things we can use in the future.
One of the teachers at school, who also goes to our church, distributes the commodities foods for seniors from our parish hall. Last week she told me they inexplicably delivered about four times as much food as they usually do, and told me I could go grab whatever I wanted. I came home with two cases of chick peas--my kids love roasted chick peas--a case of black beans, 12 pounds of dried dates, dozens of of snack bags of dried cranberries, about 30 pounds of raisins, two bags of split peas, a case of tomato sauce, and five half gallons of grapefruit juice. And there was still a lot left. Crazy. There may be no microchips for cars, but there seems to be no supply issues with beans and dried fruit.
I found a recipe for chocolate syrup so I could use chocolate milk to bribe my children into stacking two cords of firewood for me. And now I know how to quickly make chocolate milk. I haven't done a cost comparison, but I bet it's cheaper than Hershey's syrup. Tastes better, too.
@kristin @ going country,
Twelve pounds of dried dates! Wow, those are so expensive to buy! And everything else you listed is fabulous to get for free!
And I can tell you that that Amy Dacyczyn of The Tightwad Gazette proved that making your own chocolate syrup is indeed the cheapest method.
@kristin @ going country, Kristen, I’d love to know what recipe you used for making chocolate syrup if you don’t mind sharing. Our kids also love chocolate milk, but it can add up quickly to buy and I love knowing what ingredients are/aren’t in our food/drinks.
@Haley, I used this one (just because it was the first result when I searched) and made just a third of the recipe. Because I didn't want to have a big jar of it in the refrigerator that would result in my children refusing to drink plain milk. 🙂
https://www.melskitchencafe.com/homemade-chocolate-syrup-for-chocolate-milk/
@kristin @ going country,
I agree with you wholeheartedly about cars. We drive them for as long as we can. My car is a 2010 and has 169000 mile on it, but I have kept it in great condition. Sometimes when I am at the dealership, I look at those shiny new cars and it’s sooooo tempting until I look at the sticker price.
@Bee and @kristin, I hear you re: the old cars. Compared with yours, my 2010 Honda Element is a spring chicken with only 67K miles. Will continue to drive it until the prices on both new and used cars get less ridiculous (if ever).
@kristin @ going country, thank you!! Making a fraction is a great idea! We always wait as long as possible to introduce chocolate milk to our kiddos for the same reason. I know they’ll be super excited to know we can make chocolate syrup instead of waiting to buy some at the store, which adds up quick!
@Bee, My car is a 10 yr old Honda CRV and I have 62,000 miles on it. I bought it brand new and I can't imagine what a new car would cost now. I'll keep plugging along with this car.
@kristin @ going country, this sounds good! There’s also a method for making homemade chocolate milk like the store-bought kind- rich and thick, using Aldi (or any cheap) instant chocolate pudding mix, which also comes in sugar-free!
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I try to use the crumbs at the bottom of bags whenever possible. I eat the ends of cereal, dried fruit and nuts as topping on yogurt and salads.
1) I continue to clean out the freezer. This week I used some poblano peppers, ground meat, chicken broth, and the end of a bag of corn.
2) I have noticed that the Costco near me is out of toilet paper. With all the talk about supply chain disruption, this has me a little concerned. So I stocked up on a few of the items I couldn’t live without TP, dog food, cat food, kitty litter, laundry detergent, dish soap, coffee and filled my prescriptions. When doing this, I tried to get the best prices possible. I used my Target app to use Target Circle rewards and coupons. I also used a gift card I received as part of a promotion when I made an earlier purchase. I bought pet food at a store that had a BOGO offer. I then scanned my receipts to Fetch and ibotta.
3) I bought 4 coffee mugs that match my everyday dishes at the Goodwill for $2. These usually sell for $15 each at Home Goods. I also purchased a nice navy blue t-shirt with three-quarter length sleeves.
4) I put together a care package to send to my son in the mountains of the West. It includes thrifted gifts - a book, 2 merino wool sweaters and some Kuhl pants. People move to Florida and discard there sweaters and heavy outdoor gear. It is fairly easy to find the things he needs secondhand and in like-new condition. Good and warm gear is expensive so this helps him. It also makes me feel better to know he’s warm. Once a mama, always a mama.
5) All the usual things - Eating at home, brewing my own coffee, drinking primarily water, using the library’s resources, sharing streaming services, and batching errands.
Wishing everyone peace and good health.
@Bee, Kuhl pants are great! My husband loves his.
I saw an article yesterday about how you're "such an oldie" if you don't have Venmo. Well, I don't have it and don't plan on getting it so I guess I'm an oldie. 🙂
It hasn't been a super frugal week for me per se, but on the flip side it's not like I've spent all that much either.
1.) I bought generic third party heads for my daughter's electric toothbrush. There are some crummy ones you want to avoid but there are decent alternatives to the name brand.
2.) Bought my daughter's birthday present on a sale this year. I got her one of those octopuses/octopi/octopodes from TeeTurtle that you can turn inside out. She has expressed an interest in them and it wasn't too expensive.
3.) Did a candy purge in the house. Now this isn't totally frugal but my daughter gets so much candy over the year (Christmas, Easter, parades, you name it) but she really doesn't eat it so rather than have all that sugar temptation in the house we purged a good 2/3 of it and brought it to our offices for people to share.
4.) Got some books together to donate to our local Little Free Library. We've received so much from there that it's high time we donate back.
5.) Working overtime. Luckily this was on my work from home days so it wasn't that big of a bother. Still, working OT is always more productive than saving a nickel or dime here and there. I still do both when I can.
@Battra92, what brand of heads did you buy for your toothbrushes?
I am super excited about my frugal things this week!
1. I received a mailer coupon for a free full-size body care product from Bath & Body Works. My daughter sent me a list of options, and I got a $13.50 body wash completely free! It will be a Christmas gift for her.
2. I scanned my CVS card when my sister bought a gift card there (she doesn't have a CVS card). I didn't think I would get any benefit from the scan, but a $2 Extra Buck printed on the receipt. My sister gave it to me. I picked up 2 small boxes of crackers that were on sale for $1 each so got them completely free! And another $2 Extra Buck printed on that receipt! Double score!
3. I redeemed points to get $40 worth of Target gift cards. I was able to purchase and ship a birthday gift to my older daughter with no out-of-pocket cost!
4. I downloaded the new Sprouts freebies on October 1. I haven't redeemed any yet, but there are some really good ones this month.
5. My friend and I found a great desk chair by the dumpster. She posted it and sold it for $40 within an hour. She insisted on giving me half because she said she wouldn't have seen it had I not pointed it out.
@BarbG, I think you must be the one I found out about the Sprouts freebies from, I got two free things last month so thanks! And I was wondering when they load new coupons in and now I know so thank you again!
@LB, you are so welcome!
Kristen, if you ever get weary of your bowls of shredded wheat crumbs - I usually add those crumbles in as I make baked goods, especially cookies; then they disappear fast!
Shredded wheat bits can be used as a substitute for bran in bran muffins. I keep a jar in my pantry to collect cereal bits just for this purpose.
Given how much milk they soak up, the bits could probably be used in your oatmeal, too.
I am also the resident frugal weirdo at my house and love to sprinkle cereal crumbs on homemade yogurt parfaits.
My FFT: Used some paint leftover from another project to freshen up an antique (but not valuable) trunk we use in the living room. Added a gotta-use-it-up sweet potato to some chili made for my brown bag lunches. Froze some more leftover grapes to stretch a bag of frozen berries: I take yogurt and berries with my lunch every day. Swapped around some bookcases for a new look and better storage in a couple of rooms. Mended another shirt for my son: it's one I bought him years ago at a community consignment sale, so he's certain gotten the good out of it.
1. The dog is helping me get rid of possessions. Socks, wooden spoon, handkerchief, halter collar - all have been chewed up without my permission.
2. Neighbor is letting us use his scaffolding to do some exterior painting.
3. Concocted a stir-fry with six different sauteed veggies, chickpeas, tofu, coconut milk, peanut butter, splashes of various condiments, and shakes of various spices.
4. The broccoli and tomato plants continue to produce like they are on steroids.
5. If I had a dollar for every box elder or beetle bug on the front of our house, I'd be a millionaire (only a slight exaggeration).
@MB in MN, I laughed at your helpful dog 🙂 what a good helpful pup he is 😉
@MB in MN,
What a sweet little helper you have! My Rescue Pup loves to rip up paper especially when I leave her alone. I came home to a living room full of TP rolls a few weeks ago. Someone had not shut the door of the linen closet.
@MB in MN, re: your #1: Bad, naughty, good, decluttering puppy!
@MB in MN,
You and Bee both made me laugh with your helpful dogs. Mine likes to help me decide if I should keep those socks or toss them.
I was going to brag about getting cheap meat, but I think Kristin has me beat with her huge haul of free food! 🙂
1. The cheap meat is from my generous daughter, who orders Butcher Boxes and forgot to cancel it this month when her fiancé went hunting out of state. He brought back plenty of meat, and her freezer is packed. She offered her entire box of meats to me for free, but I insisted on paying her at least something for it. I'm still getting a very, very good bargain.
2. My fermenting kraut and brining olives are both nearing completion. I bought the cabbage on sale and had more than we wanted to eat, so this was going to be wasted otherwise. The olives grew on my tree. I have two trees, but one just pollinates the other and doesn't produce. The producing tree is slowly providing more olives each year.
3. My dog's favorite toy is the free ball I picked up at the pet food store. They were giving them away as part of a grand opening.
4. I made a big pot of a new AIP soup recipe for a meal one night, substituting cheaper ingredients that I had on hand for the more expensive ones, such as carrots subbing for parsnips. It made a big pot of chunky soup, so I am having a bowl every morning for breakfast as well. It's takes just a minute in the microwave - fast, efficient, and good, and I didn't have to purchase anything new to make it.
5. We had something arrive using lots of brown kraft paper as cushioning in the box. I saved the paper and it is working well as a protective surface for painting or gluing small things.
1. I never really feel frugal when purchasing diapers but Costco did have them on sale so I bought the 2 box maximum they allow since it is a good deal and the boxes are so large, I don’t have to think about it for awhile. I hope to one day be posting that my frugal achievement is potty training my daughter as early as possible to be done with diapers!
2. I’ve been reducing my sparkling water consumption to one a day, since it’s water I was drinking as many as I wanted but they do cost quite a bit more than plain water plus the environmental impact of the containers they come in.
3. This isn’t frugal for myself yet but someone in my parents club started a costume closet this year where you can donate old Halloween costumes and other parents can borrow them for their kids. I donated 3 costumes my kids had outgrown. It just started so the collection isn’t very big yet so I didn’t see anything for my kids to use but hopefully my donation will help someone else save money on a costume (and again, better for the environment to reuse things)
4. Being very mindful with water use, more because of the drought (I’m in California) but it does save money too.
5. Not buying any new Halloween decorations this year. Last year I bought quite a few (I think due to pandemic and wanting to make the holiday extra fun for my kids) so this year (and future years) I don’t plan to buy any as we have a good amount now.
@LB, Potty training is great when it happens. I can see why living in California you'd have to go with disposables. Where I live we have an abundance of water (and tons of rainfall) so it's never been an issue where we've had to restrict water.
1. I used homemade applesauce to make a double recipe of an applesauce cake. We had a bundt pan here and I took a loaf cake to a neighbor.
2. I made a large pot of white chicken chili using loads of peppers that we grew in our garden & some chicken that we purchased at $0.88/lb. I also used some canned cannelini beans that were lingering in my pantry.
3. I made Sunday dinner for us and shared with our neighbor who has recently injured her back. Everyone ate well and no food was wasted...hurrah!
4. I cleaned out my pantry to ensure that everything gets rotated and used before the expiration date. I did lose a jar of jalapenos and one can of diced tomatoes but this is the exact reason I spent the time to clean it out. This also showed me what items we are running low on so I can add them to our list and watch for sales to get the lowest possible price.
5. We recently traded one of our vehicles and I called to ensure the payoff was received and the refunds for GAP insurance and the interest overage were being processed and sent to us sooner rather than later. I also contacted my insurance company and reviewed coverage so that we are now paying $25 less per month. Every dollar counts!
Have a great week everyone!
Just wanted to say that the big Shredded Wheat Biscuits are still being sold. And they still come in the brown paper wrapper/ 3 biscuits. It is one of my favorite cereals and I, also, dump out the bits from the bottom of the wrapper.
I'm going to keep my eye out for a similar bag, because after COVID, I took our shopping bags out of the car, and keep forgetting to replace them. (In our area, reusable bags were not allowed for at least a year, to reduce the potential spread of germs.)
1) A friend gifted me apples from her tree. I gave her zucchini, and definitely got the best part of that deal. I made homemade applesauce, and froze most.
2) My teens were invited to a friend's house for dinner. My 14 y.o. made three loaves of homemade bread (he loves Kristin's French bread recipe), & I sent along two containers of applesauce.
3) I mended my son's favorite shirt. You have to understand that I'm NOT a sewer. My grandmother gave up trying to teach me when I was little, in fact. But, I manage to repair the collar & here's hoping it will get a few more wears.
4) I sold a few things on eBay. My husband had a previous job in sales, and had to wear suits every day. He's also lost a bunch of weight, so the suits don't fit. The resale value isn't great, but they are worth selling. Plus, stuff out of the house, and into the hands of people who will use them.
5) I cleaned the fridge to see what we had on hand, and reduce food waste.
I did my usual poor job of writing down frugal things so let's see what I can remember:
1. Mended a double-layered cloth mask and a knitted blanket.
2. Swapped chores with my roommate - I walk the dog, he cooks dinner - so maybe I won't waste so much food.
3. When the handle on my Briggs & Riley roll-on bag broke, I learned that their warranty for free repairs is lifetime and there's a shop 3 miles from my home.
4. Made taco meat to have have taco salad lunches, to use up the oversupply of lettuce.
5. Offered to go halvsies on Costco pico di gallo: I can't find any at my stores and she finds the Costco container too big. She lives close enough that I can pick up my half at no notice.
1. My neighbor gave me 2 huge bottle gourds. I used them to make dumplings and a dessert. Lasted us 2 days. I grated and froze the rest.
2. My son's laptop screen hinge broke. Since we had a warranty, we got the entire laptop replaced with no cost to us. They paid for the return shipping tp and from as well.
3. My husband and I are into FIRE (Financially independent retire early) and are aggressively saving towards our goals. I guess the Universe is always testing us (in a good way) as our friends decided to book an impromptu Thanksgiving
trip to Cancun for 4 nights for $4800. We refused to go and feel super happy about that decision.
4. My husband has a handyman business and decided to look for an outdoor shed to store his tools. They cost anywhere from $2500 to $6000. He decided to built one by himself for a fraction of that price.
5. We received 4 free tickets to Legoland NYC (valued at $268) and are planning a short trip for my two boys soon.
1. Used a gas station breakfast sandwich freebie as a snack when out running errands… twice!
2. Due to realizing I’ve been overspending, have tried to be more intentional in using up food we already have. To that end have finally made a bean soup mix that my mom gave me (but that has peas, which DH is allergic to). This also used carrots, celery, and homemade broth, none of which I usually keep on hand.
3. Signed up for Panera rewards and received a free bakery treat, as well as signing up for three free months of Panera+ for a free hot drink. I won’t use many of the free daily coffee/hot drinks since it is somewhat far away, but I will use a few every now and then when running errands. I have it marked on my calendar to cancel before the trial period is up, of course.
4. Picked 46 pounds of apples (sounds like an excessive amount, but only two large reusable grocery bags full) from a tree that was being ignored on the edge of a parking lot, and am making them into applesauce.
5. Won a $5 Starbucks GC by playing their current game. Tip: scroll down and click the “how to enter without making a purchase” link, and you can enter twice daily for free. I occasionally win a free drink or some stars, but an actual GC is a great treat.
6. Kristen, thank you for sharing your Rakuten referral code on an old post-- I used it and earned $30 as a signup bonus on a purchase I was already going to make, then shared my code with my mom to earn another $30 (plus she earned $30).
So I have memories of shredded wheat biscuits and a way I love to eat them.
Pour hot water over the biscuit, drain off. Add a little butter, brown sugar, sprinkle Grape Nuts cereal over top and add milk. It makes a delicious and satisfying hot cereal for breakfast or a snack.
I don't think I've ever commented on this before, but here goes!:
1. We are ordering ahead vitamins today. Not sure what the shipping shortages will do, and want to have plenty on hand. Hubs is getting a 15% discount and free shipping!
2. I had an offer from Hubs to go out to eat, but I opted on eating a Freschetta frozen pizza instead that I had bought for $3 (not quite as good as a restaurant, but almost).
3. I made a double pot of Chicken Gnocchi soup and a pot of Broccoli Cheese soup to share with my Mom and Dad as she's healing from a dog attack. It was very economical, and the broth I used was set to expire soon, so yay for using that up.
4. I found a cool shirt in the dollar bin of Goodwill last night for myself. I didn't need it, but it's red (for some reason a hard color for me to find) and in pristine shape and I'll wear it a bunch. Usually I only find Men's shirts in the dollar bin, for some reason.
5. The chicken for the soup was on sale so I bought plenty and when it cooked up, I found I had extra. I froze that in a freezer bag and it'll be ready to go to whip up a batch of Chicken n Dumplins, which I rediscovered whilst taking care of my Mom and making her soft foods. I used to eat it as a child all the time.
I don't have many big wins, but all the small ones add up to make an impact to me....
1. I've been trying to have no-spend days as often as I can, so I just had one and am counting it.
2. I wanted mums for outdoors but didn't want to spend a lot of money, so I went in the garden center and looked at their clearance ones and found the nicest ones I could and saved $14 on buying the amount I originally planned on purchasing, plus i added some dirt when planting them from some of my containers from container gardening.
3. My husband likes getting pizzas sometimes for snack while watching tv in the late evenings. Twice I didn't say ok and he ended up eating other snacks we have in the house.
4. We were gifted a set of pots and pans from daughter's boyfriend's mom to use at our camp. She was purchasing a new set for home and the old ones she gave to us. They're still in great shape!
5. I returned 2 rolls of insulation that we didn't end up using at our camp...over $46 back to me!
6. Our anniversary is this coming Sunday. I talked to hubby about no gifts, just a nice dinner out with him. He agreed. We are directing any extra funds towards our camp.
At CVS yesterday I picked up three packs of jacks for 3 cents each, three neon jump ropes for 3 cents each, five packs of 100 quick-fill water balloons $1 each and two inflatable pool basketball hoops for 50 cents apiece. I see happy grandkids in the future!
Wow, those are some awesome CVS finds!
1. I’m updating our backyard landscaping and while I had to hire out part of it, I am doing a lot myself - specifically this week I had 9.5 cubic yards of mulch delivered (cheaper and less waste than bags) and spread it myself.
2. I remembered to use a coffee shop gift card that my husband gave me at Christmas … in 2019.
3. Our 10 year old is joining Battle of the Books at school, and I picked up the first 2 books on their list at the library.
4. I’ve managed to keep the heat off at the house for the most part.
5. I am hiring a friend to run drip irrigation for me in a new garden bed area I created. She just started her own landscape company this year, and while I am paying her, I’m happy to support a friend, her markups are less than a lot of other companies, and it’s going to make this part of our yard look beautiful and be so much more functional.
I feel your pain. The contents at the bottom of the cereal boxes are solely mine as well.
Here's our Five Frugal Things for the week:
1. We dress up at work for Halloween every year. This year's theme is food. My officemate is pregnant, so we are going to be bacon and egg...she being the egg with her bump a bright yellow. Such a fun idea. I purchased two different colors of felt to be the bacon. The felt was on sale and I had a 25% off coupon that included sale items. The costume cost is about $13 dollars.
2. The same trip to the fabric store also yielded sale flannel that I will use as contrasting color on Star Wars Baby Yoda-themed pillowcases for my daughter.
3. Also on that same trip, after I checked out, the cashier told me to take a free gift from the cart by the door. I picked up a 2x3 metal decorative sign that will go perfect in my middle daughter's house. I'll add it to her Christmas gifts.
4. Repaired the hole in my hubby's uniform pants after he caught the pocket on a sharp edge of a machine at work.
5. Our eldest daughter moved back home temporarily while she is in between apartments. She integrated her toiletries, laundry, cleaning and food supplies with ours. I won't have to purchase many things at the grocery store for a long time. I will, however, get her a massive care package of supplies when she get a new place.
@Tracey,
Bacon and eggs … how cute is that!
I have never commented before. I am not working currently (previously was the primary bread winner). We still have enough money to go around without feeling too pinched. Many frugal things I just didn't have time to do before (because I was working so much).
1) I returned an un-needed item to amazon 2) I made applesauce from a huge bag of apples I got for $10 at the farmers' market 3) We went out to dinner for the first time in ages, and split an appetizer as our meal instead of each getting something. 4) I scheduled our first vacation in a year, and found a deal that saved us $1000. the trip will definitely not be frugal, but I was happy to save what I could. 5) I am using up all of my stash of personal care items, like lotion, soap, cleanser, lip balm. I haven't bought new of any of those items in months (unless we were truly out).
Welcome, welcome!
Your #1: I always give myself a pat on the back for doing a return because it's something I feel prone to put off.
1) I picked about 30# of apples from a neighbor's tree. He is a "summer person,"and goes to Florida for the winter. He left this week, and told me I could pick all the apples I want. He also...
2)...gave me 4 antique kitchen chairs for our cabin that came from an old sporting camp in the area. I love things like this that have a local history.
3) I baked a small grouse that ran into our cabin window and knocked himself dead (suicide mission???). Anyhow, my husband hasn't got his hunting license yet, but we got a grouse anyhow! My son, who is a hunter, gave us another grouse yesterday, which will be supper tonight. I love them. Similar to Cornish Hens.
4) A coworker gave my husband two jars of home canned moose meat for stew. I love living in rural Maine!
5) I used the ibotta app to get $34 worth of items from Walmart for $5.86. I am relatively new to the app, and will not use it all the time, but since I was there, I took advantage of it.
@Tricia, number three is hilarious and I don't even know what a grouse is.
@Anne, Glad I could make you smile today:)!
@Tricia, I'm hearing the ghost of the late Jennifer Paterson of the Two Fat Ladies cooking show trilling, "Plump little grouse birds!" Google "Two Fat Ladies recipe for grouse" if you're interested.
@Tricia,
Darn it, the only birds I get hitting my windows are cardinals!
@A. Marie, HAHAHA...never heard of them, but checked it out on YT. I will seriously hear that British accent talking about grouse now.
@JD, Ha!
FFT, Old Dog Learns New Tricks Edition:
(1) I've begun buying bread at the Freihofer bakery outlet, which is conveniently close to our local Thrifty Shopper outlet store. It turns out that the same mega-bakery in PA makes not only Freihofer's, but Arnold's, Stroehmann's, and other brands of bread. And I've picked up 3 loaves of Arnold's for $4 in the manager's specials three times running now. I just chuck them in the freezer and have excellent cheap bread all the time.
(2) Recent finds at the Thrifty Shopper outlet ($1 apiece for clothes/pairs of shoes, ridiculously low prices on books/other media, and $1.29/lb. for other stuff) include a restaurant-quality sheet pan with only a few honorable scars, a brand-new Wilton baking pan, vases galore for my bouquets of zinnias, and (hold your applause) a pair of Keen low-cut hiking shoes needing only treatment of the leather.
(3) Although it's too soon to be completely sure, I think I've just taught myself the basic skills of PowerPoint. Go ahead and laugh, but I've resisted learning PP for years (I've got a strong Luddite streak). This will enable me to give a Zoom presentation to my local Jane Austen group in December without driving the other members crazy. It opens up other possibilities as well.
(4) I've found one local library that is still taking donated books for book sales (it's using a converted barn on the premises to run a continuing book sale on weekends). I took four boxes of DH's books that our secondhand-book dealer friend didn't want to that library, as well as two more boxes to the local Goodwill that still accepts books.
(5) And I'm holding on to still other books in the hope that Powell's Books will reopen its online book buying at some point (they're not taking any used books at the moment). I suppose the next step is eBay, but I've never gotten over that psychological speed bump either (see my #2).
I love that your Jane Austen group is using Zoom and PowerPoint. So modern!
@Kristen, and speaking of which, some years ago I visited a beautiful monastery in Oregon where there were monks who still dressed in the medieval robes.
And one of them was working on a laptop. I have treasured that memory for decades.
When Sonia dressed up in a Victorian outfit last year, I took a picture of her using her laptop. Cracked me up.
@Anne and @Kristen: Hey, we "Janeites" do a lot more these days than sip tea and dress up. Out West, we have a professor at Arizona State who does roller derby (under the nom de skate "Stone Cold Jane Austen") in what passes for her spare time!
@A. Marie,
Great finds! I found Keen sandals one time at a Goodwill and they are really holding up well.
I love the idea of Jane Austen on Power Point, and the roller derby name cracked me up.
Is it the weather? There are so many hilarious comments today!
@A. Marie, all I can say is LOL!!
I love the wheat "bits" from that kind of cereal, but if you don't - crush them and add them to bread! They add some fantastic texture to bread.
1. I found a set of footless unicorn sleepers that my daughter can wear as a Halloween costume - they weren't well-designed (calf area is WAY too narrow - the patterns made for the larger sizes were obviously wonky), which is why they were so heavily on sale, but my close friend has a literal degree in pattern-making and sewing, and has offered to help me make a small modification that will allow them to fit my daughter!
2. We got to last Friday and both my spouse and I were just out of energy. Usually we make pizza from scratch, but neither of us could quite face the work. Instead of ordering out (which would have taken 45+ minutes at that point because... it's Friday and pizza), I did a quick run up to Aldi and picked up 1 cheese pizza (for kids), 1 supreme pizza (for spouse), 1 cauliflower-crust pizza (for lower-carb me), 1 salad kit, some heavy cream (we were out and I wanted cream for my Saturday coffee), and some pepperoni (to beef up the veggie-only cauliflower pizza) for about half of what it would have cost us to order takeout pizza!
3. I did a "mid statement" check on our credit card to make sure we were staying within our expected budget, and then made some adjustments on the categories we use to accommodate spending variances.
4. I got $200 in Amazon gift cards from my employer's "wellness" program. Basically, I have an app connected to my FitBit and Health apps that gives me points for getting in steps. Those points can be redeemed for gift cards - I always get Amazon cards because that's where we do the majority of our Christmas shopping for out-of-town family. Basically, I just got paid for walking!
5. I haven't bought: books, music, & games on my phone. This, for me, is a major frugal win. I'm in the process of transitioning from full-time work to staying home with the kids (again - I was a SAHP for 6 years, then returned to work), and moving away from the more spendy habits I had acquired due to lack of time takes practice. Visiting the library regularly, putting books on hold, checking them out and returning them in time - all of that was just one more thing I couldn't track in the midst of the rest of life, but it's something I'll have time for again when my job ends, so I'm working towards just NOT buying stuff right now, and putting things on some lists on my phone. My library will purchase new books if they are requested by even 1 person, but it (of course!) takes longer for me to be able to check out a new-to-the-library book, and new titles are only "checked out" for 1 week rather than the usual 3, so I need more time to read before going down that path.
5 Frugal Things
1) Husband finally got the sliding fixed from a couple wind/ storm damage a year ago. Didn’t have to pay the $2000 insurance deductible since there were 2 different occurrences. Only the materials which were a few hundred dollars.
2) Sold my girls’ outgrown sleepers on Facebook Marketplace and got $45 and a toddler life jacket for $5.
3) Made fried rice and use up some odds and ends we had. Also had extra soy sauce packets from take out restaurants and sushi we buy at the store which I consolidated into a large empty soy sauce container.
4) Mend kids clothes like a tear in my girl’s tight.
5) Fix toys by sewing a loose strap back on a mask and gluing a loose part back on a hand sling.
All the usual frugal things 🙂 plus we had the remains of an oversize bag of marshmallows that went sticky. I completely forget where I saw that marshmallows can be dehydrated for a quick snack. Absolute crack, people. Dehydrate those sticky marshmallows asap.
Do you put them in a dehydrator? Or the oven?
I used a dehydrator (I suspect it's cheaper to operate) but I can't imagine it wouldn't work just as well in an oven.
Where do you find the Venmo offers?
They're under the settings menu; you have to scroll down a bit. Venmo also has emailed me to tell me that there are in-store offers in my app.
My kids fight over the crumbs at the bottom of the bag. 🙂 Probably because it's Frosted Shredded Wheat and it's mostly sugar at the bottom.
1. I've been waiting for a few things to hit end-of-season clearance and I found TWO of them today! Black strappy sandals for 75% off and a locker shelf for 50% off. I'll use the locker shelf at the gym for a while and then will give it to my middle child when he starts school next fall.
2. I also hit the jackpot with some clearance food items at Meijer this morning. Tuesday seems to be a good day for this. I got a bunch of yogurt for 15 cents a cup and 2 gallons of milk that were only 26 cents a piece!! They're 3 days away from their date, so I've got time to make a few milk-heavy recipes and then I'll freeze the rest in portions sized out for baked oatmeal.
3. I said, "Yes, thank you" when a friend offered to give me a big bag of hand-me-down clothes. Bonus that someone else said yes to some kid clothes I have to give away.
4. My brother-in-law just had a birthday and all of the kids wanted to send their own cards. (They picked out cards from the Dollar Tree, so it wasn't a big deal.) I put all 3 cards into 1 envelope to mail instead of mailing 3 envelopes.
5. I've been bringing my own coffee mug to places like church and Bible study so I don't have to use disposable cups. Not necessarily frugal for me, but it's frugal for communities I'm part of.
Unsweetened cereal crumbs also make good breading for anything to be fried. Sweetened crumbs can be added to muffin mixes.
Also, muffins can be sliced and dried to be used as biscotti cookies for coffee, hot chocolate, etc. I know when I've been to food banks in the past, they've often had muffins as a give away.
This week, my biggest frugal thing was that I stopped by an estate sale on Sunday afternoon. How is that frugal? Well, they had a ton of clothing for sale and although they were busy, I later PM'd the lady who had advertised the estate sale on Facebook and let her know I'd be interested in any clothing she had remaining. (I resell online and often find clothing for super cheap at yard sales and Goodwill bins, but I won't pay more than 50 cents to $1 per item.) She and I met yesterday and I helped her clean out two closets, a bedroom, a hallway and a huge pile of clothing in the living room. In return, I got about 300 pieces of quality clothing for $40 that I can resell. These came out to significantly lower than my $1/item limit! What I don't resell will be donated to our local clothing bank.
Another frugal act is that my gardening is coming to a close for the season, but I've harvested about two dozen nut squashes (which I love and will keep for several months), a huge number of poblano peppers and jalapeno peppers, and lots of herbs, which I've dried for use this winter.
@Mary, that's an awesome score on the estate sale. If I were 20 years younger and had 20 years' more energy, this is the sort of thing I'd be doing. You go!
We were getting ready to make appointments for vaccination boosters at our doctor's office which is 15 miles away. A friend told me I could get the booster at CVS inside Target, which is one mile away. AND we would each get a $5 gift card.
That was a no brainer. We are having a family barbecue this weekend, and there is lots of stuff to purchase, including vegan hamburgers for my grandson. At least we got the $14 cost of his burgers down to $4.
We’ll see if I can do this 3 weeks in a row!
1) I use Paperback Swap to trade books. It may not sound frugal because there is now an annual fee and media mail has gone up, but I can get some great books by trading. Example: $18.99 hardback for cost of media mail $3.19.
2) I made too much pasta for beef stroganoff so made tuna pasta salad with the extra pasta.
3) We have several medical appointments this month, and always try to combine town errands into one trip.
4) Our insurance gives my husband and me each a $25 gift card for over the counter med supplies every quarter. Besides meds, we can use them for bandaids, etc. —- always good to keep on hand. We used his today and have $10 remaining on mine.
5) I’m not sure everyone will agree with this last one but it worked for us. I dug deep into our freezer and found a package of stew beef from 2017. It was in a food saver bag so had no freezer burn. I opened it; it smelled like stew beef, looked fine, so I put it in the crockpot for easy beef stroganoff. It tasted great so it was a big WIN! I attribute it all to the FoodSaver. Would you have thrown it away?
@Gail, I would not have thrown it away. And I'm a vegetarian! Congrats on a big win.
@Gail, If it doesn't smell off then it's on!
1. Found a coupon for changing tires over for studded tires. I insisted husband use it before it ran out, on October 1, which seemed early to him. HA! That night and the next day we got six inches of snow!
2. The neighbor has a plow and cleaned our driveway after the snow. He refused money so I gave him two dozen eggs and a loaf of homemade challah as a thank you.
3. Made a casserole side dish that really didn't taste that great. We ate it one night and then I hid it in homemade tomato soup the next night. I could not stand the thought of wasting all that pasta and spice and it tasted just fine in the soup.
4. Had a coupon for a free rotisserie chicken. I picked out the largest one and managed to make three meals plus a pot of tasty broth out of it. And the dog enjoyed the skin on his dinner. Love meals that cost next to nothing!
5. Library for books and a puzzle exchange.
-We sold some toys on marketplace made $50 ($20 goes to my son, they were his)
-I used Kohl’s cash to buy a baby gift, so only $6 out of pocket
-We went to the children’s hospital today and brought our own food for after appointment (my daughter can’t eat before so sometimes we buy food after)
-called about a damaged item that was shipped and they are sending 3 new ones free (only 1 was damaged)
-edited my subscribe and save to include only absolute needs
-used an Amazon return credit to buy a stocking stuffer for my son
-gave away some free toys too (not frugal but helped my mental health with less clutter)
-have a small pile of used stuff to also sell this week ready to go
-started my emergency pantry (not frugal but again peace of mind)
This semester has been the semester-from-hell, and I'm back to splitting my time between 2 states, so frugal is taking extra effort....
1) found a dime when we were out listening to free music as part of PorchFest.
2) one musical act had free samples of pita chips made from spent grain, so enjoyed a bag for free
3) met a friend in NYC for the weekend (not frugal) but she paid for hotel with points so I paid for breakfast and lunch (which still cost less than my half of the hotel would have been)
4) she went to a food show and got 3-bags of food samples. She shared a bunch with me.
5) For some reason, this week at Star Market, there were a lot of great loss leaders. I was able to get $100 food for $40 (although their full price is more expensive than Market Basket where I normally shop).
+1 for not posting in a while: our garbage disposal stopped working. We thought we tried everything, including the basement fuse. Finally called plumber who told us that there is a fuse on the disposal itself. Saved a trip from the plumber. Thanks, Plumber Greg
+1 (generosity of others): friends host a local CSA pick-up at their store. Several people did not pick up their boxes yesterday and so they dropped 2 off at our house. It was worth $62 worth of produce and is easily enough for the 2 of us for 2 weeks.
So glad to hear from you! I was thinking about you yesterday because I felt like I hadn't seen any comments from you in a while. So sorry this semester has been rough.
Mr. FG and I honeymooned in Cape Cod and the first grocery store we went to was a Star Market. Someone came on the loudspeaker and said, "Thank you for shopping at Star", except of course, the "star" sounded like, "stahhhh", and we both looked at each other and laughed.
1. I bought a pumpkin pie pumpkin from our public market. I roasted and pureed it. I got 2 cans of pumpkin puree and a half can of roasted seeds for $1. A co-worker gifted me greens and homemade pepper flakes from her garden.
2. I picked up 5 new bras off Buy Nothing. I was just thinking I needed new bras. I have not purchased a bra in over 8 years, as so many people have been generous in gifting them to me.
3. My husband and I did our Christmas shopping for our kids. The shopping in itself is not frugal, but getting done early is! Many of their presents I was gifted from Buy Nothing over the year also.
4. I made a batch of homemade conditioner.
5. I purchased the make up cloths you wrote about Kristen. I found a 6-pack on Amazon for $6. I was previously using coconut oil on a wash cloth to take off my makeup. But, the oil leaves a film on my sink. These cloths work great! They will reduce how much coconut oil I will need to purchase, but most importantly reduce the time I spend cleaning the sink. Thanks for the tip!
@Corrine Wilson, your #5, was it the same name brand Kristen mentioned that you bought for $6? If not, can you advise the name brand? I'd like to purchase some for our household.
Thanks!
Long time reader first time poster so here goes:
1. Forgot to pack lunch so was going to go home but worked through so I ate some apple and crackers I had at my desk.
2. Went through the freezer and sites what I have and made !this for most of the rest of this year
3. My sister always give me a makeup/skincare gift from Clinique and there are items I do not use. I posted them of Facebook Marketplace for a good price. Win for me and whoever buys them.
4. I have enough books to read.for the.rest of the year between the library, Hoopla and thrift store and friends so I cancelled my
Kindle Unlimited.
5. Since I am saving I have my sister give me her receipts and then I have picked up so!e and scanned into my Fetch, Except Hog and am apps. I also started writing reviews at Capterra and get 5.00 gift card, up to 50 a momth.
Forgive the typos it is late and I used my phone
Muffets! The round shredded wheat 'pucks' that came in waxed paper (6 to a package). My dad always ate them so I felt super sophisticated when I did too LOL I haven't seen them in ages but apparently they're available online....
* Got 1 pair of pants, 10 shirt and a purse for 40$ at the thrift store
* Still eating from the pantry/freezers/garden. Only spent 35$ for groceries this week (for 4)
* Binge watching ''maid'' on Netflix. This and reading books from the public library is my form of entertainment at the moment. (cheap!)
Muffets! I loved those shredded wheat hockey pucks in waxed paper wrappers 🙂
I have used the bits left in the bottom of cereal bags when I make home made granola or energy bars. I just throw in whatever I have, along with the oats & other ingredients.
That strawberry bag is too cute!
My Fab Five are:
1) I went to the bagel store and got 3 free bagels with a coupon.
2) Hubby cut branches on several bushes and a tree. We will need a pro to cut a larger, overgrown tree, however. It's way too big to handle ourselves.
3) I need covers for our window wells and custom ones cost $250 each. Our local hardware store can make them for $50 each.
4) My youngest son gave me some hoodies that he didn't want anymore. I wear them, even though they're a men's L and I take a ps.
5) I've been able to earn gift cards and have Christmas presents and stocking stuffers for free (hair wax, gift card, video game).
Made a homemade birthday cake for my kids’ party instead of buying one at the store.
Picked up an extra shift at work for time and a half plus triple bonus.
Used up some blueberries and lemons about to go bad in muffins for kids snacks and breakfasts.
Picked up some clearance stew meat for the freezer when it’s colder and we can have beef stew.
Did a health assessment for our health insurance and got a bunch of points that can be redeemed for gift cards. Plus a free glucose and cholesterol panel.