Five Frugal Things | haircuts, food saves, a textbook return
1. I cut Sonia and Zoe's hair
Sonia wanted a trim, which is pretty easy to do on wavy hair. Any mistakes are quite invisible!
I used the at-home bob method that I outlined in this post (where Sonia was the model for the photos, actually. Just a much smaller Sonia!)
And I buzzed Zoe's undercut, which is a very easy job.
She's growing out her pixie cut, but keeping the undercut because her hair is so, so thick. We thought keeping the undercut would help make her ponytail a manageable size.
(I am awfully jealous of Zoe's thick hair. Even when the undercut is buzzed super short, you can barely see her scalp.)
2. I bought extra cheese to freeze.
If you watched my "Here's why your homemade pizza is terrible" video, you know that I am very particular about my pizza cheese.
It's got to be the semi-soft kind that comes in a one-pound chunk; it seriously makes such a difference.
This cheese normally costs $5-$6/pound, but I found it on sale for $3/pound.
So, I bought two pounds, shredded it, and froze it.
Cheese does not freeze well in blocks, but if you shred it first, it does very well in the freezer.
So, if you have some you need to freeze before it molds, or you are wanting to stock up on sale cheese, just make sure it's shredded before you freeze it.
3. I have made a lot of food saves
I tell ya, doing this online Fight Your Food Waste course is really helping ME to stay on track with fighting food waste.
(The course is closed for now, but it'll open back up again in January.)
For instance, my cousin had a bag of potatoes she was not going to get around to cooking (pregnancy sickness will do that to ya!) So, she gave them to me.
I made mashed potatoes one day for lunch for Sonia and myself.
I ate mine with leftover chicken and leftover sauce.
Then the next morning, I heated up the leftover potatoes and topped them with two fried eggs.
4. I (finally) got to return a college textbook
Due to an error on the college's part, I bought a book for Sonia that she didn't need.
I've been waiting since September for a return label (since the bookstore is closed). I'd contacted them several times to ask for one, but they said they had a backlog and that I needed to wait.
So I patiently waited two months (!), then I contacted them again via email and this time I actually got a label.
Which means $42 is about to be refunded to my account. And it also means I can stop looking at this book that has been sitting on top of my piano for months.
5. I used a repurposed bag in place of plastic wrap
I was making a pan of polenta for fried mush (in preparation for redoing that old post!), and I needed to cover the pan while it refrigerated overnight.
I don't keep plastic wrap around because it's too tempting to use it if it's there!
So, I grabbed a bagel bag that I'd saved and slid the loaf pan inside the bag.
Plastic wrap is not very expensive, so this one is really more about avoiding waste than saving money.
But it IS slightly cheaper to use a repurposed bag than a length of plastic wrap.
1. I checked the tray on the Coin Star machine while at Kroger and found 5 pennies. I have no idea why people leave money behind there!
2. My daughter asked for a particular brand of kitchen thermometer. I signed up to receive emails from the company and promptly got one for 18% off anything which saved me $7.
3. I forgot something at Kroger and had to go back another day. Of course, I checked the Coin Star tray and found another 5 pennies. I also found a dime in the parking lot. Much hand sanitizing followed.
4. I also found a Kroger receipt someone dropped. I scanned it on Fetch and got 50 points! Most of my own receipts only get 25 points so this was a nice bonus. Don't forget - you can scan receipts from any store, not just for groceries and get at least 5 points on Fetch.
5. As I was tallying up my November expenses, I realized I haven't bought any gas this month. Going almost nowhere is definitely frugal!
Thank you for bringing waste and food waste to peoples attention! We waste an estimated 40% of food in the US.
1. Less food waste this week but I need to get more back on track. There has been (relatively) so much recently. It all boils down to being lacksidaisical about cooking. For example, I didn't get around to making stir-fry for a week, by which time the 12 oz bag of sugar snap peas had gone bad.
2. Pulled all the green tomatoes off my vines. I'm making Green Tomato Salsa for my mother's handiman/go-to-guy/all-but-foster-son, who is frying a turkey for us for Thanksgiving..
3. Does it count that I'm doing all the legwork for Thanksgiving, while the rest of the family is doing the paying? We're buying almost everything, including propane heaters and warming trays, so we can feast outside where it's safer.
4. World's Most Minor Frugal Save: cut open the tube of toothpaste to get the last bits.
5. Found an online coupon/savings plan that reduces the price of an expensive prescription by 25%.
FG, I use plastic bags rather than saran wrap as well. For me it's usually produce bags. I think my roll of saran wrap will last me the rest of my life. Whereas a roll of tin foil lasts only 5-6 years.
I say it counts. 🙂
My split ends were bugging me, so I trimmed them. I have a no-layers, straight bob, so even though I couldn't quite reach around to the back, my hair still looks fine. I would love to go get a haircut, but am trying to hold out til after the holiday expenses!
We used good-customer rewards at the grocery store and managed to get all our food for the week PLUS Thanksgiving extras, under budget. This includes our special-order local turkey, which we'll pick up today.
After learning I am pretty sensitive to dairy, I had to cut cream out of my coffee (sob!) and I didn't want to shell out for the expensive dairy-free creamers. I don't like the taste of most of them (coconut) and I didn't want sugar in my coffee either. I found that I like the taste of unsweetened soymilk (often on sale) in my one cup a day, and it's more versatile and cheaper per ounce.
While working on an art project I messed up a canvas with black ink. Rather than toss it, I gave it a coat of black acrylic and my son claimed it for a pirate flag project he wanted for his room!
I am impressed you managed to cut your own hair, given that it's straight. I feel like straight hair is so much less forgiving! It's why I won't touch Zoe's hair, except to buzz her undercut. I am too scared I'll mess it up!
I know about straight hair being hard to cut--my husband and two of our kids have slightly wavy hair, and the other two boys have straight hair. I've cut their hair all their lives, so I'm kind of used to cutting straight hair. My hair reaches my shoulders, and it does have a slight wave to it in the back. Maybe that helps? Also I'm not too picky about my cut, ha! I do *like* going to get a hair cut, but hope to hold out till the spring.
1. I also cut my own hair last week. I have naturally curly (frizzy hair) so its normally back in a ponytail, so no one will notice that I cut off about 5 inches! I"ve cut my own hair about three times since COVID.
2. Created a very good one pot dinner using leftover pork loin that I cut up and some pasta and two small cream cheese packets that my kids brought home from school. I am not a cook at all but was very proud that I was able to use up something that normally goes to waste in our house.
3. My DD's girl scouts hosted a roller coaster challenge where they were to tape toilet paper and paper towel rolls to the wall and move a ping pong ball through it. I never thought my son would be entertained for so long. Who cares there's toilet paper hanging from my walls???
4. My DD and I went Christmas shopping on Saturday. We rarely head to the mall, but the one department store was having a friends and family event and I was able to get some good deals for only $25. Even the cashier was surprised at all I got!
5. Continued to be blessed by people giving me free clothes to list in my Ebay store. I was able to create an entire bag of clothing for a family at my church who needs it for their kids.
We had the opposite experience with Sonia. I only cut about an inch off of her hair, but whoa, her hair looks SO much shorter now! I guess that inch was really weighing down her curls.
We did our laundry on solar power last week! So happy with the solar panels.
There's bound to be plenty of other frugal things connected to (no) food waste etc, but this is the only thing I can think of right now.
Especially as the weather was so lovely, and now it is a bit damp and cold.
Great week ahead, all!
Question about freezing cheese, do you ever notice that the texture is strange when you thaw it? Like it seems wetter? I attempted to freeze pre-shredded cheese (I don't normally buy it that way but new baby, time saved) and when I thawed it it just seems gloopy. Thoughts?
Hmm, I haven't had that problem. Did yours have frost build-up, maybe? If it did, then the cheese would get a little soggy as it thawed.
Pre-shredded cheese is usually coated with something like cornstarch to keep the shreds from sticking together. My guess is that when the cheese thawed the anti-caking agent mixed with the moisture and made it mushy.
Do you use something instead of plastic wrap? Very curious.
All sorts of other things! Containers, reusable plastic bags, repurposed plastic bags, and some silicone products.
Here's a silicone lid product I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_nQsVCGwec&t=96s
And here are some plastic bag/wrap alternatives I use: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0vcN-Fvk_98&t=59s
1. For my work gift-exchange, DIY is welcome, so I'm knitting my gift-ee a nice warm headband and sewing a little pouch, in addition to buying her some small goodies.
2. I made chicken broth from our roasted chicken. I'm planning ahead, because later this week I'll make and freeze some chicken meatballs, so we can have Italian Wedding Soup as a quick weeknight meal.
3. I (finally) bought some fabric dye to make the white jeans I got on sale blue. And my white t-shirt a nice cheerful red. Dyeing is much easier than people think! Although adult jeans are a bit of a pain, because they're so bulky. But small garments are great candidates.
4. Because I'm on vacation, I'm handling our cooking this week, and I'm looking forward to trying some new stew recipes. I love stew. I look forward to stew season all year.
Dying clothes is SO much fun. It's such an adventure to see how the color turns out.
I love clothing alchemy! I actually get a little sad when nothing has faded enough to warrant it. 😛
I’m still getting grape tomatoes off my vines-my first ever vegetable planting (planted from seeds in July as experiment). I live in north central Texas. Since pints of grape tomatoes are 2.99-3.99, I’ve recouped the costs of seeds, fertilizer , special soil. I’m now still getting over half pound every other day. Fresh tomatoes late November-who would have thought!! The plants look very scraggly but not time yet to pull up and throw away.
1. I roasted 3 large chicken breasts to make a large, yummy casserole for us on Saturday. This coupled with rice and broccoli has fed us lunches and dinners for the past 3 days and made it easier for me as I can use the time I would have spend cooking dinner to prep things for Thanksgiving. This also helps us avoid takeout.
2. I made homemade gingersnaps with supplies I had on hand to use for the crust of my pumpkin cheesecake rather than purchasing store bought cookies. I like the store bought variety but would've spent $10 for two boxes. For less than $5 of ingredients we have quadruple the amount of cookies - plus they made the house smell amazing.
3. As I am prepping casseroles for Thanksgiving, extras are going into the freezer to make for quick meals at a later date. NO waste and convenience - YAY!
4. I purchased a box of pears at Costco last week. We enjoyed some fresh and I cooked the remaining pears with spices and put away 3.5 pints of pear jam.
5. Working from home, staying home and combining errands means I haven't had to gas my car up as frequently. I am using about 1.5 tanks per month as opposed to 1.5 tanks per week that I was using before COVid.
1. We combined errands and went to town to go to the store, market, bank and phone place. This is also a big time saver.
2. Made a menu plan, this is another one that can save both money and time.
3. Working on doing better about not leaving unneeded lights on and trying to charge our electronics during the day (all our power is solar electric, so these steps help to make our batteries last longer).
4. Cooked up a whole bag of lentils and froze them in smaller portions.
5. One of the things I'm bringing to our Thanksgiving meal is drinks. My husband decided to buy juice and concentrated syrup instead of the more expensive sodas. I might make some ice tea too.
I signed up for the Ibotta Thanksgiving and grabbed the dinner items that were available that day at Walmart. For a 13lb turkey for $4.09. My mom will be joining us so 6 total this year and I have plans for the leftovers! I am doing all the cooking and mom plans to toss money my way-lol
I was scanning my Ibotta app and realized I was very close to a $10 bonus reward. I had purchased 20/25 items and just needed 5 more items. So I took a run to the local walmart and grabbed a bunch of deals. Frugal and not so frugal. I only bought items we WILL use but did not necessarily NEED this past weekend. Got my cash back my $10 bonus and a ton of Fetch points!
Husband was looking at a tool kit on FBMP- used but in good condition. Sold before he replied... BUT the next day he saw a pre black friday sale special for only $49 more that what he was previously looking at.. and NEW.. So we took the cash to Giant Eagle and bought a Home depot gift card.. So we got points on the amount purchased.. AND there was a promo( unaware) that we got 250 extra points! This in turn will go towards gas discount!
Scanned that AND the HD receipts in Fetch!
Lots of cooking from items in freezer and pantry, used my day off work to prep some freezer meals for when I am down from surgery next month. Already have the pantry items that will go with those meals to make life easier!
Husband and 15 year old son have been taking pallets from a local business ( with permission) and cutting them removing staples and building holiday decorations from them. Selling on FBMK. Frugal cause the company doesn't have to pay for trash removal of the pallets and we make money on very little investment!
I do that with plastic bags all the time. Now that my husband is the only one who ever goes to the grocery store, and he can never, ever remember to use the cloth bags (though they may not actually allow those right now anyway), I have a LOT of plastic bags. Boo. Hate them.
On another frugal note, I did a whole post about saving seeds today, which is probably not very interesting to anyone but me, but I find very fun and does save some money when it comes time to figure out what we need for planting in the spring. Also, we're more likely to get good germination because I know they're fresh, and better yields because they are plants that did well the year before and so are obviously well-adapted to our environment.
As a fellow thick hair person, might I suggest trying out different braids for Zoe once her hair is long enough? Ponytails have always been instant headaches for me, but braids are more comfortable since they sit lower on the head. I can't manage a true French braid, but I get close enough to spread the weight of my hair out, which also helps.
FFT
--I was delighted to rediscover the hand-knit facial scrubby that one of my friends made me a few years ago. It’s still going strong and works a treat on my comically sensitive skin. However, it sometimes gets "lost" via static cling in the wash. My husband's socks were the culprit this time!
--I've been sending out packages using recycled shipping materials, as always. I even picked up some more bubble wrap from the locally owned art shop's "Free Bin" by the door. I spend most of my discretionary income there, so "free" bubble wrap is perhaps a stretch. 😛
--Rather than purchase new inventory for my Etsy shop, I've been focusing on what I already have. I stocked up for in-person events at the beginning of March before everything cancelled, so I've still a surprising amount of things at my disposal. Yesterday, I sat on the floor with everything spread out around me and worked on new ways to combine it for listings. I've been doing this once every month or so to keep things fresh.
--Many of my friends are fellow creative types, and we’ve traded even more than usual this year (which is saying something, as we’re always generous with each other). Christmas gifts for our two families and at least two birthdays are very much done!
--Fail/Win: My husband's birthday present was one of the few things that wasn't a trade and was decidedly not frugal ($70) but too perfect to pass up. I'll be making his Christmas gift, so the cost will even out. His birthday present now resides in a $2 Goodwill frame, because of course it does!
Re: Plastic bags, we save them for cleaning the litter box. I’m aware of flushable litter; I’m also aware of our 120-year old pipes! Never the two shall meet.
Girl...same with the plastic bags & pipes!
1. Found two dimes and a nickel while cleaning the house Sunday.
2. Am wearing today the great new black cardigan bought on eBay last week. I found the original tag in the pocket: $54.50. I paid $22.
3. Used a $10 gift card obtained through Fetch Rewards to knock a third off the cost of new PowerStep insoles for my work sneakers. My arthritic toes are much happier.
4. Got a free can of cat food in the product line that my old cat prefers. He is very finicky, but he loved it. We are always looking for new things he will eat so that he doesn't become too thin with age. No cost product research is great.
5. Got more leftover healthy snacks from work to take home. Two pounds of trail mix with lots of chunky dried fruit? Why yes, thank you! 🙂
love the change find!
My family is very careful to pick up dropped change, but DH won't wear his hearing aids when he's home alone, so I suspect he dropped the coins and didn't hear them land. I kind of danced with glee all over the house upon finding them. 🙂
1. Exercise is walking, it is free.
2. Out Christmas lights outside are solar, down side is if it rains no lights
3. Husband cuts his hair.
4. Just got a Roku kids will have to help us set it up by phone.
5. Trying to decrease laundry by 2 days a week.
Need a few items for Christmas cookies will pick them up on sale.
Looking for Turkey breast on sale to put in freezer.
Just need 1 more item for Christmas,will wrap at some point.
1. We celebrated my husband's birthday with our daughter and her SO. We ordered take out Chinese food from the lunch menu (but I tipped generously). We had homemade GF cupcakes for dessert.
2. We watched The Madalorian with our daughter. We don't need a subscription since they have one.
3. I picked up groceries at Sam's Club. It is quick and easy and there are no impulse purchases.
4. My husband thought we should get a bigger TV so he can read better the show descriptions. Since everything we watched is streamed from an old laptop I just reset the text to be 150%. Hopefully this will negate the need.
5. I have a bunch of ripe bananas. I sense bread baking in my future. I also discovered that my Ninja didn't have a problem making chocolate nice cream (frozen bananas, cocoa, a bit of milk and vanilla). I thought I had killed it making strawberry nice cream (frozen strawberry slices, bananas, extract) this summer. I don't have to decide whether it is worth buying a Vitamix (so many choices these days).
Hmm, not a ton of stuff to report on but I'll see what I can think of ...
1.) Repaired some plumbing work for my parents. It wasn't easy with one wrist being still in a brace but I did it. The parts were $60 but honestly, you can't get a plumber to knock on your door for $60.
2.) Took advantage of some sales to buy some food items that we were going to buy anyway.
3.) Largely avoiding "Black Friday Month." After all, you save 100% when you don't buy it.
4.) Returned two different orders to two different retailers. They just didn't work out for our needs.
5.) Was up late last night and so I made lunch for my wife so she wouldn't have to get lunch at the cafeteria.
Other than that, that's about it. Have a Happy Thanksgiving, all. Make the most of what you can.
You are SO right about #1! We asked our plumbers to put on three new bath faucets that WE purchased during a regular service inspection. They said it would be $300. Seemed fair until I realized they meant EACH. We were stuck. Really wanted them replaced and we couldn't do it. When I complained to the owner, he sent me a polite three page letter outlining what a "deal" he gave us. 🙁
New plumber time! Hope you told him his 900 bucks lost him a customer for life worth way more than 900 bucks. Plus leave him a negative review on all service platforms (Angie's List, Home Advisor, etc.)
Thanks for my laugh for the day with your comment about not being able to get a plumber to knock on your door for $60.
A frugal week it has been.
Neighbor ordered buffalo bones and they sent them a huge box instead of the amount they ordered and the company does not want them back. They gave us some for my puppers.
Vet once again gave me new meds for 1 pupper without having another office call.
Hubs found a child's table and chairs that was being thrown out. Refinished the table with supplies on hand. We don't have the skills to fix the chairs as they are splitting but I found a school chair for $5 on market place and fixed it up for her.
While we are staying home and having no visitors for Turkey day both my sister and I are cooking different things and splitting them between our houses. She takes care of Dad.
For food waste, I miss Friday Food Waste posts I only had 1/4 cup of cottage cheese that was tossed & spoonful of picked peppers that were mush. And I made pizza specifically to use the peppers up. I tried. My fridge is counter depth so not much can get pushed back and not used.
I got 2 $5 Kohls cash for free so I picked up for $4.32 a small cast iron skillet & a sweater for work.
1. Lots of nice sunshine and lower humidity this weekend, so a lot of laundry was hung outside.
2. I mentioned I had returned the home-trial robotic vacuum after the trial was over. It had a few kinks in the app running it, so I opted not to keep it. This past Friday, $75 popped into my Swagbucks account, for returning it. This is perfect timing, with Christmas on the way.
3. The cool-hot-cool-hot weather we are having makes my car tires lose pressure. I stopped in at the shop where I bought the tires and got free air and tire check. It was just across the street from the bank where I make deposits for work, so it was no effort to go there.
4. I cut my husband's hair again. I am getting better and better at giving a real, actual haircut, as opposed to a buzz or a trim. I am so grateful that he still has all of his hair and is just starting to get a few gray hairs, at 67.
5. Today is the day that we take delivery of free-to-the employees smoked Boston Butt roasts, courtesy of my boss, who bought them for us as part of a local high school fundraiser. I know what we'll be eating tonight!
I had an undercut as a teenager for exactly the same reason - my hair was thick and heavy and if I tried to wear it up, I got terrible headaches! Easier ponytails and buns are definitely in Zoe's future! 😉
1) I bought a coffee on Monday morning with a gift card from a co-worker. I ordered an xl and split it into two days- saves on waste and $ and time (yet still allows me to feel fancy). And I think we can make it through the week now without buying milk because of this (I use a lot of milk in my coffee)
2) My mother in law made amazing cinnamon rolls for brunch on Sunday. She wanted them out of the house so I took 2 home- and had them Monday morning and Tuesday morning for breakfast. With the fancy coffee, it feels decadent!
3) Added some broccolini to a dish as it needed to be used up- it was my husband's favorite part of the dish!
4) Lots of leftovers to eat = interesting lunch combos (1/2 sandwiches from one meal, sweet potato fries from another meal, leftover sauces from a different meal)
5) I'm fostering kittens and so desperately want to adopt this particular duo.... but fostering means all the supplies and vet bills are taken care of for me and I get an "endless" supply of kittens to enjoy those kitten antics so I found these 2 charmers a home with an acquaintance and will bring home new fosters in a few weeks.
I'm so impressed that you are fostering kittens. I don't have the backbone to give them up. A few months ago a feral cat brought her five kittens to our yard because we were feeding her regularly. We slowly trapped the littles and brought them, one by one, to the animal shelter for rehoming. I was sobbing so hard on the first trip my husband wouldn't let me go on subsequent ones. Then we trapped the mother, had her spayed and rereleased her in our back yard where she lives 90% of the time. We feel really good about that.
Now a second feral cat has been coming around for food and she appears to have recently given birth, but we have seen no kittens yet. IF, and when we do, we'll follow the same procedure.
Perhaps there is a sign on our back fence written in cat. HOME FOR WAYWARD CATS
Great job on helping those kitties and also getting them spayed. Their lives will be sooo much better!
It’s fun to hear how everyone saves money and cuts down on waste. We usually use produce/small takeout bags when we walk our dog. Larger grocery bags we use in place of a kitchen trash bag. Happy Thanksgiving!
Do you shred the cheese in the Vitamix or?
I use my food processor with the shredder disk.
1. This morning I purchased my final turkey. I have one in the fridge for Thursday, plus five in the freezer. I was so happy to fit five in! At 29 cents a pound, it's a super cheap way to feed my family.
2. While at the grocery store last week with my kids, I noticed that they were setting up a huge clearance section. I looked a little while my kids were with me, but went back that night after they went to bed. They're clearing stuff out for a remodel. I got work shirts for my husband plus some Christmas presents for the kids, all for amazing prices.
3. I went to Aldi today with 3 things on my list and I left Aldi with 3 things.
4. Back in May I purchased some expensive (for me) whitening toothpaste. Over the past 6 months I've been intentional about using it once a day (I use a different kind for the second brushing), using a pea-size amount, and brushing for a full 2 minutes. Way more care and attention than I normally do. But the tube lasted 6 months! It has worked great and I do find it humorous that one of the only things about my physical appearance that has improved over the last 8 months is my smile which is covered up by my mask.
5. Normal stuff... coffee at home, cut my son's hair, resisted buying a pair of really comfy pajamas at Aldi...
What's the secret to leaving Aldi with just the items you planned on? I can never seem to do it.
My Frugal things this week are:
1. Refrigerator eating to make room for Thanksgiving leftovers.
2. A friend gifted me butternut and honey nut squash, which I roasted and froze.
3. Trying to do Christmas shopping early as they are starting to shut down stores and services in our area again. I have been shopping early Black Friday sales.
4. I've also been online shopping and am only buying from those which offer free shipping.
5. Received a check for reimbursement for some medical expenses from my husband's motocross accident.
I'm sorry about your husband's accident. Hope healing is going okay.
Sometimes I'm in the mood for baked chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy too! Simple and I use a gravy mix.
My Fab Frugal Five:
1) We were gifted $300 gift card to the supermarket from work. A nice thank-you bonus.
2) I earned another $10 GC to ebay from swagbucks.
3) I've been selling items on ebay and sold a car accessory for $135 that I've never used and have had for 16 years.
4) I'm not in the mood for a turkey dinner this year so I decided to work at my job and get holiday pay + regular pay for the day.
5) I have donated a bag of food to the local pantry and have a donation truck coming in 2 weeks to help me clean out my home.
1. I send my new magazines down the street to elderly neighbor fresh out of mail box . Rather than give them to her all messed up by me. She reads them and I get them back. 2. Finding items in house to give as gifts this year. 3. Bought record albums for my player 75 cents each...thrift store. 4. Roasted all veggies in house and froze for veggie lasagna later. 5. Making Olive tray...broccoli slaw..harvard beets...Brussels in butter sauce...all on sale in my publix delivery...take to distanced masked Thanksgiving 5 friends across the street
1. Redeemed a coupon at Tractor supply for a free 5# bag of dog food. Our pup won't care....she will eat anything 😉
2. Found coins on the store on the floor and put them in the Salvation Army kettle on my way out the door.
3. Returned a few bags of sand that we didn't end up using for a project and got almost $25 back in my pocket.
4. Sold a Foosball table (that we got for free but no longer use) on FBMP and made $35....clutter out, cash in.
5. Oldest DD needed some boxes to wrap a few Christmas gifts in. I went in basement at my work and found some smaller boxes that would work and took them home instead of buying any (they would eventually just be recycled anyway).
6. Been shopping around for deals on Christmas gifts and also using store coupons to use with those purchases saving even more $
1)I went to the library to pick up 8 holds...2 that were on my amazon wish list for months, waiting to see if they would come to the library. 2) Made lunch at home even though I wanted french fries...(we rarely eat out. I do cook 99% of all our meals, but even now and then...french fries from Mcd's yum!) 3)I am not going to the store this week. Have plenty stock pile (but don't want to go thru all of it due to our area is getting hit with covid again and stores are depleting again. 4) watching a youtube video on clipping dogs nails (we adopted a dog a couple months ago and the groomer cut them too short) I do all our cats easily but haven't done a dog's nails!
Did you see the video of the guy who plasters peanut butter on his forehead (quite large due to balding) and the dog happily licks away while the guy cuts his paw nails? Just a suggestion...
A thought for next time you have wish list books... You could always ask your library if they would consider buying them. My library has offered that before and purchased a couple that I asked for. The worst that can happen is that they say no.
We were the happy recipients of a window fan (not needed now, but we will be so happy in the summer!) from our Buy Nothing group.
I mailed a box of baby and maternity clothes to son and wife on the east coast. Not cheap for me, though I did send it flat rate, but the clothes were free to me. So I'm happy and they will be very happy.
Food has NOT been frugal here as young adult daughters are back and cooking/baking endlessly. But the joy that we've all had from the doing and the eating has been well worth it. I did make an English recipe from my childhood yesterday for dinner-cheese and potato pie. So that was frugal. And delicious.
I have made other arrangements for my return shipping address for my Etsy shop, saving me $120 a year (price I was paying to rent PO box). I keep my prices low, and so I need to keep my costs low.
The daughter that came home today brought a box of baked goodies. If they are not eaten, I will freeze them. I am very vigilant about food waste.
I turned the thermostat down 2 degrees. So far no one has noticed. With all the baking going on, no one should be cold. I will return it to it's previous temperature when we all settle after dinner.
1. We ate ALL the leftovers this past week.. every morsel of food I cooked got used up, I swear! In prep. For needing all the refrig.space for Thanksgiving.
2. Even though it is only 3 of us for Thanksgiving, (out on the patio) am making a nice roast chicken, gravy,stuffing etc. and using up lots of items I have had in the deep freeze since March. I have been stocking up more again lately, so am needing to rotate out some of the earlier foods..
3. Wearing favorite shirts with holes in them that I May have thrown out pre-Covid.Now, I am HOME All. The. Time. so no one sees them..and I get ANOTHER WHOLE YEAR’S WEAR out of them!
4. Cloud Library, the free library app that lets me download books to my kindle continues to be a huge godsend.I am reading a LOT .. and it’s all FREE! I just got Obama’s new book the DAY IT RELEASED.. since I had check the app regularly and was able to pre - reserve!
5.Continuing to see the awe and beauty in very simple things..we scurry out front to the driveway to get the BEST view of the sunset,. And I often take my coffee onto my patio at 5 or 6 AM to bask in a quiet sunrise.. and am soo grateful for my health, my husband, my family, and my Spiritual faith.
Wow it is so lovely that you make sunrise and sunset an event!
1. Must be hair cutting week: I cut the husband's hair and he cut mine.
2. Husband dropped off a load at Salvation Army and came home with a 2021 datebook identical to the one I buy every year for $21. It cost him $1. I just find it more gratifying to write down and then check off my to-do daily list on a calendar rather than on the phone or computer.
3. Had some milk just starting to turn so made a chocolate sour milk cake from a depression era recipe and froze it for future desserts.
4. Made several loaves of bread that I then turned into crouton sizes for this week's stuffing. Not sure if more frugal but sure tastes better.
5. Years ago someone gave me a "sexy Santa" platter that was not really lewd but was ugly and stupid. I remember being irritated that this person knew me so little that they thought I would use such an item. I finally decided to throw it away but my husband suggested I list it on FB. Two people contacted me with interest but then some young guy said he would offer me double the price. It sold for $45!! I also sold a huge statute of a rooster for $20. Because I have chickens people often give me chicken related items. I still have a jewelry box with chickens painted all over it to try and sell; still in its original wrappings. Not as bad as the underpants with chickens all over them, but close.
oh your #5 stories made me smile haha:) Made me think of when were given a rooster lamp and rooster dishes at our wedding that we re-gifted a rooster decor loving lady! People can give funny gifts:)
1. Picked up a fishing vest off Buy Nothing that I will give to my son for Christmas. I also picked up 6 butternut squashes off Buy Nothing.
2. I bought a vintage Barbie Dream House and tons of furniture off Marketplace for $75. It's worth about $400-$500 on ebay.
3. Purchased a ton of cherry tomatoes from the public market for $2. They made 1/2 gallon of sun dried tomatoes. I made banana muffins, for my kids' snacks, using overripe tomatoes
4. We have been doing lots of hiking. It's free and socially distanced. Our city is in a state of shut downs again 🙁
5. Brought my cat to the vet to have her teeth cleaned. It's not cheap, but hopefully saves money on future vet costs. And gives her a happier life!
1) I made 20 homemade tortillas. This is only the 2nd time I have made them from scratch because they are pretty cheap to buy, except not here in Hong Kong. I will say, it took a long time to fry them all! But they turned out well, and should last 4-5 meals for me and my husband.
2) Our grocery store was handing out a dozen free eggs again on Saturday, I'm assuming with a certain dollar amount purchase, though I can never be sure...ha. Nice.
3) Our school is serving a free Thanksgiving lunch today for all staff, which is pretty sweet of them since I'd guess less than a third of the employees are American and probably only 5% or less of students. We get a half day off Thursday and Friday also.
4) I signed up for 2 more credit cards to get American Airline points. You know. For when we can fly again in 2025. (UGH)
5) I had an empty plant pot full of dirt, so I pulled a little viney weed out of the jungle here and jammed it in the dirt. It's growing...like a weed! Boom. Free houseplant.
So I really enjoyed your comment! Do you have a blog? 🙂
Thank you! I do have a blog, but I'll confess that I don't post consistently. Goals. http://www.triciacliff.blogspot.com
I’m thinking Thanksgiving is for everyone!
That's true, but tomorrow's holiday is an American holiday. So it's especially nice that the school in Hong Kong is marking it in a special way.
My apologies, I missed that this was in Hong Kong. I need to work on my reading comprehension. Again, my apologies.
Instead of five frugal things I have one frugal fail:
Was feeling pretty proud of myself last night because I took our Christmas picture early, then went online to assemble the card with the photo and what I wanted to say on the card, ordered it online, and got a message that it would be ready by 12/3. Way to go me! Umm, except that I realized today that I didn't change the default setting of 60 cards. I don't send out anywhere near 60 Christmas cards. I probably don't even know 60 people. I wasted money and paper. I try to be aware of upselling but it just never occurred to me to change that number. Ugh!
Maybe send the extras to folks in nursing homes? Get a list of names from the home, address them but drop off the whole pack to the nursing home to save on postage. Even if they don’t know you I’m sure they would love a nice Christmas greeting.
Working with seniors myself, they would probably not let stuff from outside enter the premises because of Covid. It's a nice thought tho!
Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!
1. I have been saving raw veggie scraps/thyme/chicken bones and have a good stash growing for some yummy bone broth this winter.
2. Also, every shopping trip lately I've been able to find the reduced price bananas that are perfect for baking or smoothies. Love paying less for how I was going to use it anyhow!
3. In my downtime I have been watching Do It on a Dime (youtube), and she has great advice for deep cleaning. One of her videos inspired me for how to deep clean our dishwasher, and it is running much better now and is in better shape for the long haul. Yay for small wins!
4. We were really struggling this month. My husband has been looking for ministry work for 1 1/2 years now, and is doing restaurant management in the meantime. Unfortunately the pay is quite different, and our bills are still pretty much the same. A Christian neighbor gave us $500 just when we needed it, and we were able to stay afloat. It is such a humbling season, but also incredible to see how God provides.
5. We are using a free trial of Reading Eggs, and my preschooler loves doing this during the school day. She is learning so much, and loves the coin reward aspect too.
God is good and will provide. I'm praying for you and your situation!
1). I went through my entire yarn stash (I’m knitter) and reorganized it. I’ve planned out gifts and projects using what I already have.
2). Continuing our weekly by appointment library visits for both reading for fun and homeschool.
3). Using only supplies on hand for homeschool projects. One of my girls made a longhouse and the other made a Mayflower. We ran out of brown construction paper so they used paper grocery bags.
4). Using Target drive up pick up. I’m only getting what I intended to get and stopping when I am near the store.
5). We decided to create a home office in our basement ourselves rather than paying someone. The project started this week.
1. Was gifted a big box of food: carrots, apples, potatoes, onions, yogurt, meatballs, hotdogs, cheese. Shared what we won’t be able to use before it goes bad.
2. DS needed new pants for cold weather. He has gotten so tall! He loves sweatpants. Was able to find them for a bit over $6 each on the fruit of the loom website. And in his fav color, red. Ordered for him and DH so I could get free shipping. 6 pair of sweat pant and one long sleeved top, $45 and free shipping.
3. Completed all shopping for Thanksgiving on Monday. Will cook whole chicken from freezer instead if turkey.
4. Found two android tablets in neighbors trash. Both work. Kept one and gave one to a friend. Also found some new in box things (candle sets, wall art) in other neighbors trash. Gave to a friend who is struggling to pay for Christmas gifts this year. I also found her a trunk that she will repaint for her DD for Christmas. She made me a beautiful wreath for my door in exchange.
5. Walking, cooking, reading free books from local little free libraries, cut DSs hair, hatched some chicken eggs and will trade chicks for produce. We have had so much fun with the chicks but our small backyard can really only handle the 4 chickens we have.
I am trying to reduce our use of plastic. It is tough! I reuse bags, bought deodorant in a glass jar, don’t buy plastic wrap. Things that are in plastic containers only I try to buy large containers so I cut down on the number I buy in a year. Our water heater just died, so I cannot think of savings right now.
1. Haircut for myself (wavy) and for my husband (straight) . Both came out well.
2. Christmas gifts on thredup with thredup credits and Disney with credit card points.
3. Forgot I had a promo code. Called Disney and they gave me the discount. DD loves Baby Yoda.
4. Coffee at home. Tea at home. Breakfast, lunch, dinner at home.
5. Looking at outdoor sculpture in town, Christmas decorations and walking for entertainment.
* I've been decluttering like crazy for the past couple days, putting everything aside for charity, so this is not frugal (LOTS of wasted money). But it puts me in the right mindset about being more mindful with my spending, and I'm kicking off a 12 months shopping ban on December 1st. On a side note, I'm trying to sell some key items and so far I made 50$ on a winter coat and a watch. Better than nothing.
* Still using the city pass for myself and the family. 60$\year\family for indoor skating, pool, badminton, library? Yes please!
* I'm a health care worker so my attire is very low key (and cheap): yoga pants or scrubs, t-shirts. I don't care about hair styling or products (always in a pony tail) and I put no make-up on (lipstick before Covid, but not anymore since masks). So I don't have to "dress up for work", a lot of money saved right there. The only real expense is good running shoes.
* My SIL is getting married in February (maybe?), and my MIL asked me what color of dress I'll be buying for it. Easy answer : I'm wearing a dress I already own, that I got for 20$ at the thrift store (with a 20% off coupon, of course!). Shoes are also thrifted ones. No shopping for a "one-time-special-occasion"for me. It's a very nice dress too, I have no problem re-using it for other weddings to come.
* Looking at our budget of the last 5 years, we've been spending an average of 975$\month on groceries and restaurants. We will try to lower this to 675$ from now on... Wish me luck!
I'd love to know more about your 12-month buying ban. (What does it include, what does it not include, etc. etc.)
Sure! Here you go:
*Clothes (unless absolutely necessary, and second hand whenever possible)
* shoes
* Jewelry
* Food outside of groceries, except if in a social setting and suggested by someone else
* Books, notepads,fancy pens
* Stuff related to exercise like memberships or equipment (I already have all that I need)
* Anything related to dieting, ex: weight watchers membership
* Makeup
* skincare (unless depleted)
* Scrapbooking stuff apart from pictures and replacement glue
* Tupperware style containers (I have a mild obsession...) and service dishes
* Food stockpiling (I tend to hoard it, so I'm putting limits around it during the ban)
* Extra clothes for the kids, the "just because..."
And just an overall mindfulness, to analyze what we are bringing in the house and the actual cost of it (money, time, energy), and if it's a real need. Evaluating our expenses.
Have you read The Year of Less by Cait Flanders? She did a yearlong shopping ban, then made it two years. It completely changed her life.
Yes. I followd her blog too, back in the days. And I attended her lecture when she came to Ottawa (Canada). It was great!