Five Frugal Things | ok, well, four
1. I fixed a towel
This is probably the 27th time "I fixed a towel" has been in an FFT post!
I don't know why, but the seams on my kitchen and bath towels seem to routinely fall apart. Once I fix them, they're fine, but new ones keep coming apart semi-regularly.
I think they make towels with dissolving thread these days. 😉
2. I fixed my joggers (yes, again!)
I have this old pair of American Giant joggers that I solely wear for morning walks. I have mended them so many times and I suppose by this point it would make sense to give up on them.
But I have sort of this sunk-cost mentality about them...like, I have fixed them lots of times before. Might as well do another quick few mends while I have the machine out.
So, that's what I did after I fixed the towel.
One day, these pants may get a terminal rip and I will stop trying to breathe life into them. But for now, they survived to see another day. 😉
By the way, after I mended a tiny hole in the calf area, I took the pants off the machine and realized that I had sewed the pant leg shut. Ha. So I had to undo a little stitching there.
3. I passed A&P!
As of yesterday, I am officially done. Whew. I don't have my official grade back but it will be an A of some variety.
A college class + lab is no small amount of money, so I consider it to be a frugal thing that I passed on my first go. 🙂 That saves money and time, both of which are valuable. I've kept hearing that a lot of students have to take A&P multiple times in order to pass, so I am feeling very thankful to have gotten through this semester.
I have already plunked down my hundreds of dollars for A&P 2 in the spring semester, and hopefully, I will have the same degree of success in that class.
4. I made some Instagram reels
I have been on Instagram for years now, but my account has never earned me a single penny.
Instagram really wants creators to make reels, though, so they sent me an offer to make some paid reels.
(Instagram Reels are super short videos like the ones you'd see on TikTok.)
Since money speaks to me, I was like, "well, sure, I'll give it a try."
The offer is only good for 30 days, and while the payment is loosely tied to the views each one gets, the exact calculations are a little vague.
I've made five so far and my payment is sitting at $163, which is about $32/reel.
Since they only take a few minutes to make, and since I make Instagram posts all the time for $0, I figure I might as well keep making reels until December 30th!
(You can see my Instagram page on a web browser here, but to actually play any of my videos, you have to have an account to log into.)
1. I'm continuing to give away items using Freecycle.org. Things we don't need/want are leaving the house many days. Good for eliminating clutter and the environment (hopefully there is frugality in there, even if it is only for other people).
2. We celebrated a relative's birthday with inexpensive takeout, homemade cupcakes, and a gift of discounted gift cards.
3. My lunches have been leftovers and items from the freezer that need to be used.
4. We walked to complete some errands over the weekend, including stopping at the grocery store for the sale item of the day.
5. I borrowed You Need a Budget from the library. It seems like it would be helpful for some people I know and I will figure out a tactful way to mention it to them.
Well done. You will be a great nurse! Will you change your blog name to The Frugal Nurse?
For the last 10 days, I have been too busy to spend money on much of anything. I have been working on a project that is supposed to be completed today. Thank goodness! I’m tired!
1) I have been doing all the usual things: drinking primarily filtered water, eating at home, taking my lunch or snacks with me wherever I go, and brewing my own coffee.
2) I sold an item on eBay and shipped it in a recycled Amazon envelope given to me by a friend.
3) I ordered a gift for my son online. It was $30 cheaper than in local stores and free shipping. Best of all, a trip to the mall was not required.
4) I had kept my eldest son’s baby blanket. My best friend’s mother crocheted it for him 36 years ago. I have washed it, wrapped it and put it under the tree. It will be one of his Christmas presents for my new grandchild who will be born next summer.
5) I bought an air purification system on sale saving 35%. I am hoping it will help with allergies. I have been looking at these since some of you mentioned them a few weeks ago. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Wishing everyone love, peace, and good health.
@Bee, I love that you are gifting your son's baby blanket to your new grandchild!
@Beverly, Agreed! Great idea, and it makes me glad I've saved a blanket for each of my kids. Now to see if there will be any grandchildren in the future!
@Bee,
The blanket gift is so sweet!
Congratulations on earning an A in A&P!
Thank you!
I was gifted an organic heirloom pumpkin on our local Buy Nothing Group. Last weekend, I roasted the pumpkin and the pumpkin seeds, making pulp and pepitas (ate some of the roasted pumpkin too, it was so good!), put the skin in the compost, and saved some of the seeds to plant next year. Felt very satisfied after doing that!
Made sugared pecans for my office staff, using cute candle jars I'd saved and cleaned up.
Regifted very nice boxes of fancy candy gifts that DH and I don't need, gave to colleagues with families I know will gobble them up.
Made all my gift tags from last year's Christmas cards.
Congrats and well done!
1. A clothingstore in town had their biannual 40% off sale. I bought wool pantyhose (Google translate says tights but I thought that was only used on those without feet?) since the ones from previous winters don’t fit anymore.
2. Defrosted and organized the freezer. It’s a joy to see how good we’ve been this year fishing, hunting and foraging and now it’s so much easier getting it eaten too.
3. Bought two 400ml (14 oz) rich bodycreams for dry skin from the pharmacy. Orginal price 71 dollars, with discount and coupons I paid 5 dollars.
4. Got two amazing bags from the Too Good To Go app. A package with chilicheese sausages, hotdog bread, delicious bread, two bags with different baked goods, a bag of precut saladmix and lot of fruit. It was the same in the two bags so got double up.
5. Went to a Christmas party with my previous job. Delicious food and got a $100 giftcard for a local kitchen hardware store. The store has great offers from time to time so thinking of using it for partial payment of a Le Creuset pot.
About pantyhose; in the U.S., "pantyhose" usually refers to really thin, sheer legwear, often in skin colors, sometimes in other colors such as gray. Tights usually refer to opaque legwear that you'd wear with dresses, although sometimes we do refer to "running tights", which are basically running leggings.
Generally speaking, I think here we use "leggings" when something doesn't have feet.
I think the Too Good to Go app is such a cool idea!
1. We went to our “bigger city” last night to see Christmas lights at a park. It’s a 50 minute drive so we combined multiple stops in one trip.
2. Ate dinner at Potbelly where we had gift cards (bought at a discount from Costco).
3. Bought a lot of groceries but we should be set for a month.
4. Bought 2 swimsuit tops on clearance (hopefully one fits me now and the other fits in a year when I’m done nursing).
5. Patched 3 pairs of kids pants. Now they all have a pair with a heart on their knee.
@Jenni,
Ooh! A heart on the knee! I like that idea. I may try that for one of my kiddos.
1.) Sold some anime on eBay. I made a decent amount and freed up some shelf space on some shows I haven't watched in well over a decade.
2.) Got a good deal on some bookshelves for my manga. Luckily they are a standard size so I was able to find a bookshelf that would fit them with minimal wasted space. I did try searching for them used on Facebook and at the ReStore but with no luck after several months.
3.) Watching old Christmas movies on IMBDtv, Tubi and YouTube. I really would like to cancel Hulu and Netflix but the ladies of the house watch shows on there.
4.) Buying a couple of hams for the freezer. That way I will have some good food lined up for Christmas (which I assume will be spent at home by ourselves as we've yet to be invited to any relatives' house.
5.) Resisting the urge to buy "just one more Christmas present ..."
Bonus: Kind of an observation more than a frugal thing but we are now into month three of Kindergarten and while a lot of people said "Oh that money you spent on daycare will b spent on something else ..." It just hasn't yet. I mean, we're upping savings and retirement contributions but not inflating our lifestyle much.
I have found it tough to find used bookshelves! People do not seem to offload those as often as they do dressers or tables.
@Kristen, my local(ish) ReStore has about 50 night stands (all matching so I assume it was a donation from a hotel) and tons of too small fridges, hutches and broken chairs. I've never seen a bookshelf. Not much on Craigslist or FB Marketplace at all. I think it's also due to there not being any real quality bookshelves out there (all Ikea style.) It's one area where I wish I had the skills and tools to make a custom one, but in the end it's probably best to just buy them.
I did find a nice audio rack a few weeks ago for $25. They are much more expensive online.
My wife wants a nice kitchen table and chairs but I think we're going to have to go the future heirloom "cry once" route and find a good maker of them as the used market for quality is awful (at least around me.)
@Battra92,
We watch anime sometimes, we were introduced to Studio Ghibli by our youngest. We also love and keep and reread several meters of comic book series such as Lucky Luke, Gaston, and Asterix and of course the incomparable Marten Toonder which is really literature not a comic book. I've been told that comic books, bands dessinees, are really thriving in France. They are taken much more seriously there and as a result the quality of the titles is higher.
@Battra92, Have you tried estate sales? There is a site, estatesales.net that most of the estate sale companies use. They are more expensive than a garage sale or thrift shop, but often the quality is much higher. Yet they are much cheaper than retail. Most ads have photos so you can see if the home has furniture that you are interested in. In our area, there is always a huge selection of dining room furniture. I once saw a Baker Furniture Dining Room — table and 12 chairs sell for $ 1500 which was about 1/10th of its original $15,000 retail price.
Hooray! Congrats on the pass! One class at a time and then you'll be done!
@Laura,
Yup, yup. Slow, steady plodding is the name of the game. 🙂
CONGRATULATIONS! An 'A' is always worth being proud of, especially for such a hard course! I think you taking A&P at this point in your life--when you've built solid study habits, been a teacher, yourself, and understand the financial weight of your choice--only helps your success.
My college (which was otherwise a hidden gem) had a required class taught by one of the football coaches. This class was so infamous for *not* mattering that the campus bookstore clerks would flat out tell you not to buy the accompanying textbook. 2/3 of the time, he'd cancel class to tend to sports, and the answers to any required tests were given out with the tests. My classmates thought this was amazing; I spent the entire semester furious that I was required to pay for this nonsense! Since the class was midday, I used it as a study hall for my afternoon courses, but that was one resentful PAID hour.
Funny enough, I met a mom from another section of A&P1, and apparently, she is at the top of her class. So now I am thinking that youth must be overrated when it comes to college. Ha.
And yes, it is super annoying to pay for a class where you are learning nothing. So frustrating!
"An A. of some vareity." Ha. I'm gonna go with the variety does not matter in this case. 🙂 Yay for you and all your hard work.
My insane boy children broke the ceramic base of the lamp next to my husband's chair while they were wrestling (sigh). It was a $10 Walmart lamp my mother-in-law bought probably twenty years ago, so no big loss, but it was also the only light in that corner where my husband reads. But! Literally right next to that lamp on that shelf was a sort of fancy wooden bowl with a lid my dad made me years ago, and it was EXACTLY the right size and shape for a lamp base.
Nothing but the base broke on the old lamp, so my husband removed that, drilled a hole and gouged out a groove for the cord in the bottom of the wooden bowl, put the whole thing together, and ta da! Free new lamp that is honestly much more attractive than the old one. Hooray for handy husbands and crafty dads!
Congratulations! Now you can breathe and enjoy the holiday.
1. A couple of things aligned. My husband was recently provided with a power wheelchair (free, from the VA) and the business who handled it for the VA let me know that the used truck I had bought a couple of years ago for the lift for his little power scooter would not be heavy duty enough for a lift for his power chair. At the same time, the dealer who sold me the truck asked to buy it back, as dealers everywhere are doing. After some negotiation, I sold them back the truck and traded in my very well-worn commuter car for one lightly used small SUV. I can put his non-power wheelchair in the back of the SUV easily, and I can get a hitch added and a small trailer in order to tow, rather than lift, his power chair or scooter, should I need to. Vehicles can tow much more than they can lift. Since we use his folding non-power wheelchair everywhere outside of the facility, I may never need to tow his power chair at all. One vehicle is cheaper than two, and I lowered my payments.
2. I took an unused tomato cage, turned it upside down and wired the legs together to make a tree shape, then strung LED outdoor lights on it and sat it on my porch with "gift boxes" I made last year out of cardboard boxes, silver vinyl fabric and outdoor ribbon and bows. That's not an original-to-me idea, of course.
3. I purchased over half of my Christmas gifts to others using Swagbucks to entirely or mostly pay for them. I have two more small ones to buy, and I'm done.
4. I'm using clippings from our two cypress trees, our cedar tree and my holly bush for holiday wreaths. Free, and I love the cypress smell.
5. As we do these days at holidays, my daughters and I are planning a cooperative meal for Christmas, to spread out cost and work.
@JD,
Way to go on your vehicle purchase!
@JD, So glad that things aligned for your vehicle needs (and that your husband got the power wheelchair)!
Kristen, major congratulations on passing A&P the first time and most likely with an A! You rock! And those little Instagram videos are so cool.
My FFTs are:
1. We paid off our house last Friday! Five and half years early on a 15 year mortgage, so huge interest savings!
2. Our celebratory mortgage freedom supper was spaghetti: the Italian-made pasta bought on closeout for 69 cents a pound and the sauce jazzed up with sweet Italian sausage bought with a store coupon. It made lots of leftovers. They are so delicious.
3. Our grocery total this week was only $84, of which the only non-food expense was $4 for a bottle of all-purpose spray cleaner. Not sure how it was so low except that we did not buy any fresh meat: our little chest freezer is full of frozen bread and manager's special meat at the moment.
4. Not a frugal thing so much as a good for the community thing: Our old cat has become very particular about food and turned against some things he'd been eating for a while. We took the packages of food he rejected and some old bath towels to the local animal shelter, which gladly received them.
5. Still doing all the daily frugal things: wearing cute thrifted outfits every day; packing my lunch, snacks and tea to work every day; making do and mending; not shopping except for absolute necessities. Small frugalities done diligently definitely work!
@Ruby, congratulations on paying off your mortgage! I paid off mine this past summer (although for me it was 15 years for a 30 year loan) and it is such a freeing feeling! It will really hit home next month when you don't have to send off that check and you get to decide what to do with the extra money in the bank.
@Ruby,
Congratulations on paying off your mortgage! Doesn't it feel great?
@JD, I think it will really feel great when we can throw that chunk of money at our remaining little bit of consumer debt in January. (We were doing great on that until we had roof rats in the attic this summer. Eradicating them cost about a thousand bucks a rat.) So December has the belt tightened almost to the buckle because we made two double mortgage payments this month and the last one had an extra $200 thrown on top.That was a pile of money, but we were determined to own our house come 2022.
@bettafrmdaville, I feel the mental weight gone already. We haven't been able to do anything to the house other than maintenance and repairs, so I'm looking forward to having the money to paint the living room a color I like. Almost ten years of yellowy-peach has really gotten on my nerves. 😀
Ohhh, amazing job on paying your house off. Yay!!!!
@Kristen, thank you! The support from here really helped in this last year, when we were laser-focused on making double-payments no matter what.
@Ruby, (I think we'd all heartily agree that paying for rats is a highly unsatisfactory use of money : ) - Congratulations ! Enjoy picking out your new paint colors !
@Suz, I have been reading articles about paint colors for the past month, looking forward to the day when I can go to the paint store. 🙂
Oooh, what colors are you considering?
I am about settled on Benjamin Moore's Swiss Coffee as the paint color. The room has two walls paneled in natural mahogany with a wood laminate floor, so it needs something light and warm, but not an overbearing stark white. There's also a couple of wood louvered doors that are painted in cream oil paint that I really do not want to have to paint, so I think that will go well with them.
@Ruby, Congratulations!!! That's huge! As someone who bought a home this year and is looking at payments for the next 30 years, your feat is admirable!
@CrunchyCake, throw a little extra money on the principle every month and it will melt away faster than you ever expected.
@Ruby,
What a wonderful accomplishment! Well-done. Enjoy your new, mortgage free life!
@Bee, my husband and I are still kind of stunned. I think we'll really start enjoying it next month when we can use the mortgage money toward (hopefully) quickly becoming debt-free.
@Ruby, wow many congrats on paying off your house !!
What a cool opportunity with the Instagram reels! And, a huge congrats on acing your A&P class! My teens are in finals week right now, and it's not the most fun we've ever had. 😉
1) I will continue to use my freezer organization as a frugal win. I'm super late to the freezer organization party, but now that I have the prepped meals all put to one side & labeled, it's a game changer. I was able to defrost two prepped meals during a busy week, and a couple of lunches. Yesterday was chicken & dumplings - perfect for a rainy day.
2) I took advantage of a bunch of holiday gift card deals (for things we need/will buy anyway) to earn rewards & grocery store $$.
3) Sold a few things: skis & poles + boots on FB marketplace, a set of candles, an ugly holiday sweater, etc. A little bit helps.
4) I ordered a few items for my teen for Christmas, and had them delivered to my sister's house (where we will spend Christmas). There have been so many challenges with this order - they have sent the wrong items 3x, and once sent wrong items to my address (in California, vs my sister in Washington). It's so puzzling. We finally got to the bottom of it, and they credited me fully for my order. The items are all mountain biking related, so the ones they sent me & I didn't order (they don't want back, due to shipping costs) will all be donated to a local mountain biking non-profit, who will auction them as a fundraiser. Win/win, & nothing gets wasted.
5) Used Starbucks rewards to buy teens festive hot chocolate on a finals day. This is way outside of our "norm", which I think makes it even more special for them. They were thrilled. I find that limiting splurges helps to make them very exciting when they happen. 🙂
@Hawaii Planner, very interesting your number five. The Frugal Zealot wrote about this back in the '90s. It's quite true psychologically.
@Anne, it's true! We try to make meals out, takeout, etc splurges vs a more regular occurrence. We can afford to do it frequently, but it's better for our waistlines & for making them more occasions, when we do it less frequently.
Congrats on A&P. I also went back to school(becoming an RD) after many years and had to take A&P 1 and 2, microbiology, etc, etc. No small feat. Keep up the great work. It's worth it.
Yep, yep, microbiology is on my list of prerequisites. I have A&P2, microbio, and developmental psych left. I think the psych will be fun and easy, but the other two will be a bit challenging.
Hi Kristen, congrats on passing your exam! It is wonderful to see, that your conscientious efforts are paying off. Your girls must be so proud!
I hope you have so time to relax now!
1. I got a baby swing on Facebook Marketplace and sold a mirror.
2. With my mom's help, I'm doing a run to the cheaper grocery store to refill our staples--flour, pasta, canned goods, etc.
3. I got my covid-frontline-worker bonus from 2020-2021. It was negotiated by my union-that-isn't-officially-a-union, so not really my own actions, but I'm sure glad of it!
4. I mentioned to a relative that I'll likely need to buy new pants when I go back to work, and as she's retired she gave me three pairs of her work pants!
5. We have a wonderfully generous set of gifted and hand-me-down clothes for the baby
She's about to need 3-6 month clothes and it's nice to know that I don't have to rush to the store to buy stuff.
And just think when those joggers finally “give up the ghost” they will make wonderful soft rags. WIN WIN
Ha, that is true!
1. Made more puree from a friend's pumpkin and used it in spiced pumpkin quick bread and pumpkin bisque.
2. Signed up for Duluth Trading emails to get 10% off an order. Promptly unsubscribed from the first email.
3. At a recent medical appointment, my incision was covered with a thick wad of gauze and tape. After the first day, I cut up the clean gauze into smaller pieces to use for subsequent bandage changes.
4. Husband had outpatient surgery. As his designated driver, I made two round trips to the hospital for morning drop-off and evening pick-up. Stopped at a discount food store in the area, where the low prices probably paid for all of the extra driving.
5. I have a minimalist wardrobe so I was delighted when I layered a sleeveless summer tunic over a turtleneck and leggings to create a "new" winter outfit.
I love your reels. My favourites are the Aldi and the mouse reel. Although the treasures are really interesting too. Ok, ok....they are All good. Pls show more of your finds at the house. I love old stuff.
Yea! for classes being done. I hate whenever any of my students do not pass my classes, because I know of the awful cost to retake.
1. I haven't been on Swagbucks for ages because it seemed that anytime I took a survey, it would kick me out well into it and it became a waste of time. Yesterday, for some reason, I was also to do a lot of "things" (mostly clicking on stuff, without buying anything) and was able to make $60 worth of points. I'll wait until Jan. to cash out the second half toward Amazon gift card to get the discount rate.
2. Taking parents to another city for a winter getaway. In-laws will join us for 1 night. For Airbnb, we had 2 choices, one was $400 more with plenty of space and beautiful. Partner and I will use air mattresses in living room the one night as we went for the small, less expensive option.
3. Found that a local brewery in said city is having bluegrass music one night when we will be there. Reserved 6 spaces for free.
4. Working on having no food waste this week, as well as get rid of a few of the [many, many] random jars of condiments/sauces that we have in the fridge. Last night's dinner made no sense, except from that perspective.
5. Batch errands tomorrow, which include Ocean State Job Lot, which is having a sale on all Bob's Red Mill products.
Kristen, congrats on passing A&P! As a Family NP, I will say that A&P is super foundational to being a good nurse-- but you already know that (well, along with compassion and empathy, IMO!). Well done!
1. Used a rebate in-store from previous purchases for some olive oil and a new set of ear buds. Only paid 3 cents OOP!
2. Bought 18 pounds of honeycrisp apples from the farmer's market for $1/lb, much cheaper than anything in the store. They are delicious. Of course, I also spent a little too much on the last of the season’s heirloom tomatoes and some cookies, but I enjoy supporting the local food economy.
3. Finally bought a bed frame off FB Marketplace for $80. We’d been looking at one for several hundred dollars from Ikea, but it has been out of stock for months, and I am just glad to have a bed frame.
4. Picked up several birthday freebies, including a piece of cheesecake from Red Lobster that was really delicious and didn’t require an additional purchase.
5. Received a surprise check for $135, apparently a refund from a doctor’s visit over two years ago.
I believe that; it seems like so many other courses will build on A&P knowledge. Like, microbiology will be easier after A&P. And I have to imagine that pharmacology, another beast of a course, will build on some A&P knowledge (like, if you know how neuromuscular junctions work, then you will be able to understand how drugs affect events at that junction).
Honeycrisp apples are the BEST and $1/pound is a very good price!
May I ask how and where you store your sewing machine when it's not in use? I keep thinking about wanting to get one someday, but I'm not sure how bulky they are and if they typically come with some kind of storage box/vinyl cover or bag for them. If it takes up a lot of space, then it may be a no-go for me. I just keep remembering back to my mom's old sewing machine back in the day and it was HUGE with a giant plastic box that it was stored in . . . !
I shove mine into the closet in our office room, and it sits on top of my sewing box. So I do have to haul it out every time I want to use it; it's too big to keep out all the time.
@Dori, I just keep my (small basic) machine on a bookshelf, with an oversized linen tea towel draped over it, so you can't really see what it is, but it's a lovely pop of color.
This was a good week for frugal happenings. Let's start with:
1) I purchased a bedding item but the company sent me a memory foam pillow by mistake. After sending photos of the pillow, the company decided that I could keep it.
Savings- $52
2) I earned a $25 GC to Target.
3) Through the mail, I received a Bath & Body Works coupon for a free item. Savings- $15
4) DH and I earned 9 free bagels at Einstein's. Savings- $11
5) Time to return the college books back to Amazon but shipping is free.
Oooh, a free memory pillow is awesome!
How did you get the free bagels at Einstein?
@Kristen,
I had gotten 6 bagels with being a member in their rewards program and purchases earn points. I traded in my points for 6 bagels.
DH made a purchase and the receipt told him to go online to fill out a "how are we doing?" questionaire and as a gift, he gets 3 free bagels.
I wonder if your success with A&P is partly related to the discipline and diligence you have used thus far in your life. Of course, you are a very intelligent woman ... but I think the experience of having to count the cost of how you invest your time and energy, as well as having had to buckle down and find a way to manage with minimal resources, is invaluable to you now. Anyway, well done!
We were actually talking about this last night at dinner! I know some people can manage to just attend class, do a bit of reading, and retain all the information, but I have never been a person who can skate by without studying. On the one hand, this is annoying because it means I have to do a lot of work. But on the other hand, I am well-prepared for a class like A&P, where most people (even the no-studying people!) have to spend a fair amount of time studying.
So overall, it seems like maybe being a has-to-study person is an advantage.
Congrats on the A and being done for now!
1. I made $75 selling items on fb marketplace last weekend. A bit of a hassle to coordinate at times but nice when it works out!
2. I’ve done almost all my grocery shopping at Sprouts for a few years now. My son and I have a favorite cashier we’d always go to who we’d chat with. I switched to pickup rather than going in since last year and still mostly do pickups. Last week, this favorite cashier was assigned our pickup order and recognized my name, she put a free chocolate reindeer into the bag for my kids. It was so sweet and kind that she still remembers us and did that, and my kids really enjoyed the treat!
3. I was going to order some food gifts to be sent to friends because I didn’t feel I’d have time to put anything together myself. Somehow I found the time though and put some gift baskets together myself with food I made or bought at the grocery store and gave it to them last weekend when I saw them. Much cheaper(and more personalized) than having to order and mail pre-made ones.
4. My son went to a birthday party last weekend and I had him make the birthday card using supplies we already had. He enjoys making them and I don’t really want to spend money on a card for a 4 year old haha
5. I think my Christmas shopping is done and I won’t need to do any panic buying with expedited shipping costs, an accomplishment for me!
Dh's dad worked for cut and sew companies from the 50s to the mid 2000s and in the beginning, he knew every supplier and only bought from the best. By the late 80s, he said the quality of buttons, zippers and thread was "trash", but bottom lines were more important for the brands he worked for. So, your theory about dissolving thread isn't too far off.
Also, ds took A & P at Chapel Hill and as he is heading to Grad school, he will have to retake it as his grade was not good enough to ensure acceptance, so yay you!! Fwiw, he will retake it this spring at a local technical school for much, much, MUCH less. He went to Community College for a year and had a year of AP classes, so he was lucky to graduate with less than 12K in student loans from a very highly thought of university. Thank you FAFSA!!
1. Trying yet one more medication and I expressed concern that I have tried a number of meds, only to have to stop taking them after a week and am left with the rest of a 90 day supply. This time the doctor gave me enough free samples to go for a month, just to make sure the drug is going to work before I buy some. (On a side note, I wish there were a way to pass on unused drugs to people who cannot afford them...)
2. A friend bought some of that fake crab and hated it, so passed it on to me. I am not in love with it but free is best so I made up a pretty tuna-type salad and we ate it for two days. Put anything on warm bread and my husband will eat it.
3. While cleaning out bathroom drawers, I found a lot of small shampoo bottles from various travels taken several years ago. They all seemed fine, so as the day wore on I turned one after another upside down in a funnel and filled a 16 ounce bottle with shampoo mix. I am not picky about shampoos and neither is the husband, so we will be using that up.
4. A local gas station is giving away something free every day of this month. You can see on your phone what the prize for that day is. I have passed up some of the stuff, but so far this month we have snagged five bags of trail mix and three free pops. We no longer buy soda so that is a real treat.
5. My husband, who never does this sort of thing, snagged a brand new ironing board someone had put out for the trash collector. It still had the original wrapping on it. We have a board so I sold this one on FB marketplace.
Oh, what a good idea to try a sample supply first. And yes, it's frustrating that there's no good, safe way to get unused medication to people who could use it.
@Lindsey, check this out for possible options: https://www.ncsl.org/research/health/state-prescription-drug-return-reuse-and-recycling.aspx#Table
1) I'm off the road this week so I am using the extra time at home this week to do all the little frugal things that I have been putting off. I am cooking up stuff in the freezer, cleaning, mending, calling to fix direct deposit on my flex account, and scheduling doctor's appointments.
2) My husband and I had one long, ongoing brainstorming discussion over the weekend about our business. We were very profitable before COVID, but the business has not yet recovered from long COVID economic issues. We have been fortunate not to get sick, but our business has suffered from almost two years now of nonexistent and then intermittent child care. We have had no choice but to relax our focus on the business. However, given even intermittent child care over the fall I have finally been able to catch up on my own work. Now we are ready to address the issues with the business that have been lingering throughout the pandemic.
3) Our new health insurance won't cover our daughter's speech and OT therapy because it is deemed "developmental," which means the assumption is that she is getting therapy for issues her doctors expect her to grow out of. We finally got a diagnosis of ADHD from our developmental pediatrician a few weeks ago, so I am working with our daughter's therapists to see if it changes how the sessions are billed. Since ADHD is not something one grows out of, it should no longer be deemed developmental therapy, right? Medical billing codes are a mystery to me, so I could be wrong, but I am putting an honest effort into saving our family hundreds of dollars on necessary therapy each month.
4) I continue to monitor our spending daily to ensure that we are on budget and ticking off our financial goals.
5) I worked on grant and fellowship applications yesterday. I keep an organized spreadsheet to make sure I don't miss a deadline. An academic career isn't solely dictated by one's success as a grant writer, but it sure does help.
@Amanda, What state are you in? My son has ADHD & receives services from the state for free. We have health insurance, private from my business & have always gotten the services we needed. If you are in NJ, it's called Performcare. Research for your state, you might find something!
Awesome job on the Instagram money! Whoo hoo!
My FFT:
1. For my kiddo's Christmas party at school, I signed up to bring a bag of mini chocolate chips since I had bought one the previous week and they're quite inexpensive at Aldi.
2. Speaking of Aldi... I bought extra butter today. My goal is to buy enough at the super-cheap-holiday-price to last me until Easter when they will put it on sale again.
3. I also grabbed a couple of hams for my freezer. So now I have plenty of cheap turkeys and hams to last the winter.
4. I returned a Christmas gift for my sister-in-law after deciding to get her something else. They put the money back on my credit card, so I didn't even have to remember to use store credit. Yay!
5. I got a free coffee today using my free 3-month trial of Panera+ Coffee. It's delicious.
How many butters are you allowed to buy at once? I think it's six per trip here.
Yes! 6 per trip at most stores (my parent's Aldi doesn't limit them). But butter has been on sale for 3-4 weeks between the 2 weeks before Thanksgiving and now. I'm up to 18, and I'll bulk up to 30 (hopefully) at Easter time.
Yep! Limit of 6 here, too. I haven't figured out exactly how many I need to last December through April... Maybe I'll track it this year to be better prepared for next year!
@Ruth T, Same here!
Congratulations on your passing A&P!
Thank you!
Congratulations, Kristen!
I don't think I can come up with 5 out-of-the-ordinary things this week, but I'll give it a try.
1. I redeemed Shopkick points for a $25 Walmart card and used it to buy groceries (mostly extras for baking).
2. I bought 5 poinsettia bunches at Dollar Tree to put in the urns on my parents' and brother's graves. When I took the old flowers from this summer out, I discovered that the faded blooms pop right off. The remaining non-faded greenery slid right up the stems, and I used those to round out the arrangements. My sister and I were very pleased with the results. My parents and brother were extremely frugal and would definitely appreciate the very inexpensive flowers.
3. I stopped at a very expensive store today that sells ground chuck for $3.99 a pound only on Tuesdays and bought 2 and 1/2 pounds for the freezer. I would never buy anything else in there! Just to give you an idea of the prices, I saw strawberries for $7.99 per pound! Boxes of Jiffy Mix which can be bought for .47 routinely at Aldi were .99 there.
Yep, I was right. That's all I can come up with.
Congrats on passing the A&P test. Way to go!!!!
1. Current gifts are wrapped with all used paper, bags and tissue paper. In fact one gift has 2 different papers as one wouldn't cover it all. My mother in law is going to buy post Christmas sale paper for the gifts we'll exchange after the holidays.
2.Made sauce with beef to work on using up spices and soy sauces before our trip. Served over rice.
3. Had an at home coffee time with each kid. This is a very cheap way to get one on one time.
4. Reusing à make up carrier for school supplies for our up coming traveling while homeschooling. We'll see how well it works.
5. Discovers from a neighbor that white sweet potato salad is almost as good as potato salad. And since we have lots of sweet potatoes, I made some for supper.
Kristen,
Super big congrats on doing so well in such a difficult class!! You set a high standard for sure.
YAY for passing A&P!
I used up some pumpkin puree from the freezer plus the last of some coconut flakes. I made muffins and had just enough pumpkin puree for that.
I went Christmas shopping with a friend today and bought very little.
We're having a little get together with our golf group here Saturday and I planned the menu keeping in mind what I already had at home. I did have to buy some things, as we're doing appetizer-y stuff, but I had coupons! I had to buy for the heavier appetizers, but the light stuff, veggies, nuts, dried fruit, candy, we already had.
I got holiday plates from the $1 section at Walmart for the party.
We've still been cooking at home, cleaning out the freezer, and eating leftovers.
Yay and congratulations -- knew you would ace it!! 🙂
Well during this NOT very frugal season, am scrambling to find a few fruaglities:
1. Eating in all by myself this week while husband is away, although I was sorely tempted to go out. But -- made chicken soup and used up a lot of aging food. Also snacking on the enormous amounts of treats and homemade foods floating around school this time of year. Free and delicious.
2. We are going back east to visit family and had planned to go during the Christmas to New Year's week but the car rental price was off the charts crazy. So we moved our trip to Dec. 29 - Jan 7 and saved hundreds of dollars on a not exactly frugal but absolutely necessary trip to see family.
3. And the usual (not buying stuff, eating in, library books, using up all the old clothes, bringing my own beverages, etc.) -- nothing earth-shattering. Just pluggin' along 😉
Rental car prices are just nuts right now. Good job finding savings!
Awesome job on your class Kristen! It feels so good to get a class done and over, right?!?
1. We are having Spirit Week at work. I borrowed a super hero shirt from a neighbor and an 80's dress from my mom.
2. I picked up 8 rapid COVID tests at my town's give away. Our county is experiencing high COVID rates, so they are passing out rapid COVID tests in each town. So, not a great reason to get a free rapid COVID test, but I am happy to have them!
3. My husband picked up a sweater from Buy Nothing. I picked up 2 essential oils off Buy Nothing to make soap (we are trying to make our own bar soap this month). I also picked up a pair of pants for my daughter off Buy Nothing that she will fit into in the next year or so.
4. Someone on my Buy Nothing group was giving away a coupon for a free box from Every Plate. I ordered the box, which consisted of 3 meals and quickly cancelled the subscription. The box is free groceries for 3 days and really yummy. I do not care for all the extra packaging with this company though.
5. I ordered some hygiene products we needed (some of which will be stocking stuffers) on the Target website. Because I spent $35 I got free shipping, which saves me so much time. But, it also came with a $10 gift card.
6. I made baked french toast using leftover rolls from Thanksgiving. It fed us breakfast for 2 days.
Yes, I love that you can get rid of your papers and books after the final. Although this one is not quite like that because I'm basically just halfway through a two-semester course. So, next semester will cover the second half of my huge book.
I did recycle all my worksheets, though!
Only one of any note — I accepted a training job (completely outside my freelance norm, but not outside my skill set) and it gave me a reason to take a drive on a highway I'd never been on, visit a town I'd never been to as an adult, meet up in the library there with a person I'd never met (and she turned out to be terrific, and we have people and places in common), and get paid a healthy wage plus mileage both ways to do it.
Good job on that A&P outcome! High five!
Ooh, what a lot of wins on that training job. Yay!
And thank you. 🙂
My grandson’s daycare unexpectedly shut for a week after they had a covid exposure. So I babysat for a couple of hours today and I’ll do several tomorrow and a couple on Thursday. That will help my son and daughter-in-law be able to work, so frugal for them at least!
Shae put on a Christmas dinner for the men at the nonprofit she works for and brought home a plate of dinner for me.
I sold some items on Facebook marketplace. Yay me for finally actually doing it!
I’m looking into ways to not have to put down a deposit on our utility bill. I know we’d get it back after but I’d rather not let them sit on my money.
I found an office chair that our next door neighbours had put out to give away. It will help me wait to buy a new chair until I’ve built up a bit more of a cushion after our move. This chair has a tear in the arm but I think I can patch it with sugru.
Congratulations on passing A & P. It I son mean feat.
My frugal things are very scant I am afraid. I am digging out meat from the freezer before buying more. I wonder if meat will ever be affordable again. I have been most careful about buying presents this year. I think it will be cash for Christmas for my grown children. Both daughters have bought houses since September. They know what they need. Presents for both granddaughters are awaiting wrapping. I have swapped our fruit purchases for cheaper options. I have tried home brand/ generic oatmeal. That was a second distinct fail as I hated it. I guess I will be back to Uncle Toby's again and it is $6 (AUS) for just over 2 lbs. Anything to try to reduce the outrageous food bill.
1. Took advantage of a discount of 50% for much needed new dishes.
2. My office neighbors sent a discount code for their line of products, which I was able to use for some Christmas presents. This was 30% off for all products, rather than the official one on their website that was 30% off for just one product.
3. Checked a receipt and noticed that I had been charged for three items of something I bought just two of. This was some time after the purchase but I was able to go to customer service to get the money back. Pays to check receipts as it's happened to me before.
4. Bought candle holders for Christmas from Facebook Marketplace. Also picked up free hangers from FB Marketplace (my theme for the coming weeks as we move into our empty apartment.)
5. Since we are staying in temporary lodgings and moving soon after Christmas, I am not getting a tree this year. Instead I decorated a potted evergreen.
Hubby hooked up our health insurance app to the step counter on our phones so now we get a little money for our steps. It adds up to about $70/year per person which is’t a ton but it’s basically free money so yay for that.
Made stock and then two big batches of soup from my frozen Thanksgiving turkey carcass.
Got a 99 cent giant bag of bananas and made banana pancakes, bread, muffins, dried banana chips, and froze a bunch for smoothies.
Made a homemade birthday card and thank you card instead of buying them.
Made homemade granola bars for snacks for the kiddos instead of buying them.
Filled out and submitted a form to my medical clinic that allows me to continue getting my daily inhaler (asthma) and my blood thinner for less than 35.00 altogether (insurance company won't pay a penny on inhaler and wants over 100.00 per month for my blood thinner).
Called the local ambulance/fire company to say hey you did NOT bill my insurance like you said you did. I'd rather the insurance pay that $1300+ than me.
Bleah, medical bills are the worst. And I am sorry to hear that you had to use an ambulance. The bill after that is an insult on top of injury.
Almost forgot, got an unexpected prepaid debit card (refund from a local medical provider) so I have $128+ to play with.
Injured myself at work in JULY and still hadn't got a claim number (working for the federal government, there is a different procedure to get claim numbers).
Serious harassment from medical providers regarding bills, orthopedic boot, etc to the point of one place literally calling my landlord who is also my emergency medical contact.
After the phone call to my landlord I got furious LOL and made the time to contact USPS HR (I work for USPS); sent them a long email, and got a reply the very next day. Now just waiting for my immediate supervisor to review the claim.
Congrats on passing A&P with flying colors! I knew you would! Enjoy some time to relax, and Merry Christmas! ♥️
Congratulations to you! Not an easy feat, for sure.
Here's our Five Frugal Things for the week:
1. Purchased black angus ground beef on sale $2 off per pound at a local grocery store.
2. Washed the car for $5 this week with discount coupon ($13 savings and a necessity to get the salt off the car).
3. A friend's son wanted a globe for Christmas. I've had a few options sitting in my Amazon cart for weeks. Last week when I went to place the order, one of the models (and coincidentally the one I wanted) was discounted 25%.
4. We have a live, cut-your-own tree tradition with the kids every year from a local mom and pop place that is significantly cheaper than bigger tree farm operations in the area.
5. Another frugal friend just had a little girl. I went to a local thrift shop and purchased six cute, frilly little outfits for the price I would have paid for one dress at a big box store. She will appreciate that they came from the thrift shop, because I put the purchase points on her account as well.
I work one day a week at a dental office. A few weeks ago, a coworker came out with containers that they collect from product they receive. She did not know what to do with them. Nice storage containers but they have a tooth imprinted in the plastic. I brought them home, put them up on the buy nothing page and someone wanted them. (One less thing in the dumpster.)
Also, daily they receive styrofoam "peanuts" and other shapes of styrofoam in packages. We have a styrofoam recycler in our town. Every couple of weeks, I bring a filled box to the recycler. (Another thing not filling up the dumpster.)
I will hit up the office and home for cardboard to try to kill some of the invasive plants and weeds to get the garden area ready for next year.
I knitted a scarf for the senior center giving tree from stash I have.
I am not one to look at Instagram or tik tok but I clicked on your link and your videos made me laugh. Love your cat! Love your cranial nerves note cards and totally related to your aldi experience!
Aww, I'm glad you enjoyed them!