Five Frugal Things | I sewed my Vans
It's Tuesday! Time for a fresh set of frugal happenings!
1. I sewed up my Vans
My trusty black pair of Vans was having a splitting problem.
Well, the left shoe was, to be more specific.
So, I took some black thread and sewed up the split.
Will it hold? Time will tell!
But since it took only a few minutes to do, it will be no great loss to me if it splits again in the future.
2. I saved a non-holey sock
I put on a pair of socks the other day and then realized I could feel the tile floor on the bottom of my left foot.
Sure enough, a hole had sprouted.
These are thin socks and I cannot imagine that I would be able to darn them in a way that would be wearable, so I threw the hole-y one out and saved the other good sock in my drawer.
That way, when another sock from this set wears out, I will just have a mix-and-match pair of socks.
And since these socks are pretty much invisible once I have my Vans on, no one will be the wiser.
3. I used every bit of my CVS Carepass
(Carepass is a CVS program; I pay $4/month and get a $10 credit to use each month. So it's basically a free $6, but you do have to use the whole $10 at once.)
I needed some saline solution for my contacts, so I bought a big pack at CVS. It didn't quite add up to $10, though, so I picked up a peppermint patty for myself and some Reese's peanut butter cups for Zoe.
Might as well eke out every dollar. 😉
4. I used a Panera gift card
I needed to kill a few hours while waiting for Zoe to be done with a class, and I remembered that my Panera account had the remains of a gift card on it.
So, I got a sandwich (Mediterranean veggie is my favorite!) and a coffee and spent several hours doing some serious studying for Thursday's exam.
And it only cost me $1.36 out of pocket.
5. I did some free gift-wrapping
I bought some Hello Kitty pins for Lisey's birthday (she has loved Hello Kitty since she was very small!)
To wrap them, I used a black box that I'd saved from a previous gift and I tied it with a ribbon I saved from who-knows-what.
I hate throwing ribbons away, so I always have a jar full of ribbons on hand, and I find that they do come in handy sometimes!
(Remember how I repurposed some packaging ribbons when I made a fish dress for Zoe?)
Have tried to be frugal. This week soup has been made form leftover bones. My shopping list was very carefully crafted but it cost so very much. Oh well. Just keep on swimming. The television has died and I have persuaded mum to wait a bit before replacing it. It was my tv but I hardly ever had a chance to use it. My son-in-law is very geeky and I want to talk with him about the replacement. Have tried to sew some gifts but ended up breaking two machine needles in the process. I am taking a break. Lastly I have bought books for my granddaughters for Easter.
Kristen, I used to toss our sock singles in the trash, along with my husband's worn out work shirts, our old underwear and clothing that was too stained to donate. Then I discovered textile recycling - all fabric, clothing, shoes, linens, and textiles can be recycled this way, regardless of condition. Our county recycling center has a drop box on site specifically for textile recycling and accepts all fabrics (torn, worn, stained, missing buttons, broken zippers, shoe without mate, etc) as long as they are clean, dry, and odorless. I've even removed the covers from old pillows (they take up so much landfill space!) and bagged the contents to recycle. If you search online for textile recycling near where you live, you may come up with a viable option. P.S. We have a special section of my husband's sock drawer set aside for singletons that can be called into future service!
Oh, that's a good idea! I'll see what's available around here.
@Mary ~ Reflections Around the Campfire, for unusable textiles like that another option is to buy or make an unstuffed ottoman or pouf cover. You can stuff it with old t-shirts, socks, ripped pillow cases, etc.
@Mary ~ Reflections Around the Campfire, as Sharon I also would like to suggest finding other uses at home for clothing that can no longer be worn. Textile recycling are offered in several countries now, but the process of recycling clothes are difficult (think buttons, zippers, poor quality syntetics) and often the clothes are discarded after a roundtrip through different sortings (often beeing sent from country to country in the process). End result is often enormous clothing dumps in third world countries. There is a lot of (depressing) information on this problem if one wish to read more about it, but my meaning of this very long comment is that it’s probably better to find a usage for worn out clothing at our own homes.
I cut up cotton clothing for wiping up messes there the cloth need to be tossed afterwards, ex. cleaning the toilet. Personally I compost them since I have a garden. Old sheets is turned to rags in the kitchen, take up no place in the washing machine. Socks with holes is excellent for putting over your hand and dusting. Can be used two times by turning it inside out 😉
If one doesn’t sew, hear on your local Buy Nothing group if there is any quilters, weavers or others that can use it.
Thank you for coming to my TED talk!
@G from Northern Norway, One of my favorite memories is sitting down on a Sunday night, watching "Hans Christian Andersen" the Disney movie on TV, and Mom handing me and my sister sheets to rip up. We didn't ask why--we just tore them to ribbons.
Later I found out Mom used them to stuff the handmade Raggedy Ann dolls she made for us for Christmas. The sheets were unwanted extras from my great-grandmother's linen service (we used others as our daily sheets--my grandmother rented rooms) and now I could cry at the waste, because those were the kind of sheets you can't get any more. Heavy and thick and soft. Oh well!
@Rose, what a lovely memory! And I would think that the sheets gave such more joy as Raggedy Ann dolls 🙂 But I do a little mental happy dance when I find them at fleemarkets, they make the best kitchen cloths!
1. Our medical insurance reimbursed us for at home Covid tests I bought. It took a while but I was able to submit the claim online and we just received a check.
2. I gave my husband a haircut. He keeps it short so most of the work is done using clippers. It saves him time and money.
3. I am continuing to push myself to walk and/or batch errands. I am keeping my hybrid vehicle on the ECON setting.
4. A friend told me about a place called SCRAP B-More, in Baltimore, where she was able to pick up yarn for a very good price. It is a place that basically re-homes craft supplies. I may check it out someday but right now I don't need (or want) and craft supplies.
5. We're working on planning a family reunion that will involve travel to New England. It has been held in the summer in the past but we're considering fall for better weather, smaller crowds and potentially lower costs.
@K D, Keep in mind that many people (we did) go up there on purpose to see the fall foliage. It is spectacular you matter where you go. Hotels may or may not be less expensive. Call around in advance for prices.
@Barb F., Speaking as someone who lives in New England, maybe I'm spoiled but the word spectacular isn't what comes to mind most of the time. 😉
@K D,
I am a volunteer at Scrap B-More! It's referred to as a creative reuse center and everything sold is donated materials. It's wonderful because products stay out of the landfill, prices are great and you never know what you'll find.
There are also locations in Portland, Ann Arbor, MI and Richmond, VA for anyone interested.
1. Using up the last of some body butters from when I was sucked into a pyramid scheme in my twenties. The body butters are almost 20 years old at this point and the oils are separating, but they still work to moisturize my feet after being stirred up.
2. Cut a tiny bit of mold off the leftover cherry cake which we forgot about, then toasted it and ate it buttered for breakfast. (It was more like banana bread than cake.)
3. Ate up every bit of the leftovers in the fridge by bringing them to work for lunch, toasting them for breakfast and air frying them for either lunch or dinner. Sometimes the way you prepare leftovers can make them much more palatable.
4. Reused herbal tea bags and lemon slices to make my morning water a bit flavored.
5. Decided to grocery shop every other week to see if it will help curb my spending-time will tell.
6. Ordered new bathing suits for the family online and made sure to buy the ones that were on sale. It was still expensive, but we haven't gone swimming in two years, so I wanted nice suits that fit.
7. Chopped and dropped prunings and weeds instead of buying mulch for my garden.
@Becca, I’m so impressed that you’ve held onto those body butters to keep using them!
@mkmitch,
Maybe don't be? It's more like I never got around to throwing them out. They've been collecting dust on a high shelf in my bathroom for at least eleven years now. I want to renovate this bathroom, so step one is get rid of all the crap in it, so I'm trying to use up what I can of these cosmetic relics from my younger, fancier days.
Hi all! You can recycle clothes at H&M and they'll also give you a coupon for recycling.
1. I filled my gas tank up while at Costco - I believe the price was $3.44/gallon. I have been filling up more regularly so that I don’t have to buy a whole tank at once especially if I am out running errands.
2. I bought two pork shoulder roasts while they were on sale for $1.99/lb. These are in our freezer and will provide many meals for our family for a small price tag.
3. I needed a new nightgown so I combined a gift card and a sale to save money ordering one from Soma.
4. I kept the HVAC off for 4 out of 7 days last week to keep electric costs down.
5. I used a coupon from Kroger to save $7 off of our grocery order.
@Angie,
If you started a club for people who buy pork shoulder when it was on sale I would join. We have about 8 recipes for pork shoulder that we love for the excellent flavor and the excellent prices you can often get on the meat.
@Rebekah in SoCal,
Please share your recipes!
@Beth K,
Here is a Youtube video of a recent favorite: Carnitas by ATK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0c8hqw0YC8
During my last road trip my GPS unit started acting wonky, so after I returned home I tried downloading the latest updates to it. Well, no luck - still wonky. I have another trip planned in a couple of weeks so I bit the bullet and bought a new one.
I figured out which model I wanted, then shopped around. The prices ranged from $99 to $149. The $99 was local, so I could pick it up for free!
When checked out, I found I had reward dollars from a couple of recent major purchases (a dishwasher and my new laptop). After applying the rewards, it cost $64!
What a deal! Other than that and eating at home, I got nothin' - LOL!
@Ruth, sheesh, this is pretty sweet!
@Ruth, does your cell phone plan have maps that use location services? If so, you wouldn't need a separate GPS unit.
Kristen - I would also put Fray Check on your Vans. My grandmother showed me that stuff 40 (?) years ago and it comes in handy for holes. Or I would also give fabric glue a try as well. My family can contest that I darn socks all the time. Socks do not hold up anymore. And what I mean by that is adult farm boys in boots. I'm constantly fixing heels and toes. But there comes a point when you just have to throw a sock away. 🙂 I would not use Fray Check on socks, but Fray Check works great on jeans and other fabrics that fray easily.
@Ohio Farmwife,
Check out Darn Tough socks. They are made in Vermont and have a life time guarantee. They are pricy,but the company stands buy them. I received first pair as a gift
and wore them out and they replace them. They keep ones piggy’s cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Many styles and patterns to choose from.
@Julie, we love Darn Tough!
@Julie,
Thank you for the suggestion. I will check them out.
April is all about the frugal for me, ironically as I need to spend $600 on getting the sprinkler system up and running. Because letting all of my grass and landscaping die is not frugal in the long run...
I bought a cute tote at Goodwill with leather handles that required a little hand sewing on the handles once I washed it. You can barely tell and this tote was perfect for me at $5.49.
I'm eating out of my freezer for most meals this week - this came about as I realized I was out of freezer containers...hmmm...where did they all go? Oh, yeah. The freezer.
No extra trips in my car anywhere this week - just work and back - and no using the truck until I go to check on our property in 2 weeks. Joy trips are way to expensive at the moment.
I replaced the wiper blades (myself!) on the truck to the tune of $80 which hurt, but I get a $15 Autozone rebate card which I will send to my college kid for upkeep on his '02 Baja.
I made a HUGE batch of pancakes using up some about to be expired Bisquick and a can of pumpkin and then I froze them in individual stacks so now I can have pancakes on the odd work morning. (:
That's it for now, but frugal thinking is going to be second nature for me now as my income was greatly reduced when Hubby died. Secondary loss. ):
@gina,
Thanks for the pancake idea! I'm definitely going to do that as there are often days when I think, "a pancake or two would be good..." but I don't want to make them then!
@gina, I’m so very sorry for your loss.
We are going to be eating whatever is in the refrigerator/freezer this week in order to clean everything out. We are moving in 2 weeks and need to get eat what we have rather than throw it out. Whatever canned goods we have, will be donated as this is a long distance move and we don't want to bring that stuff with us if we don't have to.
Sold hubby's car to a dealer -- no questions asked. Another thing we don't want to take along with us. He is retiring and I work from home, so we technically don't need 2 cars until he finds a job after we move. Since he did that yesterday, I have to call the insurance today and remove that car.
Hubby has been rolling all my coins on his days off so I can deposit those and start a new collection after we move. Plus I have some cash on hand for items I sold lately that needs to be deposited.
As we are packing stuff up, we are also donating so that we don't have to take the items with us. And someone can benefit from us. And recycling where necessary.
1. Came in under budget on groceries for the second week in a row. Unfortunately, this was helped along by the store being out of some items we routinely purchase, so this week we're filling in from the pantry and freezer.
2. A few weeks ago I rescued 14 meals delivered to the office that no one wanted. They all featured plain roasted chicken, which was a little dry but tasty. I put them in the freezer at our house, and this weekend I deconstructed some of them to make a yummy creamy mushroom chicken casserole for my work lunches this week. Also turned some strawberries my husband wanted and then didn't eat into baked strawberry oatmeal for breakfast.
3. Bought two cute cotton summer nightgowns -- one from Poshmark and one from eBay -- both new without tags. This continues 16 months of thrifting/secondhand for clothes. My summer PJs are worn out, so this was a needed purchase.
4. Bought a reference book used from Thriftbooks for just a few dollars.
5. Had some leftover cherry tomatoes and a bit of leftover sweet yellow onion. Diced them up and made a garnish to put on top of homemade hamburgers. It was delicious and worked so much better than a big, cold, sloppy slice of tomato and onion on a hot burger. The little bit of garnish leftover the next day was awesome on a cheese sandwich as well.
I made two mutton-dressed-as-lamb dresses into skirts. They were adorable dresses with pretty prints, but I'm too old to wear them as is.
Bought an antique necklace at a bargain price. Will either sell it at full price or trade with an antique dealer for something I really want.
Ordered grocery delivery from a farther-away store. Even with tip and delivery, it's cheaper than buying from the local store.
Made an old bowling shirt, which I remember thrifting back in the 80s, into a cushion for BFF. I generally loathe T-shirt quilts or printed T shirts made into cushions, but this turned out cute. I also painted a welcome sign for her new house using some scrap wood and the thousands of gallons of paint always around the house.
@Rose, what is "mutton-dressed-as-lamb"? I'm just curious, since I have never heard of that.
All of my children seem to have ripped holes in the knees of their pants and outgrown shoes at the same time, and also a new sport (track) has started for the eldest, which inevitably means some things must be purchased (shoes and running shorts), so I feel like all I did last weekend was shop online. But!
--I got most of the clothing on swap. com. Which is not as cheap as it used to be, but is still significantly cheaper than new anywhere.
--Padding the eldest's dinners with extra potatoes, beans, and bread, since he is growing again, is running track, and is ravenous all the time. Luckily, I have something like 50 pounds of dried beans in the pantry--mostly given to us--and he loves beans. 🙂
--Figured out a somewhat complicated but workable progress of events so we can get to the dump (12 miles away) and I can drive home from a teacher in-service day (I usually ride on the bus with my husband the bus driver and all my children) with only one trip to and from the village in our own vehicle.
--Lots of creative re-combinations of leftovers in the last week or so, both because I've been working more and have less time to cook, and also because I need to use up the leftovers so they don't go to waste.
--Many seeds planted/plants growing under lights indoors right now.
--We started sheep shearing. We can't find a shearer anymore, so we kind of have to do it ourselves, which does save some money. But if you've ever sheared a sheep (or helped someone who is), $10-$20 per sheep for a professional to do it seems like a bargain. That is some HARD labor, especially on the seriously woolly breed we have. My husband wants to see if the wool mill in the southern part of the state will take small amounts of fleece to make into yarn, and then he can sell that this year rather than trying to sell raw fleece to hand spinners. The yarn should be more profitable, and also a lot easier to ship.
@kristin @ going country, I should suggest that to my friend who bought a small farm which came with a small herd of alpaca. He doesn't do anything with the fleece, despite my dropping a lot of hints, ha, about my daughter's spinning.
Having grabbed both sheep and alpacas in my time, no way could I shear either myself. They are STRONG.
@kristin @ going country, and @Rose, DH and I have friends who at one time had a herd of 16 llamas. They **had** to have professional help with the shearing, because llamas are bigger than either sheep or alpacas. And, kristin, at least sheep don't spit!
@kristin @ going country, I got my degree in Animal Science and one of the class requirements had me learn to sheer sheep! We got extra points if we could do it all in one piece (easier said than done). You are quite right, it's a lot tougher than it looks! Those guys are heavy! And they all outweigh me so my classmates always got a kick out of watching me flip them over. Luckily, they usually let me do the smallest ones (still well over 100 lbs each).
@A. Marie, My husband has me and the two older boys to help hold the sheep, although most of them are pretty quiet once they're flipped on their backs. Still, when a 200-pound sheep starts struggling, it definitely takes effort to keep it down. I am very glad they don't spit.
Rose, My over-six-foot, 200-pound husband doesn't have so much trouble with catching and flipping the sheep, but bending over for that long is terrible on the back. And he uses hand shears, which means blisters and sore hands.
@Morgan, That's funny. My sister is a vet, and I think the large-animal portions of her schooling convinced her that she was definitely going to only deal with dogs and cats when she graduated.
What a wonderful thing it is that your hungriest household member likes beans!!
@kristin @ going country, We had Babydoll Southdowns, a miniature sheep breed. They were so small they could run under the legs of my Irish wolfhounds. As small as they were, our one feeble attempt at shearing ended within minutes. That is hard work!! We were lucky enough to find someone to do them, and felt lucky even though it cost us $50 per sheep.
When I saw your shoe repair, I thought I should share this tip:
I keep embroidery floss in my vehicles and travel bag along with a heavy duty needle. I have repaired shoes, backpacks, belts, duffle bags, tents, even seatbelts with it. I find it to be sturdier than regular thread and it is six strands so it can be separated for delicate weaves or used in in multiple strands for heavy duty jobs. Oh, and embroidery floss is super cheap and comes in a multitude of colors and no bulky spool so it takes up little space.
@Bobi, I've used dental floss as a substitute for white button-and-carpet thread in repairing shoes and clothes. Works quite well, especially my preferred brand (Glide).
@A. Marie, I've never sewn with dental floss, but held taut, it it does a great job cutting cakes and cheesecakes! 😉
@A. Marie, I sewed up so many holes in my son's white sneakers with dental floss when he was little. It worked great.
@A. Marie, Another dental floss seamstress here!
I'm not sure I've done anything particularly frugal this week, but I haven't spent much money so...there's that. I used my REI dividend to buy a few items to replace some worn out sports wear. I have an REI mastercard as my only credit card, so I end up with a nice dividend and that, accompanied by a 20% off one item coupon led to 3 new bike/golf shirts, a great pair of joggers and a new mid-zip long sleeved black shirt because the one I love so much is getting thin.
Other than that...we've eaten at home, walked the golf course (no cart fees!), my vegetable seedlings are coming along nicely for this year's garden and I discovered a free, awesome meditation channel on YouTube. Soooo, all in all a good low-money week!
I also love the Veggie Delight sandwich at Panera! Yum. Ironically, one of my frugal five is also about Panera! 🙂
1) My husband & I planned a lunch date out, as part of our last week of working from home. It turned out to be a gorgeous day, so we instead ordered Panera delivery (there was a coupon code, that made it cheaper than pickup) & ate by the pool. I had a gift card, so it was free to us. We even had a half opened bottle of champagne (there are sealers that help the 1/2 opened bottles last for a week or so), & each had a glass. It was so much fun, and pretty frugal!
2) I used grocery store rewards to pick up a few things we needed for a recipe.
3) Used a Subway gift card to pick up lunch for the boys, who were reffing soccer games this weekend.
4) I needed a couple of packages of Top Ramen (just the noodles) for a chicken yakisoba recipe I was making this weekend. You don't use the spice package. The roast beef flavor (?!) was $.10 cheaper than the more standard flavors. Done!
5) I sold an item on eBay, for the first time in a month or so. Used recycled packaging to mail it.
I can attest that Fray Check works well, as mentioned by Ohio Farmwife. I discovered it worked for the ends of the kids' pointe shoe ribbon ties, and I've used it ever since.
1. After pulling several bags of bones out when I defrosted my freezer, I cooked five quarts of broth in two slow cookers. I froze some and canned some. I don't know why I never thought to can it till now.
2. I did a batch prep session again this weekend. I used my oven to bake meatballs and cassava biscuits at the same time and used my processor to chop veggies for the meatballs (AIP recipes usually add veggies to meatballs and loaves), tuna salad, and the sweet potato salad all in one session. I used my steamer to steam sweet potato, carrots, garlic and onions all at once, as they were all going to join canned beets in a new batch of no-mato sauce. I made a double batch of the sauce and froze half of it.
3. I think I mentioned I got a $100 gift card for doing a big survey. I used it on groceries, paying $10.78 out of pocket.
4. I found a package of frozen organ meat pieces, mostly bits of liver from a local farm, in my freezer when I cleaned it. It's designed for pets, not people, and I'd forgotten about it. I spread it out on two trays of the dehydrator to turn it into jerky treats for the dog.
5. I bundled errands to save what I can on gas this weekend.
@JD, Having pressure-canned broth on hand is my favorite. Takes awhile in the pressure canner, but definitely worth being able to just open it up and use it without thinking far enough ahead to thaw it. I usually make so much at a time that I reduce the broth by half and then can it, which means I then have concentrated stock (which tastes better) and only use half the number of lids.
@kristin @ going country,
I'm definitely going to start canning it a lot - it takes a long time to thaw from the freezer. I'll try your idea of reducing it, too.
@JD, Does nail polish work as a fray-stopper?
I am recalling some panty hose with globs of clear polish to halt runs.
@Heidi Louise,
Clear nail polish didn't work well for me to stop fraying because it peeled off easily and was hard to coat the ends of ribbons well without creating blobs. I use it on runs, though.
1. I matched up a $25 coupon and a sale at a local clothing store to walk away with a $1.50 sweater.
2. I opted to only work from the office one day this week. A good part of my team is traveling this week so those of us still in the office decided to meet virtually if needed.
3. I'm still working my way through a freezer clean out - I was home alone for one night last weekend and instead of splurging on my favorite take out I found a meal that I could pop in the air fryer.
4. I'm working on a crochet project that is primarily from my yarn stash (using up all the blues) and realized I do need a little extra yarn. I found the store that had a sale on the yarn I needed and picked up just what I will need. Resisting buying extra yarn is always hard.
5. I needed to order a few home items from Amazon but I opted for delayed delivery so that I could get credits for my Kindle. I usually match these credits up with Kindle book deals and I can sometimes get books for free!
FFT, Errand-Batching Encore Edition:
(1) Batched errands like a boss on Saturday, starting with the Freihofer bread outlet store. Got the usual four loaves of Arnold 12-grain for $6 there.
(2) Next stop was a Sunoco gas station, unfortunately. But at least this station is just beyond the city limits, so the gas was 5 cents cheaper a gallon there because of no city tax. It was also on the way from stop 1 to stop 3.
(3) After this came the Thrifty Shopper outlet, where I found a Chicos shirt for $1 and a brand-new T-Fal Comfort 12" frying pan for $1.29/lb. (it came to about $2.50). I really did need the pan (my old one just bit the dust), and there was nothing wrong with it that ordinary soap and water didn't take care of.
(4) Last stop was Price Chopper, where I found several deals on Reduced for Quick Sale poultry sausages, plus a package of bacon that was marked down only because the packaging was smushed.
(5) And yesterday I made a soup with some of the sausages, plus a can of kidney beans past its best-by date, a can of corn approaching its BBD, and homemade chicken stock from the freezer.
@A. Marie, I love your themed FFTs!
I am 50 and have loved HELLO KITTY! since fifth grade.
Hi Kristen - If you want to make the repair on the Van's sneaker stronger, there's a product called Fray Check. It will prevent raveling from stress put on your repair. I use it on repairs all the time. Doesn't take much, a drop or two. A little goes a long way. A thin coating dries in minutes.
Here's our frugalness for the week. I did extra to make up for the non-frugal car repair the week before ($1033...ugh...but necessary).
1. Our Keurig stopped working. I watched some YouTube videos, took it apart and fixed the problem. Works like a charm again.
2. Saved .04 cents a gallon on gas at one station by using their rewards card and signed up to save .09 a gallon at another.
3. Emptied and arranged pantry items by expiration date to avoid spoilage. I'm proud to say there were only a couple of items left from 2021...and I actually used them to make black bean chicken soup with sliced pineapple on the side (weird combo, but oh well).
4. I went to breakfast with a girlfriend and someone anonymously paid our bill with a message to pass it on. I will definitely do that the next time we get together. I so wanted to thank them!!
5. Every employee where I work received four boxes of COVID test kits to take home.
6. The grocery store had frozen Cornish game hens marked 50% off. I bought them all.
7. Made an appointment to dispute our assessment that went up 63%. Have been taking pictures and doing research on comparables and market trends in preparation.
8. I purchased some lovely, soft silk chiffon from a designer fabric recycling company for a fraction of the price it would sell for non-designer stock. I have been looking for this kind of fabric to make a summery duster dressy enough wear out on date night and wear to work. I found the pattern about a year ago and the fabric hunt began. I'll start it after Easter.
I actually do have a bottle of FrayCheck. I should dig that out and use it.
No one has to be the wiser but my daughter seems to have made it her fashion statement to wear mismatched socks. Kids!
1.) I returned some items that I didn't like, didn't fit my wife or just weren't needed. My wife isn't the best at returning things so I did it.
2.) Used HSA money for a medical device my wife needed. I also combined my two HSA bank accounts into one after one decided to start charging a fee just for having the account. We no longer have a HDHP but never used the cash in our HSA so we're saving it for needs like this which arise.
3.) Found a ham in the bottom of the chest freezer and cooked that and shared some with my dad and brother. We also will have leftovers for days!
4.) Found an OXO Pop storage container at Goodwill for all of $2. It is the older style and doesn't have the little holder on the bottom of the lid but otherwise it's a good container. I am using it to store my rice. Sadly it won't fit a whole 5lb bag of brown rice but you what can; I guess. It beats having the bag clipped shut in the cupboard, I guess.
5.) Overtime ... so much overtime. ~_~;
@Battra92, Kudos to your daughter! That particular fashion statement has never worked for me so I'm a bit jealous.
@Battra92, Back in the 80s I wore mismatched Chucks all the time. My favorite combo was one camo (ROCK THE CASBAH) and one gold lame. I got the idea from the drummer for Blondie who wore one white and one black.
Now I kinda want to do that again. Hmmm.....
@Bobi, She just loses her socks all the time because she won't put them in the hamper so it's either that or have cold feet.
@Battra92, I recently went to a different state while looking for houses. And on a very busy morning couldn’t find to matching socks in my luggage. So I just grabbed two and of course that was the day we went to an open house and the requested no shoes inside. My husband had a good laugh.
1. Made homemade pumpkin soup using frozen puree from Halloween pumpkin.
2. Jazzed up said soup by mixing in brown rice and a homemade garlicky sun-dried tomato vinaigrette.
3. Stayed at a cabin on Lake Superior and saved money by making most of our own meals. When we did go out, I saved half of each meal to eat the next day and one time we ordered appetizers instead of entrees.
4. Continue to save vegetable scraps in a quart-sized jar in the freezer before making 6 quarts of vegetable broth and then freezing for future use.
5. Instead of buying dog treats, we use dried kibble. Cheaper and less packaging waste.
Didn’t throw away money on ordering carry out. Got off my butt and made my own pizza crust for multiple meals. There was a temping two for one deal but why spend money I don’t have?
Too funny that your sock happened to be on your left foot when it busted, in line with your left shoe!
Frugal win:
- Last night my husband had a work dinner so kids and I had soccer practice right at dinner time - I debated grabbing takeout or something at the grocery, but ended up finding beef stew, broccoli, and Costco baguettes in my freezer that we enjoyed for dinner.
Frugal loss:
- I just finished updating budget for the month and yikes, we have not been excellent at frugal dinners this month - lots of eating out. At least our grocery bill has been low to offset the expensive eating out.
Frugal win:
- My husband had free tickets and free parking from a work associate for a professional sporting event last week, and we took our 10 year old and one of his BFFs - it was SO fun getting to see them cheer on their team.
Frugal loss:
- We thought the tickets included dinner (the last time my husband went with the guy who gave him these tix, it was included) so we planned to eat there … but it turned out these didn’t. Not the end of the world, but WOW stadium food is expensive. Would have planned differently had we known - but if we get tickets from his associate again, we’ll know!
Frugal win:
- I’m on year two of re-landscaping our backyard mostly on my own. I just finished transferring garden soil from my old veggie garden boxes into my new one (and man, garden soil is $$ so this felt like a huge win!) and I reused some plastic sheeting to solarize the soil and kill remnant lettuce and zinnia and weed seeds so I can start fresh.
- Another frugal win - we had friends over for dinner this weekend and it was glorious looking around the yard I’ve been working hard on and seeing our friends enjoy time together in it. I see the frugal connection as a) it’s cheaper to get together at home than out, and b) I’m glad we’re able to enjoy the thing I’ve put a lot of money and effort into.
I know, right? I was having left foot issues this week, I guess!
A JAR!! I have Willy nilly ribbons! A jar is brilliant! Why didn’t I think of that!?Thanks!!
Yes! An empty glass candle jar works super well.
I found out about the "carepass" from CVS when you mentioned it on here. It cost $5 per month in Alabama but I have saved a lot since it is stackable with other CVS deals. Also I get my RXs mailed to me for free and as I don't drive its a wonderful benefit.
1. We’re continuing renovating the two rooms at home so money is flowing out, but we got ourselves to the hardware store and bought floors and paint before the announced pricerise on Friday.
2. Our car is at the repair shop and the insurance doesn’t cover rental car in this case. Two first weekends we could borrow a car from the repair shop and last Saturday my partner borrowed a car from work so we could get to the hardware store. Hopefully we’ll get the car back this week.
3. Since I don’t sew as much as I used to, I’m taking the smallest room we’re renovating for my new sewingroom. This means new furniture as my old ones won’t fit. Found two shelves and two tables on fb marketplace for $20. Will use leftover paint to sprouce them up.
4. A Norwegian app you could compare to Ebay had an offer of free shipping on Sunday. Tok advantage and posted a bunch of things. Made some really good sales and bought some things from the wishlist.
5. Home alone this week so are eating out of the freezer and spending my time decluttering and listing tings for sale. Not much fun, but thanks to a free trail I have Veronica Mars keeping me company in the background.
I gave my husband a haircut.
We borrowed a friends staple gun instead of buying one right now.
We are waiting to fix the heater until we eliminate the rats which caused the heater damage.
I carpooled into town with a friend.
I bought a pork shoulder (pork butt) roast when they were on sale for $1.99/pound and made chili verde.
I have a few things to report:
1. I started a weight loss journey with the girls at work. One day I noticed a stationary exercise bike in our work basement that a former supervisor left there. I texted that supervisor to ask her if she remembered it was there. She said at one time they were going to have a mini gym at work and she donated it. She said anyone could have it, so I asked to have it and she said yes. Now I have 2 exercise machines to use at home (for when the weather is crappy outside).
2. I was ordering some senior photos online and the prices were awful. I ordered 2-5x7 photos. I was sent a survey about my experience. I voiced my opinion about them being too pricey and the company sent me a code for a free 8x10 which is originally all i wanted, but didn't want to pay $58 for one photo.
3. Hubby and I both needed haircuts and went together and each were able to use a coupon towards our cuts, saving us $11.
4. I wanted to get a "read id" for our state, but needed my original marriage certificate (which I think our pastor kept and just gave us the church copy). We need an original to prove our name change in our state so I ordered one from the court house. I noticed 3 months later that I didn't get it yet. I called the courthouse and they said they mailed it out. I advised I hadn't received it, so the clerk mailed me another copy promptly.
5. Our local food pantry operates out of a room in my work building. They had a lot of bread that wasn't going to be handed out and offered some to me. I got a free loaf of bread, 2 kinds of bagels and a package of English muffins. I threw the bagels in the freezer for later consumption.
1. used up the last bit of a head of lettuce and ended up with a decent-sized salad for myself
2. saved the plastic bag from the above lettuce for re-use
3. decided that gardening will be my new hobby. I need a hobby that is inexpensive and close to home. Planning on growing flowers and some vegetables.
4. my husband has become interested in vegan recipes. we have a new one to try this weekend.
LOVED the post on Zoe's dress!
Semi-frugal edition
1. Made a reservation for a cute house for a wedding we will be travelling to PA for- 17 hour drive! Has a small kitchen, so we will do non- wedding meals there.
2. Have been looking at "Ripskirts" online for the longest time- but cannot spend the 65.00- found one at Goodwill for 4.98!
3. Meeting my sister and niece for dinner- priceless
4. Brought the last of my paperwork to new 2nd job- trying to make some extra cash for above travel and our 30th anniversary trip
5. Paid off a small personal loan- we will be non- mortgage debt free by 01/2023!
1. Gas went down about 10 cents a gallon so I used my fuel points to save 40 cents a gallon and filled up my car.
2. I found great produce clearance at Kroger and bought three of the 99 cent bags. I got 5 large tomatoes, 6 pears and 6 apples. With tax, I paid $3.17.
3. I found 80 cents this week.
4. I picked up a discarded receipt while at Kroger. I scanned it on Fetch and got 3,489 points!
5. I also scanned my produce receipt and got 25 points. I also did the survey on my receipt and earned 50 fuel points.
Stitch witch(sp? One word?) on your sewing might help it last longer. Fray check is another one. Can get at JoAnn's and probably Amazon. Maybe Hobby Lobby.
Any advice on how to clean suede vans (pink stained from demin)? Thanks! Pam
Boy, I'm not sure about how to do that! I'd google "how to clean suede shoes" to see if I could find a blog post about it.
1. I made a loaf of banana nut bread with 4 brown bananas.
2. Paid $1000 extra to our mortgage principal this month.
3. Hubby and I picked up 10 pallets that were listed on Craigslist for free. Hubby then dismantled them. We will be building raised garden beds with them.
4. My neighbor gave me a cabbage that she wasn't going to use. It became coleslaw and I gave some back to my neighbor.
5. I bought the 2 pound boxes of pasta at Walmart because they were cheaper per pound then the 1 0r 3 pound boxes.
I need to practice frugal habits more diligently. This season of my life has been exhausting, and I've lagged in frugal ways. Let's see what I find:
1. (sorta win) Cooking at home. For the first time in too long, we made all of our meals at home. In order to do this we have been using the cheapest meal service we can find for 3 of our dinners each week. Each dinner is cheaper than eating out with our family, but still more expensive than me doing the shopping. We've used the time with our meal service to stockpile proteins (we've had trouble finding chicken lately) so that when we stop, we have the resources to quickly pull a meal together.
2. Celebrated a made-up family holiday reusing supplies from previous years.
3. Have been eating bananas to deal with exhaustion. I had been to the doctor several times trying to identify the source of fatigue, with no luck. Over the course of a few days, I kept craving them (I generally strongly dislike them) and I found I felt better after eating them. So cheap bananas is my medicine to help fight fatigue.
4. Errand batching, making my own bread, packing lunches, etc.
@Kaitlin,
Maybe you are deficient in potassium or iron? I used to get terrible Charley horses when I was pregnant and eating bananas really helped. I was also really tired, but thought it was normal and couldn't stop crunching ice. I found out later I was anemic (ice craving is a form of pica) and also low in potassium. I took an iron supplement for the anemia, but bananas did the trick for the potassium.
1. The couple who sold us our house received a package at our address. When a friend of the sellers came by to pick it up, they offered to give us a glider they no longer wanted– I guess they heard from the sellers that we have a new baby? Anyway, they even delivered it to us. So random and kind!
2. Received a check for $77 from a class-action lawsuit involving flights to Asia many years ago.
3. I had a pap smear which will result in $50 on a flexible spending debit card after insurance processing. I love being rewarded for preventive, healthy behaviors.
4. Received a free pound of produce and a free milkshake through the local gas station rewards program, no purchase necessary.
5. Continue to consolidate errands to the big box stores on the other side of town. After returning a few more duplicate baby items, have about $30 store credit at both JC Penney and Kohls which we will use eventually.
6. Among all our baby hand-me-downs, we especially like an extra large bib by a well-known maker. After checking the website, I was able to buy three on eBay for about ⅓ the cost. I enjoy finding things secondhand, especially when the cost is so much better.
Made homemade ravioli
Made banana bread, banana cake, banana pancakes, and banana chips with a big bag of clearance bananas
Used a coupon at Redbox to watch the new paw patrol movie with the boys for only 75 cents.
Trimmed the ends of my hair at home instead of going to the salon.
Had my parents over for dinner and I really wanted to buy a cake at Costco for dessert, had it in the cart, but put it back and made one from scratch at home instead.
1. I sauteed some leftover vegetables (sweet potatoes and spinach), added some mushrooms, and a fried egg on top for my lunches all week.
2. I used some leftover Cheerios and dried fruit to make granola. It came out great.
3. My family and I participated in a study this weekend. It was 2.5 hours long and they paid us $250. They also gave us snacks, drinks, and the kids got a prize.
4. I quit drinking coffee. I make my coffee at home, so this isn't a huge expense. But, the coffee I like is $11/pound.
5. My husband dug a trench and installed better drainage for one of our downspouts. It was not expensive for supplies, but the labor would have been! He is hoping this will prevent our basement from getting so wet in the Spring.
Beautiful wrapping job!
1. Husband got 1/2 price Sonic burgers for supper. It came with a free bacon burger since it was our first time signing up. I added carrot sticks and a salad as side dishes. He walked to get the burgers spending nothing on gas.
2. Still not dying my hair. I was told the other day it looked nice, as before the dye made it all one uniform color, but now it has more verigated color (including my silver streaks!).
3. Turned the hot water heater down lower.
4. Did some painting in the kitchen and laundry room with paint we already had.
5. Tomorrow we'll batch errands: dentist, discount store, Goodwill, youth group and meeting our pastor and wife.
Kristen, you never cease to amaze me. When I read, "I sewed up my Vans" my brain went, "Whaaaaaat?!" I love how you expand my idea of what's possible.
My FFT:
1. I was offered another 3 free months of Panera's unlimited coffee, so I took it. This morning when I was already heading that direction and knew my coffeepot at home had been emptied, I put some creamer in my travel mug and filled it with Panera's coffee.
2. My oldest had a field trip on Friday and thanks to the family-friendliness and graciousness of the school, they let me go as a chaperone and bring my 2 younger kids who aren't in school yet. The place we went was really cool and the cost for the 4 of us was way cheaper than if we had gone on our own.
3. On the way home from the field trip, I stopped by the discount produce store since it was only 20 extra minutes of driving (it would be an hour and a half round-trip if I went from our house to there and back). And with deals like $7 for a case of blueberries, it's totally worth the extra 20 minutes of driving.
4. Dinners this week are based around the turkey that I bought at Thanksgiving for less than $5 and cooked up yesterday. I also make it in my 18-quart roaster, so I use the same roaster for making broth and I got about 16 cups of broth that I'm chilling right now.
5. I got my seeds organized! I usually end up overbuying or underbuying (mostly overbuying) my seeds because I don't keep track of what I have very well, so I sat down the other day and made a chart of all of the seed packs I have, what year they are, and if they're a partial pack or full. Now I know what I have and what I need!
Wow, great job on repairing the sneakers!
It's been a pretty eventful week and I'm pleased with the great blessings. Here they are:
1) We attended a presentation and was gifted with a $125 Visa card.
2) I did a music survey a while back and got a check for $45.
3) We took a trip and were given free bottles of water (or Starbucks) each day.
4) I was given a food dehydrator and have been using it several times a week for bananas. I'll try my hand at pears, apples and peppers next. Most of these edibles were on clearance for $1 a bag.
5) I will try to garden this year and will use free buckets (from a market) to plant the seeds in.
@lisa, Try dehydrating watermelon slices. YUM!
New to this, so these may be old hat for some of you.
1. Found some cheap sewing hacks on YouTube, so got small ponytail holders at the dollar store to secure thread ends on my bobbins and spools, rather than order the gadgets the quilt shops sell.
2. Batched errands.
3. Maybe not as thrifty, but I had to get 2 new tires for my truck today. Salesman commented on my 24-yr-old truck that only has 134,000 miles on it, and says he has seen customers come in with up to 400,000 miles on them, because they were well made. I love my little truck and am glad to hear I may still be driving her 10 years from now. If not, it probably will be driver failure, not truck failure!
4. After finally finishing a quilt that was years in the making, I have been able to go through old projects and my fabric stash. I retired 5 years ago, and have a lot of fabric I bought while I was still working. Some of it came from an estate sale of a deceased quilter, and really isn't my style, but as I heard another quilter say once "If you think your fabric is ugly, you just haven't cut it into small enough pieces.". So I have been cutting that ugly fabric down into smaller pieces and chain-piecing them for a later project--and she was right! These pieces will make a great scrappy lap quilt or throw quilt possibly this year.
5. Called about our first bill from Lifeline, as we had been promised a discount, but didn't receive. Actually took several calls, and lots of wait time, but got the bill reduced to the promised amount, and will be saving $11/month.
-I've been loving the CVS care pass. Sometimes I get a 30% coupon, and then they have a discount on CVS brand items too. Couponing is usually beyond me so this feels awesome to be able delay getting some things, then get them all for a discount.
-I make something like fried rice minus the rice. We call it "Yum Pot", ham, eggs, veggies... yum! I use a bag of stir fry veggies and a bag of normandy mix, so it is also very frugal with my time.
-I took my boys mini-golfing with the discount card before it expired.
Frugality is a sacred mindset of not wasting things.