Five Frugal Things | I went to Goodwill
I haven't been to Goodwill in such a long time, but Zoe and her friend wanted to go thrifting, and neither of them can drive yet. So, that meant I went thrifting too!
Thus, most of my Five Frugal Things this week will be Goodwill-related.
1. I found some lidless Pyrex containers
Two of mine have gotten chipped recently, and I found those exact two! I paid $4 for the large one (7-cup size) and $2 for the medium (4-cup size). I also found two of the small ones for $0.75 apiece.
I needed to order some replacement lids anyway for my Pyrex, so I wasn't bothered that they were lidless.
Speaking of which...
2. I ordered some silicone Pyrex lids
I was extremely pleased to see that Sophico now makes silicone lids for the 4-cup size! I adore the silicone lids I got for my 2-cup containers, so I am thrilled to be able to get them in another size now too.
I bought my first set of Sophico lids in July 0f 2020, and now that I've been using them for over a year, I can confidently say that they are worth buying.
Even though I faithfully hand-wash them, my original Pyrex lids have always eventually cracked.
But these silicone ones are just as soft and flexible now as they were when I bought them.
I love not having to worry about them cracking on me!
They are definitely more expensive upfront than the plastic ones, but since I don't think I'll ever have to replace them, they are going to be worth it in the long run.
Plus, containers from Goodwill + Sophico lids are still cheaper than new Pyrex.
(Yes, I did the math to make sure. Ha.)
These are the 4-cup lids I just bought.
And these are the large 7 cups lids.
3. I bought a glass container to store onions
When you use part of an onion, it's a little tricky to figure out how to store the unused portion.
I prefer not to use disposable containers or bags, but onions are so odoriferous, if you put them into a container that has any plastic, the onion will make the plastic stink semi-permanently.
I've tried designating a specific lid for onion storage, but that's a little trick to keep track of.
So, when I saw this glass jar at Goodwill for $1, I thought it might be worth picking up. The lid and the container are both glass, so it should be perfect to use when I need to store an onion. Plus, the shape is pretty onion-friendly!
4. I got some cheap plant pots for Sonia
Since her plant obsession began, she has discovered how expensive pots are. So, I scoped out the plant pot section while Zoe and her friend were shopping, and I found several cute ones.
I texted photos to Sonia for approval, since she'd be paying for them, and she gave the OK for three of them. They cost $2, $3, and $4, so she got three pots for $9 total.
A good deal for her gardening budget. 😉
By the way, this Goodwill had several Ikea pots, but the prices were exactly what the pots cost new at Ikea. Hmm.
And this is why it's nice to be able to look things up on your phone!
5. I bought a little coffee grinder to sell
I spied this cute little $4 grinder, looked it up on eBay, and saw that it sells for way more than $4.
So, I will wipe it down, photograph it, and list it. I think it will more than pay for everything else I bought at Goodwill.
And I think my friend Katy would be quite proud of me for spotting this. 🙂
My frugal things are just things I have found out while shopping. I bought pasta at 50 cents (Aus) for 500 grams. I was a discount store and I bought three books for Christmas gifts. They are brand-new and were $2 each. I searched the internet and one of the books is selling on Book Depository for about $27. I have four new dresses that are a linen blend which is great for my climate. Each dress was reduced to $15. I have returned items which were not good or overpriced at the checkout and that saved me around $50.
I love thrifting at Goodwill. Thrifting and Flipping helps to supplement my income. My favorite thing I found at the Goodwill that I use at home is my vintage green Tupperware lettuce keeper.
@Lisa, we had one of those green lettuce keepers growing up! I think my mom might still have it - just without the lid.
@CrunchyCake, My mom put hers on top of the car and forgot it when dropping off potato salad for a funeral. Container is still going strong but potato salad didnt make it! Ha
I have not been thrifting since before the pandemic started. We have some 2 and 4 cup Pyrex bowls with lids that are at least 30 years old. I also have some newer ones that have tighter fitting lids. I love them.
1. It was a cheap weekend. We helped young neighbors that had accidentally flooded their basement. We ripped out wet carpet, rolled it up, and loaded it for transport to the dump. We also gave advice.
2. I am going to buy a car seat cover designed for people with dogs. When I volunteer for Meals on Wheels the meals are not always sealed properly. Rather than risk food staining my car seats I will buy a waterproof cover (I have been using towels but they are not waterproof). It took me years to figure this out, better late than never.
3. I continue to read and listen to digital books borrowed from the library. We also borrow DVDs and use hoopla to watch shows.
4. I downgraded the number of times our local newspaper is delivered. Most days I read the paper electronically anyway. The rate stayed the same (instead of going up a substantial amount), it's locked in for a year, and it's less paper being used and recycled.
5. I've got nothing.
I will be on my own on Saturday since my daughter has plans. And the first thing I thought this morning was "thrift shopping!" so its timely you posted this. I used to find all sorts of treasures while out thrifting, just like I always used to love going to the library. So I'm happy to add those two frugal things back in to my time off.
I use wide-mouth pint jars to store partial onions, if I don't immediately just cook them. Usually I do that, because cooked onion is much easier to store and also very convenient to have on hand. But the canning jars' screw top lids do contain the onion stench.
Also, I was just complaining to my husband the other day how the two older Pyrex containers I have still have intact lids a decade later, while the newer ones have lids that are uselessly cracked within a year. Pyrex obviously changed the material they make their lids out of, and it makes me mad. As do all examples of the dreaded planned obsolescence.
Anyway. The frugal life continues apace here with a lot of kitchen work and not buying things. Although I did order my kids' Christmas stocking stuff already, because I have absolutely no idea how bad shipping is going to get, but it's already bad enough that I decided to just go ahead and store a few things for a couple of months. They have pretty modest stockings. It won't take up too much space. 🙂
I think the newer lids are crappier too. Which is why I will always opt for silicone from here on out, whenever humanly possible!
@kristin @ going country, My guess is the lid trouble has less to do with planned obsolescence and more to do with consumer-driven preferences like BPA-free materials.
Storing onions cooked in wide mouth jars is a great option. I always chop/slice and freeze my leftover onion.
@kristin @ going country, The quality of Purex products has definitely gone down. It's very disappointing. I have a pretty new glass Pyrex measuring cup and all of the measurements have worn off! What good is a measuring cup with no measurements! I also have the same issue with the lids cracking.
I use regular pyrex jars for onion but before I put the lid on top I cut a piece of plastic wrap the width of the jar, folded over, and put that on top of the jar under the lid. It has worked very well for me in containing the "aroma" of onions and the lids still smell neutral. I have only done this with vidalia onions though, this method might not work as well with some of the stronger smelling ones.
We transferred our emergency savings into a high yield savings account. It won't make us rich, but it will bring in a few extra dollars without any effort on our part.
I found chicken broth that was near its sell by date on clearance. I already had some chicken defrosting, so now we have a large pot of chicken stew that will last us most of the week. Some will go into the freezer for future meals.
Not exactly frugal, but I invested in 2022 annual passes to Six Flags for the family. Because I bought them at the end of the 2021 season, we get to use them for the rest of this year, too. We went this past weekend and had a blast. The passes will more than pay for themselves after even one more visit. Between this, our zoo membership and its reciprocity program, we have more than a year's worth of vacations, day trips and amusements covered.
I've brought my meals and snacks to work every day without fail.
We're transitioning our dogs to a less expensive kibble.
Bonus:
Amazon had a deal on Alexa- compatible outlet plugs for $0.99 down from $24.99. I bought one for the lamp on my kiddo's desk that is consistently left on. Once it arrives, I'll be able to walk past the room and shut the light off by voice without having to maneuver through the biohazard that is my teenager's bedroom.
@Renee - Annual passes that get used are a frugal form of entertainment especially if it's an activity that you enjoy. I had several annual passes when I lived in Richmond, Virginia and I used them frequently for the botanical garden and the art museum. If you calculate it out, you're probably passing break even on a daily pass by the middle of the year. Actually, at one time, the annual passes to Colonial Williamsburg paid back their value by the second visit (the annual pass was less than the cost of two visits).
So enjoy! Part of being frugal is having the money to spend on what you want.
Nancy
@Renee, I just purchased the same plug and it is fun to use. I definitely didn't mind spending .99 cents for it....not sure I would shell out 24.99 though.
1) I went to an estate sale this week where I bought two clear locking storage boxes that slide under my bed. They were just $5 each and like knew. I had looked at these at Target a few weeks ago and was stunned at how expensive they had gotten. So now my recycled gift bags are nicely packed away under the bed.
2) I was able to get my book club’s selection - The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry - at the library this month. It is supposed to be an uplifting novel. Last month’s selection, The Four Winds, was a heavy read.
3) Rescue Pup and I joined the Pack Walk last Sunday morning. Once a month, dog owners meet for a walk on the beach. This free event, which is run by several local trainers, helps to socialize the dogs and helps with leash aggression. We still have a long road ahead.
4) I downloaded two audio books from the library app Hoopla and have been enjoying them while I have been doing some major projects around the house including cleaning out and reorganizing my closet. I usually do this twice a year, but for some reason it seems particularly hard this Fall. I have things that I haven’t worn in two seasons, but life was not normal. Do these things stay or do they go?
5) All the usual things in the kitchen - brewing my coffee at home, cooking from scratch, and drinking primarily filtered water.
@Bee, AJ Fikry is a wonderful book. I also enjoyed The Four Winds- but yes, it’s a heavier read. Two great books tho!
@Bernadine, Kristin Hannah is a wonderful author and The Four Winds was beautifully written. However, I think there were some things about the book that were difficult for some members of our group. I am looking forward to AJ Fikry. Hopefully, everyone will enjoy this selection. I felt badly. The Four Winds was my choice. 🙁
Well, the weather changed, and it was time to switch the kids' clothes from shorts to warmer. so. . .
1. I went shopping in our basement for hand-me-downs! I found everything I needed except. . .
2. My oldest daughter had only a gazillion sweaters. No jeans (at all). No long-sleeved shirts. No dresses or skirts. So I went to the local thrift store (which is way cheaper than Goodwill). It would've been cheaper had it been a $5/bag sale, but she had no clothes! Anyway, I found 3 pairs of jeans, a top, some lounging pants, pajama pants, and 2 skirts for $24. One of the pairs of jeans still had the original tags.
3. She still needed tops, and another daughter needed some tennis shoes. To the bigger town we went on a mommy-daughter shopping date. At the consignment store we found one top for me and several for her plus a couple of dresses for $30. That means I found every stitch of clothing she needed for a winter wardrobe for less than $60.
4. Instead of stopping at a restaurant/fast food to satisfy our hunger, we bought 4 yogurts and 4 bananas at Walmart while we were there.
5. We went to a bent-and-dent store and found 2 carts full of groceries to buy at very cheap prices. The store is a bit far for a frugal win-- except that we were driving past it anyway for a field trip.
6. I mended a pair of jeans.
If Sonia still needs planters, I've found a lot for very good prices at Marshalls and T.J.Maxx, in the spring and summer. Not quite as cheap as thrifting, but less than half what you'd spend elsewhere!
We had a pretty unfrugal weekend as we travelled to look at colleges with our older daughter. But one of the reasons that we are frugal most of the time is to be able to do things like this.
A few frugal things:
1. I dropped off 4 boxes of donations at the thrift store and DID NOT go inside to shop.
2. I made our weekly meal plan to use up some things and thus only bought a very few groceries.
3. It is almost November and we have not yet turned on our heat!
4. My older daughter sorted through her clothes and passed some items down to her sister. Included were some jeans and a nice fall jacket and my younger daughter was thrilled.
5. My nephew wanted a small portable speaker for his birthday. Combining some coupons, Kohls cash and a sale, we got him one for only $5 out of pocket.
@Ann, "no heat 'til trick or treat!" (the rule of our house). Hardcore is "no heat 'til the Pilgrims eat" but we never quite make it that far, although I really, really try.
@Ann,
Nearly managed to keep the heating off ourselves. However we returned to our home office yesterday after a week's leave and boy was it cold, plus 8 hours at a desk! And I simply couldn't edge in exercise breaks either. So heating season has started for us, officially.
Hoping for sunny days now, so we can switch it off sometimes!
@bettafrmdaville,
I’m trying to not put on AC but live with the cooling from my ceiling fans!!!
No heat 'til the Pilgrims eat! That's great! My husband would LOVE to make it that far. Now that we have a mini-split system, we can definitely make it that far without using the furnace.
I don't know how I missed the fact that you can buy replacement lids for pyrex bowls. I have quite a few that are cracked as well. I am going to have to do that! Oh, I picked up some good finds at the thrift stores last week. One was a pair of really expensive skiing snow pants for my eight year old. They sell for 81.95 brand new on Amazon:) I got them for $6. I also scored a brand new with the tags on it carry on suitcase for my eleven year old for $6 at Goodwill as well. We are going on the DC school trip in June together. I just couldn't see myself spending a couple of hundred dollars on a suitcase for an eleven year old. I think this one will work quite nicely. I also got myself some books for really cheap. I live in a small town and the local library is in our school. I really should get a card, but it's hard to try and figure out when I would go there. I commute back and forth for work 44 miles each way. So, thrift store books make more sense for me.
Mine seems to be online shopping edition this week:
1. After saying last week that matching holiday pajamas for my kids is something I splurge on and buy new, I actually was able to get a matching Christmas set used! My son had a few pairs of Christmas pajamas last year and I saved them all for my daughter, someone told me about the Kidizen app for buying used kids clothes, I was browsing and saw the same pair I had saved, in a bigger size for my son so I bought them. I also noticed on the app that people sell “sibling bundles” of matching pajamas so may be a good option going forward too!
2. I had found an old art book my husband gave me 10 years ago that I really enjoyed. I remembered the artist had another book that I had wanted but never ended up getting. I looked it up on thriftbooks and the book is so old now, it was only $4 on there (used to be about $30 when I first wanted it). So my unintentional patience paid off! I don’t own many physical books anymore but art books really don’t look great on my kindle!
3. We went to the pumpkin patch last week, it was a lot of fun, the pumpkins were still a bit pricey though (compared to grocery store) so we let each kid choose a pumpkin there and then I picked up grocery store pumpkins for my husband, myself and the dog (everyone needs a pumpkin in our family, according to my son)
4. We had an intense, much needed rain storm here on Sunday. It canceled all our events for the day (we were supposed to go to a Halloween event at the zoo) so it did save money since we stayed home all day and my kids thought the storm was great entertainment since they hadn’t really seen one like that before.
5. I finally cut up a pineapple that I’d bought a couple weeks ago that was getting close to going bad, my kids promptly ate at least half of it right away so avoided food waste.
I can fully understand the urge to go thrifting. I've been hoping to find some pure wool sweaters as the gas we use for heating and cooking has hugely increased in price the last months. No luck however, nor on the raincoat I was hoping to find for cycling.
However I did find a cute necklace, some cotton handkerchiefs and some pretty cotton napkins. All for next to nothing. I really look forward to go thrifting again soon!
@J NL, You could probably find 100% wool sweaters on swap.com or thredup.
Honestly, I was already going to post this before I read about your Goodwill adventures. My #1 and 2 are all about Goodwill, ha.
1. We are trying to outfit my husband's assisted living studio "apartment." Since his bathroom has no under-sink storage, as it must allow a wheelchair under the sink, we are looking for ways to store necessities such as towels and toilet paper. He also needed a whiteboard for phone numbers, since he no longer has a phone that stores numbers. So I dashed into Goodwill and found - a spare toilet paper holder that can sit beside the toilet and holds 3 rolls (looked new), a solid wood, simple-to-assemble shelf kit with wall-mounting hardware, in original packaging, and a whiteboard trimmed in a wooden and cork frame, with a whiteboard magnet already on it. I found all this in maybe five minutes. I couldn't believe my luck. I spent $8 or $9 dollars on these.
2. I also spotted a nice little cross-cut shredder from Staples, that works. My own ancient shredder is falling apart so I picked this one up for $14.99. Looking up the same kind online, they run $90-$110.
3. I needed to replace some outlet covers that had been broken by my husband's scooter running into them. I found all kinds of covers at the store for $6 and up, with attractive styling and extra features like lights. It took some digging and looking around in a completely different section on that long aisle to find the simple covers that match my existing ones: 54 cents each.
4. I used the last out of the 2-pound bucket of fish food for our outdoor goldfish, then washed and put that plastic bucket and lid right to use.
5. I did a home trial of a new dog food on my dog, introducing it to her with her regular food over five days, then I was supposed to feed only the new food to her for the next five. The ingredients were on the un-branded bag and although I didn't know the brand, I knew it was a nationally known company, so I felt safe giving it to her. She refused to eat it, so the experiment was not a success for them, which I truthfully reported. I got a $5 Amazon gift card anyway, and I'll give the rest of the food away. She would eat her regular food, picking it out around the new food until I gave up and just fed her her regular food alone - I didn't make her go hungry for 10 days :).
What amazingly perfect Goodwill finds! It's so wonderful when that happens.
@JD, I do not know how dogs can eat with such precision. Our Irish wolfhound also could pick out morsels he liked and leave the rest in the bowl. He also would suck the cheese off the pills I was hiding inside the cubes, and then he would walk over and spit the pill out at my feet. Ditto for hot dog pieces.
1. Using sales, digital coupons and paper coupons, I bought 3 frozen pizzas, 5 boxes of General Mills cereals, 2 bags of frozen vegetables and 3 jars of peanut butter. The total was $14.98.
2. I want to continue walking outside, but I really didn't have the right kind of jacket for cooler weather. I checked Goodwill and found a lighter weight one and a heavier weight one for walking and a pullover fleece to wear around the house instead of turning on the heat. I paid $18 for all 3.
3. I haven't used a/c or heat in the last 6-7 weeks. I'm hoping the weather cooperates, and I can keep this up!
That's it for the past week.
@BarbG, your grocery savings are amazing!
@Renee, Thanks! I was very happy with the deals. I feel like they are getting harder to find.
Ah! Goodwill! I haven't been to a thrift store in a while and I have 2 within walking distance...I need to go through my closet and see if I need to donate some items too. I think my biggest Frugal thing has been grocery pick up. I know I spend at least $15-$20 less when I don't go IN the grocery store. We've cooked meals at home this week. I used up a few bruised apples in an apple "crisp" of sorts...OH the hubs cancelled a subscription to a newsite that he wasn't using. He said, "It wasn't THAT expensive each month, but if I'm not reading the articles there I don't need t pay for it." I'm starting to think I should do the same with my NYTimes Cooking subscription.
Question: What online subscriptions do you guys have, if any? Magazines, newspapers, etc?
@Julie Norman,
We have a newspaper subscription that is online on weekdays and paper on Saturday. I only read the paper but my husband reads all.
Also a Netflix subscription.
I am putting off a Spotify paid trial because that is hoe Netflix sneaked into our home (and I am not allowed to cancel, SIGH).
Then I have a prepaid account for Pathé movies. I paid 10 euro towards it and have only watched one movie so far.
I canceled a subscription to a weight loss recipe service, since my family objected severely to the dishes and I could not bring myself to cooking seperate meals every day. For now I am sticking with the EH DIET (eat half) and see where that will get me in the long run. I am allowing myself to indulge on veg without salt, butter, cheese or sauces. Not on fruits however since they are basically greens with sugar. So max 3 portions of fruit a day.
@Julie Norman, I'm fortunate to have access to my office's newspaper subscriptions. As for streaming subscriptions at home, my family has too many! We got a deal on a Hulu and Spotify bundle. I expect we'll let Hulu go and keep Spotify once the promo ends. We have another subscription to an anime streaming service called Crunchy Roll, and a Disney + subscription that will not be renewed. I feel a little queasy listing all of those paid subscriptions.
Wow, you found some excellent bargains at the Goodwill. I have all the sizes of Sophico lids (which I found out about here) and I LOVE them. I wash them in the dishwasher and have had no issues.
1. Somehow between my husband and I, we ended up with three punch cards for one of the tea places we go to. I asked them to combine them into one and it turned out I had enough for a free tea!
2. Was going to call in a pickup order for my daughter's dinner but ended up putting an order through the restaurant's website instead. Turns out I had reward points and was able to apply a $9 discount so the dinner was close to free.
3. Needed a sun hat and saw one on clearance for $10.67 at Nordstrom Rack. When I went to ring up, they said I had $10 in reward dollars there too so my hat was about $1.
4. Decided to make a simple costume this year with things I mostly already have around the house. All I needed was three pieces of cardstock so I used a 20% off coupon at Michaels so my costume will cost less than $3 total.
5. Daughter wanted to be a pokemon for Halloween but we couldn't find a reasonably priced costume that would arrive in time for Halloween. They were all $78+. We saw this white tiger outfit at Target that she liked more (and cost much less!) so she's going to be that instead and she can lounge around in her tiger outfit past Halloween too.
6. Went to the grocery outlet store and scored some vegan jerky, some organic snacks and some peanuts that I really like for super cheap compared to the regular market.
@CrunchyCake, I love your screen name. The problem is that every time I see it, I get hungry. 😀
@Anne, Ha! Thanks - it came from someone calling me cupcake and somehow devolved from there 🙂
1. Shopped at Aldi
2. Ate leftovers x 2 ( from two different meals)
3. Have started a side business of eBay reselling. Since I started in August, my gross sales are nearly $550. My daughter does this as a full time job; she resells clothing. I know nothing about fashion really, so I resell collectibles.
4. Made a huge pot of chicken tortilla soup using ingredients I had on hand. Shared some with my mom and one of my daughters.
5. This has nothing to do with my own efforts, but my Social Security benefits went up by $10 a month.
I would like to add, there is no reason to EVER buy new Pyrex! (Except, perhaps, for gift-giving.)Thrift stores are positively loaded with it in every size. Now, I’m talking about contemporary pieces, not the wonderful vintage stuff that resellers are always on the lookout for.
@SandyH, could you tell me how eBay reselling works? An example or 2?
@SandyH, respectfully, it depends on the thrift store. My local Goodwills (there are two in my area) rarely have any Pyrex. A much larger St. Vincent de Paul closer to where I work usually has quite a bit.
I perform as a gnome at a renaissance festival. All of this week's wins are faire related:
- I successfully patched a leak in a barely 3 month old air mattress instead of buying a new one.
- I filled in at the last minute for another show. Not only I did make extra tips that day but they also fed me afterwards because it was a dinner show.
- I unexpectedly got a free meal because I volunteered at a fundraiser. Technically it wasn't free because I put the money I saved (and the amount I already planned) into the donation bucket.
- I used the unexpected tip money to buy a couple of handmade stocking stuffers from new booths at the show. Another new booth excitedly showed me the crocheted gnomes they added last weekend. They took my picture and offered to make little mes (since they only have boy gnomes, not girls.) They also said I'd get the first one at a discount next week but honestly I'm flattered they wanted to model their girl gnome after my character.
- I perform as a side hussle and stress break during and after a trying time. I'm playing a new character that has high exceptions and was unsure if I was doing what I should given the other things I have/had going on. Last weekend I got several unsolicited compliments from fellow rennies and several patrons specifically came to take photos with me. It was the mental shot in the arm I need and was cheaper than therapy! 😉
@Condo Blues,
That sounds like fun! 🙂
@Condo Blues, The first sentence of your comment is the most interesting start to a comment I've seen in a long time. 😀
I have a few minor things to report....
1. We have been gifted a dozen eggs 2 different times by hubby's co-worker
2. I've tried to be more intentional in using coupons at store or on takeout. Lately I've saved $14
3. My daughter and I ran to Walmart for a few items one night and noticed that all their pumpkins (any size) were all marked down to $1 each, so I picked up 5 and she got 3. Saved at least $2.88 on each. When we are done with them, we will cut them apart and put in the woods for the deer to eat. The seeds especially are good for them as they're a natural dewormer.
4. Still trying to play the game of how long can we wait before turning the heat on in our house. The last time I paid attention has been since 10/19/21.
5. We went to a party and a friend sent us home with a package of hamburger buns that we turned into mini pizzas for a snack.
6. Our neighborhood is having a Halloween parade on Halloween afternoon and I checked at goodwill for costume supplies.
7. A local farm that I buy produce at has closed its doors for this season but posted online that they had some bins of pie pumpkins and squash for the taking for free so as not to waste. I stopped yesterday and got a whole bag of acorn squash to cook and freeze for baking and to also share with family.
Such a great idea to look for plant pots at a thrift shop! I love thrifting but haven’t been since pre-pandemic, but last winter was when I started acquiring house plants. I have a big philodendron that’s outgrowing it’s container, but man pots are so spendy. I’ve been meaning to go peruse jeans at my favorite thrift shop, I’ll have to swing through the housewares aisle.
TY for the Pyrex replacement lid link… I will be purchasing today. I have continued to be disappointed in the Pyrex brand replacements. I also am interested in how you and the girls go thrifting. Do you plan an entire day or are you looking for specific things? My middle daughter is Zoe’s age and is constantly asking to go, but I am not a fan of Goodwill (personal choice) and I struggle with the cost of gas and the time invested to go around to so many different towns (we are rural) vs. the actual savings. She tends to over buy and then not wear or use 50% of her purchases. When I lived in the city, it was the main way we shopped.
FFT, Pyrex/Corning Ware and Food Waste Edition:
(1) Maybe it's because I live in Upstate NY (about a 2-hour drive from the town of Corning), but I've never had any trouble finding Pyrex or Corning Ware at local thrift shops. In fact, except for two or three pieces I got as wedding presents 42 years ago, my entire collections of these were thrifted. I admit I don't have any of the new Pyrex with silicone lids, but I usually just store leftovers in Corning Ware with glass lids.
(2) Ah, yes, those leftovers. As I think I mentioned yesterday, I'm having some trouble adjusting to cooking for one person, now that DH no longer lives at home. I just took one for my team (of one) and finished off some black beans and rice that I thought I'd made in a small enough quantity. Wrong!
(3) And a stern note to myself: Whenever I find those "family size" packages of chicken on sale, I'm going to divide them into smaller packages BEFORE I freeze them. There are limits to how much chicken even I can eat in a single series.
(4) On the good news front, I recently found a nifty Tupperware vegetable storage container with valves that you open or shut, depending on what type of vegetable you're storing in it. So far, this is doing a great job of keeping celery from turning into the usual goo in the bottom of my hydrator.
(5) And I recently found, and used, a beet left over from last winter that did NOT turn into goo in the bottom of my hydrator. A small win!
@A. Marie, I also live about 2 hours from Corning! Rochester, NY here! Hello fellow Upstate NY'er!
@Corrine Wilson, I live in the next city over to the east on the Thruway. You know, the one with the excellent minor-league basketball team with a party-school university attached. 🙂
@A. Marie, I know exactly the city!!
It's nice to meet a frugal neighbor!
Those pots and the coffee grinder are adorable!
I had some good no-food-waste saves this week that are four of my frugal things. Three elderly bananas, the last two eggs, and the last bit of a jar of applesauce became some awesome banana bran muffins. The last of the strawberries, grapes and a carton of yogurt were turned into parfaits to go with my homemade brown bag lunches. Some slightly wrinkly apples from the fridge made delicious baked apples. And I slightly underestimated how far Sunday night's chicken would go as an entree and supplemented it with a small pot of mac and cheese. Every bite was eaten!
The fifth thing was cleaning out and decluttering the closet that holds my sewing stuff. Now I can get to things in there so easily. I also found a roll of egg crate foam in there that my son claimed to make his aging mattress more comfortable, which saved him some money.
1. This is embarrassing, but my first one is that the wallet I've used for probably 5 years has a cloth exterior and it's been dirty for a while, so I planned to buy a new wallet. I had one picked out and was waiting for it to go on sale. Then last week it dawned on me that I could just clean it. Why didn't I think of that before??? It seems so obvious now.
2. My daughter had a specific costume request for Halloween and I found one on our local Facebook sale group for $8. It's in good-enough condition and my daughter is thrilled. Since I haven't been spending much of my "fun money" this fall, I used that to pay for the costume instead of having it come out of another budget category.
3. I'm trying a few new recipes this week and I subbed some cheaper ingredients in place of more expensive and/or difficult to find ones. Bacon instead of pancetta. Medium shell pasta in place of orecchiette. Stuff like that.
4. I've ordered a LOT of books, a movie, and some CDs through interlibrary loan over the last couple of weeks. They've been trickling in this week and it's a lot of fun.
5. Stopped into Panera and got another free coffee with cream. Flavored with syrup from the bottle I keep in my van. Delicious.
I feel like finding five frugal things the last few weeks has been a struggle. I'm not really a big shopper, but am starting a little holiday buying. I'm not really going out much or spending much money these days, so I guess that's a frugal win. Plus, many of the things I do as habit are considered frugal to other people. I just consider them normal. Here's what I came up with:
1. I saw that bed pillows were on sale at Kohl's for $2.99 each. I had found Baby Yoda flannel on sale last month and am going to make pillow cases to go on them as a gift for my middle daughter.
2. While there, I found cute glass mushroom Christmas tree ornaments for my youngest daughter and her best friend. Mushrooms are apparently a big thing with the teen set.
3. A good friend's daughter wants to learn Kanji. I found a text book, workbook, verb chart and special writing paper on Amazon for half the price that I would have paid at Barnes & Noble.
4. My father passed along some books he read. Free reads, yay!
5. Repaired leggings that had two holes in them made by an overly-eager canine.
In case you didn't know, you should throw any onions you have in the trash. I mean, not just because of salmonella but because onions are gross. 😉
I can't tell you the last time I went thrifting, by the way (unless buying a chair at ReStore counts.) I never have great luck any more and do a lot better at garage sales.
1.) My wife, daughter and I all have birthdays in October so we all got our free Red Robin meal. We of course tipped well and actually ordered an appetizer (something we almost never do.)
Sadly the place was pretty empty because they couldn't get much help so there was a bit of a wait to get in and most people it seemed were opting for takeout.
2.) My wife went through her closet and cleared out a bunch of clothes she does not want any more. I'm debating on either donating or posting them on FB Marketplace or something similar as "make me an offer" or "come get 'em." I'd rather someone wear them than have them just be tossed out by Goodwill.
3.) Got to work from home all week so less wear on my car and no work clothes to wash.
4.) Worked a bunch of overtime.
5.) My family and I had a talk about Christmas this year. Basically we have decided to just worry about the kids and not really do much with all the adults. With inflation and shortages and the like it's just not worth the stress!
Hahah, yes, you never have to worry about storing half an onion!
@Battra92's opener refers to the fact that onions from various commercial sources have been found to be tainted with salmonella (see https://www.fda.gov/food/outbreaks-foodborne-illness/outbreak-investigation-salmonella-oranienburg-whole-fresh-onions-october-2021 for details). His opinions on onions in general are of course his own.
But as onions and shallots are among the few vegetables I can still grow without interference from the local deer, I'm not only continuing to use my own bumper crops, but handing out samples to friends who don't garden. Just call me Norma Jean the Onion Queen.
Ohhh, I thought he was referring to the fact that he is both allergic to onions and hates them as well!
@A. Marie, Onions are one of the few vegetables that most animals will not eat. Why humans decided to put them in everything is beyond me!
We just got back from a five day trip to New York, which was less than frugal but it was an amazing trip with memories that will last a lifetime!
1. I left my kindle on the plane (tears) so I filled out a lost items report and dug through my to-read pile for something to read until I find out if they were able to find my kindle to return to me. Thankfully I have a large pile of books that I have picked up from Goodwill. My son and I pop in there from time to time just to look at the book selection.
2. I moved my potted herbs from our deck and into a sunny spot in our house. The temps are getting close to freezing in the evenings now and I would like to keep the herbs around a little bit longer.
3. I did a freezer inventory to meal plan by using up all the odds and ends in both our freezers. I usually keep an updated list but after a while I start forgetting to update it.
4. I collected all my scrap orange and yellow yarn to make a crocheted pumpkin for fall decorations - it's an adorable patchwork of colors and completely free!
5. Tonight after dinner I will be sitting down and tackling a small pile of clothes that need to be mended, busy work while watching mindless TV.
I have the same pyrex lids except mine are blue. They are still holding up, but will definitely look into silicon if the need arises.
The jar for the onion that is a great idea. I have a jar with that same kinda lid that’s what I am going to use it for.
1. I bought 50 pounds of carrots for $12.00. Kind of a weird frugal win. I don't use a lot of carrots but this will certainly get me doing so, and at the usual price of carrots around here (usually over $1 a pound) this is a win if I use even a third of them for us. however, I also have sheep and they love carrots, and the bag is actually intended to be animal feed as some of these carrots are second rate (knobbly, or broken, or very skinny). I found a recipe for Roasted Carrots with Yaji Spice Relish on the New York Times Cooking site (and yes, whoever here wondered about subscriptions, I have that one and so far, it is worth it for the joy of ideas and occasional real WINS of recipes). It uses 4 pounds (!!!) of carrots, so I already have made a dint in my big bag. And it was time consuming yet worth it for an interesting different recipe.
2. Not frugal for me but for my son and his girlfriend. Ash has got a new job that will require her to commute for an hour each way (until they move up here). The car Bill has uses a lot of gas, so they were looking at getting an electric car, however they are also buying a condo soon and their finances are complicated and tight. I have a kind of 'spare' car that I have offered to them for the cost of insurance. Bill is now considering selling his car or parking it up here and taking the insurance off it for a few months. So I am giving them the car for a while. My other son, Nick, has been driving my car for 6 months, with his own parked and uninsured, so he is going to get his insured when Bill and Ash take mine. Helping each kid out like this makes my heart happy.
3. Also not frugal for me, but my Daughter, Maggie, came up to visit and we went shopping at the really inexpensive veggie store, then the grocery. she has an eating issue, so we are working on planning meals and ensuring she adds protein and veggies to her carbohydrate heavy options. so we planned very carefully - including making lists and dinner options. It was good practice for her, and she also went home with foods from Mom's pantry (dried apples and applesauce and other dried fruits)
4. I also cut Maggie's hair, again. She has an idea of what she wants, and I just go along with it and pretend I know what I am doing. It is a considerable savings that I cut both Maggie and Nick's hair - I have an inexpensive buzzer and ratty scissors, but I manage to do a decent job, and they both know "It's only hair". 😉
5. We have been eating out of the pantry, still. Trying to make plans for interesting meals that use the many options I have collected. Nick seems pretty pleased with what I make and the leftovers he takes to work or eats at midnight mean I don't get too tired of anything I make. I have learned to delay making something new if the leftovers are piling up, which is a hard learned lesson - otherwise the chickens get a feast that they really don't deserve.
@ecoteri,
I have no personal experience, but I've read up on storing root vegetables in a number of places. You should be able to dig a wide and fairly shallow hole, line it with fine metal wire netting (apols, I am not a native speaker so do not know the exact word for it) against rodents, then layer with alternating sharp clean sand and layer of carrots. End with sand, then plastic or wooden lid, weigh down with bit more sand. It should keep for months. It is worth giving it a try if you have so many carrots, at least if you have the space!
Over here, they often sell huge quantities of carrots for horse food. The carrots are the same as for humans, it is just that they have odd sizes or shapes. I've considered buying a bag and sharing with a few neighbours
@ecoteri, If you are looking for recipe ideas for those wonderfully inexpensive carrots , I love roasted carrot soup it’s one of my favorites and will definitely help you to use them up.
Frugal things!
I think my biggest frugal "win" this last week is that despite a complete fail for a Halloween costume for my daughter, we managed to figure out another costume for her that only required a $6 tie - the rest of the costume was clothing she already had.
(I bought a unicorn footless pajama outfit that should have fit her, based on the size and length, but we discovered after I got it home that it was WAY too skinny - like, ridiculously skinny. She couldn't even get her foot through the shin part of the bottoms! We measured her and it and thought we could make it work by cutting the legs off and making it a sweatshirt, but I must have measured something wrong, because after we cut it off and she tried to put it on, it was abundantly clear that although the sleeves were plenty long, the whole thing was way, way too tight. This is a brand we buy relatively frequently, and she has other PJs in that size and brand that fit perfectly, so they must have totally screwed up the pattern for this particular product! Instead, she is going as a Ravenclaw student. 🙂 )
1) Having gone to a great deal of effort to sell books, I sold the last 180 of them to a dealer. I'm really glad I was in that area already because they're a bulk-only buyer and pay $2/box. Had I driven all the way out there just for that I would have been very disappointed in the $18 cash/$40 credit offer. They don't have a good inventory system so I took the cash and spent $10 of it on 13 DVDs. As with most learning experiences, this was time-consuming and inefficient but now I know for next time.
2) Because my mother went to the hospital, I couldn't use museum tickets a couple of weeks ago. For the hell of it I called the museum to see if I could use them this weekend, even though my original date had passed. I could! $75 not wasted.
3) For the same reason I couldn't use the tickets to go visit my mom. For the hell of it I called the carrier and asked if I could reschedule my tickets, even though the original date had passed. I could! $250 not wasted. What's my motto, everyone?
Getting a jump on Thankful Thursday, I'm grateful that if I couldn't get those tickets rescheduled, I wouldn't be in a financial hole because of it.
4) I batched a bunch of errands to an area I don't go to very often: Goodwill drop-off; eye doctor; selling books; and Chinese supermarket for frozen dumplings, inexpensive good-quality sushi, and some groceries.
5) Even though I was very hungry, I waited and bought my lunch at the supermarket instead of drive-though, saving money ($4 instead of $10), having a tastier meal (Indian seafood-veggie omelette patties), and a more nutritious meal (even a sandwich is less nutritious than what I had).
@WilliamB, your motto is "it doesn't hurt to ask!"
@BJS, We have a winner!
@WilliamB, Alternate motto could be, "No risk it, no biscuit!"
Great thrift finds!
1. My favorite nail polish was getting dry, so I put a tiny bit of nail polish remover in it and shook it up. Worked!
2. I made a soup with random things I had on hand (beans, noodles, lots of garlic, carrots, onions, butter and a boiled potato).
3. So far we have resisted using AC at the places we've been staying. They all charge extra for it.
4. Still haven't gone back to dyeing my hair.
5. Enjoyed several games of Boggle. Free and educational family fun.
Also... Unimportant side note... I almost never cook with half an onion. I just chop the whole thing up and cook it all.
I run into this issue when I do something like, say, cutting up a bit of an onion for a single-serving omelet, or cutting up part of an onion to put on top of hamburgers.
I’m so glad to know the larger Sophico lids are available now. I love the 1-cup and 2-cup sizes that I have.
I am writing this from a rental cabin "up north" as we say in Minnesota. Our main activities on this annual trek are walking, reading, eating, and looking at Lake Superior.
1. Although we do splurge on some restaurant meals, we usually bring home enough leftovers for one or more meals back at the cabin.
2. Checked out a CD audiobook from the library for the road trip.
3. Packed lots of books and magazines from the library.
4. Every year I bring two of my own books to reread - "Zero Waste Home" by Bea Johnson and "The Feast Nearby" by Robin Mather - to keep me inspired and on-track with my values.
5. Brought our own CDs and boombox. To complete the Luddite vibe, I put the CDs in a zippered case.
1. We cleaned out our vegetable gardens for the season. My son wanted to bring our rosemary plant indoors. I didn't have a pot for it to live it, so we painted an aluminum can gold and made drainage holes in the bottom. It came out really cute!
2. There is a new car wash near my house and they were offering free car washes and use of their vaccums this weekend. Of course I took advantage of that!
3. I made banana bread from over-ripe bananas. I used some left over asparagus, beans from our garden, bits of cheese, and small amounts of leftover artichokes and olives to make an egg dish for my lunches at work. I froze 2 loaves of bread that my daughter's daycare wasn't going to use.
4. My son and I went to the dentist this weekend. We religiously go to the dentist every 6 months. Our health insurance covers cleanings for free. Dental work is so expensive, so keeping on top of our teeth is so frugal. I also got my COVID booster this weekend. I am a healthcare worker, so I qualified under the new guidelines.
5. We went to a local pumpkin farm this weekend. The tickets are $20/each. I take a survey for the farm yearly, which results in a free ticket. We didn't need to pay for my daughter because she is 2. We brought our own food and drinks. The kids had so much fun for $40.
$70 consignment store sales
Sent a birthday card/gift from my stash
Have another box of items for consignment store
Inventoried items for Christmas (no need to buy anything)
Problems with hello fresh so I have 2 weeks of free meals coming
(1)I had purchased a SUP ( stand up paddle board) . Used it less than a month. It developed a leak. I contacted and submitted a claim to the manufacturer. They had an easy 4 step process that I followed to a tee from their website. They contacted me to check another possibility with an easy to try means of testing.I sent a more detailed video. They sent a total replacement package and said I could dispose of the original SUP. We are going to try repairing it. The process from placing a claim to physically having the replacement board was less than two weeks.
(2)My son bakes each week and does an evening meal that feeds 6+ people. Not so frugal for me but we gift most of the meals and baking to friends and relatives. Makes their weeks a bit easier , some are facing challenges making the meal like a personal hug.
(3)I’m really working to return items instead of having them hang around.” I’m looking at you black out curtains from Costco”.Sometimes I purchase from Costco because they have a product I’m thinking of getting and even if I misplace the receipt (blackout curtains and rods)they still refund.
(4)I’ve been packing up my leftovers and offering them along with other items to the people in #2 above. Saves on food waste. I generally do it Friday morning and arrange pickup times off my front porch. We go away to the lake most weekends and I know I have to deal with the fridge before we leave. If people can’t make it I throw it in the freezer for later. I don’t know if we are such great cooks, or the convenience and novelty is the appeal to others.
(5) Learning to let things go, my husband retired just at the beginning of the pandemic.
I mentioned to him how nice it would be to gift a paper bag with some Halloween treats to some of the people we appreciate in our lives. I gave him some suggestions to how I have been doing an activity like this frugally over the years. He has organized and purchased the treats, they are adorable. This was frugal,in the purchase but also the time it freed up for me to talk to my credit card company about a fraudulent charge.
I forgot to mention that I’ve been purchasing and using vintage Tupperware. For my salad greens it really seems to lengthen their shelf life. I frequently am mentioning to my family how fresh items have been keeping in the Tupperware all of which I have thrifted.
Best part, Tupperware makes an onion keeper. I have it and have seen them at the thrift shops. It comes in two sizes ( large and small).
I lovethe glass jar and lid combo. So cute. I usually put any onion leftovers in plastic wrap and place it in the low humidity refrigerator compartment. I don't notice any onion smell at all.
My frugal five this week:
1) Still earning gift cards and using them for purchases on Ebay, Amazon, etc.
2) I picked up a few things that a local person was selling and placed on Ebay. They should sell for 5x what I paid.
3) I purchased an item from Ebay but the wrong item was sent. The seller told me to send it back (on my dime) for a refund. I'm trying to sell it on the neighborhood site instead. If it doesn't work, then I will send it back.
4) We took a trip and my sister came to visit. It was a great time and she sent me trolley ride tickets for free, knowing I was going. When she ended up coming along, I brought those tickets and we used them.
5) I brought the Christmas presents for my sister's kids while we were on our trip. I gave them to her so I wouldn't have to pay to ship them.
@lisa, You need to tell the seller, it was their mistake, not yours. They need to send you a return label. That is good customer service. If they do not, I'd take it to Ebay. That is 100% wrong on their end.
That is the cutest little jar for leftover onions! I try to always have several sizes of onions on hand so I don’t have to deal with any leftovers. Little ones are especially convenient.
FFT -
* I harvested 1/2 of my parsley plant, dried it in the oven & now it’s in a jar in the pantry.
* I went through the Rakuten app to make a purchase at Kohl’s. I also had 30% off coupon code & Kohl’s was offering store cash back. I had enough store cash to buy some “unmentionables” plus received 10% via the app. Waiting for all of these options to align requires patience but it saves me the most money.
* I only bought bread, buns & ginger ale at the grocery last week.
* While my grocery list wasn’t long this week, the total cost was up, as it is everywhere. I clip digital coupons though & saved $17.
* Speaking of rising costs, the price of Halloween candy! Yikes! But we get a lot of kids for Trick or Treat & I LOVE seeing their costumes & their excitement!
I complained to Pyrex about my lids cracking and they sent me new ones for free!
1) I used Walgreens rewards to get $20 worth of food for free.
2) I foraged a bunch of Oyster mushrooms and froze them for later.
3) I got a free flu shot.
4) I used points to get a free night at a hotel so we didn't have to drive for 4 hours after our flight landed at midnight.
5) I signed up for a new bank account that will give a $750 bonus after 2 months.
1. Continue to track no-spend days on my phone app, and am specifically working on cultivating gratitude for what I already have.
2. Accepted a baby monitor, carrier, and sound machine from a friend.
3. Am going through all our closets and am listing items on eBay, Buy Nothing, and taking some things to Goodwill. It feels good to keep only things that are serving a purpose or sparking joy.
4. Working to use up odds and ends-- summer berries from the freezer, solid conditioner bars that don’t work for my hair as shaving soap, older hand lotion. I don’t think I’ll have time or energy for this after baby comes in February, so I'm working on it now.
5. All the regular things: wearing thrifted clothes, brewing my loose-leaf tea twice, reading books through Libby, etc.
I'm inspired by your Pyrex finds -- I have been wanting to trade out 30 year old plastic containers and disintegrating Tupperware and Goodwill sounds great. Also the silicone covers.
Welp, in a not so frugal week (daughter visiting and me flying east this coming Thursday, we did eke out a couple things:
1. Used ECBucks from CVS to get 5 bottles of Super coffee to mix into instant coffee for my daily iced coffee -- for FREE (except 25 cents for deposit 🙂 This lowers the daily price to, well, very low. I split each bottle into 3 -4 servings so with the instant coffee (6 cents per serving) and cream (approx. 15 - 20 cents per serving) we are looking at a 21 - 26 cent iced coffee. With healthy monk sweetener and low carbs.
2. Used all my Ralphs and VONs points before they expired -- got dollars taken off the total and a free Rotisserie chicken for dinner 2 nights in a row.
It's not my best week but will get back on track when I return from trip.
@priskill, I believe Tupperware has a life time warentee. Crikey, sorry for the mis spell there. I would get in touch with Tupperware or a Tupperware dealer in your area and find out. I was once able to replace a container for free.
5 Frugal things this week...
1. For my birthday getway to Music City our good friend who works for Marriot graced us with a Friends & Family discount for 5 day hotel stay!
2. Our hotel stay included a free full breakfast and free wi-fi.
3. Our son gifted us a Taste & See Tour of Nashville,TN.
4. Our daughter gifted us a Private Couple's Tour of Music City.
5. I stopped in at Lens Crafter to tighten my glasses and they accidently snapped them in half. I was given a gift of new glasses!
If you buy Snapware containers, they have a lifetime warranty. Just look on the website and call for new lids.
1. Used up a large container of expiring cottage cheese to make a batch of oatmeal pancakes. Delicious and filling. It is a recipe on kitchn, I added vanilla and baking powder and let it sit for a bit so the oats could hydrate. I used my immersion blender.
2. Invited grandparents over for pumpkin carving. Fun and cheap socializing.
3. Am taking two sweaters to see if my tailor can mend them.
4. Reading Loretta Chase’s back catalogue via my local library.
5. Successfully disputed a billing misunderstanding with a client and they will pay me for that in November.