Five Frugal Things | Ahh, that's better
1. I cut a new neckline
I bought this inexpensive shirt last summer because I needed something very PINK to wear to the Barbie movie with Zoe.
But I have never really liked how the neckline of it feels. I don't know if I have some sort of sensory issue but often crew necks sorta make me feel like I'm choking (ok, not actually, but you get my drift).
So I took a pair of scissors to the neckline.
Once I put it through the wash, the raw edge of the neck curled up just like the raw edges of the sleeves do. Yay! 
2. I invested in some more Sophico lids
I do love my Pyrex containers.
BUT.....you know how those original Pyrex lids tend to crack over time, even if you are fastidious about hand washing them?
Well, that happened to another one of mine this week.
I never buy Pyrex's replacement lids when that happens because I know they will just crack again. Instead, I buy Sophico brand silicone lids. They are flexible and durable and I have never, ever had one break on me.
I ordered a two-pack for $12, and now I'm good to go. That's a little more expensive than the regular Pyrex replacement lids, but it is totally worth it to me. I'd rather pay slightly more and never have to replace them again.
Also: I am beyond excited to see that Sophico now makes the rectangular lids too! That did not use to be the case, and I am 1000% going to buy some when my current rectangular ones give out on me.
(I know other brands make silicone lids, and maybe they are fine too. But Sophico is the only brand I've ever tried, and I love their lids so much, I've never been tempted to try another brand. And no, I'm not sponsored; Sophico does not know I exist, except as a happy and anonymous customer. 😉 )
3. I used up some Dinnerly odds and ends
You know how I ordered some Dinnerly boxes during my crazy December last year?
Well, there were a couple of meals I didn't even get around to making (that's how you know life was busy!), so I had a few random shelf-stable ingredients still sitting around.
I used a little packet of curry powder to make some curried chicken salad for lunch one day.
I used a package of pasta to make dinner, plus lunch for a hospital shift.
And I used a little container of ranch dressing on one of my salads.
4. I picked wineberries in my backyard
Wineberry plants are an invasive species, but they do produce copious amounts of edible berries. So I can't complain too much.
I ate them on cottage cheese.
And also on yogurt.
And also just by the handful.
5. I....
- canceled my Panera unlimited sip club membership because my reduced price period was over
- made a little cup of iced herbal chai and used my rescued honey to sweeten it
- opted for slower shipping on Amazon to get a $1 credit
- used a welcome offer to get a discount on some protein powder that Ben recommended to me
I think that whenever you type the phrase "soandsocompany doesn't know I exist," you should cut and paste that blog mention into an email to said company. Maybe you'll start getting free stuff?
@Becca, I was at Aldi today and asked an employee about the strawberry poppyseed dressing... she said that they had it a couple of weeks ago but it was all gone. Bummer! I'm wondering if it hit while I was on vacation. But she said she'd try to let me know if it comes out again. The benefit of knowing some of the employees well!
@Ruth T,
That's such a bummer! I'm sorry! Whenever I see something I know I like in that random crap aisle, I always buy what others might consider an insane quantity.
@Becca, that's funny because when I buy more than 4 of any item it always says save some for others (on my scan & go at Meijer) & (any store) cashier comments on the amount I buy. But in my defense I have learned the hard way that if I want it I probably better get what I want now because it will disappear fast & not come back.
@Regina,
That's horseshit. If you (or your family) will definitely eat more than four of something, why should you be shamed for buying that quantity?
@Becca, I agree. I had an employee comment on the quantity of some items I purchased. Told her I only shop every 4-6 months. And even if I didn't go that long between (non-perishable items), it is none of his/her business.
I also can't handle high-necked shirts, so I feel you. I like that on ThredUp, you can filter results by neck cut in addition to style, color, etc.
As for FFT, I'll keep it to one important one today. Prescription trick, ahoy!
Early menopause is a *#(@@, and the insomnia is arguably the worst part because exhaustion makes everything else that much harder to deal with. I was prescribed a sleep aid/antidepressant, which come to find out would be over $300 a month or $230 after insurance because the 5 mg size required special ordering. Our pharmacist advised me to ask the doctor for the 10 mg, which was a standard size, could be cut in half for the prescribed dose, and would be either $10 a month or free through insurance. Once I explained that to the doctor's office, they changed the prescription to 10 mg, and it is now $10 as predicted! Thank you, thank you, pharmacist D.! There's a reason we've stuck with the same pharmacy/pharmacist since before my husband's medical adventures, even now when the location isn't convenient. The service is worth the drive!
@N, I'm friends with our local pharmacist and he is also really helpful like that. However, the store in which the pharmacy is located has been sold and we'll soon not have a pharmacy in this stupid little town and our beloved pharm will be out of a job. Sigh.
@N, pharmacists are worth their weight in gold! We used to have a pharmacy in town and the long-term pharmacist was out go-to for help and information and direction. He sold to someone else who just finally gave up under the pressure of the big names down the hill. Such a loss to the community.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, I just had a pharmacist see I was looking confused & came out to assist me with OTC meds. I was so thankful that pharmacist took time (was busy with prescriptions for long line of people waiting) to help me which resulted in my poison ivy finally getting better. 🙂
@N, Wow. What an excellent pharmacist. We're lucky if we even get to speak with the pharmacist (CVS, our only option because the private pharmacies don't use coupons which we need to reduce cost of drugs not covered by our insurance).
The pressure that the chain store retailers place on their pharmacists is outrageous and it concerns me for many reasons, including attention to details and accuracy.
It hasn't happened to us but friends recently had a problem when the pharmacy filled a scrip that should not have been issued in the first place (doctor's office not looking at drugs already being taken) because it was not to be taken with an existing scrip. BUT...the pharmacy had a list of all the drugs currently being taken and it should have been flagged. Fortunately, our friend double-checked online (as she always does on legit sites after reading the attached info on the scrip which detailed how it should not be taken with Drug X, which she takes.)
But how many read those pamphlets? We rely on the pharmacist and his staff to give us the right meds and not fill ones we shouldn't get.
The other issue is pricing. There are several ways to cut costs with coupons (GoodRx, something with an "S" and another brand) but they don't always want to run the numbers or honor the coupon costs.
It's annoying beyond belief and Amazon Pharmacy is NOT the solution!
@Rose, Hope your beloved pharmacist can find a place somewhere nearby. It really sucks when good people lose their jobs because of a company's issues.
@Irena, This is an independent store/pharmacy. Everyone in town loves the pharmacist and we're scrambling to find a solution. It's really hard because of lack of retail space. No one wants to drive 30 minutes to pick up a prescription.
I am semi annoyed with the store owners--because they know what an icon this store has been for generations of residents--as a child, I used to love walking into town with my allowance and buying fruit flavored hard candy--but they are into theit 80s now and the retail space is extremly valuable now, unlike in the 50s when their parents bought it. It's just yet another thing about this town that we loved that's going away.
@Irena, my local cvs is the pits. so many issues. and our insurance makes us go there. just awful. am so frustrated.
@Anita Isaac, it seems it's not just local--it's CVS as a whole. We have 3 in the next town, with one being in a Target store. I have a friend who had to coordinate her meds, her deaf husband's meds, and her elderly grandfather's meds--all at CVS. It would take her DAYS to get things straight with them--no matter which branch she used. The Target site never answered their phones. At all. They wouldn't return messages, either. She'd always have to go in to the store, and she has mobility issues. I am not happy with our local pharmacy--it seems to have changed hands or hired new pharmacists or something, but I know better than to go to CVS.
I have the exact same sensory issue!
I can't think of much which was frugal this week. I can never resist the siren song of the vending machine at the school I go to because it's in the evening after work and I always need some soda to get me through the second half!
This is what I can think of:
1. I bought some reduced food and put some in the freezer.
2. I went running outside (free exercise).
3. I went to the gym, Not totally frugal as I paid membership, but at least I'm using it!
4. I used the library.
5. I was out of toothpaste and Past Me had stocked up.
@Sophie in Denmark, Would a small piece of hard candy give you the same energy zing as a soda? I had an evening class instructor years ago who handed out candy to everyone to help us stay awake and alert. This was for a 3-hour class that ran from 7pm to 10pm on a workday. That "micro dose" of sugar really worked.
@Jenzer, thanks for the tip!
1. I found $5 on my walk this morning. It went in my found "change" jar.
2. I made a triple batch of pancakes for dinner. Those we didn't eat went in the freezer for future breakfasts.
3. I bought gas at Sam's Club since I was near there.
4. I joined two friends for an evening of charity knitting and chatting.
5. I have the windows open it is cool this morning.
FFT, Summer Miscellany Edition (revised/updated from yesterday's FFT at the NCA):
(1) I lamented last week at the NCA that DH lost both electronic key fobs to our Honda Element long ago--and that now I've misplaced one of my two manual keys. (I'm still searching, but hope is starting to fade.) Thanks to NCA commenter Barbara for her suggestion yesterday about finding an Element key fob online and then finding a YouTube video showing how to program it. I’ve found and ordered two fobs off eBay for a very reasonable price, and I’m really looking forward to finding out whether this works.
(2) Katy noted yesterday that IKEA no longer accepts batteries for recycling, but that her city has begun doing so. I've got the opposite situation: Our county recycling agency used to do battery pickups sporadically, but it hasn’t for a while now. However, Wegmans has taken up the slack by offering battery recycling along with its many other services. For this and multiple other reasons, Wegmans rocks. (And JASNA BFF is beside herself with delight that a Wegmans will soon be opening on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, though she admits that it still won’t be as big as my store–the largest one by square footage in the chain. Thank goodness, she still has at least one reason for visiting me here in the boonies.)
(3) I continue to dispense fresh dill from the vast quantity in my gardens to everyone who asks. A good friend to whom I owe many favors (she’s the one who had me over to dinner on the first anniversary of DH’s death, so that I wouldn’t be alone that evening) came over Monday afternoon for some dill, and I added a jar of refrigerator dill pickles to the “order.” (I made 2 quarts and 4 pints of fridge dills last week.)
(4) Ms. Bestest Neighbor just hemmed a pair of excellent medical scrub pants I found at the Salvation Army for 99 cents recently. (Scrubs are my go-to gardening pants, and she has a sewing machine and knows how to use it, which I don’t.) And when the BNs head for their lake house on Wednesday–a sensible precaution, given the amount of heavy fireworks shelling that’ll be going on here–they’ll be taking three boxes of my donations to the annual antiques/collectibles auction held by the library near the lake house. A cousin of Ms. BN’s runs this auction, so Ms. BN will see to it that I get the tax donation paperwork. Blessings on the BNs, as always.
(5) Finally, I just kicked back yesterday and enjoyed a sunny, cool, glorious summer afternoon. My flowers–Jacob Cline beebalm, Hidcote lavender, Cut and Come Again zinnias, the sunflowers that have been self-seeding for the past 20 years, and the lovely mixtures in my two wildflower beds–are coming into their full midsummer glory, and it seemed a crime to do anything but admire them. (Unfortunately, I discovered after admiring them for a while that the Japanese beetles were also admiring them. So I put in a short period of picking-and-stomping exercise!)
@A. Marie, If they're just for gardening, why bother hemming them? Just make them into cutoffs. Though, I guess, easy for me to say as I never shorten anything.
@A. Marie, scrubs for gardening pants sounds brilliant! I might give this a try when I finally run out of my husband's old Park Service pants. I wear them for painting murals so I can use my paints to clean my brushes off—instead of carrying rags, I wear them.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana,
Another advantage of lightweight scrub pants: if you want to go walking in the evening, having full-length pants on helps ward off mosquitoes. I learned this when I lived in Florida in an area once known as Mosquito County. Shorts and capris just didn't protect my legs at all, even when wearing citronella bracelets. And I hate the sticky feel of insect repellent sprays.
@A. Marie,
The Ace Hardware near me can program key fobs. The fee is much less expensive than the dealership.
@Bee, thanks for this tip. If I can't get the job done with the YouTube video, I'll keep it in mind.
@A. Marie,
Love Wegmans,I seriously could live in there.
Sadly,both the Johnson City and the Manlius ones are a bit of a drive for me but if I can make it work,I'm there!
@Rose, I don't garden in shorts (too many disease-bearing ticks in my neck of the woods), and I prefer not to have ragged edges on long pants. And since I'm 9 inches shorter than you are, I do need to have pants hemmed from time to time. Fortunately, Ms. BN is capable and obliging.
@A. Marie,
A. Marie if you or Ace are unable to program the FOB key, try a locksmith - they are still much cheaper than the Dealership.
@Pat,
A Wegmans recently opened here in Manhattan, but it is 30 blocks away, so that's either the bus or a cab. The bus takes time so it concerns me in this hot weather (even with an insulated bag) about getting refrigerated or frozen foods. It's way too long a ride to keep them from melting or staying cold.
We take no chances when it comes to food safety as we have had some incidents over the years and do not want to end up in the ER.
The supermarkets by us are overpriced, don't always have fresh stuff and limited selections.
I have practically drooled when I am out of town and shopping in the big suburban supermarkets (which are HUGE in comparison in both overall size and size of aisles. Oh, the narrow NYC store aisles!)
I am always amazed by how many products these huge stores carry. Products I've never seen.
@Irena, me too outside of nyc the supermarkets have all the new products and beautiful clean restrooms. but i love trader joes two blocks from my apt.
@Anita Isaac, The 14th St one? I adore it but the LINES sometimes.
I love TJ's in general; so wish we had one out here.
1. I made all our meals at home, made coffee at home. We packed a safe lunch for my daughter when we went to the funeral.
2. I am actively teaching the oldest two kids to cook meals and kitchen safety.
3. I turned 3 pairs of my daughter's leggings into shorts for the summer.
4. I sewed on all my kids patches for BSA and Girl Scouts (instead of paying someone to do it).
5. The oldest outgrew a bunch of clothes which I sorted into keep and sell boxes.
6. We went to the library and borrowed books and movies. The older kids got to hang out in the teen center.
I have the same issue with crewnecks and often cut off the necks, too. And I did not know that rectangular lids are available, either, but I'm ordering some right now because I have two rectangular Pryex containers that have been without lids for, um, years now.
My five things:
--The laptop I am typing on this very moment is old--maybe five years old? maybe more--and one of the hinge covers popped off yesterday, which in turn made the frame of the case around the screen separate. It still works, though, so I just put an alligator clip on that spot to hold the case together. I can't close it now, but it doesn't really matter that much.
--We still haven't put in the big window unit air conditioner the previous owner left at our house, so we haven't been using the electricity for that. My son does have a window unit in his west-facing room, but it's a much smaller one.
--I made a ThredUp order for myself in which EVERYTHING FIT. A miracle. So I got two skirts and four tops and didn't have to ship anything back.
--ThredUp also sent me one of their clean-out bags, which I stuffed full and mailed in. I doubt I'll get much, but anything is better than nothing, and now I don't have to drive 100 miles to a drop-off bin.
--We have had some free labor this summer because our priest's college-bound brother has been staying with him and wanted to learn masonry. So he's been coming and working with my husband on the stone wall being built around my garden. He's a lot bigger and stronger than my younger sons, so he can do a lot more. My husband offered to pay him, but he refused, saying he just wanted to learn how to do it, so I've been feeding him (a lot) instead.
(Pause to announce: I just took a sip of my coffee and had to pull a moth out of my mouth that had apparently gone down in it. GROSSGROSSGROSS)
And a frugal fail: We have had a comedy of errors with milk this week. We were out on Friday, but I needed gas anyway, so I drove to the nearest gas station (45 miles), where I found their coolers were broken and they had no milk. We were out of milk until yesterday, when my husband went to a city (90 miles away) and got four gallons. Three of those gallons--all with a use-by date of July 12-- were spoiled when I opened them. I can't return them due to the distance, though I did call the store to let them know that batch was bad. So now I have 3/4 of a gallon of milk. There is a store in the village 10 miles away, but it's pretty hit or miss if they're open and have milk. But I need to go to the bank in that village anyway to bring in the change we rolled last week, so I guess I'll try. And if that doesn't work, I'll be driving 60 miles to the nearest store to get milk when I go to pick up my son at work tomorrow. So altogether, that would be about 420 miles driven in pursuit of milk this week. In conjunction with other things getting done, but still . . .
@kristin @ going country,
Do you ever buy powdered milk? It's more expensive than it used to be, but might be handy to have on hand. Or a few cans of evaporated milk, if you can find it on sale. My mom used to use these to blend these with regular milk to strech out the gallons sometimes.
We go through milk in fits and starts - yesterday we used a gallon ( need it with chocolate cake!) And sometimes it will sit unused for a week.
@mbmom11, Yes, I have powdered whole milk (Walmart has Great Value brand of it), but I can only use a little bit of it to stretch the liquid milk, or else my kids can taste it. I mostly keep it on hand for my husband's instant coffee for hunting/camping, and hot chocolate mix for the kids when hunting/camping.
@kristin @ going country, Do I see a cow or goat milking herd in your future? As for the moth, gross doesn't even begin to describe that experience, but I understand bugs are a good source of protein. 😉
@Bobi, I have been resisting dairy animals for years, and will go on resisting them, because I know how much work they are. I am far too lazy for all that.:-)
@kristin @ going country, When you are at the bigger store, can you get some shelf stable milk or some shelf stable almond or soy milk to have for cereal or other needs?
@Lynn, Shelf-stable milk has a flavor that we really don't enjoy. I'm afraid my kids are purists when it comes to milk, most likely from their early-childhood conditioning in the dairy paradise of upstate New York. 🙂
@kristin @ going country,
Um, have you ever considered buying a cow? May be cheaper than 420 miles worth of gasoline, LOL!
@kristin @ going country, try rice shelf stable milk or 1/2% shelf stable plain (not vanilla) milk. It's like tasting water--little/no flavor.
@kristin @ going country, I feel bad for asking, but maybe might help. Do you take actual hard cooler with you when you get cold groceries? Or adleast cold bags? I certainly do not have to go as far as you to store, but I do majority of shopping all at once in one area (lots of food & bags) that can be outside of store cooler for hours. I find that an actual cooler helps with the milk the best, otherwise gets warm & starts to curdle within a hour or more in the summer heat.
No judgement or presumed you should know attitude. Just years of food service training & some first hand (yeah I made that mistake) experience.
@kristin @ going country, your moth in coffee this morning reminded me of when my husband was mowing several years ago and a moth flew in his ear. Couldn't get it out as it crawled against his eardrum - took a chance and PCP was still in office & removed it. DISGUSTING.
@kristin @ going country, remind me again why you live where you do?
@Regina, Yes, we always have coolers and ice to get home from the store, year round.
@Anne, Because the advantages for us outweigh any inconveniences.
@kristin @ going country, I've been reading and enjoying your blog for some time, and I'm always impressed at how you embrace the remote lifestyle. I, too, would love to live out in a sparsely populated region, and maybe someday we will. For now I'll live vicariously through your stories! 🙂
@Jennifer G, That is disgusting! My husband's experience was not quite as bad, he woke me one night screaming something was in his ear, I jumped out of bed, got a flashlight and shined it in his ear just in time to see a spider tethering down to the sheet. He was fairly small and quickly received the death penalty. Not gross or disgusting but pretty creepy.
@kristin @ going country,
I feel you on having milk purist family members. My son, who is the Pickiest Eater Ever, can tell the difference between milk from a plastic jug, vs milk from a paper carton. One time, he insisted milk from WalMart "didn't taste good" (it was not spoiled in the slightest, and was well within its expiration date. it was FINE). Worse yet, my DH backs him up, and insists plastic jug milk tastes different from paper carton milk. (Eyeball roll). No way would I ever try to give him reconstituted dry milk, or even mix it into liquid milk to stretch it. Sigh.
@Bobi,
My sister once had a small moth fly into her ear! Yucko!! Her husband didn't believe her, until they went to the ER (because she couldn't get it out!)
{shudder}
@Liz B., I can tell the difference between milk from cows fed with silage and those fed with free range grass. We have a small local dairy and by mid-winter I cannot stomach the taste of their milk. My husband cannot tell the difference but he has a thing about milk the "might be" expiring so when he says that I freeze the milk in two cup portions and use it for baking.
@kristin @ going country,
Wow. I can't imagine having to travel so far for milk.
Have you ever tried any type of shelf stable milk? It's available from multiple brands, including organic, in full, and various other types (1%, 2%, etc.)
Something to tide you over in emergencies.
@kristin @ going country, Success! The village store was open and had two gallons of milk! Yay!
@kristin @ going country, Huzzah!
@mbmom11, I have a friend who hates to grocery shop so stocks up at Costco and told me she freezes EVERYTHING.. she even freezes milk! So… could freeze milk in future for emergency “run outs” especially when someone lives so far from stores.
@kristin @ going country, It sounds like your family likes their milk but one option is giving up milk! Lol.My family gave up dairy years ago due to our son’s allergy. An idea!
@kristin @ going country,
Omg, all the moth stories...I think I need to drink an extra glass of wine to get over the involuntary shuddering. Glad you got your precious milk, though. I, also, find I can definitely taste subtle differences in milk. I really only like whole milk and from a plastic container (or glass is even better, but whoa, expensive!). I bought a giant bag of powdered milk at the beginning of the pandemic because, of course, and it had all these rave reviews, but still tasted, um, not like milk. I found I could stand it if I added sugar and vanilla, blended it and made it ice cold, but that was just a lot of work, and I am also lazy, so it is ever so slowly getting baked in bread recipes whenever I remind my husband that it exists. It was a fifty pound bag...
@Lindsey,
Wow! Your husband and I must not have the special gene that allows you to detect taste differences in milk. Lol. 🙂
@kristin @ going country,
Hooray for the village store!
@Liz B., I have found that if I pour the milk into glass Mason jars it tastes better and lasts longer.
1. Thanks to a nice cool spell of Canadian air, we were able to forgo A/C all of yesterday. DH had the youngest build a cooking fire for dinner. With a rack he took off a propane stove and two cinderblocks he made a cooking station and fried up burgers and cooked hot dogs for dinner, saving energy.
2. Dried clothes on the clothesline.
3. Was pleased to find I can reuse the jars my favorite low sodium salsa comes in, by using a lid from a Parmesan cheese can (the family is addicted to the green stuff in the can, so I have quite a few of these, they work on some mason jars too). So I used that for my overnight oats. Next step: making my own low sodium salsa.
4. Library books, but I did, in a weak moment, order Laurie Colwin's food books from Thriftbooks. Got free shipping, at least.
5. My Little Free Library is flourishing; somebody took the whole Anne of Green Gables collection I put out, as well as one of my son's books 😉 And they left a couple of books. Because we live in a cul de sac, and don't get a lot of foot traffic, I'm pleased when people come seek it out.
@Karen A., I have one of Colwin's books and routinely keep an eye peeled for the others. It's a pity she died so young. And, apart from Anne of Green Gables itself, I don't much care for the Anne series. Anne of Avonlea has its moments, but the others get weaker as they go along, IMHO.
@Karen A., I learned yesterday that you can now sell books on Thriftbooks. I haven't tried it yet but intend to give it a shot. I quit selling on Amazon when they required that I scan my driver's license to keep my seller's account open. Nope, not gonna.
@A. Marie, I felt the same way about the Anne series. I love, love the first book. I don't often cry over books, but I cry at a particular spot every time I read it. I had bought the series to read during the early days of the pandemic, and it was entertaining, but not a re-read for me.
@Central Calif. Artist Jana, Ooh, that is an intriguing idea.
@A. Marie, I enjoy reading the Emily of New Moon series after an Anne reread. Such an interesting (and darker!) take.
@Karen A., Our Little Free Library is also very active. It gets a wide variety of mostly hardback books, many of which I take out to read and then put back in. I always have a large stack in the house from it. I also find books friends and family are looking for, which is great.
We trade any books that have languished for a while with the other LFLs in the area and bring their books to ours (and our stack). It’s a really fun hobby for a reader-type like me. It was a Christmas gift from our kids and literally is a gift that keeps on giving.
@Erika JS, Yep, DH noticed how excited I got about the Little Free Library near us and so we got our own. It is not the "hip" wooden kind from the kits they sell, but a plastic portable one: https://simplay3.com/indoor-outdoor-little-sharing-library/
Since we rent, we didn't want to ask our landlord if we could install a permanent one, and this can go with us if we move! And I do the same thing you do, shuffle books that haven't moved to the others in the neighborhood.
I forgot our biggest frugal win this week: Insurance completely covered all of DS's second hospital admission (he had three), and so that was $45K saved. They also covered all of the costs of his outpatient wound closure, another $23K. Still pending on the third admission, which came to $99K, and which still says insurance will cover all but $2K of that. I check the site daily.
@Karen A., huzzah for the good insurance news, and I hope it stays good for the third admission!
@A. Marie, Laurie Colwin was one of my favorite writers. I walked around the backyard and cried when she died.
@Karen A., Making your Little Free Library portable is a great idea! Some people in our area have repurposed old newspaper vending machines, which work really well. Some use old kitchen cabinets after a kitchen upgrade. We have 20+ LFLs in the area so shuffling around is easy. Our large County Public Library has its own LFL ha.
There are also ones for puzzles and ones for food items in this town. Lots of Little Free fun!
@Karen A.,
That is such good news about the insurance coverage! Yayyyyy!!
@Karen A.,
I have never heard of Thriftbooks. Thank you for mentioning an awesome site!!
We have had frequent rain so I have not had to water the garden.
My raspberries have more than doubled in size so many more free berries.
I bought a patio thornless black berry plant and I am amazed how many berries you get and how big they are.
I turned our air to 80 during the heat wave and our air ran only for 2 days -17 and 23 minutes so our utility bill was 120. We were gone at the time.
I signed up for Skechers account only to get several discounts. They carry my favorite shoes so I managed to get them half off for $35. My feet have changed so much in the last 3 years comfortable shoes are necessary.
My local grocery store had lamb roasts that were $35 marked down to $14. I cooked it on the grill and we will make sandwiches with it for the week. Froze half of it.
I’m going to try that t-shirt neck cut idea! I always wondered what they look like if you tried that.
@Becky, me too. In fact I just cut it this morning and it is in the wash
@Juhli,
I just realized I discarded a perfect colour shirt last year because I did not know this hack. Not going to happen again!
I bought Sophia lids for my 1-cup pyrex about 6 months ago and one of my lids has a crack in it. So it is possible for them to break. I am not the only person using the lids, so I don't know if it is a product problem or a user problem.
1. I used up some odds and ends in the freezer... bananas to make banana bread, bread to make french toast casserole, veggies in my eggs.
2. I mended some thing while I was chatting with a friend (frugal on time and money).
3. I called the dentist to question why my husband's cleaning was not paid for by insurance. They called insurance and found out he needed more documentation since his work had changed insurance companies. (Some people just blindly pay their medical bills without looking at the details. I often find mistakes.)
4. We used a $25 gift card my husband got for Christmas to an expensive store. We spent time hunting thru to find a clearance hat for him that was right at the value of the card.
5. At a local used bookstore I overheard the cashier give another person a discount so asked at the register if my books qualified for a discount and she knocked a dollar off. (It doesn't hurt to ask.)
I can't stand shirts tight on my neck. It's definitely a sensory issue for me. My husband, on the other hand, has to have his shirts somewhat tight on his neck, he can't stand the loose feeling.
My husband and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary by dropping the kids off with my parents and ordering pizza and playing video games. Domino's had a free dessert offer for customer appreciation so that was a nice little surprise to the day.
After we got the pizza and dessert I received an email from Domino's saying we're sorry the delivery wasn't as expected and gave me points for a free pizza. It did arrive a few minutes late, but nothing I'd ever complain over, so that was also a nice little surprise.
Picked up the free pizza and a had a picnic at a playground and took the kids hiking. Free entertainment and exercise minus the gas to drive there.
Took advantage of several good grocery deals to stock up.
The school summer food program is now offering a weekly pickup option as opposed to daily only. I only took advantage of the program if we were already going to be out because it isn't worth the drive. But going out one time for 5 breakfasts and 5 lunches for the kids is worth it and the pickup is also closer to my house.
Found several free books for my oldest.
1. Have been making some thank you cards for friends. Found the idea on Pinterest and I actually have a die I have never used, so it is getting used now!
2. Went to re-register my car and the woman at DMV had me go to the assessor's office to see if I owed any tax on it (In WV, you pay a yearly tax on your vehicles and that money goes to the schools.) The assessor's office said I didn't own it long enough (bought in Sept) to pay the year's worth of tax on it (approx $250.00), so I didn't have to pay it. So I just have to wait until the end of this month to get the tax bill for our cars for next year.
3. Turned off the A/C for a few days because the heat and humidity went away. It actually got down to the low 60's a few nights and it was so welcome to sleep with the windows open!
4. However, it was warm enough during the day to wash the dog outside. He did not like it one bit, but he is a shade lighter now and he is a little less hairy. The shedding is really getting to me as he does shed a ton!
5. Drank coffee from home, rode our bikes on the rail trails for exercise, and have been eating food from the freezer for dinners. And if any leftovers, I finish it up for lunch.
Minor frugal efforts here:
*made cherry cobbler with free cherries from neighbors tree.
*during the heat wave, cooked only on the grill or microwave to keep the house cool.
*took out my long-negected sewing machine and sewed up the seams in the couch cushion covers. I hate mending, and was tempted to just stuff the cushions back in and hope the holes would be hidden, but I decided to try fixing them. Bonus points for this.
*brought ancient minivan to junk yard and made some cash. It had many years and miles on it, and it had gotten to the point of being held together by dreams and duct tape (as my som put it. And now we don't have to pay insurance on it.
Some frugal fails with food waste . 3 bags of carrots in a row gross and moldy, but I just threw them away and did not take them back to store for a refund. And I picked the wrong container of strawberries in a rush and had to throw away about half. Walmart's customer service line always has a long wait- its not worth the hassle if the item is less than $5. ( which is why I prefer Target and Amazon for anything I might need to return. Good customer service FTW!)
1. Ordered a new brand of coffee using a discount code from a podcast (still seems expensive, and there is shipping. . . but it is better than running out of coffee and buying it from the overpriced grocer in town. Maybe)
2. Remembered to tap into TopCashBack when ordering Chewy (but don't know if it will actually apply or how to check)
3. Dug extra lavender in my yard for a friend (frugal for her)
4. Propagated new basil plants from the storebought plants (will any of them actually grow??)
5. A friend made a Costco run, bought more than she could consume, and shared a bunch of food with me.
We had our long-delayed wedding reception over the weekend. I was curious, so I looked up what the average cost of a wedding reception is. Wow! We were well-below average on a per-capita basis for most items. Here are the frugal wins I'm proudest of:
1. If we didn't care about it, we didn't do it. No videographer, no favours, no flowers, no wedding cake, no band, no wedding planner (the wedding planner was...me! Should I pay myself?)
2. I made my dress. I bought silk material, but the total came in at about the cost of buying a nice polyester formal dress at a department store. It was a lot of work, though.
3. I didn't DIY anything else. The temptation was strong...but I ultimately realized that simplifying would be cheaper AND easier. The decor was a mix of things I bought cheaply online and things that I bought second-hand from other people's weddings.
4. We chose a venue that wasn't very popular (the event space in a community center,) but it was inexpensive and they let us bring in our own alcohol. Both of these things saved a lot of money.
5. And finally, since frugality involves spending money in areas that matter to you, we spent a lot on good food! And our families very generously hosted the out-of-town guests to several meals and some lodgings, which I cannot take credit for.
@Meira@meirathebear, Congratulations! Your #1 tip is the best; we applied a similar logic when planning our reception 24 years ago. Professional photos weren't that important to me, so we asked a friend of mine, who was a photography buff and had his own basement darkroom, to take the photos and only do black and white. My mom hated them (as she hated our decision to not hire limos), but it wasn't her wedding!
We did that too when I got married and I made my own dress, too. Not getting a pro photographer was a mistake, though. Buuuut I had $2500 to spend in 1989 and that was all I had, which included airfare for a friend who couldn't have afforded to come otherwise. My mom made the delicious cheesecake and I ordered chicken piccata from a local caterer. (For many many years I made chicken piccata and cheesecake as our anniversary meal.)
@Karen A., when we got married (eloped in our back yard with kids & each had witness) & our (later) reception we didn't hire a photographer (friend did both & turned out nice, I had to get prints made) or music. Middle teen set up & did music for both.
@Meira@meirathebear, Congratulations! So glad that it all turned out well for you! I know you were starting to stress over this. Now good memories & stress free.
@Meira@meirathebear, Mazel Tov, and I'm glad you had a great (and frugal) time on your and Mr. Bear's own terms!
@Meira@meirathebear, Congratulations! It sounds like a wonderful reception. I wholeheartedly agree on getting only the things that you want. My HB, back in the day, was very good with a video recorder, and so he videod the weddings of two of our friends. I wish their was a way to see your dress, I love when people are able to make their own clothes. (My mother made all our (twin sister and me) clothes growing up, up until the age of 16 when we moved countries).
@Meira@meirathebear, Loved everything about this wedding reception.
@Meira@meirathebear, thank you all above for the kind comments! It's nice to be in happy frugal company!
I like those lids, too.
1. I made coffee at home.
2. We worked in the garden.
3. I made pepperoni rolls yesterday because I knew we'd need to eat lunch away from home today. We'll also have carrot sticks.
4. I wore thrifted clothes and sorted through tons of clothes given to my daughters.
5. I prepared for a large yard sale. I want to get rid of my defunct Etsy shop stuff and maybe make a little money to cover the cost of buying it.
So I don't know how frugal I've been because last week I was traveling on vacation with the family.
1. We went to Hershey Park and Chocolate World upon request of our daughter who has been asking to go back. On the surface this isn't a super frugal trip but you do have to live a little in life.
What we did do to save some money was to get the all day dining package for $40, which is technically for one person but you can get an entree and a side every 90 minutes. Like clockwork we were all sharing little meals together which actually ended up better than buying big meals individually. The wife and I shared a soda refill cup and we brought an empty water bottle for our daughter to fill up at fountains.
2. The tickets for the park were purchased ahead of time by my wife. I'm not sure if the deal was via her Union or if it was an offer she found but regardless, it was nice.
3. Used a Zenni sale to order new glasses for me and also order a pair for my mom. Her fancy progressive lenses came out to around $50. The local places quoted at over $300!
4. Making an effort to eat the freezer before shopping has been going well but sadly now we are at the "Gotta buy certain foods again" stage. I mean, we have two hams but who wants to cook a ham in July?
5. Frugal Fail: I spent a long time trying to get the Sheetz app to work and get a login that worked only to save a grand total of $1. I don't have a Sheetz anywhere near me so I deleted the app and unsubbed from the promo emails immediately after we ate there. Also, I felt it was a bit overpriced for what we got.
Side note, the eBay sales are still happening and I've got to list a few more this week. I still maintain that this is buying myself a job vs making money but oh well.
@Battra92, Ham in July is wonderful. Just don't bake the whole thing. Carve off bits of it. Ham in pasta salad. Ham on salad. Ham sandwiches. It's a quick thing to heat and eat. You can dice it up and refreeze it in smaller portions.
1) Was diligent in chasing down supermarket deals, something I actually enjoy in that it feels like a game to leverage all the deals, and leave with nothing else. (I do the majority of my shopping at Aldi and Trader Joe's each week)
This week I got 12 pks of A&W root beer for $4 each, and cartons of Dreyers vanilla ice cream for $3- both now on standby for rootbeer floats on the 4th of July!
2) Enjoyed a free outdoor production of Shakespeare's The Tempest, and a free outdoor symphony, both a result of paying attention to our community's local Facebook pages, where the announcements generally appear, and then immediately placing the details onto my Google calendar.
3) Relied on sweat equity for the bulk of our daytime entertainment - walked to the beach, rode bikes to the beach, and took our kayaks out onto the harbor. Love the festive beach energy at this time of year!
4) This is our first summer in our new home, which is now 1.3 miles from the ocean vs 3 miles at our old home, so I'm diligently relying on opening windows and patio doors, plus running ceiling fans off and on, to understand and direct our coastal airflow. So far we haven't needed our A/C, so we'll see just how long we can make it before giving in.
5. Polished my toes myself, saving $25. I invested $30 in Opi products several years ago, and have been doing my own manicures since. Talk about $30 well spent!
@Tamara R, Yeah for rootbeer floats! Similar sale ($3 for 6 pack bottles & $1 for 2liter bottle). Great minds think alike. 🙂
I am a guest among a family reunion that is only distantly linked to mine. They are very generous providing an extra little cabin all to myself on Big Bear Lake. I have hardly spent a penny. But here is a few expenses:
1. I have brought my own food because of my weighed and measured food plan. No one has pointed at me in a crowd and screamed "why isn't she eating with us?" 🙂 Funny our little fears. I kept my food simple and therefore inexpensive. My one expense is my new favorite Olipop healthy sodas.
2. Weighing and measuring means I am saving a ton on extra food my body doesn't need.
3. I bought a patch kit for my SUP and will struggle to fix it myself.
4. My activities are free. Swimming in the lake, hiking, reading.
5. I am calling the library today because I forgot to return a book. Hopefully they will give me some leniency.
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but I saw Panera unlimited sip club commercial that said Sio club was free this summer for members. New members got simmer free & 3 additional months according to Google search.
Frugal Things--
● used rewards points & got free 1 day only free drink to get 2 XL slushies for free
● more clearance flowers
● 10 free photo prints promo code Walgreens
● 2 vintage medium root beer mugs & 2 pop up Hallmark cards total $1 at yard sale
● $5 reward for buying spark plugs
● bought 5 Auto Zone purchases recieved $20 reward credit
● soda on sale & using $5 off $25 coupons (Dollar General has $5 off $25 coupon expires 07/02 & another for Saturdays)
● BOGO FREE 28 oz. shampoo
● Saved $0.30/gallon on gas & made 6 fill ups in month earning additional $0.20/ gallon savings.
● Used free pizza reward at Domino's (for teen)
● got free dessert with $10 order at Domino's (expired Sunday)
● 50% off Patriotic apparel at Meijer getting teen crazy (flag) socks wears all the time. Teen & friends (since kindergarten) all wear crazy socks since middle school years. Teen favorite is flag socks so I always pick up when 50%+ off to stock up.
● teen vehicle repair that was told $200 turned out to be WAY MORE, so I said wait. Neighbors mechanic looked at teen vehicle & agreed but did WAY MORE REPAIRS (whole new front end & front brakes) for same price. Labor was half of other shop.
Frugal Fail----
● Birds got more bread products. I tried freezing & as usual was soggy during defrost even with paper towel & too part hard
●Rakuten has not been issuing/recognizing my orders through their site & you need order # (I now screenshot) to be able to request rewards.
● 2 of 3 hanging flower baskets got already died (& yes I watered & put in partial sun) but was able to piece together all green/living flowers into 1 (last) flower basket. I now remember why I usuallt don't buy annual flowers.
Surprisingly the Lambs Ear plants are doing well.
@Regina, forgot that teen been talking a lot about Ikea (swedish meatballs in cafe apparently are hot topic) & commented on going to look at their furniture. Closest store is hours away. When teen went to open house I went to Goodwill & found (new with tags) 3 foot high solid wood stool/short back chair $6. It has become a popular little chair. Definitely will keep eye out for any more. 🙂
@Regina, Swedish meatballs are delicious at IKEA but they're also easy to make at home. Serve with cranberry sauce which is functionally the same as traditional lingonberries.
@Rose, I have my "Mormor's" (Swedish for Grandmother, she is 100% Swede, her parents came over on the boat!) recipe for Swedish meatballs...SO GOOD, and not difficult to make!
@Cheryl, Yum! I love Scandi names--Mormor meaning "mother's mother," Farmor meaning "father's mother," morfar, farfar etc. My favorite grandmother was Swedish and I especially remember her thin, yummy pancakes.
HEY KRISTEN:
What might be a fun post sometime is your and the Commentariat's favorite family recipe.
Ok, I'll put it in the queue!
First of all, I loved yesterday's post with Non-consumer advocate!
1. We managed to not eat out at all this month. I was tempted last night as we got home from a long trip, but it was more convenient to stop at a roadside boutique and buy some bread, canned meat and juices.
2. Payed off our credit card. I sure hate the interest we end up paying when we don't pay them off right away!
3. Downloaded a free ebook. Also re-reading another book I had really enjoyed.
4. Collected rain water.
5. Getting low on food in the house, so doing a lot of what Amy Dacyzyn called "leftover wizardry". Hopefully I'll get to the market tomorrow.
I bought those lids for my 2 cup(i think) , and loved them so much, ordered for my smaller one! on your recomdation!!!
I also hate tight necks, Like you feeling like I am choking! and i am always tugging on it.....
FFT Travel Edition! We're in Montana visiting my SIL and BIL. We can't stay with them because their beloved pets kick up my husband's allergies to unliveable levels. There really isn't a cheap way to get from Michigan to Montana and stay for two weeks, but here we go!
1) We made a PF Changs fried rice work as lunch for four. $17 (including tip) seems like an excellent price for an airport lunch for four.
2) Shopped at WinCo for dinner ingredients while we were in a hotel instead of going out to eat.
3) Took advantage of our local hands-on museum's reciprocal membership benefits to gain free entry to three different museums in Bozeman! This more than paid for our family-level membership. Museum of the Rockies was really good, as was the American Computer and Robotics Museum. The Montana Science Center was definitely aimed at young children - our six year old enjoyed it, but my ten year old and I left to explore thrift and resale shops.
4) We rented a house instead of a hotel room. We have a kitchen, two full baths, laundry facilities, and everyone gets their own room. We have been able to buy groceries to avoid excessive dining out, and it's really nice to come "home" for the night and be our little family of four for a couple of hours each day. I'm an introvert, and that space alone each day has been priceless.
5) We've been taking advantage of doing fun, free (or cheap) things with our family. My kids helped staff their aunt's farmer's market booth, made custom soap with her, we've taken their llamas and dogs on walks, and today we're going to explore a local-ish ghost town. Later this week, we'll see some fireworks, go digging for crystals at Crystal Park, visit Ringing Rocks (YouTube it - super cool), and take the llamas on a hike where they'll carry our picnic lunch.
6) I downloaded the Safeway app and created an account to take advantage of a $5 new member bonus and the members' coupons.
Bonus: this isn't frugal, but it has worked so well for our family. Instead of negotiating souvenirs at each spot we visit, we gave our kids a budget for the entire trip. It's been fun to see what makes the cut when their using "their" money. The six year old really loves her stuffies, but the ten year old has really enjoyed thrifting clothes, and buying handmade things from the farmer's market.
@RB, What great fun!
And I am now considering llamas in a whole new light.
@RB, OK, now I have to tell one of DH's and my favorite llama stories. (We both did, and I still do, llove llamas.) Back in the days when we made an annual road trip to Florida to visit my mother (a 3-day trek each way), we'd stop on the first night going south and the second night going north at a lovely B&B with llamas in Virginia. In addition to the usual B&B stuff, the owners would do easy hikes to a nearby picnic spot, with some of the llamas carrying the lunch and others being led by guests. One day, a guest who was getting a tad grumpy as his llama stopped every 10 feet to nibble grass, taste bushes, etc., said, "So let me get this straight: I'M paying YOU to take your llama for a slow walk?" The male half of the owner couple grinned widely and said, "Is this a great country or what??"
@RB, we always bought a Christmas ornament for each new place while on vacation. That way the ornaments remind us of the stories of that years vacation. Some of the ornament stories have inspired us to return again & inspired others to go visit.
@A. Marie, I love this story, a good giggle.
@Heidi Louise,They're lots of fun! Very gentle, and great packers when trained well.
@A. Marie, that's hilarious!
@Regina, that's a great idea!
Five Frugal
1. Bought a new pair of running shoes, exactly what I'm running in now, using Amazon gift cards.
2. Used "dining dollars" to get pizza for just the price of the tip.
3. Did not go out to eat last night, but I was sure trying to talk my partner into doing so!
4. Using my yearly paid for subscription to Peacock to watch the Tour de France. We purchase it for SuperMotocross, but I'm glad to watch the Tour.
5. Learned how to use the riding lawn mower (I've only ever used push mowers before) so we can mow the lawn until the robomower is fixed. I will never back out of the driveway without looking for that silly thing again!!
I've been keeping track of my frugal things so I can participate....
1. I've been cognizant of my rewards and coupons thru all platforms. This past week I redeemed quite a few saving me over $50
2. I finally was able to get something off of my local Buy Nothing group..... a set of golf clubs that were for a tall man (hubby is 6' 4"). When I picked them up, the nice lady also gave me a ball monogramming kit that husband will try out.
3. I made sun tea to drink instead of buying iced tea at the store
4. We helped at a benefit for our friend. Hubby ended up winning the second biggest prize there....a basket full of Ryobi tools valued at over $500!
5. We attended a local baseball game & bought tickets on a promotion for $5/ticket. We walked 2 blocks to the stadium and saved parking fees.
Thanks for sharing your shirt success. It motivated me to try it and now I am waiting for the shirt to be washed and see how it goes.
1. We received plums and plum strawberry jam from our son and DIL
2. I am making a “heroic” effort to finish cleaning the garage rafters to floor and then to start on windows and screens rather than hire someone. I put that in the trying to age well category at 74.
3. Decided to not buy any summer clothing at all. Summer is short and not that hot in the SF East Bay Area.
4. I am not going to renew membership in a group I haven’t been enjoying.
5. Planning some free or very low cost fun activities for July
Frugal Fail: we had food waste this past week for the first time in a long while. On the plus side, Hubby stumbled upon sales for grocery items we buy occasionally.
Thanks for the lid tip. I have been meaning to order some so I just did.
1.We also have wineberries and are getting about a quart a day. Sharing with my kids and friends. Lettuce is going crazy so I am sharing that too. Basil and parsley are doing great so I started dehydrating a bunch for the winter. I didn't have to buy any all year because I dehydrated so much last year. Hoping for the same this year. Sugar snap peas are still giving us a bunch. We had some for dinner last night sautéed with garlic and oil. Yummy.
2. We had a wedding last week and were given lots of leftovers so I have been happily eating them. They last 2 weeks we have been given so much free food. Hubby brought home 2 bags of uncooked flank steaks from a work BBQ, a coworker gave Hubby a dozen clams, lots of bananas, bagels and muffins that were headed for the garbage on Friday at Hubby's job. My best friend that gave me the wedding food also gave me a huge zucchini that she found buried in her garden. We have lots of planned extra expenses right now(work on basement) so we are extra grateful for the food. The electrician is coming tomorrow (2K). We have been saving since last fall for all of the work. We don't want to touch the EF.
3. Hubby was in a car show Sunday and he went with his brother. He won an award. This makes him happy so I am happy. He loves that car. When we got married and had our first he sold his sports car because a car seat wouldn't fit. Now that kids are out of the house and college payments are done, he is having fun with his new to him Corvette. He does all the work on it himself.
4. I had PT yesterday. Stayed an extra 15 minutes to ride the stationary bike. They allow this as long as they aren't busy. I try to do it every time but it isn't always doable.
5. Windows are open, no a/c for now.
FFT Smart banking edition:
1. Had some SS money just sitting there in the checking account. Went to the bank to transfer it to the "growth" account which pays the most interest.
2. Paid off the bank credit card. I had some cash bank bonus on that card and I used it toward paying the balance.
3. I have 2 bank cards and am not using one of them; the banker told me to charge at least one item every few months lest the bank closes it. Apparently, the closed account would "ding" my credit score.
3 1/2. Also found out I have 700 points on the dormant card. Not sure what they're good for, but will investigate this once I locate the card.
4. Learned that I can get 4% cash back on gas purchases with the card I just paid off. Next time, I'll fill up with that card....my car's gas mileage is terrific, but every cent I can save on gasoline is a win for me.
5. Now that I'm getting more retirement pension money (thank you, Uncle Sam), I can use the monthly check from a company pension for my car payment! This will cover the entire payment amount plus a little extra principle. Nice to know that my former employer (who was a total jerk) is going to "pay" for my car! I'm gonna be laughing all the way to the credit union!
@Fru-gal Lisa, maybe use the card that gets 4% on gas for gas only & pay off every time/month. This will keep account active & earn you extra cash back on something you get anyway & would automatically pay for.
Yesterday was the committal of DH's ashes. But I have a few frugalities to report:
1. My funeral dress was from Thred Up. I got it on sale and had free shipping, so $8.45 total.
2. The service yesterday was at a national cemetery. The service was short but perfect. The national cemeteries are purposefully beautiful, calm, and reverent. Any veteran with an honorable discharge should be eligible for burial at a national cemetery for free, which is something to remember if you know a veteran with no family and/or in difficult financial circumstances. They can request pre-authorization while still living.
3. The plaque on DH's spot in the columbarium is also free and will be altered to add me to it when my time comes. I was allowed to add two lines (13 characters and spaces per line) of my own choice to the name, rank, birth and death dates that are automatically included, at no extra cost.
4. While thrifting at GW the other day, I found leather sling-back pumps with leather soles made for a specialty shoe shop here in Florida. There were two pair, one in bone and one in bone and blue; a stamp in the arch said they were made for the la-dee-dah shoe shop by a French company (I googled the company), and they were in my size. One pair had very light wear, the other pair had none. They were marked $8.99 a pair and they both came home with me. In particular, I had been looking for bone colored pumps. I love them.
5. My neighbors (they are my version of A. Marie's BN's) brought me a small pile of Silver Queen sweet corn yesterday that they had just picked in a friend's garden.
@JD, I'm so glad you have neighbors as good as my BNs, especially at this time. And it sounds as if yesterday's service was lovely, dignified, and moving.
@JD, Thank you for his service, and for your service as a military spouse if you weren't in the military. Peace be with you.
@A. Marie,
It was especially nice of them considering Mrs. Neighbor's sister died 4 days ago after several weeks in hospice, yet they came to DH's funeral and brought me corn. I'm trying to think of something I can do for them - they won't accept much of anything, especially money or gift cards, so I'm trying to get clever.
@Heidi Louise,
I met and married him after his service was over, but my family is/was loaded with veterans, so I can at least accept a little bit of credit for always being a loyal supporter of vets.
Thank you!
@JD, Flowers? A cake?
A couple loaves of really good bread from a local bakery? A couple nice bottles of wine? Schmantzy condiments?
My favorite schmantzy condiments are from Stonewall Kitchen. I like to give them because they're expensive enough people might not treat themselves, but everyone enjoys them when they get them. Same for lovely but overly expensive candles, etc.
I need to try those lids as several of mine are cracked.
1. I was near Costco twice this week and filled up both times.
2. Harvested and froze dill from my garden. Need to harvest another batch.
3. Sorted through all of our swim accessories, this prevented us from once again buying things like pool noodles etc
4. Sold some long unused life jackets
5. The local state park starts to charge an entrance fee once school is out. I took the kids to a school playground instead of the park playground. No fees there 🙂
1. Used cutting board conditioner to restore the finish on a teak bench. Worked great! I crossed off “buy teak oil” from my list.
2. Received several useful things from my Buy Nothing group: thermal athletic shirt, Harry & David snacks ($16 value), half gallon of milk and a 3-ring binder pouch for storing small important items in our “when we’re incapacitated or dead” binder. I posted a leather couch and it was snapped up immediately.
3. Received several bags of groceries from my niece who helped a friend of hers prepare for a cross-country move. The bounty was incredible. Since we’re vegetarians, I posted the frozen chicken, fish and meat items on Buy Nothing and selected someone who has indicated a need for free food in the past. She was also pleased to receive several of the other grocery items in the bounty. And I delivered it to her, so I have officially sprained my arm patting myself on the back.
4. Friend brought us a delicious orzo salad and rhubarb cake. So yummy! She wrapped the cake in parchment paper and string, both of which she knows I will reuse.
5. Living by a large park with miles of walking paths is awesome in itself but bonus is that I find all sorts of things to use or give away. This week I found an unopened water bottle and put it in our emergency kit. Also found a sweatshirt that I washed and donated to the thrift store. And I almost always find unused plastic dog poop bags. (By the way, I’ve noticed an increasing number of used dog poop bags – as in the owners cleaned up after their dogs but then left the bags on the ground and didn’t come back for them, ever. And twice I’ve seen the bags tied to a tree branch. What in the world? Is this a thing? And why?)
@MB in MN, I see the dog poop bags out often. I don't get it. Better for the environment just to leave the poop bagless.
@MB in MN, Regarding #5, yes, we've seen that many times, in our neighborhoods and even in the parks. So gross.
@Rose, I mean, if you don't want to have to carry poop in a bag, maybe don't get a dog. That's my humble opinion. Did they not think they'd have to do that when they got a pet?
@Karen A., Or as my daughter quips regarding DinGus our cat, "Like boxes of sh!t in your house? Get a cat!"
@MB in MN,
I don't know if this is the case or not in your park - my partner used to put the bags by the side of the trail if we were "outbound" and then pick them up on the way back, since there wasn't anywhere for them to go until we got back to the camper. The key here, though, is to be SURE to get them on the way back. Just leaving them is gross - and I have no idea either why anyone would tie them to a tree - like the worst tree ornaments ever....
I have the same issue with necklines. And I didn't know those silicone lids existed, but they do sound better than the plastic ones that always end up having to be replaced.
My five frugal things:
1. June was a no-buy month for me, meaning I didn’t buy anything except necessary food, medicine, and pet food. I just added up what I spent last month, and it was $99 less than my total for May.
2. I read a library book, a book my father lent me, and a book I got for free.
3. I used Google Play credit earned from their Opinion Rewards app to get a TV series I wanted to watch.
4. I made a meal plan for the week and I am sticking with it. I know planning my meals ahead of time saves me money, yet I have such a hard time doing it consistently.
5. I bought an open-box set of replacement chair cushions for half the price of new ones and used a coupon for another 20% off.
USPS is increasing postage prices as of July 14. Regular letters up by five cents, plus increases in postcards, second ounce, and international costs.
I think package prices went up yesterday; not finding clear information on that.
So if you have a big letter mailing, such as for a wedding, you can save a few dollars by buying Forever stamps now. I like the stamps that say in fancy type "Thank You".
In a whimsical move, later this month a Forever stamp is coming out, white text on a blue background, with the answer: This naturalized U.S. citizen hosted the quiz show "Jeopardy" for 37 seasons.
@Heidi Louise, I had a Panera lunch on Friday with my next-door neighbor (NDN), her other close friend (CF), and CF's sister. After the lunch, as we'd previously planned, NDN and I stopped at the nearby PO to get some stamps before the rate hike you describe goes into effect.
But CF told us over lunch that various websites (just Google "discount stamps" and this will bring up several) sell older Forever stamps for considerably below face value. Next time I need stamps, I'm going to check out a couple of these.
@A. Marie, Whoever thought of Forever Stamps is a genius.
At least from the consumer point of view.
@Heidi Louise, and of course by "face value," I meant "current USPS value."
@A. Marie, Thanks for the "discount stamps" tip. I ordered 100 forever stamps for $30.00
• I used Upside when I needed to fill up my gas tank.
• I used random tea bags that I brought home from conferences to make sun tea – I put these in four cup mason jars and I now have a variety of iced tea in my fridge.
• My friend gave me four curtain panels of hers that I have been coveting for years. She moved to a new house and they didn’t fit the space anymore. She in turn will receive a small couch that doesn’t fit in our new house. The two of us have swapped so many items over the years that I’ve lost count!
• I found free instructions to make a cardigan that will use up most of my leftover yarn from a project I did last year. I adore the colors and I am excited to start and have it done in time to wear it this fall.
• My son recently discovered a love for fishing. I ordered him a nice (but cheap) starter rod along with a few other things he will need. His friends let him borrow their extra rods while he waited for his to arrive and were so excited that they all gifted him odds and ends – he came home with a tackle box, weights, bobbers, and lures. We live in an area with so many small lakes that he will be busy all summer now for just a few dollars.
• I selected slower shipping on Amazon for the fishing rod and received a $3 credit.
1. I ordered cat litter online and signed up for auto-ship, which saved me a bundle on that order. I used to buy it at the grocery store using coupons, but I would have to put a 25# box into my shopping cart, lift it into my trunk, and take it out of the trunk and carry it through the house. When I order it online, I buy a bundle of four bags of 10.5# each. I open the large carton on the front porch and lift each smaller bag into the house. Then I can carry them one or two at a time to their storage place. I get free shipping when I buy two at a time. My back and my cat thank me.
The only thing that might be easier is to arrange a dump-truck load of litter in my driveway and put in a cat door! 😉
2. I ordered some groceries for pickup last Friday and took advantage of a 4X fuel points coupon on Friday only. This is sweet because I don't get a lot of points for grocery purchases, mostly prescriptions and extra things like this.
3. I called my health insurance company about their OTC products program at CVS. I had been unable to find anything about it online. They said they would email me a catalog, which I didn't receive. I knew it was quarterly, on on June 30 (last day of the quarter) I went to CVS and asked the clerk. She found my info in the computer and pointed me in the right direction. I got a thermometer and a few other things I needed. Why can't this be easier? I've had this benefit for at least a year and found out about it accidentally!
4. Amazon emailed to tell me that since I hadn't bought/rented any streaming services recently they were giving me a $6 credit! I already had a credit from slightly delaying a shipment and with both credits I was able to purchase a movie that I like to watch from time to time. I have mostly bought the series that I like to watch and a few movies also. So unless I see a screaming hot deal on something I won't be ordering. I just got another $1.50 credit for a recent order.
5. I read two library books on my Kindle. Coincidentally they are both about serial killers. They're not gory or scary and and I read about both books in the NYT. One is called How Can I Help You, is by Laura Sims, and is set in a small-town library. The other is called Never Saw Me Coming, and is by Vera Kurian. I enjoyed them both.
@Dee in AZ, a frugal fail to end my day. Tomorrow is the first Wednesday of the month, which is senior discount day at Fry’s. I do my big shop on that day. But this month I am having a procedure on Wednesday and won’t be able to drive for the rest of the day. So I thought I’d be clever and get my order ready a day early and pick it up in the morning before my appointment. So I got it all ready online and when I went to schedule it, there were no morning slots available. I decided I could probably drive just fine by the end of the day so I selected that time slot. I bet you can guess where this is going. I was overheated from watering my trees this morning and slept the afternoon away. About 6:45 I got a text telling me that my order was ready. So I had to pick up my order a day earlier than planned and missed out on the 10% discount. Oh well, there are worse things that could happen to me. One good thing about it is that I generally don’t make the same mistake more than once. However, I think I could have learned that lesson on a smaller order!
Not commenting much these days but reading all, including yesterday's interesting and fun Meet the reader
I've read a lot lately, mainly books we inherited or books from the library;
Resisted temptation to download relaxing puzzle app with either many many ads or otherwise pay to have no ads;
Did not have takeout in spite of little energy to cook. Got rid of many leftovers and odds and ends from freezer and pantry
Drew up a list of items to photograph and sell once I will have more energy
Finally: thanks for the suggestion of the strawberry poppy vinaigrette. I googled a recipe and had the ingredients and now I am going to give it a try.
Ps we do not live in the US but we have a birthday in the family on 4th July. We imagine the fireworks are in honour of that occasion 🙂
@JNL, My birthday happens to fall on Bastille Day, and when I was turning eleven I was in France, and it was so neat to have fireworks and people partying on my birthday 😉 Happy birthday to yours!
Your shirt turned out really cute! Great idea!
1. All 3 kids and I are eating leftovers for lunch right now.
2. A lot of DIY went into my daughter's birthday party over the weekend - I catered it myself (you know... made all the food), made the cake, and got plain shrinky dink paper and traced 10 Princess Peaches and cut them out.
3. Two things from a trip to JoAnn last week: I used up part of a gift card that we've had for a long time; I was looking for some beads for an activity in case our outdoor party had to move indoors (there was a lot of rain in the forecast) and I saw a big kit for $3. I thought that couldn't possibly be right, so I took it up for a price check. It was! I got one for my daughter (the party ended up being outside, so it changed into a birthday gift) and my other daughter got one for her friend's birthday party today.
4. A couple of weekends ago, Meijer had blueberries for 99 cents/pint but they were out. I asked for a rain check for 8 pints and cashed it in right before my daughter's birthday party to use in a fruit salad.
5. I got a Flashfood produce box today - it was $5 total for a bag of cherries, 4 large avocadoes, 6 orange peppers, and 3 oranges. Yay!
1. I picked up a seaweed snack and a box of mac and cheese, both free courtesy of participating in Social Nature, a review site for “natural” products. The seaweed tasted… well, a little too much like saltwater for my preferences.
2. Cut open a tube of toothpaste and one of moisturizer to use every last drop.
3. An organic gardener friend didn’t sell all of his produce at the farmer’s market and dropped off some kale, chard, red lettuce, and basil on his way home. I might try making some pesto and need to chop and freeze some of the heartier greens.
4. I went to Once Upon A Child to buy new-to-us pajamas, rain boots, and some shirts for our growing boy who has run out of hand-me-downs. The shirts I bought were all on clearance for $1 each.
5. Mended a few toddler shirts, including some of the newly purchased ones that had their price tags punched through the fabric rather than an inside seam.
6. Used the last of a gift card to Papa Murphy’s during their BOGO promotion, which made it a reasonable deal. Even better: I was able to zero out the gift card exactly by doing a “custom” tip amount. DH and I try to tip generously because we think that probably no one who works in the food service industry is living their dream, and they are very likely making a non-living minimum wage.
@Lindsay B, Pesto tip: use almonds instead of pine nuts. Cheaper and tastes just as good.
Thank you so much for your Sophico lids recommendation! I also love them and have replaced nearly all of the cracked and discolored lids on my glass storage containers with silicone
To the ones who mentioned Laurie Colwin, I enjoyed her writings in Gourmet Magazine. Two recipes/foods that she mentioned that she made sound so delicious: pasta with shredded beets, and succotash (made with lima beans).
My car has an ailment dealing with a sensor and was able to Google the exact same thing so should not have to pay diagnostics at my favorite mechanic shop.
Chai at home.
Mowed my lawn myself. The young lad I had do it the last two times did not charge, but uses it as a learning experience. And he will probably do it more this summer. As a pollinator saver, I "mow tall and let the grass fall." I realized it was growing pretty fast so asked him to drop the mower level a couple of notches. And I said to "mow close." Ha! He scalped the lawn (it's since recovered). But when I said close, I meant "close to stuff." I do not have a weed eater. That's why I chose to mow this time. Plus, I can better see what areas need work. We are also exchanging plant information for the labor.
Got eight chrysanthemum plants for a dollar apiece to plant at the nursing home. Buying them small and early instead of in the fall allows for better establishment and realistic flush if pruned correctly and more chance for being perennial rather than annual.
Did go to Sonic for supper last night, but went after 7p so my shake (my treat to myself for mowing) was half price.
Did not run the AC most of the week and opened windows since weather cooled down. Both the electric bill and gas bill are the exact same amount of budget billing.
Picked the remainder of the pie cherries to steam juice and can
straight juice for a daily jigger of tart cherry juice.
Watched youtube and figured out how to install new belt on lawn tractor
belly mower, saving $300.
Offered to run the video equipment for a great local rock band's
4th of July performance. me free entrance to concert and now am
a bonafide "I'm w/the band" groupie!
Made a batch of kitty treats as the contingent are getting unruly, bake in .
Frugal Five estate sale edition
1 fancy nordic ware loaf pan $2, 1 sand castle bundt pan $4, will list on ebay and FMP
2 glazed orchid planters $.50 ea
1 32 oz yeti water bottle $10 brand new w/tags
12 Williams Sonoma hotel linen napkins in the free box
will embroider monogram on them
3/4 roll of welded wire fencing for $4 (new roll $150)
2 huge tubs of outdoor lights (Halloween & Christmas) for $6 both
will sell the Halloween and most of the Christmas on FMP
Williams Sonoma Charceuteri board 5 cheese knife set $3, listed on ebay
I confess that am in a bit of a frugal depressive state. I am sure I am not the only one feeling that literally everything costs a fortune these days.
1. I shopped sales and without children to get my weekly groceries. This helped me to focus and think about meals & deals and I checked out on budget.
2. I combined several errands to save on gas.
3. Temps in the high 90's have meant that our AC is running almost 24 hours a day. I have set my thermostat and left it in order to use less power to maintain temperature. I have also drawn blinds/curtains and kept our garage door closed.
4. I have been batch cooking using my crockpots to avoid heating the house with the oven unless I absolutely have to. I saved my baking of banana bread until the sun had gone down and will do the same with cookies I plan to make later this week.
5. Free entertainment; movies included on Prime, board games we own, cards we own, flowers cut from my own yard, playing with our dogs, neighborhood walks.
@Angie, you're doing great!
This has been a weird few weeks for us, as we've had three mini trips, each with a few days at home in between. (DS18's graduation party/family event + Las Vegas (adults)/Bend (kids) + Lake Tahoe for the 4th of July. Traveling is rarely frugal, but a few wins:
1) Parked at the airport for one of the trips, as it was substantially cheaper than using a ride share service.
2) Skipped a Mother's Day gift on Mother's Day, and instead got an incredible massage in Las Vegas, as part of our vacation.
3) Lodging & food were largely covered in Las Vegas, so we paid for the massage + tips.
4) Lodging in Lake Tahoe will also be covered, and we will pay for: gas, food, & activities for DS17 + his friend. We're allowing the friend, as DS18 is going to be on his senior trip & will miss out.
5) Both teens are working this week, earning money to pay for the expenses during the school year.
We've eaten a ton of things from the freezer, and lots of garden produce.
I cooked. A turkey and made dinner and croquettes for two more meals. Using up everything in the freezer before I forget that it's there
1. We went camping all last week. We went to 2 different State Parks, one of which we camped right on the beach. The whole trip cost us about $200 in reservations. We went out to lunch at a restaurant once and purchased ice cream once. The rest of the time we took advantage of free activities ie swimming, the beach, hiking, local museums, playgrounds, reading and cooked at our site. It was amazing!
2. I used up some almost stale cheerios and random nuts to make Kristen's granola. I used the rest of the cheerios and some leftover marshmallows from camping to make cheerio treats (like rice crispy treats).
3. I used some foraged juneberries and mulberries to make muffins for my kid's snacks. I used some leftover bread to make baked French toast for my kid's breakfast.
4. I used some almost expired milk and half and half to make farmer's cheese.
5. I paid our garbage bill for the whole year saving us 20%
@Corrine, Not many people know to ask about paying by the year, which many people pay monthly or quarterly which seemed exspensive to me. I saved 1/3 compared to monthly for current service.
I also hate the tight neck of some shirts...I can't take it. I can't wear collars at all.
And I think years ago I emailed you to ask if you had ever asked Pyrex to replace the lids and you said you hadn't. I emailed them and told them my lids had cracked (even hand washing) and they sent me new ones free!
This week I bought a bunch of corn on sale for the 4th and also to process for the freezer (I LOVE fresh corn rather than canned or regular yellow corn).
I came across a big container of fresh green beans. My dog loves raw green beans to be snapped into her food and I like to freeze them for DH (they're fast to throw in the air fryer with olive oil and seasoning on busy nights).
I bought tshirts which I desperately needed at the thrift store for $1.50 each. 2 were LL Bean and one was talbots.
And I bought DH two new LL Bean flannel shirts (still had tags) at the thrift store for @2.99 each.
I cooked at home all week, went to the library, used up some items from the freezer and fridge that needed to go, and mended a favorite pair of sleep pants.
What is the protein powder and how do you like it? Would you recommend it?
Thank you for the Sophico recommendation! I’ve needed new lids for 4 different Pyrex containers but there were so many choices, I wasn’t sure which one to pick so I’ve been procrastinating. I just ordered some replacements, it’ll be nice to use those containers again!
We purchased rectangular and square glass containers at Ikea for food storage. They had pretty bamboo lids with seals, but since the lids were not flexible and there was no way to "burp" the lids, the lids would not stay sealed. They also sell plastic lids that clip on and seal very well. While I'm not a fan of plastic, these are very sturdy and should last a very long time. I plan to use the bamboo lids as little cutting boards for picnic lunches. They were inexpensive.
I don't like shirts that crawl up my neck and neither does my daughter. I found a tutorial on the internet for turning rounded neck lines into V necks with a sewing machine and we do that often. Even though I don't buy T-shirts, they seem to collect.
It's miserably hot this week (103 today!) and not cooling off at night which is typically our "natural air conditioning" , but I work in an air conditioned building. It's supposed to remain hot through next week, and we have no AC at home. So I'm planning to drive to an adjacent county that is on the SF Bay to collect a library card. California has library reciprocity, which means you can get a library card in any county and have access to all of their electronic books, audiobooks, movies, music, periodicals, etc. (Their physical collection too, but it would be difficult to return physical books). The trick is you have to physically appear at a library in any county to get their card.
So I'm planning to go to Marin County which is adjacent to where I live in Sonoma County to collect my Marin County library card, and enjoy the cooler temps and AC in the library there on Saturday. It will cost me gas, but worth it. Otherwise it's free!
I have three county's library cards already and really enjoy access to free audiobooks, e-books and more. I'm planning a trip to the main SF public library later this summer which is a really awesome building with some special collections and displays. I will take a train to a shuttle to a ferry to public transportation to get there and back. After I turn 65 later this year, many of those modes of transportation are free or heavily discounted, and I don't have to try to drive in the city, navigating steep hills and trying to find parking.
It's also fun when we travel around the state to see relatives or vacation I can collect more cards. Each card has artwork reflecting the county and some are really pretty. And it's a fun, no-cost activity when traveling.
@Jan, what a great library system!
Not a very frugal week because we have been travelling. But:
-packed lunch for road trip, ate in state park
-cooked most of our meals on trip, even with resort grocery prices probably still much cheaper than eating out
-house we rented had excellent amenities included in the rental price, didn't pay for any "extras" like bike or boat rentals
-have resisted temptation to buy new books (I don't take library books on vacation for fear of losing them), have instead read what is available at relatives houses and the vacation rental. And tbh spent a lot of time scrolling...
-ate large free (mediocre) breakfast at hotel and avoided buying lunch at restaurants two days
Totally agree about resort groceries still being cheaper!!
I had a frugal week for me.
* I used my grocery store rewards of $13.79 on my shopping this week.
* As a reward for donating blood, the American Red Cross offers a choice of $15 gift cards. Usually I donate it back to the Red Cross, but this time I cashed in for a gift card to WalMart. Not my favorite store, but I needed some things.
* Found two nice perennials marked down to $4, and of course I had to get them!
* I had $67 of health care goods which would expire on June 30, so I quickly did some on line shopping and spent every penny! I will share the extra ibuprofen with family members, as we actually didn’t need any.
* I line dried all of my laundry this beautiful, sunny week. I love hanging out laundry! It helps settle my mind to do organized chores. And to be out in the sun!
Happy Independence Day everyone!
1) Last week traveling we figured out how to use the metro. It was so much cheaper than Ubering everywhere, and we like mixing with locals. Traveling is already a non-frugal activity, so we work hard to keep it as cheap as possible without sacrificing experiences.
2) I broke into one of the several bags of lentils that my mother in law passed along to us. No one in my family but me eats lentils, so I will experiment with ways to eat them. Last night I made myself a lentil dish that involved a lot of spices and some spinach and chicken broth that I found in the freezer. It was actually pretty good. I will eat it over rice the next few days for just about the cheapest dinner on the planet.
3) We promptly returned the Amazon electric converter we bought for our trip, but did not receive in time.
4) Our dryer stopped working on Monday. It was time--we bought it second hand in 2004. And it had been sounding bad for a while. The repair man who looked at it said the motor was bad, and it would be almost the price of a new one to do the repair. So we are scouring FB marketplace for a new-to-us dryer. In the meantime I am hanging clothes on the line to dry. It takes more time, and I don't like crunchy towels and stretched out handkerchiefs, but the weather is warm enough that the clothes dry quickly.
5) Luckily when we got back Sunday night from our trip, we had enough food to last us a couple days. But yesterday I bite the bullet and menu-planned and grocery-shopped. I did a Walmart pick up, which forces me to plan at least a few hours ahead. And I feel like a VIP pulling up and having folks load up my car.
Nice fix on the tee! Need your recipe for herbal chai, please and thank you!!
I wish I could remember which tea bag I used! It was a random one that came from who knows where, and I do not remember the brand. I just steeped the bag, then added milk and honey and ice.
I wish all invasive species came with a snack option!
Seriously. I consider that I am doing my civic duty by eating as many wineberries as I possibly can.
1. My library: Books, programs, and possibly even a savings account for my grandchildren. Going to a program this week where they get money put into a children's savings account for reading.
2. Our new coffeemaker. My husband has not been satisfied with the percolator, so I purchased a new coffeemaker for him for father's day. It may save money in the long run. I generally will make coffee at home as to buying it out.
3. I need a couple of "star" ornaments for a charity fundraiser holiday tree. I found a pattern for free and I have fabric and threads in my stash to use to create it. Now, to do it.
4. A wonderful Monday morning walk.
5. A container of raspberries from the back yard and there are more raspberries and blackberries to have plus other berries that are just proliferating in the yard.
Thank you for the heads up on the covers. I will check them out the next time I need a replacement. I really do like my pyrex containers.
That’s ingenious! I would’ve never thought to cut off the neck hole on a t-shirt.
My Frugal 5s
1) We offered to water my friend’s plants while she was gone for a couple weeks so she gave us a homemade lunch, 3 pots of marigolds for each my girls, a beautiful bouquet of fresh cut flowers from her garden, and some food from her refrigerator she wouldn’t use up before she left.
2) Girls continued to eat free lunch at the library and parks through the summer feed program. We also ate leftovers, used up food we have, and cooked most of our meals at home
3) Batch run errands to save gas. We’ll combine trips to the grocery store, library, and playground.
4) Had free at home and local entertainment. Read books and watched DVDs through the library; Did a craft there and played their electronic touch screen games; Played card and board games we already had at home; Went to the school, library, and local playgrounds; Walked, biked, scootered around the neighborhood; Played in the backyard and jumped on the trampoline.
5) Girls got to enjoy some free hobbies. Went to Gardening camp which was sponsored through the library; Get to put into practice what they learned by taking care of my friend’s garden; Made lots of melty bead creations; Made rubber band bracelets; Drawing, coloring, and painting at home; Use of imagination 🙂
I got Covid while on an RV road trip to visit the grandkids. As soon as I tested positive, I asked my giant HMO for Paxlovid so they sent a scrip to a pharmacy in the state where we are. No one had it in stock. It cost $1449.00 after discounts, plus an hour each way drive to get it. Then my provider said it won't be covered. Grrr, I'll tackle that battle when we get home.
I'm grateful that all the frugal things I do every day mean this won't be a financial disaster.
My goodness that is a wild price for Paxlovid! GEEEEZ.
OH HOW NICE it must be to have invasive plants that bear such beautiful fruit rather than those knobby things that creep into the house imbedded into ones shoe soles THEN they miraculously disengage where one walks in the middle of the night on the way to the bathroom. !!!!!!!
Oh drats! I bought Pyrex replacement lids, a number of months ago, and now I see, I coulda gone off brand. To be fair, we seldom use 'my' pyrex now we're together (my husband has clip top lid glass containers we use first). So the new lids will languish a lot!
Made homemade chicken soup with on sale noodles, bouillon, baby carrots and celery, and onion from garden.
Weeded garden for exercise.
Make quilts with donated supplies for disasters.
Pick and freeze garden peas. Share with extended family.
Listen to books on Libby. Go to 2 book clubs.
I just made my third batch of crockpot salsa from some of the gazillion tomatoes we have in the garden;
I sewed simple curtains from leftover fabric I had for my husband's outside shed. It'll stay a little cooler out there and gives an added layer of security from possible prying eyes; and because I had a taste for it, I used up the last of the potatoes in the pantry and made old fashioned mustard potato salad to go with BBQ pork sandwiches for dinner. Now I'm taking a break!
What are you gonna do with your protein powder? Is it just for smoothies?
Well, I'm about to figure that out. I have never ever bought protein powder in my life before! Ben recommended a very plain kind that's basically just whey, so you can mix it into a number of things, like pancakes or overnight oats.
I will experiment and report!