Five Frugal Things | an airplane tool
See further below for the odd little tool I sold!
1. I got a free Firehouse sub
Sunday was my fifth day in a row of being at the hospital (one day was just a five hour education day though!), and while I'd managed to avoid buying all of my meals up to that point, I clocked out Sunday night with no dinner plan.
But, I did have points for a free sub at Firehouse, so Zoe and I basically got a buy one, get one free deal.
2. I cut some bread into cubes before work
I had part of a loaf of store-bought French bread on my counter, leftover from when I made French toast for dinner. And one morning before work, I was like, "OH NO! That's probably gonna mold any second."
So, I took a minute to cube it up, and then I threw the cubes into a bag in the freezer. Crisis averted. 😉
I could have just put the whole thing into the freezer, but it's better for me to have it already cubed.
You know how I say that sometimes the freezer is just a pit stop before the trash can? Well, cubing the bread before I freeze it is one way to avoid that; if it's cubed, I'm more likely to actually use it!
3. I'm going to a paid online meeting this morning
We have an online quality council meeting for my unit this morning, and since I happen to be off of regular hospital work today, I'll log on and join.
I have no idea what happens in a quality council meeting, but hey, I will find out, and I will also get paid for a very easy hour of work.
4. I sold a tool of Lisey's
She had a tool from aviation mechanic school that she'd bought and then never ended up needing. So, she left it here when she moved to Hawaii, and I listed it on eBay, mainly to try to get it into the hands of someone who needed it!
(I imagine if you send this kind of thing to the thrift store, it will likely get thrown out. It's too specialized.)
And of course, I sent the money to Lisey, since she's the one who bought the tool in the first place.
I love the way eBay and Buy Nothing groups allow me to be a Stuff Matchmaker of sorts; I get rid of extra things, and I have the joy of knowing they are going to a person who wants those exact things.
5. I...
- sent all my required year end tax payments/paperwork on time (my CPA sent me a page of instructions to follow for my S-corp stuff.)
- packed lots of lunches
- packed the eBay sale in reused packaging
- used up shampoo/lotion samples from my dermatologist
- spent most of the last week working, which left little time for spending!
Taking the time to cube the bread is like how I always chop ginger before I freeze it; future Sophie is always happy she made the effort. And this has reminded me to buy and chop some more!
Ultra frugal(ish) month continues:
1. I borrowed the DVD of A Room With a View from the library as it wasn't on streaming (a kind reader told me I can find it on Tubi but the disc was fine). I also wanted to watch Prisoners again but had to pay to stream it, but was able to borrow the DVD from the library for free.
2. I continued my no-takeout streak. I had a hankering for curry and naan bread last night but I made it at home rather than ordering it.
3. I line-dried some clothes.
4. I baked a coffee-flavoured cake.
5. I cancelled some subscriptions.
I also used my gym membership and went running outside for free exercise, split tins of chickpeas for different meals and got food on sale from the supermarket.
Uniting stuff with the proper recipient is a joy and frugality!
1. Impromptu stop at the thrift store yesterday paid off big. Still changing pants sizes (thanks midlife) and being able to consistently new-to-me good quality pants at a good price has helped me to let go of the ones that truly don't fit. I'm not going back to that size soon, if ever, so I can let them go.
2. I drink a mushroom coffee that feels pricey, but lets me enjoy a cup in the morning and not have the negative effects of reg coffee. At the end of Dec one seemed to be lost in the mail (shipping label created, no movement for two weeks). Company was great and replaced my order. This week, the original lost order arrived so now I have a bonus bag!
3. Lost Netflix access and am not freaking out yet even though I was in the middle of Call the Midwife (season 5). Need to decide if/what streaming platforms to pay for besides Prime. Frugal because I'm waiting so we make a good decision.
4. Thrift store tactical pants for DH usually $70 found for $6!
5. Quick shopping trip at the "expensive" store for a few essentials worth it to combine with things at home to make good things and avoid food waste.
Freezer odds and ends are more likely to be used if already portioned - similar with frozen bananas (sliced) and soup (1 person portions also defrost more quickly!).
This week I
ran and line-dried my laundry on solar power -yay for not using the drier!
batch-ordered pharmacy items and vitamins at a discount via my trade union membership
listed items for "stuff matchmaking" 🙂 on MarketPlace
bought a second-hand lined hat for the next cold spell
made meals from odds (and end and then thoroughly cleaned the fridge)
A frugal fail was that I bought thick woolen yarn to teach myself nalbinding, only to find that the clearest online instruction I found used a thinner woolen yarn. But I'll redeem that by using a thinner woolen yarn from my stash and using the thicker strands for a nalbound hat once I master the craft sufficiently.
(It was the cold weather that inspired this yearning for a new to me ancient craft).
--I restuffed the mattress for our daybed/couch* using foam cushions we had on hand. The mattress is now back to its proper squishiness.
*A daybed offers another spot for guests and, most importantly, more room for the cats to run!
--Taxes were filed last night! Both credit cards had a cashback offer for using TurboTax (which we do, anyway), so I made sure we used the card with the biggest offer when paying to file. My husband and I know ourselves, and free paper taxes won't get done in a timely manner. A nominal fee for just being DONE is worth it to us.
--Homemade hot cocoa with homemade chocolate whipped cream was our reward for the above Responsible Adult (TM) task. I also threw together a homemade pizza of randomness that proved incredibly tasty! Sauce, mozzarella, pesto, and slivers of red onion.
--I volunteered to help draft a grant proposal for the local library, which was sent off last week. If successful, the library could receive up to $2000 for STEM kits--here's hoping!
Dang, no edit feature! The aforementioned grant proposal was a group effort. I wrote the body of the proposal; the librarians provided demographics and filled in the specific kits they wanted; and another library board member proofread everything before it was sent off. Phew!
Hope the grant proposal works out for your library! I'm an active proponent of STEM education in our community as well (including helping to lead a grant-funded project, among other activities). Curious what kind of STEM kits your library is looking to get?
Homemade chocolate whipped cream sounds delicious! Last year I used Freetax, but so many people use TurboTax I have wondered whether it’s better. My taxes are pretty simple though. I use my state’s e-filing service for my state taxes. It’s outdated and clunky but it’s free!
"I love the way eBay and Buy Nothing groups allow me to be a Stuff Matchmaker of sorts; I get rid of extra things, and I have the joy of knowing they are going to a person who wants those exact things." Ditto for me though I am still using Freecycle since I don't like the association between Facebook and the Buy Nothing group.
That also fits in with: "In yoga, Asteya is the third of the five Yamas (ethical restraints), meaning non-stealing, which extends beyond physical objects to include ideas, time, energy, and even taking from oneself or the future by consuming excessively or wasting potential. It involves cultivating contentment, honoring resources, giving credit, respecting boundaries, and living with integrity to foster inner abundance rather than craving what isn't yours." I feel that keeping useful items you don't need is included.
1. I got a Panera gift card for Christmas to get the Sip Club, so I waited for a good promotion (who wants to pay full price??) and the waiting paid off. I got 4 months for the price of 2!
2. We accepted a damaged door for half off. We went to a Lowe's 35 minutes away because our Lowe's didn't have this particular door and the first one they grabbed off the high shelf was damaged. They offered it to us for half price, but we said no because we didn't think we could fix it and have it look good. They got a second door and there was a small crack in the frame, but that one is totally fixable and will still look good. It's a much smaller fix, but they also offered that one to us for half off. Yes! (Honestly, I was surprised they offered such a big discount since it's such a smaller crack.) Huge savings.
3. I've been entering all of my receipts into Fetch. Gift cards for Meijer are headed my way!
4. I redownloaded the Chick-fil-A app since we stopped there for dinner Saturday night. There's not one in our town and we don't eat out often anyways, but I had enough points to get a free large fry. Not huge in the grand scheme of feeding 5 people at CFA, but it helps.
5. I got two loaves of french bread from Flashfood for a total of $1. On this cancelled school day, we're going to have french bread pizza for lunch.
I'm getting a laugh out of the name of that tool: Hand Nibbler? If I'm reading it right. That's what Clark becomes when he's done being petted!
--The eraser for my large white board had become disreputable, to the point where it wasn't erasing anymore. I was loathe to go buy another one, but then remembered that in my Bio classroom, the professor used a microfiber cloth to erase the board. I have a small microfiber cloth I rescued from our front lawn after garbage day---somebody threw it out after trying to clean up a greasy mess with it--and it works perfectly. Better, I dare say, than an eraser. I also taped up the marker caddy, which had developed a crack along the seam.
--We managed to eat most our meals at the house on our vacation. The one exception was the Publix subs that were greatly enjoyed on our biking picnic excursion. I will forever fondly remember the Publix cobb salad; I think they have the best ranch dressing ever.
--We avoided most food waste on this vacation; it's always tricky to buy just enough for the week, feed everyone thoroughly, and not have to toss or leave anything in the fridge. I bought and used up exactly the right amount of frozen fruit, milk, ground beef, and turkey bacon and bread. The only things I overbought were riced cauliflower (I use this in smoothies, and the Publix there only had giant bags, not the small ones!) and shredded cheese.
--At one gas stop, we were back in the land of Kroger fuel stations and DH was able to get gas for 58 cents a gallon with our fuel points. He said it was like being back in the 1950s.
--Our excursions on our trip were pretty inexpensive; I was dismayed that the Treasure Museum, which had been free three years ago, now charges two dollars a person, but it is a small museum, and run by the parks department, so we were okay with it. We also stopped at the San Sebastian Inlet State park, which charges eight dollars for parking, but we had a lovely hike through what my family calls 'the jungle' (palm trees rather than pine trees as at home!), and visited the fishing piers and saw pelicans!
--It goes almost without saying that avoiding DisneyWorld on this trip saved us buckets of money.
--On one of our stops on the way home, we popped in to a Kroger Marketplace to replace DS#3's wallet, which he'd left in the vacation house (no worries: he only had a temporary driver's license, and his real one had just been mailed to our house back home, and the only other thing he had in the old wallet was a debit card, which we cancelled, and his school ID, which they will replace very easily for him) and the wallets were actually on sale, so we got five bucks off. That was a nice surprise.
DH has corrected me, it was 17 cents a gallon with our points! $3.47 to fill up the tank of our Chevy Silverado. The mind boggles.