Five Frugal Things | I got my first Venti
Happy Tuesday! It's time for some frugal things.
Five, to be exact.;)
1. I got a free Starbucks drink
My birthday was in April, but Starbucks extended the redemption period.
Yay!
I'd never gotten a birthday drink before and I didn't realize you could get any size.
Luckily, Sonia clued me in and naturally, I got the largest size possible.
2. I used my fabric shaver on some tshirts
I bought this little shaver at Aldi some months ago, and my goodness, I really love it.
It works so well to remove those annoying little pills that make clothes look old and worn.
And it's pretty fun to do. It's kind of like the same thrill you get from painting a piece of furniture, except way less work!
Highly recommend. 🙂
My shaver is an Aldi Special Purchase, so it's not available right now. But this one looks pretty much exactly identical to mine.
(I first used the shaver on some leggings and the difference was remarkable!)
3. We used a gift certificate for our date night.
I found a $25 Panera gift certificate in my van's glove compartment (Why was it there? No one knows!), and we used it for Saturday's takeout date night.
We both just got sandwiches, so we still have about $8 left on the certificate.
4. I got a BOGO swim sale at Target.
Online, guys! Don't worry; we aren't out there swim shopping in person. 😉
Zoe and Sonia both needed new swimsuits, and Target had a great buy one, get one free sale going. I appreciate half price very much.
I used my Target Redcard debit card, of course, for the extra 5% off.
(Incidentally, I love that Target's swim models are so much less retouched now. Stretch marks, belly buttons that aren't perfectly smooth...I am here for this!)
5. I...
- sold another book on eBay (one by one my stack is going down!)
- got a free birthday cookie from Chick Fil A
- used my regrown green onions in a soup recipe
- helped Zoe make a scrunchie
What frugal things have you been up to? Share yours in the comments!
P.S. I did post yesterday, despite the holiday; among other things, we discussed embarrassing frugal habits. 😉
1. I watched the fuel prices like a hawk and managed to save about 24 cents a litre (about a US quart)
2. I found some organic meat marked down to half price and it came home with me
3. I am trying to use every bit of every food that is in the house.
4. I had a $40 off if I spent $100 in Spotlight. This shop sells, fabric, homewares, yarn and that out of stuff. Everything that was bought was reduced to start with. Mum and I saved over $250 on our purchases. Always like it when I save more than I spend.
5. Some of the seeds I have planted are beginning to grow. It is heading towards winter here but it is so hot that many people garden in winter.
Mended a pair of work slacks and made 5 masks from cotton fabric bought a few years ago at a neighborhood yard sale.
Picked up a rotisserie chicken and three sides from the grocery store deli the other night when I was too tired to cook. It cost $15, but resulted in five plates of delicious, healthy food for the cost of two fast food burgers, fries and sodas.
My husband repaired the fixture of the foyer lamp with Gorilla glue. He has gone through a half a bottle of that glue during lockdown repairing stuff around the house.
I cleaned out my desk at home and made new file folder labels out of some plain paper and glue stick. Made drawer organizers out of some cardboard boxes cut down to fit and stapled together.
1. Picked up a sleeping bag for my daughter and some shorts for next summer for my son off Buy Nothing Group.
2. My sister gave me 3 summer dresses
3. I juiced 6 oranges, that were going bad, and froze the juice in an ice cube tray. Froze some nearly bad bananas and made banana muffins from the rest. Froze a few pieces of pineapple that were in the refrigerator too long. I have a bag of frozen fruit odds and ends that I eventually make into a fruit compote to go over oatmeal.
4. Ordered soap nuts from Amazon. Supposedly you can use them as laundry detergent, dishwasher detergent, shampoo, and hand soap. They are all natural and organic. If they work it will save us some money, but will also be better for our health and the environment.
4. Not so frugal: we rented a cottage on a local lake for the weekend. It was fun and relaxing. While we were there though, we hiked for free, went to free beaches, and brought our own meals. So, we spent under $50 while we were there.
Soap nuts are great. You still need a drop of detergent if the clothes are really gross, like my husband's work jeans.
Good to know! I also read you can boil them in hot water to make a liquid laundry detergent.
I found Soap Nuts at my 99 Cent Only store and bought a ton of them. They're just kind of meh, unless someone in your family has allergies, IMO. I did the boiling trick to make liquid soap and was similarly unimpressed. I have about a dozen boxes left. I tried selling them at a garage sale to no avail. I am about ready to give them away. Frugal fail.
1.) Turned some old strawberries into a smoothie and what didn't get drank immediately went into popcicle molds. My daughter loves them and there's at least some nutrition in them.
2.) Did another tiny mend to the "Pants that will not be tossed out!" Sure they are only to be worn on weekends and stuff but it's almost a game at this point to keep mending them.
3.) Not me but my wife is selling some of our daughter's old clothes and made something like $60 on it all!
4.) Paying extra on my mortgage. May as well pay it now so future me won't need to pay it later. It's not like I'm getting much return in my bank accounts.
5.) Still not spending much money on anything. Nothing really to spend it on, unfortunately, which oddly enough makes money less valuable to me.
Re: #4 - Are you not investing? The stock market typically returns far more than what a fixed rate mortgage costs. Keeping a mortgage is also a great hedge against inflation. Although market timing is discouraged among serious investors, when the stock market is down, it's like a big sale at your favorite store. Yes, even if your favorite store is a grocery or thrift store, they still have sales you don't want to miss out on. A great place to learn (for free!) is jlcollinsnh's Stock Series. https://jlcollinsnh.com/stock-series/ He has a book, but you can learn plenty from his website. Good luck to you!
Yes. I'm doing both. My mortgage is actually near its end (less than what many people pay for a new car) so it's more annoying than anything else.
When your investments far exceed your mortgage balance, I can understand the value of paying it off. My main concern is the folks who think it's better to kill the mortgage before they start investing, which is why your comment surprised me, but it seems it was just the wording. Congratulations on your success!
OTOH, I know it's reassuring to have a lot in liquid funds (aka, a big, fat emergency fund) in these uncertain times, so taking your time is also a great decision.
Your #2 made me smile. I have a pair of shorts that will not be thrown out. They have many patches and repairs. They are my favorite but also just fir home, where I am most of the time anyway. Lol.
Frugal things
1. Shopped my basement for a decor switch up!
2. Brewed my own ice tea.
3. Picked up two items on the local BUY NOTHING group...only 7 mins from our house.
4. Listening to free podcasts.
5. Shopped ALDI this week in person. Wore mask. I had been using Meijer instacart since March 22! Meijer is nice, but ALDI is cheaper!!!
Ohhhh... The price difference between Meijer and Aldi is real!! From the things I've gotten from Meijer during this pandemic, it just makes me think of how crazy high my grocery bill would be if I bought everything from there all the time. (Though Meijer has a special place in my heart as a native Michigander.) Welcome back to Aldi!!
1. regrowing lettuce from stumps of storebought lettuce
2. Bought a second hand book that someone recommended I read for a small fraction of full price
3. Cut my daughter's hair
4. asked friends who have 7/8 year old boys if they had old shoes that would fit my 4 year old. 4 pair of shoes that the older boys outgrew last year fit my preschooler's feet. He's going to be a giant.
5. Bought used (non-consumable) curriculum for daughter's school next year for less than 1/2 the full-price value.
1. Mostly staying home. I did put gas in my husband's vehicle. It was $15 for 9 gallons and the first time it had been fueled since we started Staying Home.
2. We placed a Home Depot delivery order. Unfortunately it was not delivered as scheduled on Saturday. Supposedly they will refund the delivery fee because of that (they put it in the order "notes") but I am not going to request that until after they make the delivery.
3. Frugal for someone else. Weeks ago we had walked home a push mower that someone had left at the curb with a Free sign. We thought our daughter and SIL might want it. They didn't but my husband replaced the missing hardware and corrected the incorrectly installed hardware to make it fully functional. Our neighbors live on a well traveled street so we placed it in front of their house with a Free sign on it (with permission, of course). The neighbor said it was gone within the hour.
4. We went for a bike ride and passed a house giving away planting pots and a planter box and a few blocks away a house had a few small house plants for the taking. We went back with our vehicle to pick them up. If we don't use them we'll give them away.
5. I finally installed the Libby app and have been using it to gain access to more e-books available at the library.
1. Picking lettuce from my garden
2. Did not buy a barbecue, but used our camp stove instead for a socially distanced 3 neighbors barbecue
3. Planted a cutting from my big tomato plant.
4. Cleaned my shower with blue dawn and vinegar.
5. Found some more stockpiled fabric to use in projects for my Etsy shop.
https://www.etsy.com/shop/FabricSpeaks
It seems that cotton mills are shut and many things-like thread-are becoming unavailable. I have been digging deep to keep my shop going!
A couple of weeks ago, my son and I had finished a book in a series that we were reading together. I had been contemplating buying the next book, but we managed to hold out long enough for one of our libraries to open up their curbside pick-up. The library closest to us will also be opening in June. We are so happy to have access to libraries again!
My 5yo daughter had outgrown her summer pjs, but I have discovered that she was excited to wear her big brother’s outgrown dinosaur and firetruck jammies. She also decided that some of his old shorts are her favorite to wear! I still had to buy her a few new things, but not as many as I’d typically buy.
On my last shopping trip, I bought more meat than we ending up eating. I saw the use by date was close, so I cooked up everything and put a lot of it in small containers in the freezer. We now have several meals ready to go. It would have been very non-frugal to throw out a bunch of meat!
1. I was charged shipping when I shouldn't have been and just threw up my hands because it was online and no one to talk to. I finally realized I could just email the company, I did, and they fixed it.
2. I was given some fish that I like but I have honestly never made fish in my life. After several weeks in the freezer I got the courage up to try it. It actually broiled up quite nicely, but was so large I shared it with two cats.
3. I'm ordering so many things on line these days that I have to keep track that all is delivered and charges are correct. My pet food company shorted me some boxes of litter, but it was quickly straightened out. A huge part of frugality is just keeping on top of things and not giving up in one's quest to get things right.
4. I'm feeding a very thin and very frightened feral cat. A neighbor gifted me a brand of cat food her spoiled kitties wouldn't touch. She knew I was feeding a feral, and I appreciated the contribution to help on the feed bill.
5. I get a huge gold star for throwing away almost no food. Before the pandemic, I was so tired of cooking that leftovers were often trashed. I have been a saint since all of this started. I am actually spending slightly less for the two of us than I was a few months ago.
Funny fish cooking story: my MIL went to spend the weekend with her niece. She doesn't care for fish. When she came home she told us Sunday dinner reinforced her opinion of fish. We asked why. She said a friend had gone fishing in Alaska and brought home salmon which was gifted to her niece. Sounded promising to us until she explained that her niece wasn't sure how to cook it so she threw it in the crockpot before church. She said they both agreed it was the worst thing they have ever eaten! We didn't even try to explain and tried hard not to laugh hysterically until later. Now it's a family joke, "crockpot salmon."
My mother once made hamburgers in a 1970s Crock Pot. Worse yet, it was during the visit when I was first introducing DH to the family of origin. We'd been out that day touring local sights, and when DH first walked back through the front door and inhaled, he said, "My gosh, something's SPOILED!" Somehow, he patched it up with Mom, and they went on to have a pretty good relationship. But still...
Oh my word! I cannot even imagine burgers in a crock pot. The horror.
I have a friend that takes care of a TNR feral cat colony. I save all our food scraps in a big bag in the freezer. She adds the scraps to the cat food to stretch it. I also save all bones after I make stock. She boils them again and makes “gravy” to put on top of donated dry cat food as some of the cats are picky and won’t eat the cheap dry food. Lol.
1. I picked our first cucumber from my container garden and will pick another today or tomorrow.
2. I added water to my almost empty bottles of dish detergent and shampoo to get the use of the last drop.
3. We needed another water bowl for our pets -- I dropped into Goodwill and found a big stainless steel dog bowl for 79 cents. A little washing and vinegar soak, and it's now shiny and clean.
4. Thanks to the virus, extended family can't go to the hospital for a birth. So we stayed home and saved gas money by not making that hour drive, as well as the money we would have undoubtedly spent for a snack or drink while waiting. I'm not so happy with the frugality of being forced to wait at home, but my new grandson was born this weekend anyway, and I am going to get to see him at his home soon!
5. I netted my thornless blackberries to keep the wildlife from wiping the berries out.
I save money buying baking soda in large quantities very cheaply at Smart and Final. I use baking soda for cleaning extensively. My favorite use is when I have stuck-on or burnt food on pans that normally would require a lot of scrubbing to remove. As soon as possible, while the pan is still hot I sprinkle a half-inch or so of baking soda on the offending spot, pour very hot, or boiling water on it, and let it sit. In an hour or less the burnt or sticky stuff has either dissolved, or is easy to remove.
My neighbor doesn’t like catfish - well actually she said she likes eating them but not preparing them. So she found 5 catfish in her crab trap and asked me if I wanted them - which I did! I threw the smallest one back, so it could grow into a big one. It took me about a half hour to filet the other 4. So I have 8 catfish filets!! That is three meals for me. Two meals with three filets and one with the biggest two filets ( Tonight)
Even better, they had family over for Memorial Day and as I was going in after working on my yard most of the day, she came over with two paper plates, and said, you have been working hard today David, you don’t need to be cooking yourself a catfish dinner, here. And she handed me a plate with a hotdog and a hamburger and some beans and another plate with some apple pie!!! How’s that for being frugal??
And I still have the catfish fillets for tonight. I froze the other filets for another day. Well two other days. I’ll add a salad of spinach from my garden and some tomato, blueberries and grapes from Aldies. And add some ice cream to the apple pie!
Oh, what a lovely neighbor you have!
I love the casual mention of your neighbor's crab trap. Such an exotic thing to me that is obviously completely normal wherever you live.
Fresh fish you don't have to catch yourself is the best. Hooray for catfish.
David, I'm frankly envious. Congratulations to you and your excellent neighbors.
I saved a whole bunch of money on haircuts! I didn’t get my hair cut - so I saved $20.
I decided not to get it cut again today, so I saved another $20.
Hey, this is looking good, after 30 days of not getting my hair cut I will have saved $600. What am I going to do with all that money?
Moving on. I decided not buy myself a new suit, or a new car! Man I am soon going to have so much money saved I will be able to retire!
Just kidding. I may be drinking too much coffee!
1. Meal planning
2. Made a grocery list template- frugal because it keeps me organized and limits trips. I just keep adding things to it.
3. I realized yesterday that I have cut down on quite a few cleaning products- I now make dishwasher soap, laundry detergent, foamy hand soap, and windex with cheaper alternatives.
4. Working 3 of 5 days at home- saving me an hour in driving.
5. Walking for exercise- 56 days in a row of 50 minutes!
I took advantage of a 28-day free Amazon prime offered to me to build up my pantry items and to limit going to the grocery store. When you buy at least $35. worth of product from Amazon Fresh, or from Whole Foods using Amazon Prime you get free delivery to your door. It saved me dragging a cart home from the grocery store via light rail. You get to set the two hour delivery window in which your food is delivered. Some of the grocery products I bought were cheaper than if I had bought them at my grocery store. I have gotten good deals on other kinds of things (Precise-V purple refillable pens!) way under that $35.00 limit, and still received free delivery. Amazon offers a half-price Amazon Prime membership to students and those using EBT cards.
I always end up missing the birthday freebies, oh well!
1. Harvesting and drying mint from the garden for mint tea.
2. After harvesting radishes, a reader reminded me not to discard the radish greens. We put them through the blender with some peas, garlic, parmesan and olive oil for a very yummy pesto.
3. Fueled up the car for the first time since March.
4. Also got takeout Starbucks for the first time since early March. This was a post-hike treat after visiting a state park where the entrance fees were waived. We also packed our own lunches for the hike.
5. Sharing our Sofi referral code with our 18-year-old, so he can try his hand at some stocks and learn about trading. He's not able to get a job right now as he had planned, but this way he can try increasing his savings a little. With the referral, we both get a bonus after a certain time.
1. We've been eating both lunch and dinner outside most days. Instead of using paper plates and disposable silverware, we use lightweight picnic dishes and silverware that I wash. (I do plan to purchase 2 more plates and another pack of silverware so I can make it through both meals without having to wash them between.)
2. I took baked beans to my parents' house for lunch yesterday and I made them from scratch with dry beans. (Hooray for being allowed to visit family!!) I made potato salad, too, which worked great because I had more celery and potatoes than we would use before they went bad.
3. Maurice's had jeans on sale for $15 yesterday with free shipping. I've been needing another pair for a while and finally bought one yesterday. Hopefully they fit!
4. Typically I hate online shopping, but I also bought a swimsuit online for 40% off with free shipping. One of my swimsuits bit the dust over the off-season.
5. This is a shout-out to my awesome husband. He's expanding our deck and doing all of the work himself. We're also having plumbing issues and he's working to fix it. Hopefully it's something he can fix himself!! But if we do end up having to have it professionally fixed, that means that: 1) we will have done everything we could first, and 2) it's probably a super major problem that will be crazy expensive. I expect that we'll have a better idea by the end of day.
--I was cleaning out the car this morning and found a container of cheese from when my husband took all the kids to the mountains on Sunday and I sent food with them. There was a lot of cheese in there. Luckily, yesterday was cool and rainy, so although the cheese had gotten soft and then sort of stuck together, it was still fine (sharp cheddar). The texture was kind of unappealing for eating plain, but it was perfectly fine melted in my kids' lunch quesdadillas.
--Also in the car, I found half a bag of Fritos that had been left over. They were a bit stale, but resuscitated by a brief time crisping in the oven.
--I found an apple on a windowsill last night with like two bites out of it. Thank you, toddler. I stuck it in the fridge, and then at lunchtime I trimmed off the tiny bite marks and cut it up "for myself," at which point all of my children asked me for a piece and they ate it all. Picture me cackling and rubbing my hands in glee at my own cleverness.
--I'm about to start the second round of incubating eggs in the incubator I borrowed from a teacher at the school. I got five chicks out of the first hatching, and I'm going to put in ten more eggs tomorrow. We have a rooster and three hens, so I have fertilized eggs to put in there. (One of our hens went broody and is sitting on a nest right now, but I don't have a lot of confidence in her ability to hatch many out. And anyway, that was only six eggs to start with.) Chicks from a hatchery cost about four dollars each, and it is apparently difficult to get them right now due to a very heavy spike in orders. I wanted more hens for eggs next year, and then all the roosters end up in the freezer. So this a good way to ensure some meat in the fall, even if I really dislike raising chicks in my house.
--Our puppies chewed up the seat on my son's bike (that he left lying flat outside--tsk tsk) and there were some little nails poking out around the seat. I cut a piece off a pair of worn out jeans and duct-taped the denim to cover the seat. Not the most aesthetically pleasing solution, but serviceable. And who's gonna see it in our ghost town anyway? 🙂
Made banana bread using this recipe, it's really good. I used up coconut sugar and whole wheat flour. Also added some coconut extract for a little more flavor.
https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/whole-grain-banana-bread-recipe
Traded some of the banana bread for homemade salsa my friend dropped off.
I'm entertaining myself by cleaning out a box of recipes that belonged to my aunt. These are from the 1950's and 1960's, torn from newspapers, magazines, typed, and handwrote. There are pamphlets and leaflets from companies. Some of those in the 60's were kind of crazy. One from a meat packing plant was to mix peanut butter and chopped green olives, then roll it up in bacon and broil. Even though I like all three of those I don't see me eating them together.
You may enjoy the song by the American composer William Bolcom called "Lime Jello Marshmallow Cottage Cheese Surprise," performed at this link by Bolcom and his wife, Joan Morris (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tWuG2oPL3o). Every 1950s-1960s food horror you can imagine and then some!
CC, that sounds simply dreadful in a really funny way. Several years ago I was going through my husband's grandparent's old cookbooks. There was a recipe that called for wrapping a banana in a slice of ham with mustard in it. I can't remember the particulars but it gave us a good laugh.
I know right.lol Not all of them were that bad and some of the recipes used organ meats. Which I don't eat but can see that as a frugal meal at that time. My uncle also ate sardines and crackers all the time, which I can't stand.
I haven't heard that before.lol It described some of these recipes perfectly.
I listened to the song. Totally funny and cheered me up this morning. I forwarded it to my MIL who had me buy her lime jello yesterday. I hope she isn’t making this dish....lol
My sisters and I were just discussing orange Jello with grated carrots and sliced green olives in it.
And other things we never made for our own children.
The Lime Jello etc. song is great fun: shows how homemakers were trying to combine the new convenience foods in creative ways!
We had orange or red jello with can fruit cocktail.lol I never eat jello now.
I was immediately reminded of The Gallery of Regrettable Food, which was a book I found at a library years ago. And now it's online. And just as funny.
https://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html
That was fun!
Darn it, I started reading this site at work. How do I cover the sound of giggles now?
What a great week! I want one of those clothing shavers! I have some regrown green onions too. So easy to start. Handy to have fresh herbs and garnishes at hand, and much less wasteful than buying a bunch of something at the store then not using it up in time. I have been going through all our stuff and finding things to use up instead of buying new. I found a stash of hair conditioner and some dust masks we had bought a year ago to wear when cleaning a dirty RV.
Kristen, Glad you got a free Venti! I'm sure you know this but if you Google free birthday food, it gives a list of restaurants that offer birthday goodies. Or go to the Money Talks website and search it there. Great site for saving $..
Pat- Great job on Amazon Fresh! I sign up for free Amazon Prime near the holidays as they seem to offer it to me every year!
David- What neighborly Love and fresh food! My Dad always shared his fish with neighbors and last week, my son went fishing and his buddy caught a trout. They camped and had it for dinner and he loved it.
My Fab Frugal Five:
1) I found a gift card in my drawer to Staarbucks and finally was able to use it all. Sometimes the barista is nice and gives me more than I ask for since it's the end of the night and they'll throw it out anyway!
2) Earned a gift card from Swagbucks to go to Amazon to get hubby a gift for Christmas- a tracker for his keys.
3) Son is interested in martial arts so we'll go to a free class.
4) Rented books for son's semester and will re-rent for $23. Hope to do it one more time after that. Otherwise, I'll send this back (free) and then get a new rental to save hundreds of dollars.
5) Selling an item on ebay and hope to sell more. I'm Spring cleaning.
I'm not great at racking up five frugal things in a week and I'm really not much of a shopper, but this week was a little different as I decided I couldn't wait any longer to buy some much-needed items. So here are my five frugal shopping things.
1. Hate online shopping but desperate for new running shoes, I found 2 pair of my favorite style (which never go on sale locally) for over 30% off plus free shipping!
2. Ordered some other desperately needed items from Kohl's and got free shipping and about as many discounts as in-store, then...
3. Had Kohl's cash I had to spend and decided to try curbside pickup. They wound up not having one of my items but still gave me all discounts and let me use my cash and I ended up with a free order. Btw, it took less than 2 minutes for them to bring my order to my car! #impressed
4. Did my biweekly shopping at Aldi and somehow my sugar didn't scan. This happened to me once before and when I offered to pay on my next trip, they declined so I guess I got free sugar.
5. Hit Lidl the same day as Aldi and scored a free pair of shoes with the gift card they sent me awhile back.
FFT, Frugal Fails for Long-Term Frugal Wins (I Hope) Edition:
(1) DH's beloved 2010 Honda Element gave me clear messages that it needed attention (two slowly leaking front tires, one dramatically flat rear tire, and a "buh buh buh" noise from the back that turned out to be a signal of major brake problems). Some $2200 later, I've fixed all these problems plus a few others. Given my druthers, I'd trade both this and our 2013 Toyota Prius in on a nice late-model Toyota RAV, now that I am the only driver--but DH, in his rapidly advancing Alzheimer's, remains unreasonably attached to the Element. And the AAA man who came on Sunday to put the spare on so that I could get the Element down to the shop on Monday rhapsodized at length on its continuing resale value. So, in the interest of not adding to DH's numerous dementia-fueled anxieties, I will continue to invest in the Element until DH needs institutional care (which, at the rate he's going, may be sooner rather than later).
(2) And thanks to long-term frugal habits, I will not have to incur credit card debt to take care of the Element's bill.
(3) The partial relaxation of lockdown here in Central NY (consult a NY State map for the state's various regions) means that I have been able to get my housecleaning service over here for the first time in 2.5 months. Those of you who are younger, stronger, not taking care of a spouse with Alzheimer's, and don't hate doing your own housework, please don't judge. I regard this too as an important investment in mental health (my own, in this case).
(4) I continue to shove the seedlings I have reared at home into the ground at every opportunity, now that we've gone from winter to summer here in one swell foop. Two more tomatoes (I've already planted four), my 12 mini basils, my 12 kales, and my 12 Gem marigolds are still waiting.
(5) And a problem may be turning into opportunity for a young neighbor: One of our three tool sheds has developed roof problems, and squirrels are nesting in there. But our neighbors who own Bailey dog (the darling Australian shepherd we used to walk for them pre-COVID) have a daughter who is working her way into management at a local horse farm, and she may be interested in dismantling the shed and taking it for use on the farm. If so, more power to her!
(3)
A. Marie, good for you in having a house cleaning service. My mother had Alzheimer's. I know how much work and worry is involved. I am in awe of all you accomplish on a daily basis.
Yup, my MIL and her pal Al Z, Heimer lived with us for over six years. About a year in, DH suggested housecleaners. Best decision non-frugal decision ever. I miss then now, and hope the restrictions will be lifted soon. It's so awesome to have everything done all at once and it forces me to do the things they don't do, like changing/washing sheets, before they get here.
All the hugs and good wishes to you, A. Marie.
Argh! Should read...Best non-frugal decision ever. I miss them...
I think a housecleaner for someone in your situation is entirely, completely understandable! <3
1. For some reason, I can never throw away old pot holders, (nor remember to throw them in the wash), and just let them get more worn all the time. I found some pretty new ones for a dollar each at a chain store, but they didn't feel very thick. So I slipcovered a layer of denim from old jeans on the back, and am quite pleased to have something bright and new for the kitchen. It was easier than getting fabric, liner, etc., to make completely new ones.
2. Used the old potholders as rags to wipe the floor in the basement where the waterline is dripping. I most un-frugally said to my husband over the weekend that if nothing came up, we would be saving a bit this month. Something came up; waiting for plumber to call. We wrapped the leak in pieces from my husband's stretchy exercise bands that broke. I knew I was saving them for something important.
3. I impatiently waited out all freezes in my midwest area, and timed seed planting for when rains were forecast. Very pleased to have small sprouts coming up! I have trouble watering tiny seedlings without drowning them.
4. Biggest save is that our central AC unit is still working. It wasn't new when we moved into the house 20 years ago. I think it is a fairly efficient model, and we use it sparingly, but heat/humidity yesterday got to us. I also turned ceiling fans to blow "down" instead of "up" for the cooling season, using the little switch on the side of the fixture.
5. Used some Walgreens points today for sale cans of tuna. I decided I don't want to try to play Walgreens against CVS, so have never got the CVS extra-care card and just shop one place. The staff at local Walgreens is friendlier and I can find their clearance shelf more easily.
My first frugal thing has a backstory: I made a curtain for the window in our back door when we moved in to this house. It matches a little table cover that sits on our entertainment center (the TV sticks to it because it's SUUUUUUUUPER cheap but also it will not die the death of cheap furniture).
I have no idea where I got the fabric for, but I suspect it was a remnant. It's this weird coral-colored Greek key fabric and literally nothing else in our house matches it. We've been home for so long now that I cannot stand looking at it anymore.
Joann Fabrics had a sale on home decor fabrics and I had a gift card... My new fabric is on its way, along with a few yards of 1/4" elastic to use up the gift card. I can't WAIT to redecorate and make more masks for under $30!
Other frugal things:
2) Pan-roasted some limp Brussels sprouts that I forgot about... :-/ Also discovered it was NOT a fluke that one time my dog ate one off the floor. Turns out she is secretly a Brusselshunde 😉
3) Revitalized some limp cilantro by sticking it in a glass of water.
4) Picked up and dropped off library books. I'm not sure I've EVER been so thrilled to get a hold notice.
5) I skipped most of the tempting treats at the grocery store this week. I am a comfort-eater that has some habits to change. Resisting grocery store treats is always a huge step for me.
I didn't think I could come up with five today, so I read through all the comments for inspiration. If you notice my replies all over the place, that's why. Thanks for the assist.
1. I always cut DH's hair, but this weekend, he cut mine! I needed a cut before the Shelter In Place started, so it had gotten really, really long. He lopped three inches straight off the back and I feel like a new person!
2. This one is inspired by your #2, Kristen. Our house is a Great Room floor plan, which means our Kid has nowhere to go but his room or the living room. It was wearing on my nerves. We decided to convert a guest room into a hangout space on a shoestring. Since his workplace is shut down (he qualifies for unemployment), we're not charging him rent right now. I decreed he had to pay for whatever went into the "new" room. We found a nice sofa on Craigslist for $150. The cushions had a lot of pilling, but it was a good sturdy brand, made in Oregon. The seller gave it to him for $100. Kid spent at least two hours shaving off every pill with his own pill shaver (looks just like yours). Next thing you know, he has ordered a matching quilted cover for it! Seems he wants to keep it looking nice because the dogs love the new sofa, too. Next, Amazon delivered two side tables, which have hidden cubbies for remotes. He had them assembled and in place in less than an hour. He moved a large monitor from his room and now he hangs out in there all day! (Except for meals and when he's on the treadmill in the garage.) He keeps it neat as a pin and everyone is happier.
2a - Treadmill, which DH got for free and fixed, was slipping, so DH and Kid worked together, taking it apart and adjusting the belt until it was good as new. Love them!
3. Due to the virus, Camp Mustache 2020 was switched to a free virtual event. I missed out on the registration window. I emailed them and asked to be waitlisted. A week before the event, they added a few slots and pinged me. I was able to register, yippee! I got to "see" and hear Vicki Robbins, of YMOYL fame. I also got to speak to a lot of younger women in the breakout sessions. It was great fun to be able to encourage them in their journeys.
Akismet says I talk too much, so hold on for the rest of the list...
4. We're all bored, so any time DH has to go somewhere (he's getting our house ready to paint) I mask and glove up and go along for the ride. He had to go to Harbor Freight. I noticed some kind of outlet store nearby. Turns out it's a place that sells returns, mostly from Costco! I've found some screaming deals on food items ($4 for a pound of fresh, vacuum sealed yeast!), new with tags on cargo pants with zip-off legs for $10.99. (Cargo shorts are DH's favorites for summer workdays.) I also found some great socks for him for $1.50. They feel like they have some wool in them and they're beefy. I bought all three pair they had and DH actually likes them. On a subsequent trip, they were 1.99 each, which was still a screaming deal, so I bought three more. This might hold him until he retires, hooray! It also totally scratches my thrift store itch, since ours are still closed. It's reasonably close to where I grocery shop, so I'm happy to add it to my route. I even called one of my thrift store buddies and told her about it. Oh, and I got high quality white 100% cotton washcloths for $1 each. Of course, I'm going to sew around all four sides before I use them. Thanks, Kristen!
5. I cleaned out all the bathroom cupboards. I dumped all the partial lotion bottles into the biggest one, added a little Almond Extract, a bit of water, and shook it like crazy. It turned out great and I got a full bottle of sweet-smelling lotion, plus more and neater cupboard space. I've never tried this before and it was dead easy. Later that day, the person who runs the Board & Care where my MIL lives called. They're on total lockdown (thank God, no one is sick), so they call when they need things for her. We leave the supplies on the porch and send a text. Because we stock up on basics, and because I'd discovered a few forgotten things when I cleaned out the bathroom cupboards, we had everything on hand. We were able to deliver it the same day by "shopping" at home, for the win.
Whew, I got to five. Yippee!
What is the place called that sells the Costco returns?
They're typically mom & pop operations. They all have different names. Mine is called something like "My General Area" Distributors. Poke around, ask around, check Craigslist, FB or ND, ask google, keep your eyes peeled. If you're in the vicinity of a Costco or two, there very well could be one in your area. It's unlikely that your Costco will even know. My store doesn't buy directly from Costco. I haven't worked it all out yet, but there is a middleman in there doing the actual pickups from Costco. Could be a co-op of some sort or a standard wholesale operation.
Turns out the one I found has been there for a year. Who knew?
1. Cooked beans in the pressure cooker to use less energy.
2. Speaking of beans today ended up being vegetarian: oatmeal for breakfast, beans and rice for lunch and leftover beans and rice over Navajo fry bread, along with cabbage salad.
3. Accepted some pineapples, spinach and kale from a friend's garden.
4. Reusing water bottles and filtering our own water.
5. Some of the oil I fried the Navajo fry bread in was reused from donut making.
We went on a mini fishing/camping overnight vacation about 1 1/2 hours from our home. The only cost was the vehicle gas to get us there & back. We already had the fishing & camping gear needed & took food that was already in our pantry & freezer. We froze bowls of water for the ice for the cooler.
1). We spent the weekend working on our garden. We built new raised beds which cost money. We lined them with the bags that the soil we purchased came in, rather than buying the black garden liner.
2). Watched a movie we already owned, but not everyone had seen for movie night. It was Wonder Woman and my girls loved it!
3). We through summer clothes to see what we really needed before ordering any. I took advantage of the current Lands End sale and paid with gift cards I earned through credit card rewards.
4). Dug up all of the dandelions in our front yard. It looks much better and we did not have to use any chemicals.
5). Used coffee grounds to fertilize our blueberry bushes.
1) Ate at home all week. Restaurants are opening up here and I make do Chinese takeout one day this week but I’m not ready to go in for a sit down meal.
2) Went to Target and got pajamas (finally). Got in and out without buying anything else. Always a win. Didn’t even pause at the dollar area.
3) I started a bunch of seeds and now all my seedlings are in the ground and doing well even though they’ve been torrentially rained on the last couple of days. Lots of direct sow seeds are sprouting too. Yay for almost free veg! Only bought a couple of new seed packets this year so really saved on that.
4) still holding out on a haircut, but gave my husband a buzz.
5) passed on using my $5 off coupon at the dollar store because I didn’t need anything.
Not so frugal - sending my husband and son on a road trip tomorrow but they’ll be camping so not too expensive and husband is taking food we already have.
Not so frugal 2 - putting up deer fence to protect my cheap veg!
Starbucks has a Trenta size. Just saying.
Ohh, nuts. I could have gone bigger!
Next year.
1) Went camping and picked oh, about eleventy-billion mushrooms. DH cooked some, froze some, dehydrated some, shared some with the neighbors, etc. -- free entertainment for sure.
2) Ordered a dress online for work -- immediately felt guilty for spending the money, but it showed up over the weekend, and the print is shockingly ugly, so I'm going to send it back. Actually, "shockingly ugly" doesn't really even begin to describe it.
3) Found 16 oz bags of almonds for $1.99 (to turn into almond butter with the food processor) -- what a screaming deal on this!
4) Took my teen into town to apply for some summer jobs -- that's frugal, right?
5) Spent hours cleaning the spare car for said teenager to drive once the DMV opens back up and bestows the Holy License on him...there may or may not have been an elk in the cargo area last hunting season -- being vegetarian, I get really creeped out by this, but I took one for the team and kept cleaning (teenager cleaned too).
I cannot tell you how amused I was by the elk in the cargo area. Many years ago when I was new to country life, my husband took my Nissan Altima hunting because his truck was out of commission and returned home with a whitetail buck sprawled out in (and spilling out of) he trunk. It was simultaneously amusing and horrifying and really a great indicator of the type of life I had signed up for without knowing it. 🙂
When I was young, I was the hunter in our family. One morning husband was rushing off to work and found a moose head I'd forgotten to unload sitting in the passenger's seat. For years he swore he could still smell it...
1) Sold two things on Etsy, and the things were free to me, so even with sales tax and fees, etc I came out okay.
2) Bought $75.00 worth of cat supplies and decided either those cats are getting jobs LOL or I'm going to check out Chewy and Amazon
3) started a new job and instead of buying junk from their vending machines for lunches purchased frozen dinners. Once I get used to the hours and the work will batch cook on my one day off a week for lunches.
4) Scanning receipts for points, using points for Amazon gift cards.
5) Dutch Brothers screwed up my drink so I got two drinks for the price of one
1. I planted green bean & cucumber seeds in my mini garden.
2. Placed “hold” order on books from the library. They are doing curb side pickup right now & I have sincerely missed my library these last 2.5 months!
3. Thrift stores were finally able to open back up a few days ago, so I dropped off the 2 boxes and 1 garbage bag that I decluttered so far.
4. I finally broke down & ordered a cross-cut shredder from Amazon. It was $50, but the place where I took my items to shred charges by the pound, so I’ll end up saving money in no time. I also take advantage of a local realty company that offers a “Free Shred” day every year, usually in May, but again the Covid-19 virus has delayed that this year.
5. Our niece lives 5 minutes away & regularly sends a meal to us. This week, she gave us steak & lobster, shrimp & pasta Alfredo, with sides. There’s ample leftovers for another meal tonight.
Your so lucky your library is doing curbside pickup! Ours are still shut down completely.
So with you on number 2!!! Our public library is reopening tommorow and it feels like Christmas!
I love these posts! I don't always post as much as I should as I don't think I can come up with 5.....
1. We got a new water meter at our house (free of charge) and along with it a hefty discount!!
2. My in-laws treated us to a new driveway at our camp (even though I had all the $ set aside for it).....my father-in-law wanted it to be easy to just pull his camper in and not sink in the mud. He told us to take our $ and invest it in something else at camp. We let them use our camp any time free of charge....we pay all the taxes and electric bills.
3. Our daughter totaled her car in an accident and we were car shopping. We were a repeat customer at the dealership where we purchased a car for her; they gave us an additional $500 discount.
4. Daughter #1 was getting rid of some brand new cushioned flip flops; they fit me so I got a new pair for this summer!
5. I thought I wanted a temporary greenhouse, but it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be....so I listed it on FB marketplace & it sold within a few hours of listing it.
6. Picking up tomato plants from an older couple in our township who gifted me some last year as well. Was nice that they thought of me again. 🙂
7. Finally got a $50 referral check in mail from car dealership (same one above) that we referred friends to when they purchased their vehicle.
1) Love finding gift cards around. Related to that, I inventoried & tracked all of our gift cards, as we lost money on a restaurant that recently closed. I pre-purchased gift cards at the holidays when they were on a promotion, as it's a place my husband takes the kids for a quick meal when I'm traveling for work. I'm really bummed for the employees, and for losing money. But, now I'm organized on the rest of the gift cards, and we are trying to spend them up!
2) All the meals. All the cooking. Making it work, but it loses some of the fun for sure. Took the kids out for two inexpensive takeout meals over the weekend (froyo & a lunch pickup) vs a dinner takeout, which was much less.
3) I'm getting a reimbursement for office furniture set up, as we are not going back to the office in 2020. I'd previously purchased a standing desk, and will be able to get the money back for that, which is amazing. Same for my husband (we work for the same employer).
4) Sold a few things on eBay, including two high value items ($100 & $65). Most of my sales are tiny, so these were nice wins. Everything I'm listing, I found cleaning & organizing the house, so double wins for decluttering & making a little money.
5) Got an invite for a free virtual running event. Signed up, and realized it comes with a really nice zippered jacket. Plus, fun free event.
My former boss thought it was elitist of Starbucks to give the drink sizes those names. He would just say “medium” to mess with them.
Some were very confused by this ?!!
Same! I never go to Starbucks because I hate coffee, and it's way overpriced. But they've been given free drinks to health care workers lately, so I went for a free limonade. She asked me what size, I gave her the "deer in the headlights" look and answered: "Hmm, the biggest one?! A large I guess"!
1) Checking contractors for our lead abatement. It will not be cheap, but hopefully I will have some options and can chose the most frugal route.
2) I am starting to just buy the same pile of meat, veggies, and grains over and over to serve in the usual combinations. I like to mix it up a bit more, but I'm tired of fighting with my four picky kids.
3) Thank God for audiobooks for me and the kids. I miss the library so much. We continue to rely on our own fairly robust home library and what we download from the library. Even though I want to buy all the books.
4) I'm prepping the house for a home exchange next week. We will decamp to a family home, continuing to social distance. Then when all this is over we will take a frugal trip to California. Just dreaming about it lifts my spirits.
5) I am continuing to work on my dissertation on Saturdays while my husband has the kids. It is not ideal, but I expect this is how I will finish the thing. And at least we are savings millions of dollars on daycare.
It felt a little like the old Bill Murray movie, Groundhog Day for a while, the same day over and over. But the warm weather is letting us get back to the garden and outdoor activities. We haven’t been eating out, not even take out, as it seemed a waste to drive to a place, wait in line, then drive back home with cold food. We plan to eat out when we can sit down and enjoy eating a meal there.
We are so sick of the over hyped virus scare, that was no worse than any other flu season. I know of a couple people who got the COVID, they were sick a couple days and recovered just fine, to include the aunt of a friend of mine who is 94.
We planted tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and a few other vegetables in the garden. Great for eating fresh and canning. I am reading that the situation is driving food prices up. Having a garden becomes an even better investment.
Real estate prices are rebounding in our area as people are escaping the city and looking for sanity in the suburbs and rural areas. Hubby is planning on selling his vacation rental property as it was profitable during the summer months, but not much utilization during the off season and dealing with less than desirable renters that did damage from the city. The Association fees, taxes, utilities, insurance and maintenance costs ate up the rental income. The amount he expects to sell for will be more than twice enough to pay off the mortgage. So we are prepping the house to sell. Stock market is down, so there are some really good value stocks trading at a deep discount.
I am still working from home, and my boys are not happy with helping with the farm work that they missed when they were in school. The online school lessons that the school was giving were a joke. I am not happy and I know that in the fall, there is going to have to be a lot of remedial makeup work necessary to get them caught up. They are eager to be back in school to see their friends. I am definitely eager for them to go back.
My boys got their haircuts by hubby yesterday. He has been doing them for years, so no change in that routine for us, which is a good thing as both are picky about their hair and they both like their hair kept short, which is fine with me. While I understand that teen boys often like to express themselves, thankfully mine aren’t into getting piercings, tattoos or weird hair color.
"We are so sick of the over hyped virus scare, that was no worse than any other flu season." Really? No worse than any other flu season? I couldn't imagine saying that to the children, parents, spouses, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends, etc. of over 100,000 (and still climbing) men and women who have died from covid-19 in just a few short months. I imagine they would beg to differ with that sentiment.
I happen to live in a state that got hit pretty hard with covid-19 and I no longer take anything or anyone...for granted and am thankful daily that I am still alive and relatively healthy....and that I get to enjoy reading Kristen's blog about frugality, sharing and caring.
Are you serious? I bet the families of the 100,00 plus people that have died would beg to differ. That is very insensitive to say with the number of people in this country that have lost loved ones.
Self-centered beyond belief.
* As a health care worker I got a couple free drinks from Starbucks lately
* Spending close to zero on entertainment at the moment. I read very cheaply/free acquired books, I watch Netflix for 10$/month and I play boardgames with the family.
* Biking to work 3 days/week, so I'm saving on gas
* Seeing a therapist through my husband's work help program, up to 8 sessions, saving me more than 1000$
* Doubling the mortgage payment whenever we can afford it, to save tons of interest in the long run
FYI, Trenta is the largest size Starbucks offers.
Yes, another reader pointed that out earlier and now I am kicking myself.
I will rectify my error next birthday. lol
Good frugal week here at our crazy urban “farm.”
1. Spending so much time at home I wanted to add a few things to our “decor.”
I wanted a thin sofa table to put in our gazebo and I found a free low bookcase outside a neighbors house that looks great in the gazebo. $0 spent
2. I wanted a potting table for the back porch for planting and storage. Found a free hutch on FB market that fit the bill perfectly. I did spend $20 for them to deliver it as it was pretty heavy. But still, super cheap.
3. We decided to add a wall of bookcases in our living room. Scored a nice tall one for $20 on FB market. Looking for more.
4. Scored a small metal dog crate from a free pile. One of the things the non profit I work for does is loan out/give away pet equipment. So I’m always on the lookout for free crates and carriers. It’s amazing how many just get thrown away.
5. Cooking from scratch, hanging up laundry, trading extra plants with neighbors, garden is growing well, froze extra milk before it went bad, enjoying a ton of free veggies given to us by a friend that couldn’t use them all, and looking for ways to share what we have.
Hi Kristen,
I’m so glad you discovered the joy of a free Venti! I always get a Venti when it’s a freebie. And I swear it tastes better when it’s free!
Here are my five things:
1. Did my own free haircut! I’m not sure if I’d actually recommend this method (haha) but I managed to trim my own ends.
2. Not even a morsel of takeout! I’m amazed that ever since this pandemic began I haven’t had one single bite of takeout food. Crazy!!
3. Used a cash gift from my Mom (anniversary) to purchase a vacuum cleaner. Not a super exciting gift, but we really REALLY need a new one! Therefore it IS exciting to us.
4. Paying down credit cards that we’d spent more on than usual when we were stocking up on food and supplies.
5. Reining in our food spending! I wasn’t too concerned with how much we spent when the shock of the pandemic first occurred. But now, we’ve set ourselves a challenge this month to spend more carefully. And it feels good!
Do you try to purchase things that are high quality, and, initially more expensive but also more frugal in the end?