Five Frugal Things | excessive mending alert
Let's start with the mending, shall we?
1. I mended a 23 year old tea towel.
This is the part where I tell you about something I don't necessarily recommend!
I got this tea towel as a wedding shower gift 23 years ago, and at this point, I mainly use it to squeeze shredded zucchini.
(which helps zucchini bread to not be soggy in the middle)
It's green and it's old, so I don't care if it gets stained, you know?
It got three holes on one end of it, though, so I figured I'd cut that part off and then make a new hem.
So I did, and that still left me with another hole.
At which point I realized, hey, I could patch that with the fabric I cut off the top of the towel.
So I did.
And I gave all the frayed edges a fresh hem.
Does this make tons of sense in terms of time spent?
Not really. I probably spent 15 minutes repairing a tea towel that could have been replaced at Ikea for less than a dollar.
But my frugal heart found this to be a satisfying project, and my tea towel will live to see another day.
Plus, my time is not SO tight that I can't spare 15 minutes.
2. Zoe and I cut the cat's nails.
In the 2+ years we've owned our cat, we have cut her nails successfully exactly zero times.
She's always been too wiggly and I think when we first got her, we were just a little too timid to do this with any sort of authority.
She probably felt our fear. 😉
So, we've taken her to the vet to get a trim here and there.
But since that is not currently an option, I thought we should give this another go.
Zoe bravely volunteered to hold the cat while I did the clipping, and I must say, she did an excellent job. We got all of the cat's nails trimmed in one try!
This is going to save us money and time in the future, so I'm pretty pleased.
3. I bought book club books on eBay.
Normally I get book club selections at the library, but that is not currently an option.
So, I've been buying them, reading them, and then reselling them on eBay.
We had book club last Saturday, so I immediately listed the one we just finished (Born a Crime) and also ordered the next two titles (Into Thin Air and Born on a Blue Day).
I got them each for $3.84 with free shipping, which is more expensive than the library, but still very affordable.
4. I got two extra contact lenses.
Somehow, I have two more for my right eye and none for my left. I think I must have had issues with my left lens a few times over the last year.
So I called my eye doctor, and they are ordering two more for me, free of charge. Yay!
This also means I can put off my eye exam for at least another two months, which is good for staying away from other people as much as possible.
5. I...
- made another 2 week menu plan
- contacted an eBay seller about a mis-charge I got
- made coffee at home every day
- used extra paper (from printing eBay labels) for to-do lists
- used almost no cellular data (home wifi for the win!)
Your turn. Share your five frugal things in the comments!
P.S. I am also wondering: would you have fixed the tea towel? Or would you have done the more logical thing and thrown it away?
A big one. Our grocery was doing the monopoly game, it goes from Feb thru May every year. In the past I've won $5 and $50 grocery cards a couple times. This year I matched and won $5000 in groceries! I don't keep count but I'm sure I don't spend that in a year. It was so exciting I was giddy.☺
I feel really blessed because I was just furloughed and this makes it possible to save what we normally spend on groceries to use as needed elsewhere.
That is so awesome! Congrats!
How awesome! Congratulations.
Wow. Talk about timing. Hooray!
That is awesome! Congratulations!!!
Wow!!!! So happy for you!!!
Yipee! Jewel? I love doing that too! What a well-needed win! CONGRATULATIONS! 🙂
That's awesome. I live in the Chicago area and generally shop at Jewel which is owned by Albertsons and has that monopoly game. I used to play it myself, but the return on my investment in terms of time vs. effort wasn't worth it to me. I still take all the tickets though and give them to someone else in line who is playing. Last week, I gave a lady the tickets on my $377 shop! You gave me hope that maybe I've helped someone else win this darn game!
Ohhhh, that is amazing. Yay!!! And what a wonderful time to win something like this.
Congratulations! That is so exciting. And fun! I’m giddy FOR you!
What a great thing! Good for you! That is so exciting!
Wow! How exciting for you! It's nice to know real people do win contests (I'm skeptical about contests in general.)
Thanks everyone, it is very exciting. I do have fun with it and usually get lots of free food. But this year I went to the store less often. I actually went in to get a $25 Amazon gift card and bought a can of salmon and a can of mackerel. And received the winning ticket! It took a bit for it to sink in as I thought nobody ever since these big prizes.
Should say wins. I didn't think anyone really ever won.☺
Wonderful!
Congratulations, perfect timing how lucky are you.
Wow! I was happy with a $5 win. I cannot imagine the happy dance I would be doing for $5000! Good for you!
That's wonderful!
1. I took advantage of all our rainy weather to pull weeds after the rain stopped. Free exercise, no chemicals used, and fresh air.
2. Cooking at home. Trading off getting groceries with a friend and a neighbor. On the rare occasions we shop we each use different stores and buy for each other items that we can't source at our regular shops.
3. My daughter loaned me an old iPhone. I can use it with wifi for FaceTime. I have an Android phone.
4. I ordered new inner tubes for my bike. I've had the same bike for years and one of the tires will not hold air this year.
5. Almost no driving means we're saving on gas, maintenance, and the need to replace a vehicle any time soon. Also the air seems much fresher and clearer with less traffic these days.
Had my first meltdown of the pandemic on Mother’s Day. I'm looking for a new pair of pajamas but everywhere I look on line, they are sold out. Is everyone just living in their pj’s right now? Anyway, I so wanted to go to Target but I didn’t and became unreasonably upset. Go figure. I haven’t been out other than to go to work, go through a drive through for lunch or pick up my Walmart order since mid-February.
Anyway, on to my frugal 5.....
1. I didn’t buy new pajamas. I know I will eventually but they have to be the right kind.
2. Back to making my lunch. This is more to control calories than dollars. The scale is creeping in the wrong direction.
3. Still holding off on coloring my hair. I have the hair color ready but I hate doing it so I’m procrastinating even though my hair looks pretty bad at this point.
4. So few trips means my gas consumption is down.
5. Scanned receipts to Fetch and linked my Walmart online to my Ibotta. I wish Fetch would make it so I could linked up Walmart to it, but it doesn’t work with iPhone.
Did you think about looking on Ebay for the right type of Pajamas??? Those have been selling for me pretty well.
Don't worry about the scale and your hair...my scale is also creeping in the wrong directions and I'm just waiting to use my boxed hair dye a few days before I know we are out of SIP.
Thanks for the eBay suggestion. I don’t often think to look there.
Here in Iowa we aren’t under an SIP Order just being urged to use caution and it is highly recommended we stay home. Nonessential businesses are being allowed to reopen with restrictions. Not sure when I’ll feel comfortable being somewhere crowded again. I do still go to work, so have to make something of an effort with my hair.
Still producing our own food: planting, watering, weeding, hatching and raising chicks. and tending sheep. Although all our lambs so far are females, which is great for growing the flock, but does mean that we won't have any to eat this year if we don't get a male lamb out of the one ewe left to deliver. (Unless we need to replace our ram, all male lambs are destined for the freezer.) I'm afraid four of our current five chicks are male, though, so at least we'll have chicken for the freezer. 🙂
5 things:
1. We didn't order out this weekend. Under our SIP order, we've been get take out once each weekend, but my husband cooked, so it didn't happen this week.
2. I processed some nagging returns to get some money back from Costco and to avoid charges from Stitch Fix.
3. I made my own iced coffee this morning, and it is lovely.
4. Heavily using my libby app to check out library books and coached my 85 year old mother through checking out books on her iPad as well. I hope tech isn't as hard for me when I'm her age. Her job never required computer usage, and she really struggles with everything. This is good incentive to try to keep current as I age.
5. Shared puzzles with my sister for some SIP entertainment for her. She will return the favor with open use of her pool this summer. We'll use it when she is not until we are allowed to gather in groups of <10.
If you sit the cat on your lap with tail down and her back up you stomach (as if she's sitting upright like a person) nail clipping is sooo much easier. None of their feet have anything to push against and I think the position disconcerts them a bit. I learned this from our pet groomer and it has changed trimming my cat's nails from a 2 person ordeal to a relatively quick one person job.
Erica
This technique also works on a 22 month old girl (her back to my front, on my lap). Trick is to turn on a Mickey Mouse episode I tape ahead of time. It never takes the whole 30 minutes to do both hands. Maybe try kitty cat videos on youtube??? And having a snack handy doesn't hurt, either. For the already-clipped hand, of course. Then Mickey is over for the day.
I love all the comments. I'm a towel-mender, too, thanks to Frugalgirl.
Forgot the frugal five: 1. Splitting/sharing two of my flowering annual plants.
2. Hanging laundry outside .3. Cooking the bulk of our meals (sometimes hubby does it). 4. Running only full loads in the dishwasher and washing machine (longer times in between with only 2 people now). 5. Cutting hubbie's hair twice in quarantine. I'm appreciating his barber more and more!
I took the flowers from my mother's and mother-in-law's yards long before either died. It makes me happy every year to see my Mom's Lily's of the Valley blooming and spreading in my yard. And they were part of my wedding boquet 40+ years ago. MiL's hostas just keep growing and filling in more gaps yearly with every splitting. Free plants and pleasant fond memories are a win!
My rule of thumb is that you fix the garment (or tea towel) if you can get more wear/use out of it with minimal effort. So, 15 minutes of mending gives you at least 15 more uses = way worth it to mend!
Most likely, I would have cut the towel in four squares, and hemmed the three parts with no holes. To be used as paperless towels for cleaning. It is so great to have a basket full of them!
I presently have two towels in the stage just prior to being cut up.
I love your tea towel mending. Keep that towel going because time on that towel is not a waste. You can actually pass it down.
Five frugal things here at Reinighafen:
1. I make coffee at home every day so nothing new there but I was putting collagen powder in mine. I found out it’s not really a complete protein (you can fix this be eating oatmeal for breakfast because oats have the missing amino acids). I eat meat and homemade broth and had not noticed an improvement in my hair so I quit buying the powder.
2. Legume meals are increased to about half of the lunch and dinner meals here.
3. I saved the water from boiling potatoes to make bread or biscuits with. They were purple potatoes so I’m looking forward to the color effect
4. I don’t know if getting 2 hives of honey bees count because there has been a significant increase in the price over the years. We stopped raising them as my parents required more care but I make the plunge this year. If all is blessed then we will have a supply of honey and maybe some to sell. I t does not take much land or skill to do so people may want to look into it
5. I started making more popcorn and storing it in a ziplock type bag for snacking instead of buying expensive treats.
My son and I have been discussing getting some bee hives!
Repairing the tea towel did more than save you spending $ at Ikea. You saved money by not driving to Ikea or another store, or by ordering the towel, having it packaged and then having it delivered to you. You saved gas. You did not add to the landfill by discarding it to the trash (I think you would have found other uses for it before it makes the trash pile). You have a heirloom that your children will hopefully want to frame in a shadow box of their parent's wedding/marriage mementos. For me the 15 minutes spent would be well worth it, I hope you had a relaxing time enjoying pleasant memories of your wedding and early marriage.
I was thinking the same things!
1. I used 2 almost too ripe bananas in smoothies this week
2. Froze some strawberries before they also went south (what is it with me and fruit this week?)
3. Used leftover black beans to make chili
4. Am using leftover brown rice for shrimp fried rice tonight
5. Found a new place to store my potatoes so they last a heck of a lot longer!
Without a doubt, I would have mended the tea towel. I dearly love to mend and darn. It drove my husband crazy when he was alive that I darned his socks. He'd complain saying, "Can't we even afford a new pair of socks now and then?!" I just love repairing instead of replacing. Once we bought two old rocking chairs at an auction for $1 each. They made me smile because the were made of several different chairs, impossible to rock in so we propped them up on the porch and just sat in them, very comfy they were. We continued to mend them and I still have them twenty years later. I always warn folks to lean them against the wall. Mending, darning, and repairing is good for the soul. All our souls need that from time to time. Diane in NC
On mending the tea towel...yes is I was sitting doing other mending. No if I didn’t have other mending in the pile but it would have gone in the rag bin.
1. Made an awesome very hearty vegetable soup with bits of this and that I had stashed in the freezer. Used beef broth from a roast, beans, barley, lentils and all kinds of veggies. But no meat. Husband said it was wonderful. We’ve been eating it for a few days now.
2. Covered my garden three nights in a row due to freeze warning.
3. Feeding yummy weeds to the guinea pigs instead of buying them veggies.
4. Husband used wood we had lying around to fix our backyard fence. $0 spent
5. Was given extra plants by neighbors. I also put out some extra plants I dug up and didn’t need.
And the usual, line drying wash, making my own laundry detergent, cooking from scratch, making do, being creative with what we have.
Wrapping a cat in a beach towel is a great way to help them feel secure and keep you away from the claws that you are not working on. Seems like we always split it in two sessions (front and back ). We have an indoor/outdoor kitty now who dulls his enough climbing trees and scratching trunks that we don’t have to trim. Yay!
I'm not as dedicated; I think I would have consigned that towel to the rag bag before this, but kudos for keeping a towel in use for that long! My brother-in-law used to say that every married couple needed an anniversary shower every 15-20 years, and have everyone give towels as a gift.
1. My daughter, due to deliver in two weeks, has discovered that their supply of newborn and 3-6 month clothing is down to nothing after three kids. I lucked out and found some yesterday on good clearance so I picked up a few items, $2 each.
2. I shopped for two weeks of groceries again, and used my $50 gift card earned from a survey, which sure helped. I managed to actually plan 13 meals out of 14. I'll figure something out for #14. I still struggle with menu planning.
3. Instead of paying someone to do it at once, I'm slowly getting rid of excess stuff from our yard and house by myself. The remains of projects my husband was going to build, or items he might re-use, before his stroke, are now cluttering up our yard and shed as unhappy reminders, so I am getting them to the truck and hauled off: to donate, to the recycler's, or to the dump.
4. I'm using my thrift store thermal cup to encourage my water drinking now that I'm back at work in the office.
5. I trimmed my dog's claws as well, which I was already doing. I don't trim my cat's claws, and I tip my hat to you and Zoe. That's courage! Luckily, my cat goes outdoors daily and scratches out there, so his claws don't need trimming, but I would not be brave enough to do it myself if he needed it.
I’m sorry for your troubles.
Thank you Connie!
1.Depending on the towel, I would fix or relegate to the rag basket. Some fancy, linen, tea towels, the kind you get as souvenirs, I make into sofa cushions filled with shredded foam. They hold up better and longer than most sofa cushions.And they squish under your neck just right!
2.We rarely order out food as we have dietary issues, so its home cooking 24/7. I also try one new recipe a week for variety.
3.This weekend I spent 60$ at Sprouts for just fresh veg and fruits. Will last about 2 weeks or more.
4.Reading all the books I have on my shelves that I have never read before and revisiting old favorites as well.
5.Found gently used shorts, t-shirts, pj bottoms at the thrift store last week. I needed to go before SIP, so it was a need fulfilled. Spent 35$ for 6pair of pjs, 3 pairs of shorts/capris, 5 t-shirts.
6. Asked a company for a refund as their shipping time was never stated on the site. Now into week 4 and its coming straight from China. Not that that bothers me, but they just never said anything about how long it would take, the company is in CA. Why don't they have a local warehouse or storage???
Wendy,
Regarding No. 6. I have found this several times. Now, I am fairly careful to check to see if a company sounds Asian in its name, as the shipping time is so long that I think they don't even start making the order until I've placed it. I've had to cancel a number of things.
But also American companies seem to be ordering a lot from China. When this mess started we ordered some wipes from Amazon for our kitchen counters. Still have not received, but we can't cancel because technically they have been "shipped." Apparently they are crossing the Pacific in a rowboat. Will probably receive them about the time a vaccine has been produced. Sigh.
I have wood stove. There alone is savings - as long as you have wood to burn. My neighbor took down a tree and gave me some of the wood. That also gave me free exercise moving and cutting the wood! Now to split it. At 78 years old splitting with an axe is not an option. So I have an electric splitter. It broke. I got out the book. Called the manufacturer and ordered the part, which arrived in just over a week. I replaced the part, which took about an hour. I can’t imagine what it would have cost to have someone come here to fix it!!
Incidentally I have been burning my wood stove even April and May!!! Unbelievable.
I make all my own bread and have done for at least 30 years.
Cutting cats claws. We have two cats. My wife and I always cut their claws. I would wrap a cat up in a large towel and pin it down while my wife clipped their claws. Or she would hold while I clipped. Worked great. Unfortunately my wife died recently - we fought her cancer for 4 years. Frugality is now priority! But it seems impossible for just one person to cut a cats claws!! Any ideas how one person can do it?
I am ready to plant my vegetables out in the garden - if only it will warm up enough. I planted the seeds in my greenhouse And they are getting enormous but I am nervous about putting them out with temperatures in the low 30s at night.
I am in the same boat. The seedlings in my greenhouse are huge, but it is still too cold at night to trust setting them out. Maybe next week! (We, too, have a wood stove and love it.)
I’m sorry for your loss of your wife. You sound very resourceful!
My condolences on the passing of your wife.
For cutting cats claws alone, I wrap the cat tightly in a towel and use my arms or legs to hold the cat down. Not the easiest, but it works.
I am so sorry that your wife passed away. for our cat, if we put her in the corner of an upholstered chair (literally "corner" her) I am able to keep her still enough to cut her claws. Hope it helps!
I am sorry that you are bereaved. After years of fighting for your wife to recover, what a far-reaching life change. I am touched by what you wrote, “we fought her cancer” because that shows a beautiful spirit of solidarity and companionship. For both parties in a marriage the final illness has potential for terrible loneliness. How beautiful you were able to face that part of your life together as a team.
About the cat’s claws, three things. 1. My cat stopped resisting so fiercely and I was able to manage single-handedly once I bought the proper clippers. (I’m embarrassed to say I had been using clippers meant for human babies. I read that those tend to have a crushing effect on the nail tip especially if you don’t come at it from the perfect angle). I guess my poor cat was terrified we’d screw up. Professional clippers have a circular blade and make a clean cut from any angle. Soon the cat realized she wasn’t in any danger and actually enjoyed the results of a good trim. 2. I learned to keep her firmly wrapped until I could put a fabulous treat to her mouth. It wasn’t self-service in her bowl, novel she got it directly from my fingers while she was still confined. Now the towel-wrap became a prelude to a lavish treat, which greatly reduced the drama Oh, and I didn’t make her endure trimming all the nails in one go. Gradually she came to trust the process. I hope that helps.
I was also touched by your statement that "we fought her cancer." It's a beautiful statement of together-ness. I'm sorry for your loss.
Condolences to you on the loss of your wife. In our town, there is a group that has been pretty active in helping neighbors with various needs (picking up groceries, house painting, running errands, weeding, delivering wood, dog-walking, etc.) -- I love that people are asking for help and others are giving it, because that's what makes the world go 'round! Maybe there's a group like that in your area? My veggies aren't too large yet, so I've been just plunking old jars over the top of them when the temps drop at night.
1. Took all drinks, lunch & snacks needed while at work. 2. Walked to work on days worked in town. 3. Bought only the groceries on my list. 4. Hung laundry to dry on clothesline in basement. 5. Worked in the yard & garden using mulch & cow manure given from neighbors, in return we will give them some harvest from the garden.
Since you've had the tea towel for so long, it's now a treasure that deserved mending since you enjoy doing it. Sometimes it's the littlest things that give us the greatest joy.
I love that you fixed the tea towel -- I would have done so. You're keeping something out of the trash. I get a lot of satisfaction out of things like that.
* Now that kids are back in school, and that hubby is still working from home, we don't have to use the school day-care anymore, so we are saving close to 500$ for the rest of the school year.
* We are spending close to nothing on entertainment at the moment since everything is closed. Netflix for 10$/month and that's about it! It makes us rethink our regular spendings.
* I get more shifts at the hospital at the moment, and the extra money goes to the mortgage capital.
* I got a 25$ voucher for free gas, yay!
* I ordered 400$ worth of clothes online and only one shirt fits well, so this is a bummer but, hey, it's frugal!
1) Cancelled an e-newspaper when the promo price went from $2 to $8 a month, resisting the offers to extend the $2 promo for another year once I finally reached the very-hard-to-get-to Cancellation Dept. Nope. You made it to hard and frustrating to find a real person to process my request, and I'm not going through it again with you. Ever.
2) Followed up on several now-cancelled events to ensure our credit card was reimbursed, vs. their offer to rebook the events, because who knows if that will be able to happen either?
3) Sent a note to vendor about a problematic oximeter, and received a full reimbursement while also being told to keep the oximeter. Which does work about 50% of the time, so yeah!
4) Followed up with Amazon on an item we returned that never got credited. Credit of $69 now received!
5) Mended socks and a sweater, plus re-sewed a button, saving three items from landfill, and my wallet from replacing. This is directly due to you Kristen, so thank you for all you do here!
I'm not feeling very frugal this past week. I had some bills to pay (which was good that I got those paid, but I still see the money leaving our bank account!). I'll give my frugal five a chance..
1. We are stocking our camper for an upcoming trip and I shopped my extras box before I went to the store. Found half of the items that I needed and used the Dollar General for the rest. I was very surprised to find the brand names that I did when I was there.
2. My kids were cleaning out one of their toy boxes (no idea what possessed them) and found three wooden handmade puzzles that I can sell on Ebay. I've been critical with items lately if I plan on selling them or just donating.
My Frugal Fails (because I can admit them to you all!) are all surrounded by food. After two months of SIP order, my kids and I are TIRED of eating the same silly things I can make. (Hubby is the cook in our family, but he is working alot right now)
1. We ordered from Schwans for the first time...I can not cook, this seems like a good way to get something different here for the kids to eat.
2. Ordered Chinese. Again, I can not cook and this gives us at least three meals that my kids will eat.
Maybe some day I'll learn.
Jenelle, let me encourage you!
I used to enjoy eating a whole lot more than cooking. My go-to meal was Kraft dinner, German wieners and cooked peas. It's not that you can not cook - you just haven't found the groove yet. With the Internet, you can! Or you can get your children to... I sometimes chuckle at myself, thinking how I came to "the joy of cooking" later in life. You remember the little engine that could? Yup. You can, too! Kraft dinner, heated wieners and frozen peas... voilà!
My mother was a librarian. She used to say it is more important to know how to read than how to cook. Because, if you can read, you can cook. It might not be fancy or gourmet, but you can cook. My sisters and I have told all of our children the same thing. Just be brave. Find something you might like, and give it a try.
1. Found kids clothing online at 60% discount
2. Ordered some leggings from a local shop in town for curbside pickup. We have evaluated our spending and are really trying to keep our money local in any way we can.
3. Started some seeds and bought several plants for our garden, which will go outside just as soon as it stops frosting in May.
4. Shared leftovers with elderly family members
5. Sold an outdoor toy my son had outgrown to someone I know who will use and appreciate it. Didn't have to hassle with trying to sell online (which doesn't excite me at all).
Maybe I’m a weirdo, but I don’t think it’s crazy that you mended the tea towel. Old tea towels are the best and I think it is pretty awesome that you made an easy repair to extend its use. Good job!
Five Frugal things:
1. I have only had to get gas once in the last couple of months. When I did fill the tank, I was able to get my gas at 1.59, the lowest it went before it has started going up again.
2. We have not ate out (ordered take out) in the last several weeks. We have been eating home cooked meals.
3. My husband was given several pairs of jeans that were too long. So I have been hemming jeans.
4. I used CVS coupons to purchase a couple of needed items, fabric softener sheets.
5. I reupholstered my dining room chairs for a fraction of the cost it would have been if I had them done.
I use an app called nextdoor that is for those who live in any zip code and so it allows ones to help one another and other things, from time to time.
But anyway I posted that I needed some masks and long behold a person finally came on named Howard and asked me how many did I need? So I told him I wanted to get two of that was possible and so we arranged for him to drop them off at$5 a peice so I was able to get two and they fur just right...Thanks Howard!!
1. I bought a stash of best sellers from a no contact porch pickup (I find things on our Next Door site)
2. Faithfully cleaned our Keurig and have kept the same one for 10 years. We also remove the coffee from the used pods and recycle the plastic
3. I’ve bern keeping a food diary to manage not gaining weight and it also helps me to be frugal. Not over- buying or buying junk food is VERY frugal!
4. Ordered granddaughter she birthday gifts using gift card.
5. Are a pear with very brown blotchy skin (but wasn’t soft) that was still delicious.
Into Thin Air is a wonderful book! I have been the opposite of frugal during this pandemic, but I'm trying to get back to a "new normal."
I would have fixed the tea towel. The time it took you is worth the environmental benefit!
1. Picked up a toddler winter hat, a pair of snow pants that my daughter will grow into, and 2 brand new Barbies (gift for Christmas) off Buy Nothing Group. I also gave away some breastfeeding supplies, extra mulch, garden decor, a salad spinner, and a stuffed animal via Buy Nothing Group.
2. Our town gave away a free box of surgical masks, which I picked up for our family
3. Sold 3 items on eBay for a total of about $100. Got the boxes, to ship the items in, out of someone's recycling bin.
4. I rarely buy myself clothes, but I really need some shorts and tank tops for summer. After seeing your post about the sales at Old Navy, I bought 2 pairs of shorts and 3 shirts for $40.
5. We had a patio installed and the contractor accidentally stepped in the cement when it wasn't all the way dry (not very noticeable). He offered to tear the whole thing out and redo it, but we bargained with him to fix some brick work and cement on our house instead. I feel it's a fair deal.
The trip to IKEA would've taken you more than 15 minutes, even if IKEA trips are fun. *sigh* I can't wait to do another one of those again. :-/ I'm trying to be upbeat but life is pretty difficult in my state.
1.) I also did some mending. On Sunday morning I was able to sashiko stitch up a patch on the seat of some jeans which are wearing a bit thin and darned up a small hole in the crotch.
2.) Returned an entire American Eagle order for my wife. I also returned one item from an Old Navy order.
3.) Having saved carts at various stores until we hit free shipping. In some cases splitting orders with family.
4.) Working our way through leftovers and our food waste is way down.
5.) Working overtime again. Joy joy joy! (not really but extra money is nice.)
Yes, I would have saved the tea towel too!
1. Made 2 summer blankets for my twin grandsons to take to daycare, from a 1980’s IKEA bedspread and ribbon from my needlework box.
2. Scoured my late husband’s phone for apps with active subscriptions, and found $330 in Venmo which I promptly transferred to savings.
3. Was invited to Mother’s Day brunch at my son’s home, and ate so much that dinner on Sunday was just fruit and a latte!
4. Made two more blankets with the other half of the aforementioned bedspread for my grandsons, after they commandeered the first set for their cribs.
5. Halved the monthly subscription rate on Tidal music. I share the app with my daughter in Seattle and we get a lot of use out of it, but don’t have refined enough ears to need premium streaming!
Listing these small accomplishments is making this strange time more bearable. Thank you again Kristen for your blog and FB Group!
Love Into Thin Air! Especially reading it in summer when it is so hot outside, reading about a blizzard on Everest just cools you down.
1. I called CVS to cancel an online order that had stalled for over a month. It might have shown up eventually, but I didn't want to leave it hanging around.
2. We are cooking a lot of beans from scratch since we are at home and have the time, a staple in our cupboards and great for me as a vegetarian.
3. Paying off loans with all the extra money we've been saving up recently (new furnace paid off!).
4. My kids are running out of books to read (not that we don't have a ton of books, but books they WANT to read). Asking around neighborhood friends, I was able to borrow a whole new mini library for them.
5. No other shopping either except for food, and a couple of necessary items for my kids school/hobbies.
What do you use to trim the cat's claws? Please advise.
I felt good reading how you saved your kitchen towel, too! We are doing the same thing with clothing that we repaired, rather than buy new! It is a very satisfying effort!
I would absolutely have mended the tea towel. I find it deeply satisfying to give new/extended life to many things. Which is what I actually do in my new etsy shop https://www.etsy.com/shop/FabricSpeaks
My FFT
1. altered 2 masks to make them more comfortable.
2. spread compost that I have made myself.
3. requested (and received) the $3.99 sunflowers from Trader Joes for Mother's Day. Sunflowers hold a special place in my heart. My mother brought them to the hospital after my first baby was born. It was February in England (a pretty grey month) and they had almost lost me. Those flowers were so bright and cheerful!
4. Sold an item on Facebook marketplace, porch pick up and payment in the mailbox
5. Did not water my garden one day in anticipation of rain the next day. We pay a lot for water here, so this was a good savings.
I have fixed holes in towels or mended a hem on a few occasions. I didn't find it very satisfying for the time spent, so I just continue to use them until they are threadbare. I sometimes put old towels in the rag pile for cleaning, or throw them in the compost if they are 100% cotton - most are.
The tea towel would have gone into my rag bag, but good for you for salvaging it!
I've been trimming cat claws for years and for several cats. One of our current cats is the first I could not manage alone, but if my husband rubs and pats his head while I am trimming, it works out fine.
"Into Thin Air" was one of my favorite non-fiction reads of all time. Hope you enjoy it!
Not five frugals today, but I need some advice. I'm no super, duper cook any more, long retired and tired of the kitchen. 😀 But it has occurred to me that spouse and I would get more fruits down our throats if I learned how to make some satisfying smoothies.
To that end I need to buy a blender. I would like some suggestions on brand or place of purchase from this community. I certainly don't need a high end one, maybe not even a medium end one, :D. I honestly won't be using it for anything but a few smoothies.
Any suggestions? Thanks.
We had "cheap" blenders for many years until I finally gave in and bought a Ninja. It actually works. The cheaper ones never worked for me.
I bought an Instant Pot blender recently ($75 ish) to replace my 20 year old Kitchenaid blender that died while making margaritas 🙂
So far really liking it, especially the glass jar (not a fan of plastic). It has a smoothie button that automatically does it's thing really well.
See yesterday's posting from Frugal Girl, where she discusses blenders. The comments were useful, too.
I find mending SO satisfying! I would totally do what you did. 🙂
1) Limited grocery shopping again!
2) More sourdough bread. It's so delicious and so much heartier than my grocery store sandwich bread.
3) I got some free Hallmark cards from an advertising campaign and mailed those out. The recipients were all delighted to get snail mail and I was delighted to just spend the cost of some stamps. (Plus, supporting the USPS!)
4) I pulled out some old cross stitch projects to work on during quarantine. I went on a purchasing binge a few years ago and need to work through some of my supplies and patterns before I ever buy anything again.
5) Stayed home...? Again?
I've been doing mending over here, too! Been making repairs to our large bath towels that we've had for at least 10 years, so we don't have to replace them yet. And there are a couple holes in the cushions of our outdoor patio set (squirrels chewed into them in an attempt to get the stuff for nesting material) that I've been very carefully repairing with some matching thread that I bought specially for this project. Feels good to be able to use something for a few more years and keep it looking pretty good too! Frugal wins.
If I was as good of a mender as you are and had the time, I probably would have mended it. There's the whole sentimental thing. 🙂
1. I had set a reminder on my calendar to cancel ABC Mouse before my 2 free months ended and I actually went in and cancelled it on time.
2. My 1yo pulled one of our lamps down on herself (no one's exactly sure what happened) and the glass part at the top broke (on her poor little head). We looked at the price of replacing the glass part and it's about the same as buying a new lamp and since the problem with this lamp is that it's too tall to reach the switch, we just bought a new lamp. Hopefully the better size will let this one last longer and not have the wobble issues.
3. I bought some organic plant food last year and found that the mixture made my pepper plants grow huge, but didn't help them produce peppers. Since I don't really want to use it all summer on my vegetables again, I'm using it on the flowering shrubs we got from Aldi a few weeks ago.
4. Not frugal up front but should be long-term... We bought a carpet cleaner. We have issues with our carpeted basement flooding from time to time and were concerned that if we didn't do something more than what we had been doing we would end up needing to replace all of the carpet soon. So between the basement, the 3 small children, and the dog this carpet cleaner should be put to good use! It's been doing great so far!
5. I have been baking with stuff that we have at home... All of my bananas ripened too quickly this last shopping trip, I made no-bake cookies with the oatmeal I overbought, and zucchini muffins with zucchini from my freezer.
6. I'm adding a #6 because I forgot until now but am excited about doing this for the first time... I am regrowing romaine lettuce heads! I put 2 in jars with a little water about a week ago and it's really working!! I should be able to plant them outside over the weekend. 🙂
You may already know this, but just in case you do not. Fertilizers high in nitrogen (the first of the NPK numbers on the container) tend to increase stem and foliage growth over blooming/fruiting. Look for a lower first number. I learned this in a Cooperative Extension Master Gardener program years ago and it helped me stop my great foliage/terrible tomato production that I had struggled to fix.
Thank you so much! Yes, this does have a high first number. I knew that the numbers existed and whatever I had must not have been what I wanted but I didn't know what to look for. Thanks for the tip!
Carper cleaners are also great for cleaning up your car. My 3 year old grandson gets car sick so my daughter uses hers a lot to clean her van.
I got my first one when I had kids and a barfy cat. Great for spots and heavy traffic areas.
Great idea! I'll have to keep that in mind!
Yes, I would have mended the tea towel too! I'm that weird! 🙂
1. For Mother's Day our family pitched in and bought pizza from a local place. Helped them out and no cooking for any of us mommas!
2. I have enough leftover pizza to last for days!
3. Covered new baby hostas that my daughters planted for me for Mother's Day with saved ice cream buckets. The hostas did wonderfully well in their mini-greenhouses!
4. I have saved the bottoms of 2 heads of romaine lettuce from the grocery in water on my windowsill and both are putting out new leaves. I will transplant them out in the raised bed garden as soon as the weather co-operates!
5. Since I've been SIP since mid-March, I still haven't had to put gas in my car!
I never even realized that trimming a cat's nails was a thing until we got our first cat 12 years ago. It's sure tricky; they're so skittish and wiggly. Our foolproof method for trimming Cricket, our four legged baby, is to put her on a higher surface, like a tabletop. One person stands "behind" the cat and grasps her front legs gently, and raises her a bit so she's "standing" on her hind legs. This basically makes the cat defenseless because holding onto both their front legs (one in each hand) keeps them from being able to move much. (Obviously the cat needs to see you as a safe person for this to work.)
Then the other person does the clipping. This is also how we've bathed her successfully on the few occasions she has needed an actual bath. Works well and she doesn't really squirm at all.
Can't believe you've had your cat for two years already!
I didn’t know we were suppose to cut a cat’s nails! We had our last cat for 10 years and never cut his nails. He wasn’t a scratcher and never climbed on furniture- is that why you cut them? The vet never suggested it either. We now have a new kitten, do I need to start cutting his nails?
I only trim my cat's nails because she is a scratcher. I don't think there is any reason to do it, health wise. If your kitten is scratching, it might be best to get him used to having his cut while he is young, so he doesn't see it as anything to be scared of. 🙂
I don't think you necessarily have to. Our cat's claws keep getting stuck in things when they're not trimmed...like our sweaters or shirts. Or when she tries to knead the comforter or sheets, her claws keep getting stuck.
So, that's the main reason we try to keep them trimmed.
She's not a scratcher at all, but if her claws get too long she tends to unintentionally poke us with them. She's very cuddly and loves to snuggle with me and the hubs after the kiddos are in bed. She usually perches in my lap with her paws on my chest, facing up at me. Little kitty claws don't feel too good poking through my clothes.
I would have fixed the towel, too. I do stuff like that all the time. I even still darn socks... 🙂
Yes, I most definitely would have repaired the towel. Why not use something that still is usable?
I have towels, sheets from decades ago (some with repairs). They are STILL better made and better quality that what you could buy today at a "regular" price.
I don't care how much money I have or don't, I prefer to keep using things (appliances!) that still work. That helps compensate, to me, for the newer things that don't last at all and have to be replaced.
I keep thinking of the word "thrifty" when I think about salvaging what is still usable.
We replace far too many things that really don't always need "new" "newer" or "newest"
I also save pieces of items that are tossed (totally worn out and looking shabby but NOT chic!) to use for repairs. Really comes in handy as I have a lot of black items in various fabrics.
I would have cut the tea towel into rags and put it in the rag box in the garage.
I haven’t been especially frugal this week. #coronawoes
1. Cut flowers in tard for mothers day for lady across street. Old green goodwill vase. Big strange vaee= putting one large red lily branch of buds in it for elderly lady down the street. Blue pitcher=blue spider wort stalks jammed in it for lady next door. 2. St vinnys was open for donations. Lady let us browse if we were masked. Got long red cotton print skirt and long Ralph l. Linen skirt for 5.00 ea. 3. Planting zinnia seeds from dollar tree. 4. 1.00 pizza crust dollar tree...best thing yet...crush herbs into 2T olive oil. Add crushed garlic. Paint it with this. Load with cheese, green pepper, fresh tomato, onion, more cheese. Bake 350 for 20 mins. 5. Wash and fold all laundry..takes 2 days . Cut up some stuff for rags. Sort all clothes into 2 piles in living room...winter and summer. Pull out vulnerable wools and call dry cleaner that picjsvupcand delivers. Give half stuff away and hang rest up clean. Some things...cut up to make impromptu easy bedding
I had a rain check that was about to die of old age due to this pandemic. A call to the store showed the Dunkin Donuts K cups were in stock and they held them for me. At 50% off, plus $4 in ebucks got my husband his favorite coffee of less than 40 cents a cup.
We needed to do business with a new bank, and the manager went out of her was to resolve an issue we had. She even sent her assistant to our home to get some much needed signatures.
I called Yankee Candle because I had an issue with a new jar candle. Normally, I would take it to the store, but it will be at least another month before stores around here open. They are sending out a replacement candle. n/c
I called my credit card company about an overcharge for a magazine I never authorized, charges reversed, savings $25.
Cheesecake Factory had happy hour burger special.... 2 double burgers + one piece of strawberry cheesecake paid with gift card = dinner free!!
I would have mended it but that's only because I find mending to be therapeutic. Every other benefit is just a bonus.
My husband would have mended it. Since he has had the sewing machine set up for weeks, making masks, he has also been hemming and repairing anything that cannot escape his gaze fast enough.
1. Started a second round of romaine lettuce and pak choi seeds, so they will be ready to eat when my first round has been eaten up.
2. Reading your remarks about having to buy books makes me even more thankful that our library will take emails reserving books and then they have a book mobile outside in the afternoons so you can pick up or return books. Picked up two more books yesterday, while running our now few-and-far-between errands.
3. A former foster child who lived with us for years brought over a tray of huge cinnamon buns (he is a chef now) on Mother's Day. He brings a baked good over every year on Mother's Day and Father's Day. These buns were so large after he had one and a cup of coffee with us and left, I cut each one in half and froze them. I didn't want to offend him and this will stretch them out.
4. Sold a few books I finally listed on Amazon.
5. Husband made masks for a neighbor and her four kids plus husband. A few days later she left a dozen eggs on the porch. They were most welcome as our new hens won't be laying for another month and eggs are dear right now at the grocery store.
And a sixth and favorite one: I still had boxes left over from things my uncle sent after she died. I decided it was time to deal with them and I found three of them FULL of still in the packaging granny panties, that look like bloomers. The price on them gave the date of purchase of one bag: 1957!!!! And they were still in perfect condition. The material is some sort of very soft cotton. I tried a pair on as a laugh and they turned out to be really, really comfortable. So, I decided not to donate them or turn them into rags, even if they are unusual in appearance. This winter they will be very warm. I modeled a pair for the husband and his only comment was, "I hope you don't have a car accident while wearing them because people will be crowding into the ER to see these relics from the Victorian era." I don't care. They are warm and every time I wear them I will think of my beloved grandmother. Although the 22 pair will likely outlive me.
Ooops, "She" was my grandmother.
Your husband's comment about the er made me laugh. I could just picture the crowd.lol
The older I get the less I worry about stuff like this. So if they are comfortable I'd wear the too.
Some vintage undies are worth quite a bit on eBay!
Lindsey, number 6 is hilarious! I love reading all your stories you post here. You should write a book! Thanks for making my day!
1. Started an herb garden in wooden boxes I had in the garage.
2. No gym membership this month just walking the trails.
3. Saved our stimulus money for a raining day.
4. No gas again this month.
5. Free Membership to Showtime until August.
Totally would have mended it, but I am still using a mended 30 year old cloth diaper as a cleaning rag. 😀
Cloth diapers are wonderful for cleaning! When I moved out from my parents' house I didn't know what other people used, and as soon as kids came along I got a bundle of cloth diapers. So handy. Worlds better than paper towels.
Good lists everyone! I had my cat for 18 years and i trimmed her nails by sitting on her like she was a horse ( didnt actually SIT on her) but held her still with my knees and i would gently squeeze her paw until her claws came out and then clip the points off using cat nail clippers...good times! 1. I quit paying for my Ebay store this month after a year subscription to see what the benefirs were...didnt notice any diference and i have sold 4 items this week!
2. Made my own no knead bread and it turned out great! Also you tubed how to make my own cream cheese and cottage cheese and will get yogurt and whole milk next time i go to the store to try it out! 3. Cant travel or go camping any time soon so got a part time job at Amazon for 15 hours a week 4. Planted way too many tomatoes, zucchini, beans and pumpkin seeds so crammed my garden full and gave a bunch away on the Nextdoor App. 5. Only spent $25 last month on gas and should be getting a few months of discounts on car insurance from Stare Farm! Yayyyyy
Yes, I would have repaired the towel, but It would depend on the gravity of the hole or the extent of the repair.
Five things I’ve done to save:
1. Darn Marie Kondo for inspiring me to clean my closet, Sadly, most things that sparked joy are my size 0 clothes.So either donate them or try to get back into them. I made the hard decision to drop the weight to get back into the smaller sized clothes saving me money. Best 30 lbs. I’ve ever dropped.
2. Got an InstantPot. Allows me to tenderize meats quickly, cook beans at a fraction of the time it would normally take. I also use it to make one pot pasta without having to dump the boil water. A real time saver and encourages less food waste.
3. Given the copious amount of scallions I seem to use, I decided to cut roots off of the last bunch from the grocery store and planted them in a pot. And now when I need scallions, I go outside with a pair of scissors and cut off a few stalks.
4. We negotiated with the car dealer during the SUV purchase that the oil change will be free of charge for as long as we own the vehicle. The SUV is about to turn 15 years old and running very well, perhaps because we are not shy about changing the oil on schedule.
5. Signed up for the libraries’ Overdrive sites so we can borrow e-books using our library card, downloading the Kindle version. We have been doing this for seven years now but it has become a lifeline during SIP when libraries are all closed.
Great article. Added levity to my day and learned from you and other posters. Thanks!
1. I fixed my eyeglasses. The nose pad broke. I used the pads from a pair of readers and it works perfectly.
2. I fixed binoculars. The leather cover over the optics barrels had come unglued so I glued it back together.
3. I started adding 1/8 tsp orange extract and or 1/8 tsp almond extract to my 12-16oz mug of tea and iced tea. The flavor is better than I expected.
4. Sent another bag to ThredUp.
5. I have purchased no gas in months. Worn no makeup. Used no hair dye or blow dryer. Bought no greeting cards. There is probably a longer list of things I just haven't used or purchased. Have gotten take-out twice since March once for pizza and the other for Mother's Day.
I have a old quilt used as a dog blanket. I have patched & patched & patched it. I would also have mended the tea towel.
I sometimes look at things we received as wedding or shower presents, and fondly remember who gave them to us. So if I had the machine out, I possibly would have repaired the towel.
What I did do last week with an old but not torn dish towel was make three masks out of it. We had been doing the bandanna-with-rubber-bands look, but needed something more reliable for eye doctor appointments. I copied some YouTube patterns. The fabric is a bit thick, but they work.
1. Our library opened for curbside pick-up, so we requested enough books to keep us busy for a week or two. And we got to drive a few miles down the road without having to spend money on something. Double win.
2. Made birthday/mother's day cards/crafts from supplies on hand. It's requiring some creativity as we use up our crafting supplies but worth it.
3. Got my first Thred Up good box and plan to keep 3-4 items from well-known high quality brands for much less money than the same number of products from other styling services. I'm pretty impressed with my first run with the company.
4. Choosing joy and contentment with this season and trying to take advantage of technology to contine staying close to people (rather than emotional eating or TV watching or such). Some days I do better than other days. Today was rough. I was supposed to see a new niece in March along with other family members, and it sunk in today that it'll likely be another year before we get to travel that far. As disappointing as it is, I am so thankful for the variety of platforms we have to spend virtual time together.
5. Staying home. Eating food from our kitchen. Growing vegetables to supplement our groceries. Using as many parts of veggies as we can (I just learned about garlic scapes).
I might have put the tea towel in the garage pile of rags my husband uses for dirty jobs like cleaning car headlights. Rags are always good to have. But I do have several towels that I'm sentimental about (they were my grandma's) and I would repair them, so I get it.
1) I am reimbursed for mileage. It doesn't matter what type of tranportation I use..... so I bike.
2) I live on a corner, three sides of my house face the street. I have turned 90% of my lawn into perennial gardens especially the areas between the sidewalk and the curb, little to no maintenance.
3) One year I realized I had an excessive amount of spring flowers. When I lamented to my neighbor she suggested I make bouquets. Vaseses cost 5 cents at the thrift shop. I have saved thousands of dollars by having a flower garde. I never have to buy hostess gifts.
4) At Christmas I have a pick your own gift pile of things I no longer want. My friends and family love the novelty of the idea and anticipate the unveiling.
5) 95% of my clothing, linen etc. is blue. It compliments my skin tone. It saves an amazing amount of time and money. Plus my friends, family and colleagues struggle less when they look for gifts for me.
Inspired to read your #3 since I have NO use for my 30+ glass jars saved from pasta sauce, salsa, and spices, and the like.
1. Scored another $3 gift card through Fetch Rewards. We buy a lot of store brands, but it turned out that the few name brands we like are point makers and it's been nice to turn those points into gift cards.
2. My husband glued together a broken flower pot so he could use it this spring.
3. Got brave and cut my own hair, which I used to do years ago. It's not perfect pixie, but it's a lot better than the hot floppy mess I was putting up with.
4. Have not gotten take out at all during the two months of shelter in place. I am tired of cooking so much, but we are saving a lot of money.
5. Used a gift card to knock 3 cents a gallon off gas and bought another ¾ of a tank for my subcompact car for $10.79.
I wish I could say I would have mended the towel but I can't seem to get past threading the sewing machine to actually learn how to do anything. On paper this situation seems like it would have been the perfect opportunity to learn how to sew but it hasn't played out that way. I wish I had the skill you do.
My Five Frugal Things (family edition):
1. My kids used supplies we had around the house to make mothers day cards for me and their grandmas. They were really creative and literally used scraps to make something beautiful. And they touched my heart especially since it wasn't something their teacher taught or told them to do. It came from their hearts.
2. My husband listed a bunch of his LEGO sets on eBay and they're starting to sell. HALLELUJAH! I am proud of him for recognizing that while collecting them brought him joy at one point, having them no longer does so he's doing something about it. I am so excited to move this excess out of the house!
3. I went from having a kinda expensive iced tea twice a week to zero days a week and instead am making tea and matcha lattes at home.
4. I pay for parking and also for the gym located on the college campus where I work. Since I am going to be working from home for the foreseeable future, I canceled both and dropped the money I'm saving into my retirement.
5. We called our insurance company to see if we could get a discount on our premium since we're hardly driving anymore and they said no. BUT they said they were issuing some credits so we got some savings there. And since we drive two electric cars, our electricity bill is WAAAAY down, despite having all four of us home on computers and opening the refrigerator all day 🙂
I would have fixed if if for sure. Less material in landfill is a win in my book. 🙂
I buy used books from Alibris.com. It’s a network of mostly small used booksellers. You pay a flat rate shipping but the books are often cheap and you’re shopping small businesses. 🙂
Oh, I would have definitely mended it! Respects the value of the item, shows that what you have is enough, and pushes gently against spending money on replacing something “broken.” But I’m a gal whose family did an intervention when my Carhartt jacket of 15 years was too beat up, even for yard work.
It’s so awesome that you mended the tea towel!! You saved money, time, energy and picked the more mindful activity. Especially if you enjoy the act of mending and sewing. You kept something out of the landfill and the cloth from 23 years ago is probably higher quality than a new one from Ikea. This made me happy and inspired to pull out my sewing kit and mend something!! ❤️
Your vet is not open? All the vets in my city are open, some are not allowing people inside with their pets. In fact, my standard poodle is there now and its breaking my heart that I couldn't go in with him.
Ours has been open for emergency procedures...but nail trimming didn't seem to qualify in my mind! Heh.
I hope your poodle is ok. <3
Sometimes the mended and patched items are my favorites!
If the towel held fond memories, yes! Plus, the time and travel to Ikea or somewhere else would have course money as well and you made an eco choice too by , mending and not driving.
I would totally fix the towel! It may be inexpensive to replace from ikea, but to replace with a high quality towel made with environmentally friendly materials by people paid a living wage is a different story. And besides, taking 15 minutes to keep something out of a landfill instead of 10 to find my credit card, order something online, and then have anxiety over tossing the towel or wondering how to repurpose it otherwise is well worth it. It would be an even longer process to go pick out a towel in a store!