Five Frugal Things | Cooked fruit salad
I'm gonna be struggling to come up with five, because my last four work shifts were pretty close together, which means I have not happened to do a whole lot of frugal things.
1. I cooked some fruit salad
This sounds weird, I know, but hang with me. I had brought a big fruit salad to work for a potluck, and I left one bowl for the night-shift people.
I took home the remainder the next day, and while it wasn't much, I didn't want to throw it away.
However, I also was feeling slightly sketchy about eating it as-is, even though it had been refrigerated.
So, I dumped the fruit into a pot, cooked it down into a somewhat jammy consistency, and ate it, cold, on top of some vanilla Greek yogurt. It was actually super tasty!
I figured the boiling would certainly kill any potluck germs that had accumulated. 😉
2. I froze my grapes
I had a slightly neglected bag of grapes in my fridge, so some of them were past their prime.
I sorted out all the worst ones, then froze the others on a baking sheet.
I'll snack on them (frozen grapes are delicious!) or I will add them to my smoothies.
3. I worked a weekend shift
One of my shifts was on a Sunday, which means I earned a couple extra dollars per hour.
You can earn a lot more than a couple of extra dollars by working weekend nights, but we all know I do not consider that to be worth it.
4. I packed my lunches from single servings that I'd frozen
When I made the baked ziti (with this protein pasta) for my freezer challenge, I set aside one portion and froze it, just to test out how well it freezes and reheats.
And the last time I made my chili and cilantro-lime rice, I froze a portion in the bottom of a container, and then I pressed a cup of the cilantro rice into a one-cup mold and put that on top of the chili.
I used these meals for my last two shifts, and they both thawed and reheated nicely. Yay! Now I know for the future.
This is a prime example of my "try it and see" philosophy.
Freezing a single serving as a test subject is very low stakes, and now I know I have two meals that freeze and reheat well. Knowledge gained, nothing lost. And even if one of these had been a dud, that would have been only a small loss.
5. I used a Panera gift card for a no-cook dinner
On one of my days off between shifts, I did not feel like cooking. So, Zoe picked up a Panera order for us on her way home from work, using a gift card from my credit card rewards.
I got the Green Goddess salad, which has a very respectable 40 grams of protein.
1. I took my daughter to the opening of a new exhibit at our science museum. It was a free event.
2. I used up some leftover pasta, cheeses, and homemade tomato sauce to make baked pasta for my lunch this week.
3. I bought lots of $0.20 packs of 3 rolls of transparent tape from Aldi. I also bought $1 Carolina BBQ sauce.
4. I signed myself and my daughter up for classes at the library.
5. We are scheduled to get our COVID and flu vaccines this week.
I think you did a great job saving food during a busy week!
--I took advantage of several free shipping deals to order garlic for planting and a specific color of bearded iris for my husband's anniversary present ("Valentino," for the curious). His personal gothic garden comes together, bit by bit. <3
--I trimmed and oiled my hair this weekend, both of which were overdue. An 1 1/2" off (cut myself, as always) and an oil soak (worked/braided into my hair before working in the yard for three hours) made for quite the reset!
--My last free gardening hat--a trucker-type promotional product--finally fell apart in the wash. Thankfully, my husband's job just gave him a free trucker hat from one of their vendors. It's not a style my husband cares for; since the hat's destiny involves copious amounts of sweat and bug spray, I'm not too picky. 😛
--We received a check from our insurance reimbursing us for a prescription overcharge. Yay $230!
--I accidentally ended up in charge of our village library's Trick or Treat table. I'm hitting up sales for the treats even though I'll be reimbursed; any unclaimed treats will go to the library's after school snacks. Everything else is free! I already have sparkly tableclothes, a "good witch" outfit,* and I'll use our own enameled dutch ovens (purple and green) as cauldrons for the treats.
*A pink Marilyn Monroe-style halter dress with black cats and stars around the skirt--a friend bought it for me at an estate sale for $3! Throw in a black crinoline (have), a long flowy black cardigan (have), cosmic socks and black ankle boots (have both), and a friend's borrowed witch hat = good witch!
Re: the "accidentally," I was the board member who suggested the library have a Halloween table this year. Since I'm the only child-free member (the others understandably want to take their kids) and was the most enthusiastic, guess where that landed me. 😛 May as well roll with it and have fun!
Haha, well, that does make sense. I always schedule myself to work Halloween shifts at the hospital because all of my kids are adults and I don't mind working.
The Halloween table sounds so cool!
So many cool things in your fun post, N. Marilyn Monroe witch dress—wish I could see it as well as the whole table.
Could we hear more about the gothic garden, if possible? Happy Anniversary, by the way!
Re: the garden, We've black hyacinths, Black hero tulips, candy prince tulips, purple alliums, schuberti alliums, black bearded irises (freebies/trades, so I don't have a name), three differs colors of dark purple bearded irises (ditto), purple and pink native plants, chocolate cherry sedum, black and purple bachelor buttons, my husband's new deep red/purple iris, etc. Basically, the darker/weirder/more striking the color, the more interested he and I are in planting it! 😛
Our anniversary is actually Halloween--thank you! <3
You had me googling chocolate cherry sedum and I think I need to get some next year. Thanks!
N,
Your DH's gothic garden sounds amazing! If he doesn't already have some, and if they thrive in your area, take a look at 'Dark Side of the Moon' astilbe. So pretty! It was first available in my area a few years ago, when the Pink Floyd album of the same name turned 50. 🙂
@Liz B., those are GORGEOUS!!! I'll have to hunt some down--thank you!!!
There’s so much joy in this post: anniversary irises! good witch library costumes!
Very cool ideas!
I will look into that Panara Salad! It looked good!
Thank you!
I just did a quick vegetable run to a small shop that sells a lot of local produce. Pumpkins, cabbages and root vegetables were B1G1. Also on offer: bell peppers, cooking pears and more. I am all set for this week and several weeks ahead.
Other than that, my financial focus will be on making the most of the changes to our pension system (moving from fixed earnings to fixed contribution). I will involve our financial adviser, as will my husband.
The new system has better conditions for people who are left widowed/widower. So at least that is a bonus.
*I got a free pack of break and bake cookies. The price rang up wrong, so I got them free.
*I remembered to use a 5$ off 25$ coupon at dollar general to stock up on a few essentials.
*Will pay car insurance in a lump sum today and save 10%.
*Trying to use up freezer food and not make extra runs to the store.
*Target rewarded me with 5$ off a Halloween item- I used it to buy a 5$ tote that will hold the raffle prize for the school trunk or treat.
Great job on the food experimentation front, Kristen!
My church had a flea market. I was volunteering, but waited until the end of the sale to shop. For $10 I got a new rice cooker (mine died 2 weeks ago), 3 cute cookie tins for the holidays, a small (new) nice quality candle, a pair of earrings, several wooden clothespins for my basement drying rack, and some cardboard cutout rounds and doilies to out cakes upon when I’m baking for others. I was pleased!
I’m often surprised by how many good (if random!) bits you can find on a last scoot round a jumble sale. Just this Saturday my friend picked up a J Crew wool jacket an hour and a half in, when they reduced everything to 20p. I don’t know how we missed it previously - it was on a rail and a fluorescent coral colour! Anyway she has long silver-grey hair and looks stunning in it. A couple of months ago I picked up a super-chunky round wooden breadboard and unused digital scales for 50p each just as I was leaving another jumblie. Maybe people drop in donations late, or there’s stuff under the table waiting for space to display?
1. I began taking a GLP-1 as part of my eating recovery program. It is not covered by my insurance. (Sigh. I would only qualify with a BMI of 35) I jumped through the Lily Direct hoops and am receiving an average of 30% discount which saves well over a hundred dollars a month.
2 I am determined to remain healthy with this new medication. I pulled out my Omega Juicer which is incredibly fancy. I am eating enough fiber but I want to add even more fruits and veggies. I bought a 10 pound bag of carrots for .70 a pound. That is a good deal around here. I add bell peppers, tomatoes, celery, ginger cubes. It is a tasty V8 juice.
3. I went to my gym's free yoga classes even though it means I get up at 5:00.
4. I signed up for a free body image group class held through my insurance.
5. I brought leftovers from a church benefit, added rice and ate them the next day.
So many good healthy moves here!
Congrats on all these positive steps.
Just a heads-up, a something to look into when it comes to the juicer. When I wore a CGM, I learned that smoothies made using vegetables and no sugar spiked my blood sugar. It had something to do with the pulverization of the fiber. Normally fiber slows down the sugar hit, but not when it is so "pre-chewed".
Not saying that will be the case for you; just wanting you to look into it. So many things previously thought "healthy" in my almost 67 years have turned out to be myths. Sigh. "Healthy" has many different definitions.
P.S. You are doing SO WELL!!
It is a good tip. I drink it with a snack of protein like hard boiled eggs. My nutritionist warned me.
Mary Ann, thinking of you and your many positive steps that will lead you to your best self. Congrats on these! Sorry about the trials you mentioned yesterday. You are in my thoughts.
I don't often share my frugal choices, because they don't feel "frugal enough", but here we go anyway.
1. We went on a mid-week 24 hour vaca to Asheville to see a band. I packed my lunch for the car. I brought a banana for breakfast the next morning. We opted for a fast casual dinner instead of something fancier. We also talked ourselves into spending our 20th anniversary in Asheville (a less expensive drive) instead of somewhere more exotic (like Montreal).
2. I purchased second hand cordouroys from Poshmark.
3. I went to DSW for new running shoes, which I found for $40 after using rewards and shopping clearance shoes. I also did not buy anything other than what I went in for!!
4. I got a free dog crate from Buy Nothing.
5. I helped my daughter sell her mini fridge on Facebook Marketplace.
That is 100% frugal enough! I mean, look at mine: I boiled fruit salad. Hehe. That was a very miniscule savings.
1. Whenever life feels too big, I declutter in response. Gave away wine glasses, tablecloth, gift bags, mason jar zipper bags, Pyrex pie plate (from before we were married almost 45 years ago), Pyrex 9x13 covered pan, Pyrex casserole carrier, and eyeglass cleaning cloths. For the cloths, I said to my husband, "We have 18; how many do you want to keep?" which is way easier for him than "How many can we get rid of?" He answered "four" to the keep question. Victory!
2. Bought a lightweight zip-up jacket to use over my workout wear. Spent $5.50 at the thrift store. This is my first clothing purchase since March when I bought tights ($10 new). Other than new sneakers every year, I rarely buy clothing. I have a small but plentiful wardrobe and dislike shopping.
3. Husband went to the dentist and instead of taking the usual toothbrush, floss and toothpaste, I suggested that he ask for two toothbrushes instead. We have plenty of floss and toothpaste. He is quite pleased (as am I) that he remembered!
4. Used a watch battery and installation coupon, saving $10. While at the local jewelry store, I learned that I could get $180 for my long-deceased mother's silver engagement ring. The jeweler doesn't want the smallish diamond; not sure what I'd do with it. Will see what another jeweler has to offer.
5. Received from Buy Nothing: a weekly planner, calcium tablets (250, which will last me 125 days) and four pull-out cabinet drawers. Two of the drawers will be used in the pantry and the other two will be used to make it easier to retrieve things from the base cabinet shelves closest to the floor (I can't always bend down that far because of my knee and sometimes I get lightheaded bending over for too long).
Decluttering feels SO good.
Maybe that's why my freezer challenge is making me feel good: I am actually decluttering!
Yes!
Totally OFF topic -- but I am grateful to know about boiling sketchy fruit . . . Because of age and stage -- and often the reality of needing ER care looms, I am thanking God for the medical care we have-- but please Lord for the health care workers who are often stretched bend their last nerve --please deliver them and help them. And I surely include YOU dear one in my prayers. 🙂
Barbara Smith,
Thank you for the prayers to health care workers, of which I am one. While I love helping take care of my patients (I'm a Registered Dietitian in the US, working in a hospital), the grind is real. Only 3 more months until I retire.
1. The Fiber Distribution System was VERY kind to me this week.
a. I picked up a smallish table loom via Freecycle. Maybe it'll work with the special-but-scratchy wool I cleaned earlier this year. Resale price $35-70.
b. At my knitting guild's raffle, I won a lot of soft black yarn, that may be just what I need to go with the yarn I impulse-bought last year, because of their beautiful saturated colors. Est. list price $40, resale price around $70.
c. Someone else at the guild won a coffee-table-book-quality book of lace knitting based on Victorian patterns. They didn't want it so gave it to me. Est list price $35.
Giant Food overcharged me. Per their policy they refunded me the difference and then gave me the item for free.
More soup from leftovers, bits, and bobs.
Used leftover roast veggies from two different meals out (lots of houseguests this week) to make frittatas. Past Me helped Today Me by mincing the veg, so I can make the eggs at the drop of a hat.
I discovered that my dog's bed had holes by finding a lot of stuffing in the laundry. Oops. I shoved it back in and mended the rips (lots of them!) using the ugliest thread in my collection.
Forgot one. My new financial advisor is having her third child. I used things I have for gifts for all three kids:
- a cool reusable drawing board (inkbrush and water) for the 5 yo;
- made a blankie for the 18 mo;
- made a hat and mitts for the newborn.
*I came across a bag of chicken legs (a dozen of them) marked down to $3. I roasted them, kept the drippings and stripped the meat. I used the bones for broth and canned it.
*I used the chicken and drippings to make a chicken spaghetti with a sauce made from all the leftover dairy in the fridge...a bit of cream cheese, a bit of blended cottage cheese, some leftover cheddar, and the roux made from the drippings.
*bought a boston butt for $.99/lb. DH smoked it, and I bagged it up into 7 meal size portions and froze it.
*trimmed the cats nails and the puppy's nails. Bathed the puppy (did not bathe the cats haha).
*cut DH's hair and trimmed mine just a little bit.
*
1. Made peanut butter caramel corn for the baby sprinkle favor with ingredients I had on hand.
2. Brought home some of the leftovers from the baby sprinkle. I'm having one of the yogurt parfaits I made, topped with homemade granola.
3. I did not buy a greeting card for my baby sprinkle gift. I used small notecards from my stationary instead. I figure our daughter already knows how much I love her and how excited we are for grandbaby #2.
4. We do not drink coffee, but our weekend guests do so I bought coffee BOGO at Publix. I sent the remaining coffee home with them.
5. Husband remembered to ask for a hard copy prescription at the vet yesterday when he picked up our dog's monthly prescription. We're hoping it will be less expensive to fill at Costco.
This has reminded me to make baked ziti!
Frugals:
1. I went to a castle this weekend which is also a museum. I paid to go inside and I had a coffee in the cafe, but I packed a lunch. It was a beautiful day so I ate it with a wonderful view of the castle 🙂 I resisted the gift shop! There was also a swimming lake nearby which is free to use so I had a swim there on the way back.
2. I had some pesto which came in a pretty jar, so I washed it out after finishing the pesto and am using it to store pumpkin seeds.
3. I paused a subscription.
4. I saved some treats before taking a break from sugar last month and have been eating them for dessert.
5. I line-dried some clothes (or will when I get the washing out!)
Otherwise all the usual, such as reading library books, making smoothies and going running and swimming outside.
I just remembered that I also paid money into my emergency fund as well 🙂
I'm interested in your sugar-break. Did you have any cravings for sweet stuff? I ask because my HB is borderline with his blood glucose; so far he has managed to not go over borderline and his glucose levels are okay since he gave up sugar, but his blood is tested every 3 months or so. In solidarity with him and since I do 99% of the cooking, I have mostly stopped with sugar and sweet things. (I have sugar in my coffee and honey in my tea) but no baked goods, nothing else with added sugar etc. I am finding the sugar cravings to be quite strong (!!) (specifically after dinner/ evenings). I ignore them, but boy is it hard.
The first two weeks were AWFUL. I was exhausted and my body felt like it was filled with sand. I was okay when I was at work but when I got home my energy levels would be zero, and I knew if I just ate some chocolate they would probably pick up. I got through it though, and then it was a switch flicked and I felt more energetic, surprisingly enough, and a lot less tired. I felt less hungry as well. I still had cravings but they were less intense. Honestly, it was kind of annoying, because I like sugary foods a lot and didn't want to feel better without them 😉 I read Year of No Sugar by Eve O. Schaub where she cut out sugar for a year and really related to her saying that she missed having a small treat after a meal. I baked some banana bread with honey but no added sugar and that helped a lot.
I'm eating sweets again now but have cut a lot back. I don't want to cut sugar out entirely - I'm not an all or nothing person and I really like chocolate - but it's definitely been interesting taking a break and seeing some health benefits.
*like a switch flicked
Oh yes, I read that book when it first came out! I'd forgotten about it.
I try to minimize my sugar intake, but like you, I'm not sure I am willing to go entirely sugar free on a permanent basis.
The only reason I know about it is because I read your review of it on here several years ago!
1. I used a gift card to buy $26 worth of groceries at Walmart.
2. I substituted movie candy (i.e. Milk Duds, Junior Mints etc.) for the chocolate candy bars I expected to buy for my grandson's Halloween bucket.
3. I thawed a gifted chuck roast to make beef stew.
4. I sent off several eBay sales in recycled packaging.
5. I used my MA benefits flex card to buy some OTC items, so nothing out of pocket.
Ollie's Outlet emailed me a 30% off one item coupon, which I used yesterday when buying a large bag of lollipops for Halloween and a pack of puppy pads. The coupon actually split between both items instead of applying only to the slightly cheaper one, and saved a little over $6. We won't need 200 lollipops, so most of them will be given to the church's trunk 'n' treat.
Clicked a couple of digital store coupons before grocery shopping Monday and knocked a bit off the cost of cat food and pepperoni. DH mentioned he did not like the peaches we had previously bought, so I peeled, chopped and froze them for a future peach and blueberry cobbler.
The fresh sticker shock from grocery shopping has me doing a lot of online price comparisons to figure out which items are consistently the best deals at which store.
I have been cutting corn stalks at a friend's field, weaving jute twine so that it easily wraps around a column on a porch. I have over 100 orders so far.
I rented my neighbors mini hay baler to make cute bales of straw.
Picked pears to can. Will pick more to dehydrate as chips, a favorite hiking treat.
Doing Sashiko mending on my daughter's ripped jeans, you know where the designer rip tries to rip more? I am using a waxed hemp dyed indigo for the outline to stop the rip, then will use her other floss color choices for the random design.
Since there are only two of us, I often freeze half of the dishes I make for future meals. It's so nice to be able to pull something from the freezer on busy days.
My husband and I got our flu and covid jabs yesterday, which netted us $40 in grocery credit, which we immediately spent most of on some things we needed.
A local nursery had a 75% off clearance sale and I was able to purchase 7 native perrenial plants for $3.50 each. This is an incredible price. I've been wanting to add some flowering perrenials to my landscaping and this saved me so much money.
Our camper solar wasn't working properly. Instead of taking it to the dealer, my husband called the mechanic there and talked to him about what the problem might be, then did some research online and was able to fix the problem himself.
I made 6 jars of salsa and 4 jars of pickles from garden produce. Things are winding down, but my tomato plants in the greenhouse are still loaded. I also froze two packages of chard for future meals.
I'm working my way through a big pile of mending. It's always good to put clothes back into circulation.
Frozen mandarin oranges are also very good!
I have always peeled them before laying them out to freeze; not sure if a whole one would freeze well.
FFT, Celestial and Avian Entertainment Edition:
(1) After a not-so-good night of sleep, I decided to stop trying and got up at 3:15 EDT this morning. As I was taking Betty's empty cat food can out to the recycling cart (I enjoy stepping outside on clear nights to check on my favorite constellations, and Orion and the Pleiades are riding high at the moment), I noticed that the planet Jupiter was VERY close to the waning crescent moon in the east. Intrigued, I consulted one of the "astronomy for the general public" sites I use--and I discovered that I was about to witness an "occultation" of Jupiter and the moon. Sure enough, at about 4:20, Jupiter had apparently disappeared behind the moon. And at about 5:25, it reappeared on the other (dark) side! Frankly, this was a better sky show than our rather disappointing 2024 solar eclipse. Sometimes insomnia pays off.
(2) Betty and I also continue to enjoy entertainment for the price of the bird seed at my five bird feeders. With some help from me, Betty has just written a letter in Cheezburger-speke to her NYC cousin Maggie (JASNA BFF's cat) describing the birbz at her feederz.
(3) Not to be outdone, JASNA BFF has just sent along a report from the West Side Rag of a sighting of a barn owl in Manhattan. Not a rare bird in and of itself, but certainly a rare one for the Upper West Side. I just played two of the sound recordings for this owl, and if I heard those sounds in the middle of the night, I wouldn't know whether to call the police or an exorcist.
(4) I took the last of the barley and mushroom soup I think I mentioned earlier to the Bestest Neighbors yesterday evening, and helped them clean up the leftovers from a chicken dinner they'd had with other folks the night before. One of the many reasons they're the BNs is that we can happily share leftovers. Ain't too proud to prevent food waste.
(5) And I'll soon be assembling a meatloaf to take to dinner at another friend's house tonight. Out of the freezer: 1.5 lb. hamburger from the 1/4 steer, 1 lb. meatloaf mix bought on markdown at Price Chopper, and 2 slices of dreadfully stale bread bought on markdown at Aldi quite a while back. I'll put these together with assorted veg, 2 eggs, and my secret weapons for meatloaf: Worcestershire and BBQ sauces. The sauces are why I call my recipe "Not My Mama's Meatloaf." (As I've mentioned in the past, all four of us wildly different kids loved our mother dearly, but it wasn't for the cuisine.)
Ooof, that is a very early wake up time. I hope you have a better night tonight!
That was lively to see the show the galaxy was putting on. Hope you sleep better tonight.
I grew up in the woods and the scream of a barn owl would make a person's hair stand up. It's unearthly! I think they are the genesis of a lot of Southern tales of various places being haunted.
Lovely, not lively. Spellcheck has lost its marbles.
I read about Jupiter's disappearing act in the Farmer's Almanac yesterday* but didn't get up in time to see it. I'm so glad you did!
*almanac.com sends a daily email with interesting tidbits like celestial goings on, gardening advice, seasonal recipes, etc. Highly recommend!
I mean, I'm not glad of your insomnia, but at least something neat came of it!
1. I came down with a cold last week. Thankfully we had enough cough drops in the medicine cabinet, frozen chicken noodle soup, and all the ingredients to make Medicine Balls in the pantry. Staying home makes for a frugal weekend.
2. Another week of me avoiding a grocery trip. My husband did pick up some eggs on the way home to make breakfast on Sunday.
3. I transferred my outside herbs into smaller containers to bring in before it starts to get too cold for plants outside at night. I don’t expect the herbs to last all winter, but if I can use them for Thanksgiving that would be ideal.
4. The last few green tomatoes have been put in a paper bag with a banana with the hopes that they will ripen.
5. I pulled out my box of pumpkins and gleefully decorated the house for fall. I love having pumpkins around the house from October 1 to the day after Thanksgiving.
1. had two sales on Vinted and listed more things. It’s only bringing in a little for each item but every little bit helps right now.
2. I’ve been using shipping envelopes and boxes I already have for shipping. I took the time to locate packaging tape I knew I had but misplaced. I had gotten a buy one get one a while ago and had squirreled it away.
3. I did not get takeout the entire month of September. I did get taken out to dinner once by a friend.
4. Had dinner and game night with friends. I brought dessert- brownies I already had the ingredients for.
5. Haven’t had to use air or heat in the last two weeks. An extra blanket or a ceiling fan has been enough. We’ll see how far I can go without finally turning the heat on.
My mother of Swedish heritage often made a fruit soup. It's rather sweet but filled with fiber. She would often serve it over rice pudding. It is an acquired taste, but I love it. I've included a typical recipe here. She used dried fruits like prunes, figs, apricots, golden and regular raisins,
as well as fresh apples and orange slices. It's an easy recipe to make.
https://true-north-kitchen.com/swedish-fruit-soup-fruktsoppa/
That's a brilliant idea for dealing with potluck fruit leftovers. I have gotten food poisoning from eating pot luck fruit salad leftovers.
1. My husband's union will reimburse him for medical expenses up to $1000 each year. I gathered up the receipts and sent them into work with him.
2. Sold 9 more items on ebay and vinted. Total earned after fees: $67.71
3. Used up half a bag of tortellini that had been in the pantry for a while as well as a few English muffins from the freezer.
I don't know if I have any more for the past week. It was a busy week full of sports practices for the kids so I guess we saved money by not going anywhere else 😛
I love reading all the frugality reports here. It helps counteract the onslaught of daily commercial attacks.
Last month my husband was in the hospital so we had pretty much zero shopping time. He is home and doing well now thankfully. Last night he opened the credit card bill and was pleasantly surprised that it was a third of the average monthly bill. We both blurted out at the same time “a hospital stay is not the best way to save money!”
Everyday small frugal choices—now that is a success!
My Frugal 5s
• Mended a few of my daughter's clothes to extend their life a bit longer.
Picked up a haul of books and DVDs on hold for the family from the library bookmobile, which stopped conveniently right across the street.
• Took my oldest daughter to the museum for one of her birthday experience events - admission for all of us was completely free! Afterward, we redeemed my 3 girls' reading logs for free bundlets as part of our special mini birthday tradition.
• Returned a few unwanted Amazon items via UPS and got about $50 back in credit for future purchases.
• While it might not feel frugal upfront, I bought several wish-list items during the Amazon Prime Day sale. These were things I had been waiting on until they hit their 365-day price lows, including a set of Souper Cubes, Corelli dishes, upcoming next year birthday gifts for my girls, and a few wood puzzles and miniatures for my hobbies.
I like that salad as well, but rarely buy Panera unless I have a gift card, as you did.
1) I'm taking my mom and sister on my mom's likely one and only international trip, so I've been trying to optimize costs. We are going on a nice cruise, so the rest of the costs need to be contained. I booked the outbound flights using United miles, and found a reasonable deal for the return flights. For 3 people, I spent just under $2400 for the flights from SFO to Athens, and Venice to SFO/PDX. It was quite complicated to book, so I'm glad to have that behind me.
2) We had leftovers for lunch & dinner yesterday, and bonus used up garden berries in a yogurt parfait I made for DS20.
3) Booked our hotel in Athens ahead of the cruise with Hyatt points for two rooms, and used two Suite Upgrade Awards to get slightly nicer rooms.
4) I was supposed to receive $250 per person excursion credits through Chase Travel (as well as 8x points), but the credits didn't show up. Chase has opened a ticket with the cruise line, and asked me to follow up in a few weeks, which I've added to my calendar, so I remember.
5) I've officially moved to working part time, which is glorious. I'm holding a firm line of not working Thursdays & Fridays, because I'm now not being paid for those days, even though the work is stacking up. I'm reminding myself that I can only get done what can get done, and the rest will have to wait. I'm not saving lives here, so things can wait.
1. Earned $75 of Apple Pay cash by spending $75 using Apple Pay (mostly at Aldi), so the next few shopping trips there will be free.
2. Biking to all appointments and errands.
3. Biked down to get my last Hep B shot for the nursing program paperwork (and threw in the first shingles shot for good measure--getting sick with shingles is not frugal!). My route took me past the satellite campus where I took three of my favorite classes, so I stopped in there to warm up, get a free cup of tea from the coffee and tea bar, and refill my water bottle.
4. Reading exclusively from the library (and Little Free Libraries in my area). I think it's been five months since I bought a new book!
5. I had a stack of Walmart gift cards--my MIL was sending them to the boys for their birthdays, despite them telling her that they didn't want her to spend any money on them, and we do not shop at Walmart for a variety of reasons (one being that there isn't one close to us). There is, however, a Walmart near my satellite campus, so when I was there I stopped by their main desk and asked if they could use the gift cards--all unused--for the various raffles they hold for students. They were happy to take them off my hands, and I was happy they're going to a good cause.
2.
I feel you on the Hep B shots! 😉
Have you ever tried Scandinavian fruit soup? Some call it compote. It's a lot like your cooked fruit salad, served warm with a little whipped cream on top. Delicious!
I made a cold strawberry soup once many years ago, but it was definitely on the thinner side as compared to this.
A good use for still fresh leftover fruit is fruit pizert.
Yum!
You made fruit Compote!
My grandma immigrated from the "old country" of Romania as a teenager. They were subsistence farmers and had limited ingredients to work with, especially in the winter and early spring.
Our major holiday in spring is Passover. You're not supposed to use five species of grains listed in the Bible--wheat, oat, spelt, rye, and barley, although it's OK to grind up matzah (a quickly baked cracker made of wheat) and use that in cooking.
We celebrate Passover, like many Jewish holidays, with a festive meal, and dessert for Passover was always "fruit compote" which consisted of the remaining stored fruit in the old country cellars, stewed and served over a "sponge cake" made with ground matzah and a LOT of eggs (It tasted like a real sponge to me!). The fruit was typically prunes, dried apricots, apples, and raisins. It was a good antidote for all the matzah typically eaten that could cause constipation.
The cooked fruit salad sounds delish. I bet it would go great over some cottage cheese.
My frugal thing this week is that I made vegetable broth from some vegetable scraps I had in the freezer and plan on making some chicken broth with the remaining vegetable scraps and some saved chicken bones I have this week.
I love reading about everyone’s everyday small frugal choices. I still think that’s a success!
My Frugal 5s
• Mended a few of my daughter's clothes to extend their life a bit longer.
• Picked up a haul of books and DVDs on hold for the family from the library bookmobile, which stopped conveniently right across the street.
• Took my oldest daughter to the museum for one of her birthday experience events - admission for all of us was completely free! Afterward, we redeemed my 3 girls' reading logs at Nothing Bundt Cake for free bundlets as part of our special mini birthday tradition.
• Returned a few unwanted Amazon items via UPS and got about $50 back in credit for future purchases.
• While it might not feel frugal at first, I bought several wish-list items during the Amazon Prime Day sale. These were things I had been waiting on until they hit their 365-day price lows, including a set of Souper Cubes, Corelli dishes, upcoming next year birthday gifts for my girls, and a few wood puzzles and miniatures for my new hobbies.
We returned from vacation Friday so mine are few...
Spent 3e each at for a soap factory tour in Marsaille, France, which then got us each a bar of soap (olive oil soap) valued at 2.10e. Since I had planned to buy some soap anyway, that was 2 less bars I had to buy.
Got $50 each in cruise credits, and spent $59 on laundry (a full bag) and $15 on the one and only medication I didn't bring in my arsenal...a stool softener (that's typically opposite of any problem we might have!). So, technically no extra $ spent, however, I discovered both charges were charged only to me, not the room, so they charged my card an additional $25. I've reached out by email, and will follow up by phone this week.
We had free drink package/wifi included as a bonus, so we had unlimited bottled water as needed rather than paying for it.
Downloaded books for both of us for the trip.
Switched our Verizon plans to Ultimate for the time we were gone, paying about $30 rather than $200. I am working on switching it back, but the Verizon site likes to have "difficulty processing your order, please us the app", then the app has the same message...grrr. I will persist.
Worked tonight rather than taking a standby when offered...it was soooo tempting. I choose not to use vacation time as compensation so instead of losing a night's pay, I made money, and contributed to my 403b/457 and Roth's tonight... plus earned vacation time. Win, win, win.
I've been out of the country for a while, and I'm late to the party this week too. But happy to join back in officially!
1. I found a nickel and two pennies at Aldi.
2. I have been using the free version of Duolingo, but saw there was a free month of Super (unlimited energy and no ads) available if you got a code through the Taco Bell app. I downloaded the app and done! I will also get a free taco or burrito via the Taco Bell app so I will pick that up before it expires.
3. We have been cooking from the freezer and pantry. I was happy to see that my basil and chives survived while we were on an extended trip, so I added some of both to scrambled eggs.
4. DH’s aunt sent us with enough snacks and food to avoid buying food on the train home. We still have some of her home grown tomatoes too!
5. I noticed that our sheets have some enormous areas of wear that will likely disintegrate soon, and the surrounding fabric is so worn it will not be worth fixing them. I found what looks like a good quality replacement on eBay and they are headed my way. Even more frugal: I talked myself out of a beautiful William Morris sheet set listing after I realized it was only for a bottom sheet and two shams (rather than pillow cases). It was really lovely and I actually only need the bottom sheet, but it was a little too pricey for me.
Love this series — it is a good reminder that frugal is mostly a hundred small decisions, not one big one. My favourite recent win: I made a written no-buy list before the holiday sales start. Having the decision already made is doing more for my budget than willpower ever did.